8 Meditation Apps to Try Now
Now, with all of the stress around current events and how our personal lives will be affected, it’s important to build self-care into the day any way you can, whether it’s taking three deep breaths every few hours or listening to a guided meditation to soothe you into a very important good night’s sleep.
Mindfulness and meditation practice literally changes the structure of the human brain for the better, and it’s during your teen years that the brain is at one of its most pivotal developmental points. Studies show that meditation can help reduce the school-related stress your under (and actually help you focus and do better on tests), and improve your personal relationships too, since it helps you foster a deeper sense of calm, compassion, and forgiveness. “Teens can be amazingly resilient, and can learn to overcome stress and cope in a healthy way. Adolescence is a time of great opportunity, because if they learn healthy coping strategies as teens, they can use them for the rest of their lives,” said Dzung Vo, MD, Adolescent Medicine Specialist and creator of the incredibly useful resource MindfulnessForTeens.com. “Mindfulness is emerging as one of the most powerful coping skills that teens can use.”
During one of the most stressful times in our recent history, we took the task of testing out the most effective apps on the market very seriously. All of them are free to download, and have a solid amount of free meditations to use. Whether you’re looking to breathe through a moment of being triggered by social media, feel grounded before a presentation, of shift your mood when you’re PMSing, these are meditations you can take with you on your commute to school, to bed, or anywhere else you can imagine. Whether you’re a beginner or a meditator who just can’t seem to find the time, the app for you is definitely somewhere in the list below.
Courtesy of Aura1/9Aura
Ideal For: Students struggling with schoolwork or are having trouble focusing, who can’t find an easy solution to escaping negative thoughts, and who like to be reminded to take a “Mindful Moment” by a pop-up notification on their phone.
Philosophy: It’s easy to get overwhelmed with never-ending homework deadlines, tests, extracurricular activities, friendships, a complicated love life and other drama. When you’re overwhelmed, stressed, or anxious on a regular basis, it’s hard to keep your head up and become your best in school and with the people around you. You don’t need to struggle to meditate for 10-30 minutes every day; the consistency of a 3-5 minute practice is more important than the length of any practice.
Favorite Features: Aura sends you 3-minute meditations every day so you can clear your mind, create peace, and find comfort and confidence in yourself, free from stress, anxiety, and sadness. It also helps you take mindful breathing breaks for just a few seconds throughout the day—you can set it for the frequency of your choice.
What’s Free & What’ll Cost You: 3-minute meditations, mindful breathing exercises and reminders, an “unguided” meditation timer with nature sounds, a gratitude journal, a list of daily goals list, Google calendar integration, and intelligent meditation personalization, which means that Aura “learns” your preferences. Premium is $11.99 per month ($7.92 per month if you choose an annual subscription) and gives you unlimited access to over 200 meditations, customized meditations based on mood tracking after check-in, as well as the option for longer, seven-minute meditations.
From the Founder: Teenage years are full of soul-searching, finding out who you are and what you stand for in this world. With Aura, you can make meditating a habit and learn more about yourself every day. Having the ability to focus on yourself and the present moment gives you the power to understand your identity, and in turn, build self-confidence and security. Become an even better person, friend, and student by understanding who you are and being comfortable with your mind and body. Daniel Lee, Co-Founder
Courtesy of Calm2/9Calm
Ideal For: The visualizers the insomniacs, those who like the structure of working a 7-day program.
Philosophy: In our accelerated, “always-on” culture, we’ve forgotten how to just be calm, but it's a very valuable state of mind for many reasons, and we need to figure out how to bring ourselves back to that.
Favorite Features: Calm features special Sleep Stories, (because, hey, you’re never too old for a good bedtime story), 7-Day programs for specifics like Loving Kindness, Gratitude and Self-Esteem, (everyone knows daily practice makes perfect) and the Breathe Bubble that guides your breath from inhale to exhale. Also, really pretty videos of nature-scapes with calming sounds as the backdrop to their home screen and meditation experiences.
What’s Free & What’ll Cost You: The 7 Days of Calm guided meditation program, Body Scan Meditation, timed meditation, Loving Kindness meditation, Breathe Bubble and three sleep stories. Also, the app is 100% free for every K-12 teacher on earth—nice! For additional guided meditations, 7-Day programs and sleep stories, it’s $12.99 a month or $59.99 for the year.
From the Founder: Once we notice what the mind is doing, we have the opportunity to pull ourselves away from distractions and back to our focus. And for that first millisecond that we notice we’ve drifted away, we can observe what the mind is doing. Perhaps we’re worrying about something later that day, perhaps we’re ruminating about a past conversation. Regardless of what’s pulled us away from the breath and broken our concentration, the act of noticing allows us to return.
Courtesy of Inscape3/9Inscape
Ideal For: The “New-Age” girl who is new to meditation and likes a lot of guidance.
Philosophy: INSCAPE was created for those who are seeking balance, calmness, and overall health. It's the same if you are going to a cardio class or a yoga session: you have to dedicate yourself to being healthy, and the same goes for meditation.
Favorite Features: Sleep library and sound baths, futuristic and carefully curated soothing sounds that accompany detailed guided meditations that get very specific when it comes to what to focus on and how to guide your breath. When you open the app each day, “Today’s Inscapes,” a curated list of five different suggested meditations for morning, afternoon, evening, and late night.
What’s Free & What’ll Cost You: The app is free to download and certain parts of the content library are unlocked, including a focus, mindfulness and mantra series, a new session each afternoon and a dream journey. To access the library of over 200 meditation sessions, the cost is $12.99 per month or $89.99 per year.
From the Founder: Research shows people have an average of 50 thoughts a minute. So, even if you’re calming your mind down to 40, you’re doing great. We were very thoughtful about the design, and how it had to be easy to use, beautiful, and accessible. We know your life is busy and there’s pressure of school, sports, social life, working towards college, so meditation shouldn’t feel like another “to-do,” it should be more of an empowering experience. — Khajak Keledjian
Courtesy of Simple Habit4/9Simple Habit
Ideal For: The girl who has a variety of very specific needs and not a lot of free time.
Philosophy: Mindfulness meditation practice does more than simply help you regulate your emotions and attention; it also can impact your thinking. These meditations are designed for dozens of different situations and moods so you can find meditations for just about any moment and any feeling. Top meditation teachers from around the world contribute to the apps five-minute tracks, which make daily meditation accessible and doable.
Favorite Features: Simple Habit features super-specific meditations like getting ready for a test, interview, or public speaking, your commute home (on the bus, train, or car are all options you can select from) taking a break (specifically, taking a bath, a work break, or eating lunch) or even dealing with PMS. The meditations are also pretty short and sweet.
What’s Free: & What’ll Cost You: The app is free to download, and offers several months worth of free content such as On-The Go meditations, Study Break Boost, and Deep Sleep. Access to additional meditations such as Self-Love, Relieving Pain, and others are $11.99 a month, $99.99 a year, or, if you fall in love, $299.99 for a lifetime.
From the Founder: One of the biggest obstacles for teens is that they feel like they don’t have time to meditate or they don't know how. Studies show that brief meditation, even if it is just a few minutes, if practiced consistently, can have powerful benefits within a few weeks. Research has shown that mindfulness can not only reduce stress but also boost focus and creativity. —Yunha Kim
Courtesy of Stop, Breathe, Think5/9Stop, Breathe, Think
Ideal For: Those who need help managing the stress of school or finals, coping with a breakup or a loss, dealing with anxiety or depression, and who want to use the app in combination with other therapies. It is also ideal for those who like to check-in, as there are dozens of different moods and states of mind to check in with before you start.
Philosophy: Stop, Breathe, Think allows you to chart how you are doing mentally, physically, and emotionally, then suggests meditations that will reinforce the positive. The app was actually initially created with teens in mind, surfacing out of a collaboration with through nonprofit Tools For Peace, where it was found that teens had a hard time going straight into meditation directly from class or extracurricular activities. So, each session started with a check-in, giving everyone the chance to reset. By recognizing and labeling emotions first, teens got one step closer to being present for the mindful or meditative activity, effectively bringing attention from “out in the world” to focusing inward.
Favorite Features: When you check in, the app recommends meditations personalized to how you are feeling. There’s a great Walking Meditation, “Drop the Storyline” (detaching from thoughts about something your anxious or worried about) Body Scan, and even yoga videos. It also takes you through the basics of mindfulness through its Learn to Meditate feature.
What’s Free: and What’ll Cost You: The ability to check-in emotionally and get recommendations for guided meditations, access to over 20 guided meditations, sticker rewards for progress, tracking your meditation streak, measuring your mental and physical state over time, a basic meditation timer, and yoga and acupressure videos for stress are all free. If you want to add additional guided meditations, it’s $4.99 a month or $41.99 a year for iOS, and for Android, there are three in-app packages between $0.99 and $2.99 that give access to 10 additional guided meditations.
Words From the Founder: Our goal is to continue to build on this personalized “emotions based” approach, to help everyone to gain insight into their mood, understand what impacts it overtime; and try recommended activities that support their resilience and ability to manage their emotions. Our users under 24, especially women, report the lowest mental state, with stress and anxiety as the top emotions chosen in the check in. We have over 6 million emotional check-ins to date, which gives us incredible data that we use to improve the app and make it even more helpful and effective for each individual user. — Jamie Price, Co-Founder
Courtesy of Akasha6/9Akasha
Ideal For: The spiritualist, the nature lover, the girl who embraces a “Wholistic” approach to life.
Philosophy: Akasha is built around the five natural elements, each representing an area of your life: Fire represents the role of Love and Desire; Earth represents Success and Accomplishment; Water represents Flow and Productivity; Earth represents Harmony and Balance; Wood represents Innovation and Creativity. All of these areas interconnect, so the app integrates a way for you to “work with yourself” to help create the kind of life that you want.
Favorite Features: There is a short lesson and a meditation for each element and meditation within that element. Also, they have teenage girls covered. There’s the ‘Hurt Love’ module, which explains why each of us has been hurt and how to love ourselves, ‘Transforming Heartache’ into strength, and meditations for defining what success means to you, and how to stop being so self-critical.
What’s Free and What’ll Cost You: Free to download and experience one free track, “Hurt Love: in Fire Element, one-time fee of $3.99 for access to everything else.
Words From the Founder: Stop holding yourself back, learn how to use concerns about yourself to be supportive to yourself. Transform your inner critic into your inner advisor and work with yourself, not against yourself. —Tina Chadda, MD.
Courtesy of Relax Melodies7/9Relax Melodies
Ideal For: The music lover, the sound mixer, the aspiring DJ, the big kid who misses lullabies.
Philosophy: The ability to easily mix sounds and create your personalized ambiances helps teach you how to use sound & meditation to calm your brain, achieve better sleep, have more energy, better focus, decrease anxiety and enjoy your intense teen life.
Favorite Features: With Relax Melodies, you basically mix and match as many different sounds and melodies as you’d like—there are hundreds—to create a calming track, with the option to add a meditation. Some sounds are direct, like “Rain” and “Cat Purring” while others are a bit more obscure, like “Eternity” and “Music Box.”
What’s Free and What’s Not: Dozens of these sounds and meditations are free. For 122 sounds and melodies and additional coaching and meditation sessions, it costs $9.99 per month, or $19.99 for a full year.
Words From the Founder: - We approach meditation from an everyday life perspective, as an ordinary, natural and simple activity—much like walking, practicing a sport or having a conversation with a friend. —Simon Alex Bérubé, Co -Founder
Courtesy of Insight Timer8/9Insight Timer
Insight Timer is entirely free, and offers nearly 4,000 guided meditations (and chants, and guided movements, and nature sounds) from nearly 1,000 teachers, some of the most renowned of our time, like Eckhart Tolle and Tara Brach. You also have the option to join groups and leave comments on everything you watch or listen to, and read other peoples’ feedback, too.
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