Mental Health is still a taboo topic in many countries, including India. It is stupid, seeing how our ancestors heavily focused on the mental aspects of our life through Yoga and meditation. While we give special care to people with physical illness, a mental problem is stigmatized. I don’t know what it will take for us as a society to recognize it as a problem, but I want to convey that it’s not wrong to talk about it. And if anyone in your life is making fun of you, you are better off cutting those people from your life. You should talk, and seek out professional help as early as possible.
I have dabbled with meditation on and off for years. And although it has helped me, I know first hand that forming a habit is not easy. I have fallen off the wagon many times. I only started it again after the pandemic hit, and I have been closed inside my house. So the most I can ask you is to give these apps a try, and see if they can help you out.
I have tried many meditation apps and techniques, and I feel that guided meditation is the best one for me. In a guided meditation, instead of listening to soothing music, you are guided through the steps by a voice. Headspace is one such app that provides guided meditation. I love how the app started me with just a few minutes a day and then moved me onto longer mediation sessions.
Price: Free trial, $12.99/month, $69.99/year
Calm is a popular meditation app for people who want to reduce stress and anxiety, sleep better, and increase their overall inner happiness. The app comes with calming exercises and breathing techniques that can help you relax. When you start the app, first you get a simple explanation of meditation that explains the basics. I found this very helpful for beginners.
I don’t care for the celebrity voices, but if it’s an incentive that can keep someone meditating, I am all for it. Calm is popular and thousands of users have reported getting good results. It has a very high rating on both Play Store and App Store, and remember those ratings are from paid users as it only offers a free trial. If Headspace doesn’t make sense to you, you should try it.
Meditation doesn’t have to be only for people who can afford it. It should be for everyone. And if you cannot afford to use Headspace or Calm, you should try Insight Timer. The app gives you a free library of more than 45,000 free guided meditation.
Like Calm and Headspace, it starts with a 7-day course that will help you understand the concept of meditation. After you are done with the course, you can create your own modules for meditation. You can select how long you want to meditate every day. The free library consists of guided meditation from meditation experts to monks to sadhus to popular actors and actresses.
Links: Website, iOS App, Android App
Serenity is a meditation app that uses a minimalist design language and I love its approach. Even the app’s UI feels calming. Like other apps, it offers guided meditation lessons. You get to learn a variety of meditation and mindfulness techniques that aim to bring a sense of peace, calm, and happiness to your life.
If you want celebrity guided meditation or thousands of hours of meditation content, this is not for you. On the other hand, this is great for people who feel overwhelmed by the amount of content on other apps and want something streamlined and effective for a one-time payment.
Aura is mindful meditation apps for people who are in a hurry. You can start meditation sessions with tracks as small as 3 minutes. A good feature of Aura is that you can select meditation based on your current feelings. It suggests different meditation routines depending on your current mental state.
6. Meditation Studio
Meditation Studio is another good guided mindful meditation apps for iOS and Android devices. With this app, you get over 500 guided meditations featuring different teachers and styles. There are also different collections targeting different improvements in life.
Price: $3.99 on Android – Free, $7.99/month, $49.99/year on iOS
Inscape is an actual mediation studio in NYC. According to their website, “the studio blend ancient techniques across time and cultures into meditations that are accessible and relevant for everyone”. Well, the studio realized that not everyone can afford to physically visit a studio, so they created a mediation app.
The guided meditations are for everyone including beginners, intermediates, and advanced meditators. You can start with 5-minute meditations, and as you improve, aim for a longer duration (up to 85 minutes). There are also habit-building exercises that can help you keep your mediation life alive.
If you can’t find even five minutes of quiet time to practice meditation, then you should try using Buddhify. Buddhify is an app that lets you meditate anywhere, anytime. Whether you are traveling, waiting in line at Starbucks, or waiting for your food in a restaurant.
9. Sattva
Sattva is another great meditation app. It brings features like guided meditations, ancient chants, Vedic mantras, meditation timer, time tracker, and more. If you want a traditional mediation experience, this is the app for you. You even get to learn mediation Mudras (hand positions or gestures that facilitate the flow of energy).
Price: 3-day free trial, $12.99/month, $49.99/year, $399.99/lifetime
Our final selection of apps for this list is The Mindfulness App. It brings professional guided meditations, with a variety of lessons that suits all kinds of meditators – from beginners to pros.
Whether you want to relax, calm your mind, improve focus, or sleep better, this app can help you achieve those aims. One feature of this app that I love is the ability to add background ambient sounds to guided meditations. You can add sounds from forests, rivers, beaches, and more.
That ends our article on the best meditation apps for Android and iPhone. I use Headspace and recommend it to everyone. That said, all the apps on this list offer a good selection of mediation lessons. They are all good at getting you started on your mediation journey and keeping you on track.
If you feel that life is stressful, and you don’t have enough focus or energy to complete the things that need to be done, you should try meditation. No matter which app you use, this simple practice can help you a lot. I know it has helped me, even when I do it intermittently. So, give this a try.
