I used to be really into meditation. I did it daily. I even taught a class on it back in the day. It was one of my daily habits, but somewhere along the last year, it’s kind of dropped out of sight. There are so many benefits to meditating. It can help clear stress, focus your mind, and generally get a better hold on mental health. I think it strengthens willpower, mental fortitude, and gives me tools to get through high-stress situations. It’s finding a safe rock through violent storms, a moment of quiet in a crowded room. The benefits are endless and can be different for each person. So why did I stop? Life, laziness, lack of priorities. At the very least, I’ve become aware of my failing habit and I’ve set a course to correct it. One of my annual goals is to meditate 4x/week and I’ve been semi doing okay on that goal.
But I found that I couldn’t just jump back into it and meditate how I used to. I used to do a lot of “freeform meditation,” meaning I would put peaceful music on and then find my way. After so many months of being out of practice, I’ve struggled to stay afloat in such a meditation. My mind isn’t as honed anymore, isn’t as focused, and without guidance, it easily jumps around and then ignores the meditation. And that’s okay. The best thing about meditation is that you can come back to it (or to it for the first time) and you will still get something out of it. You’ll find your way again and build your mental strength and awareness back up. What can help you get there? Guided meditation. And luckily…there’s an app for that!
Here are my three go-to’s when I’m feeling meh about meditation:
1. Buddhify. Definitely my first go-to. Buddhify is a free app that has a pinwheel of different situations from “Waking Up” to “Traveling” to “Meditation 101.” Within each piece of the wheel, there are several meditations particular to that selection. I use it often. They’re simple and easy to get into. They range from 3 to 15 minutes, depending on what you have time for.
2. Stop, Breathe & Think. Another free app with bite-sized meditations. You can pick from an array of different types of meditations, think: breathing, body scans, awareness, etc. They are fairly short, which I like. Starting a long meditation can be a little intimidating when getting back into it. Another cool piece of this app is that you get to record how you’re feeling before and after. Pretty neat. This one has a premium feature to unlock more meditations.
3. Headspace. This meditation app is probably the most well-known and they’re a bit of a powerhouse. This means that they only have ten days free and then you have to pay for a membership. However, this membership is worth it. I have used it and was blown away by the depth of the app. They dive into so many different realms from creativity to career-focus to depression & anxiety. You get a lot for your money. And Andy’s voice (who leads the meditations) is pure honey and silk.
I’m grateful these apps exist. They’ve helped me fall back into meditation in my own slow way and I am so much better off for it. Hungry recently purchased Calm and I’m very excited to try it. It has quite the buzz in the app store. Mental health is just as important as physical health and I encourage you to start your very own meditation practice. Do you use any meditation apps? Tell us in the comments below. And as always, stay hungry and fit!
