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Life

9 Mindfulness Apps To Help Calm Your Nerves

We could all use some help now and then.

by Claire Valentine
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Headspace

The Headspace app, for both iOS and Android, teaches the fundamentals of meditation through daily 10-minute sessions. It's backed by scientific studies, highly popular, and free until a monthly subscription option kicks in.

Calm

The Calm app for iOS and Android includes both guided and unguided meditation sessions and multi-day courses at different subscription levels, following a free download. With over 700,000 positive reviews, it’s another popular choice for meditation beginners and novices alike.

The Mindfulness App

Good for beginners, the iOS Mindfulness App starts with a 5-day introduction to mindfulness, along with guided meditations, timed sessions, and customizable meditations.

Stop, Breathe & Think

Stop, Breathe & Think is an iOS/Android app that provides basic free meditations in addition to two subscription tiers. With over 55 meditations, customizable options, breathing and progress tracking tools, and informational videos, this app has a lot to offer and tons of positive reviews.

Ten Percent Happier Meditation

Ten Percent Happier promises to deliver on its name, offering over 500 guided meditations, including short ones to squeeze into a busy schedule. The app offers sleep meditations, progress tracking tools, personal coaching, daily habit building tools and more once you get past the free level.

Mindfulness Coach

Mindfulness Coach was developed by the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs. The popular, free iOS app teaches mindfulness with the goals of “reducing stress, improving emotional balance, increasing self-awareness, helping with anxiety and depression, and coping more effectively with chronic pain.”

Relax Melodies

iOS and Android-friendly Relax Melodies is an app that provides music for you to practice mindfulness and meditation on your own. Since there are no guided meditations, this one is best for those who already know how to meditate or who want to do it on their own.

Insight Timer

Insight Timer is a free iOS and Android app aimed at more experienced meditators, offering session timers with gentle notification sounds like Tibetan bowls, ambient music and sounds, and some guided meditations.

Aura

Claiming to be the “world's most loved mindfulness app,” Aura offers many of the same services as the other apps — guided meditations, progress trackers, sleep help — with the added bonus of only requiring three minutes of your day.