Best Meditation Apps for November 2021
When your stress or anxiety levels are shifting into overdrive, it's time to slow down and bring balance to your day. More than 3 million people around the world turn to meditation apps each day to improve their well-being. Not sure where to start? Here are our picks of the best meditation apps on the market today.
Best App for Beginners: UCLA Mindful
This simple and uncomplicated app features guided meditations of different lengths, in English and Spanish. It's especially well-suited for beginners, with introductory videos about understanding mindfulness, choosing a meditation, and finding a meditation posture. When you're ready to learn more, listen to the weekly podcasts. All of the content is free, and you don't need an account — just download the app and give it a try.
Best App for Connecting With Others: Insight Timer
Insight Timer boasts an incredible library with more than 100,000 guided meditations and new ones added daily. And, just because you're using an app to meditate, you don't have to do it alone. This app excels at building community, connecting you to like-minded members so you can share your meditation journey. Join groups, create and comment on posts, meditate together in real-time, and live chat with others. There's a lot of free content, but for features such as listening offline and or being able to pick up where you left off, you need a subscription.
Best App for the Whole Family: Headspace
It's hard to have a "best of" list without Headspace, one of the two most popular meditation apps on the market. Headspace features meditations for all ages, including children and teens, and is designed with colorful illustrations to make this app your happy space. The extensive library includes daytime meditations, sleep meditations, yoga, fitness, and daily inspiration videos. You can progress through courses to build your practice, or tap on a mini-meditation for a quick rescue during the day. This is a subscription-based app with some free content.
Best App for Slowing Down: The Breathing App
Most of us breathe at a rate of 15 to 18 breaths per minute. The Breathing App, developed by Eddie Stern, a yoga instructor, and best-selling author Deepak Chopra, aims to slow you down. The Breathing App guides you towards five to seven breaths per minute, a rate used by Buddhist monks and yogis when meditating. You can breathe along to a clock, instrumental music by Moby with sound cues, or the visual of a sphere that's expanding and contracting. The slow, natural rhythms reduce anxiety and create a restful alertness so you can get back to your day at peace. We like this app for its simplicity.