The UK’s lockdown restrictions continue to be lifted but life isn’t returning to normal just yet.
Many children are off school until September, and homeworking is still advised where it can be done ‘effectively’. That could mean another three months of your career and home life coexisting under the same roof.
Thankfully, there are apps that can help you cope. From guided meditations and masterclasses on mental wellbeing to soundscapes designed to ease you into a restful sleep.
Whether you’re a beginner or a professional, with an hour to spare or only five minutes, there is an app for you.
So, if you’re struggling to balance home and work life, try our list of five of the best mindfulness apps to help you look after your mental wellbeing.
1. Great value: Insight Timer, available on iOS and Android
Insight Timer is both a meditation app and a social network for meditators.
Its MemberPlus subscription service will set you back £59.99 a year. But with more than 45,000 pre-recorded guided meditation sessions available for free, you might decide the additional cost is unnecessary.
You can change the length of sessions to fit into your day, making it flexible and perfect for busy and unpredictable lives. It also has a progress tracker, great for motivation. Completed meditations also earn you badges as an added incentive to keep going.
As a social network app, you can access maps showing how many people are currently meditating, and where. You can invite fellow users to join you, either virtually or at community groups throughout the UK – once they can restart in a Covid-secure way.
The app covers all experience levels, from beginners to meditation pros. Use it regularly and you might find it habit-forming.
2. Great for kids: Petit Bambou, available on iOS and Android
This app first became popular in France where it is one of the leading, free meditation apps on the market. Its popularity has since soared across Europe and it is now available in America too. It has more than five million users.
Great for mindfulness beginners, it’s arguably even better for children. Beautiful animations explain the basics of what meditation is and how it works.
The cartoon aesthetic is a great way to introduce your children to these concepts, providing short sessions of relaxation and meditation. It might even provide you with an all-important few minutes to relax too.
3. Great for sceptics: 10% Happier – Meditation for Fidgety Sceptics, available on iOS and Android
Released in 2014, the book 10% Happier by Dan Harris, became an instant bestseller. It tracks his journey from meditation sceptic to full convert, following a panic attack on live TV.
A podcast, a follow-up book, and now an app has since joined the ‘10%’ family.
The basic version of the app is free. A premium subscription service is available, but it is at the pricier end of the market. After a week’s free trial, the premium version of the app will cost you £12.99 per month or £87.99 per year.
The premium version includes a library of 500 guided meditation videos that are designed to fit around specific scenarios or moments in your day.
4. Great for a restful night’s sleep: Portal – Focus, Sleep, Escape, available on iOS only
Portal is a mindfulness app with a difference. It advertises itself as an ‘ambient sound app’ that can change your life by ‘improving your focus, sleep, and relaxation with beautiful and immersive ambience from around the world’.
Rather than offering meditations, Portal uses the sounds of nature to help you relax and drift into a restful sleep.
It also offers breathing exercises and the ability to incorporate audio from other apps to create personalised soundscapes that work for you. A great way to switch off after a busy day at the home office, this app can transport you to anywhere in the world.
With a one-off charge of £3.99, the app is relatively cheap, but it is only available on iOS.
5. Great all-rounder: Calm, available on iOS and Android
An Independent best buy, Calm is one of the biggest names in meditation and mindfulness apps, claiming 40 million downloads worldwide and more than a million subscribers.
The app offers a wide range of different ways to help you relax.
Daily meditations (or Calm sessions) and soundscapes, masterclasses, and exercise classes offering morning warm-ups and ‘afternoon resets.’ You’ll also find ‘sleep stories’ narrated by the likes of Stephen Fry and Mathew McConaughey amongst others.
As one of the more established apps on the list, there’s plenty of content available. Whatever time of day, however long you have, or whatever you are looking for, you’re sure to find it with Calm.
The subscription is a very competitive £28.99 a year too. Although there is no option to pay monthly, this is less of an issue than with those apps at the more expensive end of the spectrum.
