The best meditation applications: a guide

Cost: Free.

Best for: Those who either have a space with the silence of a bench vault, or have time to practice when no one else at home is awake.

-Samantha Selinger-Morris

Quiet

Highlights: Driven by celebrities, Calm is a one-stop shop that provides a comprehensive and accessible approach to mindfulness. With an extensive library of guided meditation, breathing techniques, sleep stories, stretching exercises, soundscapes, and music, you can choose the length of the session and your narrator. How about Harry Styles, Keith Urban, Laura Dern or LeBron James?

Low points: The app itself is pretty easy to navigate, but the sheer amount of choices can make it hard to know where to start. Try guided courses and master classes and expert-led classes, if celebrities are likely to distract you.

Do I recommend it? Definitely. It already has the green light from many therapists and mental health experts, it is an immersive app that fits perfectly into your life, whether you are looking for some guidance to meditate on or if you need a quick dose of motivation.

Cost: Free download, access to all features costs $ 12.99 per month or $ 69.99 per year. $ 399.99 per single lifetime subscription.

Best for: For people or families looking for a complete awareness resource to help reduce stress, promote balance, increase sleep and concentration, and teach ways to exploit thought and emotions without judgment.

-Nicole Economos

Head space

Highlights: One of the most popular meditation apps in the world, with about 70 million users worldwide, Headspace is smart, well-designed and intuitive to use. It offers guided courses to get you started, and to keep you going, meditations, playlists, and exercises to help you sleep, move, and concentrate. I used the wind descents to go at night (waking up later to discover the headphones that were still there), the Hans Zimmer playlist to concentrate on while working, and the stress-focused meditations to relax. . Everything worked as promised. With plenty of evidence-based content to keep you engaged, segments created specifically for kids, beautiful graphics, as well as a section on techniques and support, Headspace is a world-class app.

Low points: No app will solve everyone’s problems and no one will hold you responsible but you.

Do I recommend it? 100 percent.

Cost: Subscriptions start with a free seven- or 14-day trial. An annual subscription costs $ 55.19, with a current 40% discount through Oct. 10; $ 19.99 monthly; Headspace Student Plan $ 9.99 per year and family account: six accounts $ 137.99 per year

The best for? Stressed families and people (like parents!).

-Sarah Berry

Insight Timer

Highlights: The Amazon’s meditation apps, this is a beast, and can feel overwhelming with the wide variety of recordings, courses and even yoga classes on offer. But, like shopping online, it is helpful to know what you are looking for. Even a simple search for keywords, such as “morning” or “sleep,” can help narrow the options, which you can sort by ranking or duration. Once you find a teacher you like, the app, which is mostly free but has a premium paid section, you can follow. I found Sarah Blondin’s voice the perfect perfume for sleepless nights, while Andy Hobson also appears, who many will know from Headspace. There are also social features that allow you to create a group for your workplace or friends, so you can meditate together; nothing like a certain group responsibility to keep your practice up to date.

Low points: Such a huge app can be daunting for beginners, so it’s worth doing the free 10-day trial and taking a course to get started. The annual cost can also seem high when there are many cheaper options.

Cost: Free (with a premium content payment section, $ 89 per year).

We recommend: Why not.

Best for: Total beginners or experienced professionals who need little guidance or motivation.

– Melissa Singer

Ten percent

Highlights: American news anchor Dan Harris went from skeptical to meditator after a live panic attack led him to make big life changes. Share your learnings through short video interviews with world-renowned meditation teachers, who then take you through guided meditation. It is free of desirable languages ​​and there are no promises of enlightenment, but practical advice on the basics of meditation. My favorite feature is tracking your practice. After each meditation, you will be reminded of your progress, including the number of “attentive days” and the total minutes of meditation to date. It’s strangely motivating.

Low points: The app tells me that I have completed 14 conscious days in the last month, which I must say has been a challenge due to the length of each guided meditation. I try to apply a meditation to my morning Pilates workout and with some of the meditation sessions of up to 17 minutes, it’s a big deal. That said, the days I haven’t meditated I definitely notice the difference. Another downside is the cost, however, with the break in my regular gym subscription, I felt the annual subscription was justified. A month goes by and I don’t regret it.

Cost: 7-day free trial, $ 99.99 per year.

We recommend: Absolutely.

Best for: If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at the hype around meditation, but are secretly curious to see for yourself, this is for you.

– Julia Naughton

AtOne

Highlights: This is a meditation app like you have never tried. AtOne offers virtual reality meditation, which means you use Oculus headphones to enter another world as you are guided through meditation. What stands out most is its size. I loved being able to choose from several scenes where to place myself (my favorites were the lake and the outdoor space of the mountain) and combine it with my choice of sound as a backdrop for the voice. And this, in addition to being able to select your duration and type of meditation (relaxation? Productivity?). You can also use a heart rate variability monitor, which can indicate stress levels, and headphones can measure your focus by tracking eye movement. There are other contributions as well: before and after a meditation, you are asked to draw how you feel, so that you can keep track of how you are progressing. However, I have found that there is a lot to gain from using this.

Low points: Needless to say, this app requires you to have access to some Oculus headphones and they are quite expensive. At the moment, the app is only available for businesses, so unless you can convince your boss to sign in, you’re out of luck. Also, if you’re not used to virtual reality, you need some adjustment and it can feel a little awkward until you get into it.

Do I recommend it? Totally, if you can get it. This is a truly unique way to experience application-sent meditation. All the custom details are great and who doesn’t want to meditate from outer space? If other meditation apps don’t work for you, AtOne may be the answer.

Cost: $ 500 per month for 100 users or up to $ 5,000 per month for 5,000 users (excluding headphones).

Best for: Entrepreneurs who want to give the gift of awareness to their staff and technology lovers who want to immerse themselves in the meditation of virtual reality.

– Sophie Aubrey

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