Mindfulness apps provide accessible tools to practice meditation & enhance wellbeing.
Using these apps can help reduce stress, improve focus & promote emotional health.
Regular engagement with mindfulness exercises via apps can lead to lasting positive life changes.
If smartphones are used compulsively or constantly, they can be the enemy of mindfulness.
You have likely heard from numerous clients about the distraction, doomscrolling, and other woes brought about by addictive smartphone usage, or perhaps you’ve experienced them yourself.
But unhealthy use is not our only option.
Smartphones can also be used as a tool for improving our mindfulness and enhancing our ability to be present — if used intentionally.
Meditation apps offer one such way of using our phones intentionally. In this article, we will outline options you can try for yourself or share with your clients to help build a strong mindfulness practice and a healthier relationship with the ubiquitous smartphone.
Before you continue, we thought you might like to download our five positive psychology tools for free. These engaging, science-based exercises will help you effectively deal with difficult circumstances and give you the tools to improve the resilience of your clients, students, or employees.
Rates of smartphone use, and social media use in particular, have been linked to depression, anxiety, and loneliness (Columbia University Department of Psychiatry, n.d.).
Some studies have found evidence that smartphone use is at least tenuously related to a host of negative cognitive outcomes, including poor sleep, greater impulsivity and hyperactivity, and diminished executive function (Wilmer et al., 2017).
Let’s consider the idea of using smartphones and other technology to practice mindfulness. Is it a good idea? Listing out the pros and cons can help us decide.
The pros:
We are often already using the technology that can be harnessed for a mindfulness practice, making it easy and convenient to switch over to a guided meditation session or mindfulness app.
Using your phone for mind-strengthening practices will reduce the amount of time available for doomscrolling or mindless distraction.
Harnessing your phone’s potential for mindfulness can change the way you automatically interact with it, resulting in a positive cycle of healthy tech choices.
The cons:
It can be risky to pick up a smartphone if you’re trying to be more mindful or present, as there is great potential for distraction.
Whatever the purpose, increased smartphone usage can have detrimental effects on our physical body, including the thumbs, head, neck, and eyes (Gilman et al., 2015; Golebiowski et al., 2019; Povolotskiy et al., 2020).
Technology-based mindfulness techniques may keep you at the surface level instead of fostering a deeper mindfulness practice.
The cons are worth consideration, especially if you are easily distracted when you pick up your phone. But with intention, you can use your smartphone to learn about mindfulness and build and enhance your practice at the time and place that works best for you.
How to Select the Best App for Your Needs
One of the most difficult steps is sifting through the vast catalog of mindfulness apps to find the one that will meet your needs. It can be difficult to know which one will work best.
You’ll have a few decisions to make.
Free vs. paid
There are some meditation and mindfulness apps that are entirely free to use, while many others are free for an introductory period or with a small subset of content. Other apps are paid from the get-go, but they usually offer a vast library of content to choose from or other perks like customization.
Meditation vs. mindfulness and more
Some apps focus on meditation alone, while others offer mindfulness activities, breathing techniques, and other exercises to supplement the guided meditations.
Solo meditation sessions vs. tracking progress
A few apps offer no-frills meditation sessions and not much else, while others gamify meditation by allowing you to set goals, schedule reminders, track your progress, and more. You get to decide how interactive your meditation practice is.
Use the guidance shared below to make your decision-making process a little easier. This guide can also be used to help clients in selecting an app that will help them develop new mindfulness habits.
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3 Free Meditation Apps
In the world of free meditation apps, there are so many options available, it can be tough to choose. Fortunately, there are a few standouts in the category of apps you can use without a subscription.
1. Insight Timer
Insight Timer has the world’s largest free library of over 250,000 guided meditations, 17,000 teachers, and live and recorded meditation and yoga events.
Insight Timer is well known and well loved in the meditation world. If you visit their website, you can find extra goodies, like information about hosted meditation retreats around the world. (Note that there is a paid version of the app that offers more features.)
This app offers free guided meditations and self-guided exercises focused on improving your resilience, attention, and compassion for yourself and others. The skills-based learning method is designed to help you train your mind for better awareness, greater purpose, and meaningful connections with others.
The Healthy Minds Program is built on solid evidence gathered by the Center for Healthy Minds, and it provides an award-winning experience to users.
If your clients are looking for an app with a little more content or customization, you may consider recommending a paid meditation app. There are several excellent options in this category.
1. Headspace
One of the leading meditation apps on the market, Headspace delivers meditations, mindfulness practices, courses, and more through a beginner-friendly and aesthetically pleasing medium.
They frequently offer free trials to get you started if you’re not sure whether you want to pay for your meditation app yet.
In a recent expansion, Headspace now also offers online therapy. They’re covered by several major insurance carriers, making them a flexible and convenient one-stop shop for mental health.
Another leading meditation app in terms of popularity, Calm is known for its sleep stories and guided meditations that soothe and relax the nervous system.
Some of the most well-known sleep stories are narrated by an impressive cast of voices, including Matthew McConaughey and Harry Styles.
Calm is available for individuals and for organizations. It also offers a free trial if you’d like to try before you buy.
Formerly known as Ten Percent Happier, this app provides guided meditations and personalized tools in addition to education through courses and podcasts. The evidence base for this app is solid, originally grounded in the research and backed by over 10 years of practice.
It offers fun extras like a “Happier Meditation Weekly” to help you keep up with the news on meditation and innovative ideas for a happier life. You’ll also get daily recommendations to try new sessions that fit around your schedule.
There is some overlap between meditation and mindfulness apps, and many can be used for both purposes. However, these four are specifically good choices for practicing mindfulness.
1. The Mindfulness App
This app offers meditation, sleep stories, and support in building a more mindful life. You can set up mindfulness reminders, track your stress levels and mindfulness progress over time, and choose themed courses to help with specific problems.
Operated by a leading Australian mental health nonprofit, Smiling Mind is designed to support social–emotional learning, build the skills that underpin wellbeing, and reduce stress.
It offers meditation and mindfulness practices, customizable practice routines, and progress tracking that can be especially helpful for children and beginners.
With guided meditations in a variety of categories, a Mindfulness 101 learning section, and a solo meditation feature, Buddhify can help you learn and build a new mindfulness practice from the ground up. As of the time of writing it is currently only available in the Apple App Store.
This app from the US Department of Veterans Affairs offers audio exercises and a self-guided training program that can plant the seeds of mindfulness and build self-awareness, improve emotional balance, and enhance coping skills.
It was designed for service members and veterans to get their mental health in tip-top shape, but it can help users from all walks of life do the same.
Mindfulness is an excellent tool for managing anxiety and reducing its symptoms (Chen et al., 2012). Many of the apps already listed can be used by people with anxiety; however, if you’re looking for apps that are specifically known to help with anxiety, there are a couple of options.
1. Headspace
We covered Headspace already, but it’s a notable addition for managing anxiety. With its specially curated courses on tackling a range of mental and emotional challenges, Headspace offers a Calming an Anxious Mind course to help users ease the mind and calm their nervous system.
There are also several specific short “SOS” exercises to help you handle anxious moments and walking mindfulness exercises to soothe your worries.
Sattva is another app that has been helpful for anxiety. With guided meditations and a meditation timer, it offers all you need to dive into a meditation practice.
For added benefits, it offers a meditation community, with shared playlists and group meditations to work on mental health together. It also incorporates chants and mudras (hand positions associated with traditional meditation practice), engaging your whole mind and body to address anxiety.
One Deep Breath is another useful app for managing anxiety. Although it is not a traditional meditation app, it uses similar techniques through harnessing the breath to improve focus, bring a sense of calm, and lead to better sleep and increased energy.
It includes lessons and courses taught by experts to help you meet your mental health goals.
If you’re looking specifically for relaxation, there are plenty of apps that can get you there. Try these apps that are particularly effective for relaxation.
1. Breethe
Breethe markets itself as the “friendliest wellness app” and is a great choice for injecting peace and relaxation into your day.
It includes meditations, stories, music, and sleep sounds, all geared toward reducing your stress and anxiety and providing instant relief from the busyness of daily life.
While the meditation apps above offer many options to help you get started, there are dozens of other apps that offer similar features that might fit your needs. But remember, apps are not the only way to get mindfulness support. You can find guided mindfulness practices on other platforms, too.
Many of the companies behind these apps have websites that share similar content, accessible from your laptop or other connected devices.
YouTube is also a great resource, with thousands upon thousands of mindfulness and meditation videos. With a vast array of voices to guide you, tons of areas of focus to choose from, and varying practice lengths, YouTube makes it easy to find whatever you are looking for.
For example, this video from Sadhguru, an expert on spirituality, meditation, and yoga, walks you through what meditation is, what it does for you, and how to do it.
How to meditate for beginners - Sadhguru
You can also find moving meditations and active mindfulness practices, including yoga, walking meditations, and breathwork, to complement your new habit.
Wearable health tech like Fitbit and Apple Watch can also help you with your mindfulness practice. You can use these devices to combine mindfulness and meditation with biofeedback techniques to slow your heart rate and find calm, whenever and wherever you are.
Top 17 Exercises for Mindfulness & Meditation
Use these 17 Mindfulness & Meditation Exercises [PDF] to help others build life-changing habits and enhance their wellbeing with the physical and psychological benefits of mindfulness.
To continue your journey toward a more mindful you, or to help your clients solidify a healthy mindfulness practice, check out these other resources from PositivePsychology.com.
Journaling for Mindfulness: 44 Prompts, Examples, and Exercises
Our Journaling for Mindfulness article is a treasure trove of resources and ideas on how to build and improve upon a mindfulness habit by harnessing the power of journaling.
Mindful Walking and Walking Meditation: A Restorative Practice
If you’re looking for more active mindfulness practice, mindful walking will help you or your clients build an adaptable mindfulness practice.
Mindfulness X Bundle This masterclass training package has everything you need to develop a thorough understanding of the practice and benefits of mindfulness. Its info-packed presentations and ready-to-use exercises were designed with the latest scientific evidence, preparing you to become a master of mindfulness for yourself and for others.
Creating a Mindfulness Anxiety Plan Worksheet This simple resource from our free worksheet library offers a helpful tool for those who struggle with anxiety and worry. It walks the user through creating a plan for better managing these difficult thoughts when they arise.
3-Step Mindfulness Worksheet
This is another free worksheet offering a handy practice that’s a great option when a more traditional mindfulness practice might not be feasible. It walks the user through three simple steps: stepping out of autopilot, becoming aware of your breath, and expanding your awareness outward.
The Five Senses Worksheet This free worksheet will guide you through a simple way to tap into your awareness that you can use anywhere, anytime. It involves focusing on what you can perceive with your five senses, using one at a time. It’s particularly great to introduce clients to mindfulness.
If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others enjoy the benefits of mindfulness, this collection contains 17 validated mindfulness tools for practitioners. Use them to help others reduce stress and create positive shifts in their mental, physical, and emotional health.
A Take-Home Message
If you are committed to maintaining mindfulness, your smartphone does not have to be an impediment to your practice.
As we’ve seen, meditation apps can transform smartphones into tools for mindfulness and wellbeing when used with purpose. There are a variety of meditation apps that can get you or your clients started in building a practice that works.
If you are intentional about your smartphone usage, you might find that it can be a valuable tool for presence instead of a distraction.
How have meditation apps supported your mindfulness practice or those of your clients? Please share your experience below.
What’s next
While preparing yourself for mindfulness practice, we would like to recommend our article on mindfulness quotes as a great aid to help you reflect and settle yourself in the present moment.
If you are searching for tranquility, an additional article that you would enjoy is The Wabi Sabi Lifestyle.
Meditation apps can be effective in promoting relaxation, reducing stress, and improving focus when used consistently. They offer guided meditations and mindfulness exercises that help individuals integrate mindfulness and meditation into their daily routines.
Is there an app for mindful eating?
Yes, there are some apps focused on building more mindful eating. Eat Right Now and the Mindful Eating Coach are two well-reviewed apps for mindful eating that help users build awareness of their eating habits, savor their food, and build a healthier relationship with eating.
Are there apps that combine mindfulness and exercise?
Yes, some apps offer a combination of mindfulness and physical exercise into a moving meditation practice. Calm, Headspace, and Insight Timer all offer mindful moving exercises, and other apps provide similar techniques through the practice of tai chi.
About the author
Courtney E. Ackerman, works as a mental health policy researcher for the state of California, focusing on population mental health and wellbeing, peer support, and violence prevention. She is passionate about fostering transformational change in California's mental health system. She also works as a research consultant with individuals and organizations on a freelance basis, generating insights and identifying actionable solutions. Courtney is guided by her curiosity and a commitment to authentic connections.
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What our readers think
Alex
on April 25, 2023 at 10:26
Mindfulness apps are a great way to help you stay present and aware throughout your day. They have listed the best mindfulness apps here, all of which come with great reviews!
I would add an Exhale to this. Really grea app. Also I can recommend a great guide for the beginners – net-bossorg/mindfulness-by-julia-hanner – worked for me very well.
Thanks for this amazing read Courtney, Really interesting article. I have been using a mindfulness app recently called Ripple Meditation I downloaded on the app store. I have noticed such a difference in my mood day to day. Definitely recommend https://ripplemeditation.com/
Music is important to high school students and can certainly be used as a calming force depending on what type of music is used. Introducing new types of music or melodies to them will hopefully open their minds and allow some new thoughts on how to be more calm during their lives.
Great information detailing each available app. I would use the Calm and Relax Melodies app because I work with behavior students. I already listen to calming music and workout to de-stress which I find very helpful to myself and to help my students to learn how to calm down when upset. I also attend training, read behavior articles and material on how to help my students. Again, these are some great apps that I may invest in.
I already am in a class where calm is being used. The students love it and ask to do calm each day.
It is a nice way to center my day and to clear my mind. Myself and the teacher that I work with are definite fans of calm.
Hi,
I think mindfulness can’t be achieved by meditation don once or twice a week. It can be only achieved if you are able to meditate regularly i.e. form a habit of meditation . And I don’t think the above mentioned apps help you in habit formation. I recently started using this app called Atom. Through it’s algorithm, it can form adaptive meditation sessions for you. Not just that, they use trigger habits which really help in habit formation. You should try it and feature it as well if you find it useful.
Here is the link: https://bit.ly/atom_playstore
Thanks
Hi, Great article listed in details all the important points related to smartphone and I personally using app calm and found is relaxing some time especially the sound of water striking on stones I will try others apps you mention here. I am working in 9 to 5 office routine and really looking for something that gives me relaxation and inner piece life get very hectic sometimes and these sort of activities really good for your health and work-life I have been reading a lot related to this and I found this article is interested as we nowadays excess used of smartphone and these are some apps to make your self feel calm and relax.
“Hi, in my opinion Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.
Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment.
If smartphones are used compulsively or constantly, they can be the enemy of mindfulness.
One of the most difficult steps is sifting through the vast catalog of mindfulness apps to find the one that will meet your needs. It can be difficult to know which one will work best.
What our readers think
Mindfulness apps are a great way to help you stay present and aware throughout your day. They have listed the best mindfulness apps here, all of which come with great reviews!
I would add an Exhale to this. Really grea app. Also I can recommend a great guide for the beginners – net-bossorg/mindfulness-by-julia-hanner – worked for me very well.
Thanks for this amazing read Courtney, Really interesting article. I have been using a mindfulness app recently called Ripple Meditation I downloaded on the app store. I have noticed such a difference in my mood day to day. Definitely recommend
https://ripplemeditation.com/
Thank you for sharing these Apps. I will try recommending some to my students.
Music is important to high school students and can certainly be used as a calming force depending on what type of music is used. Introducing new types of music or melodies to them will hopefully open their minds and allow some new thoughts on how to be more calm during their lives.
Great information detailing each available app. I would use the Calm and Relax Melodies app because I work with behavior students. I already listen to calming music and workout to de-stress which I find very helpful to myself and to help my students to learn how to calm down when upset. I also attend training, read behavior articles and material on how to help my students. Again, these are some great apps that I may invest in.
I already am in a class where calm is being used. The students love it and ask to do calm each day.
It is a nice way to center my day and to clear my mind. Myself and the teacher that I work with are definite fans of calm.
Hi,
I think mindfulness can’t be achieved by meditation don once or twice a week. It can be only achieved if you are able to meditate regularly i.e. form a habit of meditation . And I don’t think the above mentioned apps help you in habit formation. I recently started using this app called Atom. Through it’s algorithm, it can form adaptive meditation sessions for you. Not just that, they use trigger habits which really help in habit formation. You should try it and feature it as well if you find it useful.
Here is the link: https://bit.ly/atom_playstore
Thanks
Hi, Great article listed in details all the important points related to smartphone and I personally using app calm and found is relaxing some time especially the sound of water striking on stones I will try others apps you mention here. I am working in 9 to 5 office routine and really looking for something that gives me relaxation and inner piece life get very hectic sometimes and these sort of activities really good for your health and work-life I have been reading a lot related to this and I found this article is interested as we nowadays excess used of smartphone and these are some apps to make your self feel calm and relax.
“Hi, in my opinion Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment.
Mindfulness also involves acceptance, meaning that we pay attention to our thoughts and feelings without judging them—without believing, for instance, that there’s a “right” or “wrong” way to think or feel in a given moment.