Meditation apps have made settling down and taking care of your mind so much easier and more accessible. Meditation does not necessarily mean sitting in a quiet room with your legs crossed, humming until you fall asleep. It is effective for reducing stress, and remaining mindful and present during a busy or stressful day.

Here are some of our favourite meditation apps to help improve your day and make your mind happy and healthy:

Buddhify

With over 200 types of meditation to choose from, Buddhify is definitely one of our top picks. Buddhify has a never-ending range of topics to choose from. They appear on a wheel, where you can select the tab that most suits your current situation. Topics like “Work Break” and “Stress and Difficult Emotions” let you focus your meditation and target exactly where your stress is coming from. Each tab offers you 5-6 different meditations, ranging from 5 minutes to 15 minutes.

The app is great as it lets you meditate on the go. You don’t need to be lying down or in bed to use it, unless you select the “Going to Sleep” or “Can’t Sleep” features. It allows you to wind down on your commute home, on your break at work, or while you’re studying. The meditations are guided by a number of people whose names you come to learn. This allows for a more personal connection with the people who are helping you relax your mind and improve your mental health.

Best for: people who are strapped for time and aren’t able to designate specific time to meditate during the day.

Smiling Minds

Smiling Minds is an app designed specifically for young people aged between 10 and 25, but can be used by anyone and everyone. The app offers more guidance and direction on specific ways to meditate. The narrator instructs the listener on how to position themselves, and offers different breathing techniques depending on the type of meditation.

The main theme of the app is mindfulness. Mindfulness, according to health professional Dr Kathryn Choules, is a person’s ability to remain present in the current moment, without being reactive to a situation.

For specific direction and guidance on how to meditate, Smiling Minds is the app for you.

The speaker aims to remind the listener that they are present. While recognising that distractions do arise, and that this is okay, the voice gently reminds listeners to bring their attention back in order to continue the meditation.

Best for: people who struggle with mindfulness, and who are quite reactive to negative situations.

Calm

Calm was voted ‘App of the Year’ in 2017, and for good reason. The app targets anxiety-related stresses; it aims to let listeners to release any tension, and relax. The app offers a feature called ‘Sleep Stories’ which includes bedtime stories to listen to as you drift to sleep. These stories are narrated by people like Stephen Fry, and singer Beatie Wolfe.

Similar to Buddhify, the Calm app allows the user to choose different situations that allow them to focus their meditation. The sessions are related to topics like “relationships”, “self care”, and “inner peace”.  There is also a section dedicated to kids. To test out one feature of the app, head to the Calm Instagram page, and have a scroll through their highlights.

Best for: people who struggle with anxiety and anxiety-related disorders.