Smartphones are credited with creating many of our modern-day stresses – which is not completely unfounded, they do keep us contactable at all hours and social media can be a cranky place.
That said, you can also use their powers for good, and meditation apps are a great example.
Here’s our top picks, all free for iOS and Android.
Calm
A New York Times firm fave, this app is credited with taking a ‘non-hippy’ approach to meditation; one reviewer saying “I’m generally wary of meditation apps because they sometimes weave in too much mystic talk for my taste. But Calm instead contains guidance like ‘Concentrate on your body’”.
While it does offer premium paid services, it also offers a huge volume of free content, including guided meditation sessions ranging from 3 to 25 minutes, spanning tens of topics from anxiety and sleep to body-scanning and meditation for children, nature sounds and progress tracking.
The Mindfulness App
Not only does the free section of this app offer a 5-day guided practice and introduction to mindfulness and guided and silent meditations from 3 to 30 minutes, it also allows you to customise your meditation with guided introduction and bells and provides stats to help you keep track of your meditation journey.
You can also add on a premium subscription that opens up an additional 200+ guided meditations and courses.
Headspace
Popular with parents, this app has something for the whole family – they have packs specifically designed to teach children mindfulness and meditation, and packs that covers a wide range of topics from relationships, to workplace stress to pre-exam chilling.
They also have guided meditations designed to encourage people to unwind and become calmer in general. The app teaches mindfulness and meditation techniques, and can be used to track progress as you go.
Smiling Mind App
Requiring as little as ten minutes of your day per session, this app claims to help millions of users to learn how to relax and regulate emotions, and improve health and sleep.
It also comes with a recommendation from an expert; psychologist Jocelyn Brewer uses and loves it for a range of reasons.
“The Aussie accent is great to hear instead of British or American. It caters to a range of ages, and can be used for individual, work and school contexts. And of course, it’s been backed by science to show that the activities help reduce stress and enhance wellbeing,”" she says.
Take a Break! - Meditations for Stress Relief
The developers, Meditation Oasis, have a series of mediation apps favoured by Kate Hudson. This app is their free offering, and is highly rated for the two popular meditations from their podcast, which you can choose to listen to with or without music or nature sounds, which you can in turn listen to without the guided meditations.
The two guided meditations on offer are Work Break Relaxation, and Stress Relief Meditation, and the app provides instructions to support and enhance your experience.
And if you find yourself loving their work, they have scads of highly rated apps to choose from as premium subscriptions.
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