Not only does meditation bring more peace and calm to our frenetic lives, but a consistent meditation practice may alleviate depression and anxiety and even prevent heart disease.

There are many ways to cultivate mindfulness and relaxation. Focusing on a flickering candle flame, sitting in silence, listening to a guided meditation, or counting the breath are all examples of the meditation methods a person can practice. The key is to experiment with a variety of modalities, tools, and practices to find what works best for you!

In our busy lives, it can be beneficial to have a supportive guide that helps us cultivate mindfulness, such as a Health Coach or a smartphone app – that’s right, even your cell phone can be a guide on the side! We thought it might be helpful to spotlight a variety of meditation apps that have proven popular and helpful for many. In this blog post, we’ll review Insight Timer!

Insight Timer has helped thousands of people cultivate peace of mind, improve sleep quality, and manage stress and anxiety. It is great for both beginners and practiced meditators, and TIME magazine voted it as one of the best meditation apps of the year! 

Features:

• Thousands of guided meditations and meditation music led by the world’s top mindfulness experts, neuroscientists, meditation teachers, and artists
• Discussion groups and community-building activities
• The option to track your progress over time
• An advanced timer function that allows you to set the length of time to suit your needs. Choose from a variety of sounds (bell chimes, wood blocks, singing bowls) for the beginning, end, or selected intervals throughout your meditation. (All customizable!)
• A variety of mediation types – perfect for the bio-individual! (e.g., mindfulness meditation, children’s meditations, Zen meditation, MBSR, walking meditation, breathing meditation, kundalini yoga, transcendental meditation, sleep meditation, spiritual talks, and vipassana)
• Multiple languages available and appeals to many backgrounds – Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and many more!
• Categories to choose from that will satisfy your current needs (e.g., relationships, mindful eating, improved sleep, reducing stress and anxiety, support through recovery and addictions, self-love, focus, leadership, etc.)

Cost:
-       Free!

-       Paid feature available: Allows you to listen while offline, fast forward and rewind the meditations, and pick up where you left off.

Additional Information:                        
-       Average customer rating: 4+ (out of 5)

-       Size: 106.8 MB

-       Compatibility: Requires iOS 10.0 or later and Android 4 or later.

Well, there you have it! As you can see, Insight Timer has some great options for both those who are just beginning to meditate and experienced meditators. Give it a try and see how this meditation app resonates with you.