What is Meditation?

If I were to ask you if you could meditate, how would you answer? Do you believe you don’t have the patience or the tools or would you say you don’t have the time?

The truth is, you are most likely doing some kind of meditation without even knowing it. For some people a run, walk on the beach, hike in the hills, yoga class or even the simple act of a cuppa in silence is a form of meditation.

What Is Meditation?

Meditation starts with mindfulness. With some help ( hello guided meditations), practice and awareness you can connect mind and body to bring about physical and mental calm. Sounds good right!

How To Get Started

The good news is a meditation can be as short as 5 minutes, so if you feel time poor you can totally fit a session into your day. In fact, you can even do several short meditations a day. In even better news, learning to meditate isn’t as hard as it sounds. You can attend a beginners class (stay tuned for Healthful classes starting soon) or you can listen to guided meditations anywhere and at any time via an app.

Benefits Of Meditation

The top benefits of meditation are a calm mind, less stress, lower blood pressure, learning to clearly problem solve, increased self-awareness, increased creativity, gaining perspective, building tolerance and patience and better health. If you want more of that good stuff then read on for six of our favourite meditation apps, with free versions and subscriptions available you can try one out today.

Six Meditation Apps We Love

CALM-  With guided meditations, sleep music and audio books (hello Harry Styles), talks, music, customizable timer and thousands of discussion groups available this is a favourite! Calm stands out from the crowd because of its well-being offerings beyond that of its already impressive meditation catalogue. This App offers more individual exercises and is less structured. Paid and free versions available. Learn more HERE

INSIGHT TIMER- With over 45000 mediations available ranging from just 5 minutes to 30m minutes plus this app has you covered. This app has thousands of music tracks and ambient sounds to calm the mind and allow you to sink into relaxation. Sleep music and meditations are also available. You can also browse topics on anxiety, self love, addictions, relationships, kindness and more. Note, this one may feel overwhelming for a beginner. Paid and free versions available. Learn more HERE

BUDDHIFY- Whether you’re looking to reduce stress or get a great night of sleep this app has ‘easy to follow’ guided meditations from 3-40 minutes.  Designed for beginners and those with experience this app has more than 200 meditations, kids content, mindfulness exercises all delivered by a range of experienced teachers. Paid and free versions available. Learn more HERE

SIMPLE HABIT- Simple Habit has an extensive library of meditations including guided, sleep sessions and coaching by world renowned experts. This app is all catalogued and easy to use, has loads of free options available and one of the big perks of their premium subscription is that you can use the app offline. This makes catching a few minutes of mindfulness while on a plane or away from an internet connection more accessible. Paid and free versions available. Learn more HERE

HEADSPACE MEDITATION & SLEEP- This app provides breathing exercises, sleep meditations, and wind-down practices. The screen is dimmed, so there’s no blaring, headache-inducing bright light. Headspace offers users a two-week free trial before commiting to a paid subscription. Annual subscription is about $70 and a monthly membership costs around $13. Paid and free versions available. Learn more HERE

TEN PERCENT HAPPIER MEDITATION & SLEEP- With a library of more than 500 guided meditations, videos, talks and sleep content this app will become a favourite. Perfect for anyone, but especially those who think they're ‘not the meditation type’ and those who struggle to find the time to start a meditation practice. Paid and free versions available. Learn more HERE