By Nikki Harper
Contributing Writer for Wake Up World
There is a growing body of evidence that mindfulness has positive psychological and physical benefits, helping to promote mental wellbeing and promoting calmness and a sense of wellness among practitioners [1]. In today’s digital world, there are a plethora of apps which claim to aid the practice of mindfulness and meditation, and there is growing evidence too that such apps can be highly effective [2]. Indeed, here in the UK, the NHS is currently trialling and recommending a number of mindfulness apps [3].
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But which apps should you use? Here’s our pick of some of the best currently available.
Headspace
Ideal for: Beginners
With more than 36 million users worldwide, Headspace is an extremely popular meditation and mindfulness app, with good reason. It offers a solid, introductory level course to help new users get to grips with meditation and mindfulness, with each lesson split into easy to digest chunks. It also features over 350 hours of guided meditations for every situation, from being stressed out at work to having difficulty sleeping. It even offers short one minute SOS meditations for when you find yourself in a stressful situation. Its easy to use interface is not daunting at all, which makes it an ideal choice if you’re new to mindfulness and meditation.
Calm
Ideal for: Stressed Out Calm Seekers
The calm app aims to bring, as you might expect, a sense of calm to everyday living. Beginners can enjoy free daily calm sessions, although there are also intermediate and advanced programs available. There are a great choice of natural sounds to accompany your moments of calm, and a helpful series of videos introducing mindfulness and meditation concepts. With the premium version, you even get access to “sleep stories” – calming and soothing bed time tales, narrated by some very famous voices. If what you really want from your mindfulness app is time and space to breathe and something to help you sleep, Calm will be ideal for you.
Buddhify
Ideal for: A Very Busy Lifestyle
Buddhify’s colourful opening wheel gives a clue as to why this mindfulness app is so popular – it splits each day into segments, and provides meditations suitable for different times of the day or for situations such as commuting. This enables the app to fit seamlessly into even the busiest of schedules, so it’s a great choice for anyone who doesn’t have much time to fit meditation into their lifestyle. There are even meditations for when you’re taking a work break, so there really is no excuse for not getting your daily shot of mindfulness. With over 80 meditations to explore, this app’s enduring popularity speaks for itself.
Aura
Ideal for: Meditators Needing Extra Motivation
Aura provides a variety of very short guided meditations, just three minutes long, which can easily be slotted into your day. It’s a good app for those with a very busy lifestyle, but it’s also good for those who need a little extra motivation to keep up the meditation habit. Users can complete daily challenges to level up, a feature which may appeal to those who struggle to find the fun in mindfulness. Aura also allows users to maintain a gratitude diary – an important and valuable skill in its own right, and another added extra which helps to keep Aura users motivated and on board.
10% Happier
Ideal for: Meditation Sceptics
This meditation and mindfulness app was created specifically for those who are sceptical about the benefits of mindfulness; indeed, it bills itself as meditation ‘for fidgety skeptics’! It’s a no-nonsense app, in contrast to some of its more flowery rivals, and it provides short video tutorials teaching the user the fundamentals of mindfulness and meditation. You can choose your reason for meditating, and receive custom meditations to fit in with that goal, whether you’re wanting to enhance your performance, sleep better or simply become “10% nicer” as a person. This no-frills app will appeal to people who just want to get on with meditating, without the fluff. With no religious or spiritual overtones, this app’s approach is based purely on psychology and neuroscience.
Article sources:
- [1] http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/21802619
- [2] https://repository.uel.ac.uk/download/65f73ee7a7007e6810d074804cb6f3be8d24351c3d158c708ae83e801dd56879/929658/Howells_2015_JOHS.pdf
- [3] https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/category/mental-health/
Recommended articles by Nikki Harper:
- Harnessing the Power of Synchronicity
- Beyond 11:11 – The Significance of Repeating Number Patterns
- A Time to be Born and a Time to Die: Can Astrology Predict Death?
- Premature and Caesarean Birth: An Astrological Misinheritance?
- The Benefits of a Daily Divination Practice – and How to Start One
- 7 Ways to Find Awe in Your Everyday Life
- Need Answers? Looking for Insight? 7 Ways Astrology Can Help
- Alone But Not Lonely: 6 Amazing Benefits of Solitude
- Dancing in the Rain: 6 Reasons We Should All Be Pluviophiles
- Finding Time for a Daily Spiritual Practice – How and Why to Devote Your Time
- 7 Simple Steps to Start Communicating With Nature
- Getting Started with Remote Viewing: Step by Step to Strengthen Your Psi Abilities
About the author:
Nikki Harper is a spiritualist writer, astrologer, and editor for Wake Up World. She writes about divination, astrology, mediumship and spirituality at Questionology: Astrology and Divination For the Modern World where you can also find out more about her work as a freelance astrologer and her mind-body-spirit writing and editing services. Nikki also runs a spiritualist centre in North Lincs, UK, hosting weekly mediumship demonstrations and a wide range of spiritual development courses and workshops.
Say hi at Questionology.co.uk or on Facebook.
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