The best mindfulness and meditation apps for iPhone and iPad

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Which meditation apps are good? How can you become more balanced with mindfulness? With these iPhone apps you can learn to meditate, add mindfulness to your life and live more mindfully.

Meditation apps for more mindfulness

Do you want to bring more peace to your busy life? Then mindfulness and meditation apps are the solution. These apps help you calm down and make sure you live more in the here and now. They also help you worry less and pay more attention to eating, relaxing and enjoying yourself. In short: if you need a little more rest or if you find your life too rushed, these mindfulness apps will help you take a step back.

  • Headspace
  • Oak
  • Calm
  • Beditations
  • Meditation Moments
  • buddhify
  • 10% Happier
  • wildness 2
  • The Breathing App
  • Apple’s Breathing app
  • Other meditation apps

Best meditation apps

iCulture recommends: Headspace

If you don’t like floaty texts at all, then the Headspace app is your solution. This app makes it super easy to meditate, with techniques that won’t scare you. The result: a healthier, happier and more enjoyable life. You start with a free program, where you learn the basic techniques of meditation in just 10 minutes a day.

You can then decide whether to continue with the training. Hundreds of hours of meditation sessions are available, ranging from 2 to 60 minutes. You can also meditate with friends so that you can motivate each other. A follow-up subscription is quite pricey: twelve euros per month. Headspace also works with Spotify.

Headspace-basic-session-lifestyle


Oak

If you find it difficult to carve out five minutes in your busy work schedule, you need Oak. This app is published by Digg founder Kevin Rose. You can do quick and simple breathing exercises with it, but also longer meditations. The app competes with Headspace, Simple Habit, and Calm.

In a short video, the makers explain the benefits of meditation, after which you can start right away. There may be paid options later, but for now that is not the plan. For example, there is the possibility that the app will support the Oura ring, so that you can track your breathing with a wearable.

Oak-Meditation-Screenshot-iPhone-X


Calm

The Calm app has been named one of the best apps of 2017 by Apple, even though the app has been around for a while. Calm evolved from the website of the same name and contains a large number of relaxation exercises and other tools to relax. In a 7-day introduction you will become acquainted with meditation and mindfulness, but you can also just listen to soothing sounds.

The free version of the Calm app includes a body scan, the introduction course to mindfulness and meditation and a number of relaxation exercises. If you then opt for the paid version (approx. €10 per month, €40 per year) you will receive more exercises such as a sleep aid and sessions to increase your concentration and self-confidence. You decide how long the session lasts.


Beditations

Alarm clocks are not only annoying, but also bad for you. Research shows that people wake up stressed and that is never good. You can do something about this by, for example, taking a wake-up light or by using an app such as Beditations. As the name implies, this app is all about meditation.

Beditations can be used at two times: when you wake up, by letting you wake up quietly. But also by playing soothing music before you go to sleep. This way you can calmly organize your thoughts. Also read our article about Beditations.

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Meditation Moments

You wouldn’t tell it from the name, but this meditation app is from Dutch soil. In the app you listen to tracks and meditations to relax. The app was created by Michael Pilarczyk, a well-known speaker, ex-radio DJ and media entrepreneur. The app offers different meditations at special times of the day. There is a meditation exercise to start your day, to take a short break from busy work and more. You can try some meditations for free. For €2.49 per month you will receive regular updates with new meditations.

Meditation Moments.

buddhify

Buddhify was invented for people who are not attracted to meditating or don’t feel they have the time. This app has no floaty texts and offers quiet meditation audio for every moment of the day. You choose from four meditation styles. The length of the sessions varies from 5 to 20 minutes. Buddhify also has a timer for self-guided meditation. The app keeps track of how much time you’ve meditated and converts that into graphs. During the day you will receive tips to calm down and live more consciously. – Read our review about Buddhify.

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10% Happier

It is striking how many apps focus on the skeptical user, people who are allergic to floaty texts. 10% Happier is also such an app. According to the makers, mindfulness meditation is a simple and scientifically proven exercise for your brain. You don’t have to be an adherent of a particular religion to believe in it. 10% Happier is a collaboration between New York Times journalist Dan Harris and meditation teacher Joseph Goldstein.

Every day you will be presented with video lessons that teach you the skills. You will also have access to a coach who will help you to keep it up. You don’t have to sit in a crazy position, chant or light incense or put on a special outfit, say the makers of this app. They introduce you to meditation in 7 days, after which you can take out a monthly subscription.

The sessions help you with a restless feeling and stress, but also guide you in daily activities such as walking and falling asleep. The short sessions can also be fitted in during your commute to work or during a lunch break. You can track your progress via the link with HealthKit.


wildness 2

With the Wildfulness app you learn to relax with nature sounds. Wildfulness 2 is the successor to the already existing Wildfulness app, which allows you to relax with nature sounds. This app was created by the Dutchman Mark Hendriks and his wife Sterre and is intended to give you a zen feeling thanks to beautiful nature images and sounds. Ideal if you feel a bit stressed.

In our Wildfulness review you can read about our experiences with this app, which contains beautifully made drawings and delivers good audio quality. If you buy the paid scenes, you also have quite a lot of variety. Without having to immediately convert to Buddhism or repeat mantras, because Wildfulness mainly draws inspiration from nature. In fact, it is a white noise app with the sounds of thunder and rain, rustling leaves, a forest awakening and the night forest.


The Breathing App

As the name suggests, The Breathing App helps you focus on calmer breathing. If you lower your breathing rate from fifteen to eighteen times per minute to five or seven times per minute, a so-called resonance will occur in your body, according to the makers of the app. This will bring your heart rate, blood pressure and brain waves to the same frequency and this should help to reduce stress.

The app is very simply designed, making it easy to use. You can determine the duration of the exercise and the breathing rhythm yourself. When you begin the breathing session, you will hear two tones: a high one for the inhale and a low one for the exhale. Whether that resonance effect is actually the reason that breathing exercises have a stress-reducing effect, we will leave in the middle. In any case, this is a simple app that guides you well in simple breathing exercises.

the-breathing-app-on-iphone


Apple’s Breathing app

You can also work on your mindfulness on the Apple Watch, thanks to the Breathing app. The app is present on every Apple Watch model and focuses solely on your breathing. Indicate how long the session should last and the Apple Watch indicates with taps on your wrist (and with an animation on the screen) when you need to inhale and exhale. Ideal if you feel stressed and need some time for yourself.

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Breathing app on iPhone and Apple Watch

Not only Apple has discovered breathing as a way to manage your stress. Fitbit has also added a breathing exercise to the latest fitness trackers. So you can also start working on your breathing with your Fitbit.


Other meditation and mindfulness apps

There are many more apps with which you can work on mindfulness. Below are a few more suggestions:

  • BetterMe: Mental Health (Free, iPhone + IAP, iOS 14.0+) – BetterMe is for people who don’t know how to meditate but want to try it. This way you can actively meditate while walking, running and even while cooking. With breathing exercises you can do something about feelings of fear, irritation or sadness.

  • 7Mind Meditation & Sleep (Free, iPhone/iPad/Watch + IAP, iOS 14.0+) – Are you a fan of the 7-minute workout, then this app will probably also appeal to you. In 7 minutes you are completely zen again.

  • Unfortunately, we cannot display the correct data at the moment, Download – This app is also suitable for teenagers who want to learn meditation to calm down. You can use this app at any time, becoming more aware of your thoughts and emotions. You learn to shut yourself off from the many stimuli that are around you and you become calmer. The app allows you to earn stickers by performing the exercises and checking in daily.
  • VGZ Mindfulness coach (Free, iPhone/iPad, iOS 13.0+) – You don’t have to be a customer of health insurer VGZ to benefit from this app. With this app you follow a 5-week program to work on your mindfulness. You choose from the 25 exercises, which vary from breathing exercises and meditation to movement exercises. They take a maximum of 15 minutes, so they are also suitable for busy people. Read our review of the VGZ Mindfulness Coach

Stop Breathe

Opening image: Shutterstock, EpicStockMedia

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