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Meditation is difficult at first, but its results are so beneficial that it can help anyone calmly organize their thoughts to balance the stress of daily living with inner peace. There are several ways to meditate, and there is no right or wrong way as long as you can fit it into your daily routine.
Guided meditations are easier for establishing a daily relaxation routine because they offer the correct cues through audio and visual means. There are several good guided meditation apps to choose from; some are free, while others have a subscription fee. We found the 11 best ones if you are determined to enhance your meditation experiences.
1. Calm
Calm is a top-rated app in the space of guided meditation. The app follows a relaxed approach to ease users into practicing regular meditation with daily guided meditations presented in schedule-friendly sessions. In addition, calm has targeted programs for anxiety, stress, or if you suffer from lack of sleep.
Whether you are a meditation beginner or more experienced, the app teaches you breathing techniques concentration and provides calming sounds, music, and bedtime stories to relax you at all times mentally.
After a free trial for seven days, the app costs $70 annually.
2. Insight Timer
Insight Timer is free to start and user-friendly, allowing users to choose from 15,000 guided mediation recordings according to their topics of interest and length. Some of the courses and talks are free to use. In addition, users can send each other messages creating a sense of community, and read reviews about the meditations.
The cost is free, and downloads of a course cost $4.99. Readers interested in an upgrade can pay $9.99 monthly or $59.99 annually.
3. Ten Percent Happier
Based on the New York Times best-selling book, Ten Percent Happier became popular during the pandemic. It has a free basic version, but the premium subscription provides 500 guided meditation programs to match any mood. Premium users can also contact experts to answer any questions. In addition, subscribers love this app because it regularly provides new mindfulness video offerings.
There is a seven-day free trial for the premium subscription and $100 for an annual subscription; otherwise, use the essential app for free.
4. Headspace
The guided meditations on Headspace make it effortless to learn about practicing mindfulness and are soothing. They include breathing exercises and body scans, and they lay everything nicely out with great graphics.
You can use Headspace free for up to 2 weeks. After that, you can either opt to pay $12.99 a month or $95 annually.
5. Meditation Studio
With about 50 veteran instructors from different mediation backgrounds, with Meditation Studio, you get to choose the voice and theme that best suits you. There are groupings for various instances, including compassion, life transitions, children, veterans, etc.
Mediation Studio allows you to save your favorite meditations to use whenever you want, includes a timer feature, and offers a choice of sounds (instrumental music or sounds from nature).
The first ten sessions are free, or you can upgrade for $7.99 a month or $49.99 annually.
6. Core Meditation
Core Meditation is the only app that allows you to use a small 3D device linked to the app. Hyperice, the fitness manufacturer, developed a separate device with ECG biosensors for its Core Meditation app to ensure your attention remains on the meditation and help you learn the correct breathing techniques. There are several modes to its guided meditations, including better sleep and instant reduced stress-related anxiety in any situation.
There is a free two-week trial, and then you can choose to pay $10 monthly or $70 per year.
7. The Mindfulness App
More experienced meditators prefer the Mindfulness App because it skips guided sessions, allowing you to create custom sessions of up to 30 minutes. You can also choose the sounds you desire. With the free app, you can keep an eye on the length of your meditating sessions, but the premium subscription unlocks entire courses on developing a focus in the areas that suit you.
The app is free, but in-app subscriptions are $60 annually.
8. Waking Up
Waking Up, one of the best apps for beginners starts with an introductory course before introducing in-depth meditations. The app is also great for anyone interested in mindfulness since it has science, philosophy, and well-being lessons.
Upgrades cost $14.99 a month or $99.99 annually; otherwise, it is free.
9. Simple Habit
Simple Habit makes it very easy to customize your meditating routine according to your interests. You can concentrate your mediation on areas like anxiety, stress management, positivity, eating, and sleep. Your on-the-go mediation sessions are easy to organize for convenient times, and the app is linked to Apple Health.
Simple Habit is free, or you can upgrade for $11.99 monthly, $89.99 annually, or lifetime access at $299.99.
10. MyLife
Stop Breath Think (previously known as MyLife) focuses on your current feelings and thoughts, allowing you to choose the session based on these. You complete a few basic questions about your current emotional, mental and physical state and the app recommended a list of exercises to try. There are also short sessions for when you don’t have much time.
MyLife is free, but an upgrade will cost as little as $4.91 per month.
11. Simply Being
Some people prefer the soothing voice of an anonymous female instructor, and this is how Simply Being guides you through its relaxing meditation. Sessions are customizable with music and other sounds and allow you to create 5-30 minute sessions.
Simply Being has no subscription fee; you buy the app once for $1.99.
If you are looking for a guided meditation app that will offer you the best experience, we suggest trying out one of the apps from our list. Themed meditations, varying lengths and difficulty levels, and helpful tips can make your relaxation journey more pleasant. And if you find that one of these apps isn’t quite right for you, don’t worry – there are plenty more to choose from. We wish you the best of luck in finding an app (or several) that work well for establishing a daily relaxation routine!
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