When life gets hard, or overwhelming, it can be difficult to find balance and focus on what you need to. However, learning to meditate can help you to refocus your energy and relieve stress. In today’s world, you don’t have to try and do this alone! Now apps offer guided meditation to help you be your best self. Below are 3 of the best meditation apps available.
The Headspace app costs $69.99 annually or $12.99 per month, and has a wide variety of features. Some of these features include a personalized daily to-do checklist, group sessions, music playlists, yoga workouts, and a huge library of meditation exercises. The fun interface is easy to navigate and use. All of the meditation and yoga courses are clearly labeled and structured. These courses gradually advance throughout the sessions. The library of meditation courses is easy to use, allowing users to find the exact course they want with ease, from stress relief to refocusing. There are also courses that revolve around improving your meditation practices.
Some of the most popular courses on the Headspace app are sleep meditations. These are nighttime guided meditations with short yet effective breathing routines and visualizations. Additionally, users can listen to soothing rain, the ocean, or music while drifting off to sleep. Or, they can listen to a Sleepcast. This is a 45 – 55 minute audio tour of a fictional realm combined with white noise.
Users wishing to test the Headspace app can access a 2-week free trial, or try the limited free plan. On the free plan, users get access to a foundation course, and three sessions of each of the most popular courses. Free users can also access a single Sleepcast. This gives users enough content to see if the Headspace app is right for them.
The Calm meditation app has 2 different subscription options. The first is $76.99 annually, and the second is a lifetime membership at $499.99. There is also a one-week free trial available. Members get access to a new daily meditation every day, plus the library of previous days and specialized courses. The library of meditation includes courses for anxiety, stress, sleep, focus, and more. In addition to the meditation library, users get access to a large selection of music and free-form exercise routines. Calm will record each course you complete and has a mood tracking feature. This allows users to see how meditation practices affect their mindset and which course works best in what situations.
Calm continues to frequently add new content and have also added a kids meditation program with various options. However, the interface is not as intuitive as Headspace is, but after a few uses, it is easy to navigate.
The Healthy Minds Program is a basic, free app focusing on mental health. The content focuses on awareness, insight, connection, and purpose. All of the courses within the app focus on those four pillars. When you first sign up to Healthy Minds, you will take a survey to see where you currently sit for each pillar. This is used as a baseline to improve your mental capacity and health over time using the app. There is a combination of listening lessons and active meditations based on science to develop the skills you need to stay balanced and focused. As you complete courses, your pillar scores will adjust. You can then retake the survey later to see how your brain is now working. As an added bonus, there no annoying popups or ads within this free app. This is because the Healthy Minds Program is funded by donations on the Healthy Minds Innovation website.
The three apps above give you the power to control your headspace. By learning to meditate, and continue the practice daily you can learn how to navigate complex emotions. For example, after a stressful meeting, you will have the skills to calm your brain and refocus on your next task, rather than worrying all day long. The techniques in these apps are skills that everyone can learn and benefit from, to better their mental health and reduce stress. So, test all three of our suggestions to choose which is the best meditation app for you!
