Inspired by Mental Health Awareness Week, the team at iD Mobile have been focussing a lot on their own mental well-being recently. Thinking about what matters most to us, we wanted to share some of our favourite apps that we’ve found to be great for mindfulness, meditation and clearing your head from stress:
Headspace
It makes total sense to start with a no-brainer. Headspace is one of the best-known meditation apps out there, and from personal experience, it’s really effective.
The app eases you into the essentials of meditation and mindfulness with a free 10-part basics course. Each of these sessions will come in three, five or 10-minute chunks, so you can pick a session based on how much time you have. The meditations are quite easy to follow, too.
Once you’ve completed the free trial you’ll need to pay for further sessions – but whether you pay the £9.99 a month subscription or use it as an introduction into meditation, we’d highly recommend it.
Calm
Another of the more popular meditation apps is Calm - which brings joy, peace and a sense of clarity to everyday life. As soon as you open it, you’re greeted with the immediate sound of falling rain, a crackling fireplace or crickets in the background. Then, you can get a little bit of ‘me time’ with a whole host of short, medium or long meditation sessions. Remember being a kid and nodding off to a bedtime story? Try Calm’s Sleep Stories, read by the likes of Stephen Fry and meditation expert, Tarama Levitt – which will help send you off into a blissful slumber.
Like several other mindfulness apps on offer, you get a free trial and then it’s £9.99 for Calm thereafter.
Insight Timer
Sharing is caring. That’s why Insight Time is such a hit with subscribers. Described as ‘a social network for meditators’, the app lets you share and discuss your mindfulness experience with like-minded people all around the world. Not only is there a whole network of community groups ranging from beginners to expert, but there’s also a vast library packed with guided mediations led by some of the world’s top experts. What better way to learn than from the very best?
Aura
If you’re looking for a meditative experience more tailored to you, Aura is the app you need in your life. It learns about you by asking questions. You then receive a daily three-minute meditation based on the answers you give. So, if you’re feeling particularly heavy-headed one day, it’ll give you the tools you need to take a much-needed step back from your busy schedule to focus on your mental health.
Do you currently use a mindfulness app? Is it one of these? If not, which one do you fancy downloading? Post a reply below, and share with the Community!