When I feel stressed out, grumpy or lack energy I do one of two things, either I do some exercise in the form of running or jumprope, or I listen to a guided meditation on one of my apps. I immediately feel a totally different person afterwards.
Today there are many great apps offering (guided) meditations, mindfulness, and other ways to de-stress. Guided meditations allow you to just relax and listen to the gentle voices that will help you destress your mind and body, and empower you for the rest of the day.
There are also apps with mesmeric sounds that are great for coming into a calm and unwinding state. According to a new study, sounds can physically alter the connections in our brains, reducing our body’s natural fight-or-flight instinct. You can listen to these sounds while you’re doing a task, but the effects are most effective when you take a moment to sit or lie down and surrender to their healing vibrations. Try for yourself and experience.
Also mindfulness sessions are often added to apps to make you aware of your mind, body and actions throughout the day so you’ll stay centred, appreciative, receptive, focused and wiser while you’re dealing with the issues of daily life.
Most apps have a combination of these techniques so you can choose the ones you like most.
At this moment I’m using insight timer (for meditation and guided mediation), relax melodies (to unwind) and Sadhguru (to gain some words of wisdom), but the other apps are also definitely worth checking out. It all depends on your state of being, and what you need most in your life.
Let’s take a look at these 8 beautiful apps:
1 – Insight timer
Insight timer is beautiful mindfulness and meditation app. You can use it for meditation purposes, or try the many quality guided meditations that allow you to just lie down, listen and let the voice calm your mind and body into a total state of relaxation.
2 – Relax Melodies
Relax Melodies is a beautiful designed app that looks really awesome and has a great set of relaxing sounds that are perfect to set a gentle mood or say goodbye to your insomnia. It also offers guided meditations and ways to sleep better. You can upgrade to pro to expand the app, but there’s certainly enough to start with.
3 – Head Space
Head space is one of the most popular meditations apps and with good reason. The app is beautifully designed and has hundreds of meditation sessions on stress, focus, sleep and anxiety. You can start with a free 10 day beginners course or upgrade to the monthly or annual paid plan.
4 – Sadhguru Yoga, Medition and Spirituality
Sadhgura is an indian yogi, mystic and author, with millions of followers, who has founded a non-profit organization which offers Yoga programs around the world. In this app you can listen to his wise and comforting words, follow a guided meditation and practice Yoga. The app is free and you can donate if you like.
5 – Mindfi
The Mindfi app has a simple and easy to use interface. The app consists of short (and longer) meditations that you can apply to your daily moods, emotions and feelings (happy, okay, distracted, unmotivated, anxious, stressed, sad, or angry). The voices are calm and soothing. You can also follow courses like Basics, Self-care, MindMastery, Sleep and leadership, and subscribe to Premium. Mindfi is a great app for the busy person to start the day on the right path or just to reset your brain.
Mindfulness Daily is a beautiful free mindfulness app. Be guided by the mindfulness sessions and programs applied to your personality with only a few minutes throughout the day. Incorporate your mindful daily routine “Morning (intention), noon (pause) and night (unplug)” and feel and experience the change.
7 – Smiling Mind
Smiling mind is a free mindfulness and meditation app with already over 3 million downloads. This 100% non-profit organisation works to make mindfulness accessible to all. The app teaches mindfulness practices and give you the tools to create a healthy mind to thrive at home, at work, in schools and in communities. A wonderful app!
8 – Spotify
Spotify is a popular music streaming service but it also contains many guided meditations, and sounds for healing, relaxation, sleep, focus and reprogramming your mind. Just search for “guided meditations”, “mindfulness”, “nature sounds” or “zen” and you will find something that will ease your mind and get you up on your feet again in no time.
Calm is also a good mindfulness app.
Hi Sarah,
Absolutely, the moving nature scenes are lovely and really calming.
Thanks for sharing. I appreciate it.
Klaus