For those of you who don’t know, being mindful means that you have your mind on what you are doing in the moment. It’s all about focusing on a single thing, or just a couple of things at a time. For instance, you might want to focus on a single emotion or thought that you are having.
Being mindful is all about not rushing or having too many things to do at once. Being mindful is all about slowing down, taking the time, and looking inwards. Moreover, being mindful means developing a basic trust within yourself and within your feelings.
Being mindful is also about being patient, accepting, and wise. In simplest terms, being mindful is about your ability to be fully present in the moment, aware of where you are, and aware of what you are doing.
It’s also about not being overwhelmed by thoughts or emotions, and about not being overly reactive in the moment. being mindful means being aware of your thoughts, sensations, and feelings, on a moment-by-moment basis.
Now, this all sounds fine. However, for beginners who have never tried being mindful before, it can be very difficult. If you are just starting out, you might not have the foggiest clue of how to be mindful. However, this is why there are journals, guides, and yes, apps too.
Today, we want to take a look at some of the best apps for mindfulness not to the market has to offer. These are simple yet effective applications that are going to guide you on your journey to mindfulness. It will help you live a much better life so you can be more aware of yourself and the world around you, live in the moment, and be at peace with yourself.
The Best Apps for Mindfulness
Each of the mindfulness applications we are about to discuss our ideal in their own rights. Beware that these are not presented in any particular order. We are not saying that one is better than the other, because they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. Let’s take a look.
1. Calm
Calm is an app that calls itself the number one application for sleep and meditation. If you need an application that is going to offer you guided mindfulness meditation, then this is it. Yes, this application is free to download app first. That said, the free content is somewhat limited in nature.
With the free version, you get a seven-day course that is going to introduce you to the world of mindful meditation. It’s going to provide you with some unguided and guided meditation sessions. You can then also subscribe for a monthly, annual, or even a lifetime plan.
Based on the subscription you get, you will get access to a variety of calm courses, multi day courses, and tons of guided meditations for you to engage in. If you want an application that is going to provide you with multi day or even week long courses that are extremely structured in nature, then this is the app for you. It has an average rating of 4.8 out of five, complete with over 700,000 positive reviews.
2. The Mindfulness App
If you need a mindfulness application that is good for beginners, then this aptly named app is probably right for you. It starts off by offering you a five day introduction to the world of mindfulness. These five days all come complete with some guided meditations.
It’s nothing overly intense, just something to get you with meditation. It then also comes complete with timed meditation sessions, both silent meditation sessions and guided meditation sessions. These can last between three and thirty minutes, and there is the ability to customize your meditation sessions. Keep in mind that the basic version is totally free.
However, if you are not happy with the free content, you can also pay a small fee for a premium subscription. This will provide you with access to a variety of courses that teach you about focus, calmness, and relationships. It will also provide you with well over 250 guided meditation sessions.
This app features a 4.7 out of 5 rating, complete with over 2200 positive reviews. One of the only downsides here is that this is apparently only an I OS app and is not available for Android.
3. Smiling Mind
Here we have fantastic application for beginners, students, and young children. You can get this application on Google Play and on the App Store. It is also completely free to use. There is absolutely no payment required for any of the features.
Something that you might appreciate here is that this app was designed by both educators and psychologists. It is designed for people of all ages, but particularly for younger people. There are programs from various age groups, ranging from 7 to 9 year olds, all the way to 16 to 18 year olds, as well as adults.
It also focuses on being mindful in the classroom, mindful in the workplace, and mindful in sports. It even has a special sleep program to help people sleep better. With a 4.3 out of 5 rating in the App Store, you really can’t go wrong. We would say that this is definitely the best mindfulness meditation app for younger people.
4. Headspace
Here we have an application that is available on both Android and iOS. This is actually one of the most popular mindfulness and meditation applications out there. It features well over 600,000 positive reviews, complete with a 4.9 out of 5 rating in the App Store. In fact, this application is also backed up and supported by numerous scientific studies.
Yes, this application is free to download and use. There is a free trial available. That said, after two weeks, there is an automatic enrollment into the annual plan. If you don’t forget to cancel it, you will be enrolled, although there is also a monthly plan available if a full year is too much for you.
Most people would say that this is by far one of the best mindfulness and meditation applications out there. It features literally hundreds of different guided meditation sessions.
These guided meditation sessions are designed to help improve your focus, help you sleep better, get rid of anxiety and stress, and more. There are also very quick meditation routines at allow you to meditate and reflect inwards in just 10 minutes per day.
5. Insight Timer
Here we have a mindful and meditation application that is available on Android, iOS, and there is a web app too. There is a free option available that offers a limited amount of content. However, after the 30 day free trial, you will have to pay $60 per year.
However, this is going to provide you with access to daily meditation routines, the ability to use the app offline, advanced player functions, and much more. You’ll also get access to meditation courses with very advanced and well known meditation and mindfulness teachers.
Here you get a library of over 80,000 guided meditation sessions. these are all designed with a specific focus, such as relationships, stress, healing, creativity, sleep, and more. There are also guided meditation sessions taught by over 10,000 different teachers. here, there is a guided meditation session for quite literally every problem or issue that you might have.
6. Healthy Minds Program
Here we have a very unique type of mindful application. This particular one was designed by Doctor Richard Davidson, a famous neuroscientist. This application is all about the combination of meditation training with research-based techniques and neuroscience. The aim is to improve your overall mental well-being.
The point here is to help you decrease your stress and strengthen your mental focus, as well as to increase your compassion, resilience, and even increase your immune health. There are four main areas of focus here, including connection, awareness, purpose, and insight.
Each of these four main areas consists of 3, 4, or five parts, each which contain multiple sessions and series within. Besides those four pillars of Wellness, there are also 27 other guided meditations available. What is actually really cool is that this application is completely free to use. There is absolutely no payment required.
7. Mindfulness Coach
This particular application was actually created by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. It’s all about helping service members and veterans be more mindful. This is a fairly basic application, but it does work pretty well.
It provides you with mindfulness training as well as the means to keep track of your progress throughout your mindfulness journey.
Of course, it is mainly intended for use by soldiers and veterans, but this doesn’t mean that civilians can’t use it. It features over 2000 positive reviews and a 4.7 out of 5 rating, which is really promising.
Conclusion
Although there are plenty of other useful mindfulness applications out there, we have done our best to assemble a list to reach all possible target audiences. Some of the apps discussed today are ideal for beginners, some for kids and students, and some for veterans.