Stress manifests for everyone differently—some might have trouble sleeping, others trouble focusing, or difficulty finding a sense of inner peace and calm. Practicing daily meditation—even if only for a few minutes each day—could help you recenter yourself and promote gratitude or increased focus during a stressful time. Whether you're stressed out at work or at home, or are overwhelmed by world events, these meditation apps can help you find peace amidst the chaos:
Headspace
The Headspace value proposition is simple: Their meditations are informed just as much by science as they are by ancient spiritual practices. According to Headspace, there are now “25 published studies (that) show the impact of Headspace on outcomes such as stress, focus, and compassion.” To get started, visit the “Weathering the Storm” section of their app to find various meditations to help you meditate, sleep, and practice purposeful movement.
Insight Timer
Insight Timer prides itself on not just being a meditation app, but offering a mindfulness community through their platform. Insight Timer offers a lot of specificity in their meditations that could be helpful during stressful times. Insight Timer also has an entire subset of meditations made just for kids, with various pre-recorded sessions for children as young as four or well into their teens. With more than 3,000 free Managing Stress meditations to choose from, relevant Insightful Talks, and week-long courses, there’s plenty of content to dig into here.
Buddhify
Rather than struggling to carve out time in your day for meditation, Buddhify is known for their on-the-go meditation style. The idea is you can tap into these meditations at any time—at the grocery store, on your commute, or even while pacing your home office. Buddhify was started by a husband and wife duo, and the operation is still entirely self-funded. Determined to keep this growing digital practice all in the family, Buddhify works with just 14 other mindfulness and meditation teachers.
Aura
Aura is focused on not just stress release but emotional health. With guided gratitude journaling through the app and life coaching, Aura takes a holistic approach to mindfulness. Get started on the app by honestly telling Aura how you’re feeling and what you want to work on (whether it’s improving focus, reducing anxiety, or falling asleep, etc.). All of Aura’s meditations, coaching sessions, and curated mindfulness experiences are informed by their team of expert coaches and therapists.
Calm
With Calm’s targeted meditation practices, you can hone in on what you want to work on during your mindfulness sessions. Meditations may be different if you’re working on developing gratitude, building self-esteem, or reducing stress and anxiety. With more than 700,000 five-star reviews, Calm even offers meditation and mindfulness masterclasses on their app.
Ten Percent Happier
Ten Percent Happier offers a free trial wherein they ask you questions about your relaxation style and then pair you with the meditations best suited for you. Ten Percent Happier isn't just about guided meditations, it's about teaching you lasting meditation principles to help reduce your stress in the long term. The app even hosts occasional livestreams for their subscriber base, which often start with a five-minute meditation led by an experienced teacher.
The Mindfulness App
Everyone’s meditation palette is different, and with The Mindfulness App, you can select the timeframe of your session, whether you want it to be three minutes or 15. When getting started, you can try the app’s “five-day guided introduction to mindfulness.” The Mindfulness App also realizes that half the battle when getting into meditation is remembering to observe your daily practice. That’s why “the app also includes a reminder function which can be activated on specific times and places.”
