Which mindfulness app is best?

There are many different apps built for the practice of mindfulness.  What app suits someone best just depends on that person’s individual preferences and needs, though there are a few apps that tend to fit the bill for most everyone interested in mindfulness.

One popular app many people use for mindfulness is called Calm.  With the free version of this app, you can listen to soundscapes, listen to a select number of mindfulness scripts, or use their breathing guide for some practice in mindful breathing techniques.  The paid version allows access to sleep stories, meditative music, and an abundance of guided scripts that target certain topics or domains of experience, such as “body scanning” or “anxiety release”.  This app comes with the ability to set daily reminders to engage in mindfulness practices, as well as the option to check in with your moods, things you are grateful for, or personal reflections. 

Another app in demand that is similar to Calm is Headspace.  Headspace offers almost all the same features as Calm in both its free and paid versions, including those geared toward improving and inducing sleep, reducing anxiety, and building mindfulness skills. Headspace’s app is structured to move you through your day with different options for morning mindfulness activities, relaxing videos, meditations, workouts focused on anxiety or other immediate experiences, and “sleep casts” to induce restfulness at night. 

To determine what app or apps work best for you, it’s helpful to try out their free versions first.  What structure best fits your lifestyle and promotes easy access?  What material speaks to you most?  It’s also true that some people prefer everything to be in one app—if this is you, engaging in a trial of an app’s premium version could be worth exploring to see if an app has everything you are looking for or need.  If you don’t prefer or need everything in one app, you can “fill in the gaps'' with other free resources, such as Youtube-guided mindfulness videos or practices available on www.mindful.org and www.mindfulnessexercises.com. 

Trial and error is usually the best way to navigate a new practice, so keep exploring your options until you find what works best for you!