Maybe you’ve read about the benefits online, or maybe your therapist or counselor told you to try it out. Either way, meditation is a great source of stress relief.
If you’d like to try it out for your well-being and self-care but you don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place. Luckily for us, there are digital apps available to help guide you to meditate. These apps can not only help you get started with meditation but there are also guided sessions that can help you learn different techniques. Best of all, they are all completely free to use and download on Android (some of them are on iPhone, too!).
1 Insight Timer
Insight Timer claims to be the best meditation app, with the world’s largest free library of more than 220,000 guided meditations and 17,000 different teachers. They also offer a timer that includes eight polyphonic overlay bells for a “deeply peaceful” meditation session. The app asks you a few questions and then creates a curated meditation program based on your needs.
Insight Timer claims that in three months, you can expect to be happier. When you sign up, you’re prompted to provide some information about what benefits you’re looking to gain from meditation. Whether you’d like to improve your sleep, stress or anxiety, productivity, or self-esteem. You can pick a goal for how often you’d like to meditate in a week, as well as how long you’d like to meditate for (you can pick between 5–20 minutes a day), and even search for guided meditations based on duration.
One of the things I like about Insight Timer is that it’s incredibly useful for novices because it includes a free program that can help you learn how to meditate in seven days. The meditations are all guided and short, too, so it never feels overwhelming. Insight Timer is free to use, though they have a paid version that you can check out as well. The app is also easy to use and navigate.
2 Daywell
Daywell describes itself as a happiness app based on science, by helping you to do the activities proven to make you happier. This includes developing new habits, finding relief in meditation, reflection, and more. When you sign up, you can choose between habits and goals: meditation, journaling, or all. The app includes meditation and reflections on various topics, including morning waking-up meditations, sleep, anxiety, gratitude, and motivation.
One thing I like about it is that it gamifies the meditation process with coins and rewards, as well as its overall user interface (UI), which is great for people who need a bit of extra motivation. The meditations are shorter though, so that’s something to note if you prefer short bursts of meditation over half-hour sessions. While it was initially free, recent updates have included in-app purchases, including a “wellness pass” for full content access and coins for temporary content access. However, if you prefer a gamified app that celebrates users for consistency, this might be the one for you.
3 Healthy Minds Program
The Healthy Minds program app claims to be unique because it’s a step-by-step, guided program best suited for beginners and has a balance of instruction and practice. The program states that its teachings are data-backed and fulfilling. It’s completely free since they are funded by donations.
Based on a scientific approach, the app helps train the mind to practice four skills: being present (awareness), deepening relationships (connection), encouraging self-curiosity and reflection (insight), as well as helping pinpoint your purpose. When you sign up, you get directed to a short assessment recommended by the app to help find out where you currently stand in the four areas of well-being, and you can track how they change over time. The app also includes “active” meditations which are done whilst engaged in less strenuous tasks such as light housework.
4 Smiling Mind
Smiling Mind is designed for minds of all ages and stages, and it mentions that the app can help you learn skills to promote mental well-being and create the habits to thrive. It follows an evidence-based model for building mental fitness. The app is completely free and relies on funding from donations.
Though it was previously started as just a mindfulness app, the app’s focus has turned into a full mental fitness toolkit based on research. The app describes mental fitness as our ability to navigate challenges and support a state of positive well-being. There are mindfulness sessions to sleep better, manage stress and emotions, live meaningfully, enhance focus, foster relationships, and even boost mental fitness. The app is easy to use and navigate and also allows you to create your routine to keep track of habits. Designed for minds of all ages, it’s even used by teachers in schools for students.
5 Medito App
Medito is a completely free meditation app that is designed to improve your well-being through guided meditations, breathing exercises, and relaxing sounds. Steven Yorke, one of the co-founders and board members of the Medito app states that the app will be free forever because they do not support restricting mental well-being resources from people who can’t afford to pay a monthly subscription.
What I liked about this app is that not only is the UI very friendly and easy to navigate, but the app doesn’t even ask you to sign up or provide personal details. An app that doesn’t capture emails or require registration is as rare as a hen’s teeth these days.
Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. The app includes daily meditations, an option to download sessions when you don’t have access to the Internet, a simple meditation timer, meditations for a good night’s sleep, and habit challenges to help you form consistent habits.
There’s also an “Emergency” section with short sessions (about 7 minutes long) that can help bring back a sense of normality when you’re experiencing intense emotions, including anger, fear, grief, panic, and stress. The app relies on donations to keep it going, so that’s something definitely worth looking into if you start using the app.
If you’re ready to dive into meditation, these apps have your back. From stress relief to habit-building, there’s something for everyone—and most are completely free. Relax, recharge, and take a big breath.
