5 Apps to Give Your Meditation Resolution a Fighting Chance
If you need a break from your New Year's workouts and want to flex your mental muscles for a change, Headspace might be for you. Headspace calls itself a “gym for the mind” and emphasizes the importance of routinely practicing meditation and breathing exercises. Try their free basic Take 10 program, which offers ten days of ten-minute sessions to focus your mind and help you decide if you want to pay for the rest of the programs ... keep in mind that if you do, Headspace will match you 1:1 and donate a subscription to someone in need via their charitable partners. App for Android and iPhone—10-day meditation program is free, monthly memberships (starting at $6.24/month) unlock hundreds of hours of content
In addition to a slick title, Meditainment offers a packed library of guided meditation exercises geared towards a wide variety of goals, like falling asleep, pain management, and stress-relieving visualization of plush "happy places." The 4 to 21-minute sound escapes—used as in-flight entertainment on international airlines from Virgin Atlantic and Qantas to Air Canada and China Airlines—fall into four sections: relaxation, self help, insight, and music. Membership provides you with lifetime access to the ever-growing library of exercises—but you check out the Secret Garden meditation for free. $60 lifetime membership unlocks all meditations and music options
Okay, so you might think Portlanders don't need a website that offers a half hour audio loop of a rainstorm, but you'd be surprised by how calming it can be. If your personal meditation techniques could use a little white noise to block out the rest of the world, this site may be exactly what you need. Best of all, the loop is updated daily, so you’ll never meditate in the same rainstorm twice. Free
The friendly and easy to use Stop Breathe Think—a project of the k.d. lang-approved nonprofit Tools for Peace—offers intimate, anxiety-busting exercises incorporating lang’s music. The programs begin by checking in with your current emotional and physical state, offering a personalized experience for meditators of any level who wouldn’t mind having their hand held a little. Free App/website
This free app has it all: a bell timer to aid your meditation, social connection to a larger mindful community so you can see who else is getting their om on, and guided exercises that span all levels. Meditations are guided by experienced teachers and incorporate Tibetan singing bowls. Free App for Android, iPhone, and iPad
