THE BEST MEDITATION APPS FOR BEGINNERS

Meditation. It’s not just for yoga-loving, holistic lifestyle-living, Instagram perfect people. Meditation has so many benefits and is often misunderstood. Many think meditating is about losing all thoughts and being one with yourself, but mediation is what you want it to be, and what you make it. I’ve tried a couple different meditation apps and have found my favorite, so take a peak and try one (or them all) for yourself!

HEADSPACE

This was by far my favorite meditation app. The app is laid out nicely and easy to navigate. There are meditation packs for different things, for example, health packs, happiness packs, student packs, sport packs, and of course the foundation packs. There are also single meditations for different scenarios and mediation minis for a quick moment to check in with yourself. The app even has a whole section of kid’s meditations for all you vinas with little ones! I started off with the first basics pack which has ten sessions. When starting, the app asks some basic questions to help you get started. I chose to meditate for five minutes and dedicated time after my shower at night to sit down and meditate. When starting a meditation, there is always a little text to read before starting to get you ready, and on some days, there is even a little animated video to put your mind at ease. During the actual meditation portion, the recording guides you through what to do, helps you breathe, and makes you feel comfortable with words of encouragement. I definitely recommend this app for those who don’t think they can meditate properly, or who have had a hard time meditating in the past, like I had in yoga. The first basics pack is free, and there are other packs you can try a session for free, but Headspace is a subscription-based app.

CALM

Calm has a couple different tabs: home, sleep, meditate, music and masterclass tabs. When starting the Calm app, I was asked my goals for meditating. I was then prompted to sign up for a one week trial which would turn into a yearly subscription. The intro to meditation is 7 sessions long, perfect for the free trial. On day one you learn the basics and the recording walks you through how to breathe and what to do. After the first day of meditation, you are asked to confirm your goal for what you want to work on and how many days a week you want to meditate. The app also has sleep stories to help you fall asleep, meditations for different scenarios, and music for things like sleeping, relaxing, and focusing.

10% HAPPIER

I recommend this app for anyone who is skeptical about meditating. I actually found this app reading a book called Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, which gives you access to corresponding meditations in the app. The first 8 meditation sessions are free in the basics course, but the other 8 and the rest of the content need to be unlocked with a subscription. The full version gives you meditation courses, a meditation of the day, single meditations for different scenarios like stress, sleep, focus, happiness, etc. You also get coaching with real meditators with 10+ years of experience to answer all your questions. Both the book and the app stemmed from a TV news anchor, Dan Harris, who was a normal person who took up meditation after having a panic attack on national TV. The app brings together scientists and teachers to help even the biggest skeptic find the benefits of meditating.

So what are you waiting for, vinas? Start meditating and find your zen (and your vina) today!