Practice Meditation to Calm Your Mind and Soothe Your Soul: Discover the Top 10 Free Meditation Apps for Android and the Multiple Benefits of Meditation (2020)

If you are reading this article, chances are that either you are practicing meditation, are planning to start practicing it, or have tried and left it after a few unsuccessful attempts. The good news is that help is available and it’s easily accessible on your smartphone in the form of meditation apps. But before we talk about the free meditation apps for Android, let’s know a bit more about the benefits of meditation.

Stress, anxiety and mood swings are by-products of the fast-paced lifestyle and to add fuel to the fire, the Corona pandemic has made things worse with the looming uncertainty about the future and the fear of being infected. In such a scenario, meditation is one of the simplest, fastest and effective ways to reduce worries and tension by restoring your inner peace and increasing calmness in the ocean of thoughts. Meditation brings a certain poise, calmness, and peace to your personality and not only benefits your emotional strength but also improves your overall physical health. The benefits of meditation are not limited to the sessions but are far stretched which include performing your daily tasks in a more efficient manner, better concentration, improved memory, and preventing many medical conditions related to stress and anxiety.

Some important emotional benefits of meditation include – better handling of stressful conditions, reducing negative feelings, developing skills to manage worries, increased tolerance and patience, concentrating on the present, elevating creativity and imagination, and raising self-awareness, etc. Many scientific researchers have supported the health benefits of meditation and are of the opinion that meditation may be beneficial for those suffering from anxiety, asthma, depression, heart disease, high BP, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain, sleeping disorders, etc.

Meditation is a technique to be in a relaxed state and settle at a calm and composed mental order. There are various ways to meditate and you can choose the type of meditation as per your comfort and convenience. Though, all the paths lead to the same destination, i.e. achieving inner peace. A few of the most popular ways to meditate are:–

To practice meditation, a few prerequisites should be followed to derive maximum benefit out of it. These basics may vary depending on the type of meditation you are practicing, but are most beneficial for every person involved in meditation practice.

Some of you may think about starting meditation, but the will to do so gets weakened after a few days, and in most cases, some people are too lazy to even start practicing. You can either complain about not having the required time, place, or the perfect environment, or can benefit from the technology which is always with you and is an integral part of your life, your smartphone. Downloading a meditation app and starting with a few basic meditation techniques can be done anywhere, anytime and you can start by devoting as little as 10 minutes in a day.

You don’t need a secluded and silent place as you can simply plug-in the earphones and follow the instructions. It can be done while sitting on a bed, sofa, or taking a stroll in the park. You can do it during your tea breaks in the office, after the morning tea, or even before sleeping, and the best part is that you’ll start feeling the benefits of meditation in just a couple of days.

We have picked a few of the top-rated and popular apps which are used by millions and people from different backgrounds, habits and cultures have used these meditation apps for guidance while practicing meditation. You can also download a free meditation app on your Android phone and reap the benefits of meditation.

Headspace, a US-based company, provides this meditation app which is available free for Android users on Play Store. An app that provides guidance on the right way to breathe, meditate and be mindful. They have guided meditation exercises and techniques to help you manage stress and anxiety, moreover, there are push notifications to remind you to focus and breathe properly during your busy schedule. You can also track your progress on the path of meditation and share the word. They have different courses specifically designed for managing anxiety and restlessness, how to sleep well and wake up fresh, and personal growth meditation which includes self-esteem, relationships, acceptance, kindness, etc. It’s a nice meditation app for beginners and the more complex and pro-level meditation practices are available in the paid in-app features.

Let’s Meditate is an Indian app that has an impressive rating of 4.8 on the Play Store. This meditation app has a simple, no clutter, and easy to use design. You can choose a track as per your level of meditation or your interest, and simply play the track and listen to the guided meditation. You get a variety of content on this app from a 5-minute short meditation track to a full 40-minute guide. You can also download your favourite tracks to your phone and listen to them even when you are offline. The best part about this app is that there are no disturbing ads and no signups which make the calming experience a lot easier.

An app dedicated to yoga, meditation and spirituality by Isha Yoga under the supervision of Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Sadhguru app is useful for those interested in meditation and spirituality. The app has lessons on Upa-Yoga and meditation which will help you to calm down by removing stress and anxiety from the core by spending just a few minutes in a day. Moreover, you get push notifications about the latest articles and podcasts by Sadhguru. The app is available in English as well as in 7 other languages including Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati and Marathi. This app has an excellent rating of 4.9 on the Play Store.

Insight Timer is another US-based company and it’s an encyclopaedia for you if you have an interest in meditation and spiritual practices. With a collection of more than 40,000 guided meditations, music tracks and soothing sounds to calm your mind and senses, you can meditate, relax and sleep better. You can choose your favourite meditation practice from different meditation types like Buddhist mindfulness, Insight Meditation, Kundalini Yoga, Breathing Meditation, Advaita Vedanta, etc. Some popular topics for beginners are – sleep deeply, focus and concentration, bitter relationships, self-love, compassion, etc.

Meditation Music is a meditation app that helps you to meditate, relax and become calmer with the help of different types of music and sounds. Along with music, the app provides visual delight with background relaxation scenes including birds, temples, mountains, water, etc., thus soothing your sense of sight and listening at the same time. You can also add new tracks to the music already being played and mix and create new sounds. Meditation music creates positive vibrations to help you deeply focus on your meditation. The various music pieces include Om chanting, heaven water, perfect rain, soft water, birds singing, etc.

Olson Meditation is a Stockton, UK-based company, and their app Serenity: Guided Meditation & Mindfulness is a meditation app which doesn’t require any sign-up and has more than 2 hours of free audio for beginners. The app has different meditations for each day which help you to practice regularly plus you can set daily reminders to never miss your meditation sessions. You can also monitor your progress through different graphs and charts, and beginners can start with the 7-day audio course which has easy to follow instructions.

MyLife Meditation is an excellent meditation app by Stop Breathe Think, a US-based company. With more than 4.5 million downloads and a rating of 4.7 on Play Store, this app is certainly one of the best meditation and mindfulness apps that provides separate activities for users of different age groups, levels, and interests. They have different topics like morning meditation, guided meditation, taming anxiety, breathing mindfully, managing depression, sleep better, and meditation for kids and teens, etc.

UCLA Mindful by The Mindful Awareness Research Centre (MARC) which is located in the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), is an entirely free mindfulness app. The basic meditations for beginners, wellness meditations for people suffering from health conditions, weekly podcasts, and videos explaining the correct meditation postures, starting meditation, and the art of mindfulness make it a useful meditation app. You can also search for 30-minute podcasts on different themes and bookmark them for listening later. UCLA Mindful helps you to be more aware, focused, and be in the moment during meditation.

With an impressive rating of 4.6, the Art of Living meditation and spiritual app by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a spiritual library with more than 50 guided meditations, 600+ wisdom talks, 100+ spiritual chants and 1,500+ soothing melodies (though some features are paid). There is a detailed video guide about Yoga Asanas and the 24*7 running Art of Living Radio is completely free for users.

Vipassana Meditation by Vipassana Research Institute is a unique technique that is focused on observing and exploring yourself. The regular practice of this meditation purifies the mind and brings out the clarity in your thoughts. Vipassana is a more than 2,500-year-old meditation practice and has been revived by the Institute. You will get various chanting and dohas, etc. which are helpful in meditation.