Top 10 Apps for Meditation

Our nonstop culture doesn’t lend itself to moments of restfulness. But even if you’re constantly on the go, these 10 meditation apps make it easy to take a few minutes to reflect: on the bus, during your lunch break, or while you’re catching up on quiet time at home.

Meditation Apps, Illustration by Jesus Sanz

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Our nonstop, go-go-go culture doesn’t lend itself to moments of mindfulness. But even if you’re constantly on the go, these top 10 meditation apps make it easy to take a few minutes to reflect: on the bus, during your lunch break, or while you’re catching up on quiet time at home.

Meditation Apps for iOS

Mediation Apps
These apps will help guide you through meditation, even if you’re constantly on the go.
  • The Smiling Mind
    Developed by a team of psychologists, this app is modern meditation for children and adults. For the meditation novice (or those who find themselves easily distracted) this might be the best app to begin your journey into mindfulness.
  • Relax with Andrew Johnson Lite
    Highly recommended as a sleep aid by its users, the guided meditation in this app helps you do exactly what its name implies: Relax. Even clinical hypnotherapist Andrew Johnson’s instructions are calming, accompanied by a soft, slow keyboard.
  • Mind
    For the more experienced meditator, this meditation timer is as simple and beautiful as they come. Set it anywhere between 1 to 60 minutes, and then, as the screen reminds you, just relax and focus on your breathing.
  • Take a Break!
    The guided meditations in this app come with plenty of options. Choose between a seven-minute work break or a 13-minute deep-stress reliever. Then select music, nature sounds, or silence to accompany the calm female voice that guides you through meditation. (The volume of the voice and the accompanying sounds can be adjusted separately.)
  • Omvana
    Called the “Spotify of Meditation,” this app allows you to mix and match thousands of different guided meditations and ambient sounds. You can even record your voice on the app to create and mix your own personal meditations.

Meditation Apps for Android

  • Dharma Meditation Trainer
    This silent meditation app encourages you to spend five minutes a day in quiet reflection. Offering philosophical quotes for use as mantras or meditation phrases, a solid week of meditation helps you move up through 10 levels of partially-guided meditation. Timer and sound options are customizable.
  • Nature Sounds Relax and Sleep
    Designed by Zodinplex, this app has 12 different recorded natural sounds that can be used for timed meditation or an alarm clock. The latter takes a bit of trouble to set up, though.
  • Meditation Helper
    For the no-frills meditation practitioner, this silent app is a handy customizable timer with optional bells at the start, end, or every 15 minutes of your meditation time. No pictures, no nature sounds, just the sweet song of silence.
  • Relax Melodies: Sleep and Yoga
    You might spend more time playing with this interactive app than you will meditating to it, but if you’re a music-oriented meditator it’s one of the best choices in free app offerings. Pre-loaded with 16 sounds, you can combine the tracks to personalize your zen style. Click piano, and then add an orchestra or the sound of rain. You can also download additional sounds and customize the timer for as much or as little time as you like.

Meditation Apps for iOS and Android

  • Headspace-on-the-go
    For the goal-oriented meditator, this app offers daily meditations to aid with focus, creativity, sleep, addiction, and more. Sign up for a free trial of 10-minute sessions for 10 days. Or pay a low monthly fee to access all 270 hours of guided mediation.

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