By Olivia Wong

Meditation used to conjure up images of sitting cross-legged in a temple, hands resting palm-up on the legs and eyes closed while chanting ‘oohhhmmmm….’. It has come a long way since then and is now so commonplace that it is even being integrated in corporate wellbeing strategies. With numerous studies showing its benefits of improved sleep and less anxiety, it’s no wonder that we’re returning to the ancient practice in this fast-paced, modern world. There’s no doubt it can help us all cope better with the stresses and pressures of studying for a PhD. So with that in mind, I’ve reviewed the free version of 4 meditation apps.

Insight Timer

“I see meditation as a tool to stop me from being a tool”- so said singer-songwriter, KT Tunstall during a live talk recently on ‘The Friendship with Nature’, where she also performed with her guitar. You could sense the collective smiles, if not the chuckles, from the thousands of live attendees from across the globe, no doubt all sharing the sentiment (even if not prepared to express it quite that boldly). This was one of many live events which happen at regular intervals throughout each day, on topical themes such as the ‘social media quicksand’ and ‘restoring connection to the self’. You can also catch live yoga sessions and even meditation piano concerts. There is a real sense of global community with fellow attendees adding to the running comment feed and the speakers engaging with them. 

With an extensive library of over 90,000 free meditations, you can easily choose one tailored to your purpose, whether you’re trying to sleep better, reduce stress or are completely new to meditation. It’s highly customisable as you can filter by length, benefits (goals), practices (e.g. visualisation, sound, mindfulness etc.) and source (e.g. science, spirituality etc.). The sheer number of meditations can seem overwhelming but the good thing is that you can see how useful other members have found a meditation as each one has an average rating. Once you’ve stumbled upon one you really like, it’s easy to come back to it by bookmarking it. There is also a wide variety of meditation music to choose from, while daily staff picks give you the chance to experience a wide range of meditations on topics from self-compassion to listening and ‘the wishing tree’. There is truly something for everyone! 

The app’s name may be derived by its timer function with customisable ambient sounds and bells, which will ring following the completion of the chosen activity (be it meditation, walking or Tai Chi among others). However, this is just for silent, self-guided ones, and not for the guided meditations within its library. 

Headspace

Of all the meditation apps listed here, Headspace undoubtedly has the best user interface and is popular among students. It’s not hard to see why, with its warm colours, cute characters and session lengths which you can tailor to your preferences (3 – 20 mins for its meditations and 10 – 500 mins for its sleep music). You can also adjust the ambiance to voice ratio of its sleepcasts.

You’ll appreciate ‘The Wake Up’, daily, bite-sized stories designed to provoke a different perspective on life and to encourage you to take healthier actions throughout the day. It is centred around 5 aspects of mindfulness: meditation, sleeping, moving, eating, and playing. Where else could you watch the metamorphosis of a butterfly unfold close-up, demonstrating a core aspect of mindfulness in the process and indeed, life: impermanence? It’s a gentle reminder to surrender to nature. 

Many meditations are only accessible through Headspace Plus (if you have a Spotify Premium account, you can access the full version of Headspace for free). However, there is still a good range of free ones, from self-love,‘releasing wounds’ and ‘loving humanity’ to ‘acknowledging our privilege’ and SOS ones such as ‘feeling overwhelmed’ and ‘panicking’. It also has an impressive range of meditations if you’re experiencing very specific obstacles such as impatience, doubt and posture. Unfortunately, it’s not so generous with its sleep-related library (and far less so with its cardio workouts, yoga and ‘focus’ series) but the other apps can help for sleep.

Calm

True to name, you certainly do feel a sense of calm when you open the app, imagining yourself on the edge of a mountain lake as you listen to birdsong, or by the fireplace as you hear the crackling. While you choose practically any natural setting to listen to your heart’s content, Calm also does what it says on the tin at night. Drift off to the dulcet tones of comedian, Stephen Fry, as he tells the ‘Blue Gold’ story or – if you’re not particularly interested in tennis – nod off to John McEnroe’s ‘The Rules of Tennis’. If you want to regress to your childhood before you doze off (think slow talk with exaggerated tone), Phillipa Alexander’s rhyming Moshi stories are highly recommended. ‘ShiShi and the Tree of Slumber’ and ‘Close Your Eyes SleepyPaws’ are so adorable, especially with the insomnia-busting background music, that you’re not likely to reach the end of the story. If music is more your thing, tune into a soothing melodic remix of Sam Smith’s ‘How do you sleep?’, relaxing guitar and firefly forest lullaby, or a playlist of peaceful Disney piano llulabies from classics like Aladdin and The Beauty & the Beast.

The free version is rather limited in its range compared to the others listed here. By far, the most free meditations come from its ‘sound’ range. However, if you look under the ‘Beginners’ section (under ‘Meditate’), it has 2 meditation series worth listening to: ‘Daily Calm highlights’, which contain 10-minute meditations on things like letting go, choice, mountains and grief and ‘7 days of Calm’, which touch on pulling out of auto-pilot and the value of non-doing.

Sanvello

“The eternal quest of the individual human being is to shatter his loneliness”. Indeed, one of the paradoxes of human nature is that it comforts us to know we’re not alone in our suffering. Enter Sanvello. One of its wonderful features is the community discussions and chat groups. The discussions allow you to create a new thread and browse and comment on other’s threads on topics including gratitude, grief and caregiver support. You can join chat groups on every issue or mental affliction that can beset humanity, from family stress and trichotillomania to agoraphobia and fibromyalgia, and everything in between. They’re not the easiest to navigate as each group is a continuous thread of conversation, but there’s nothing like hearing and sharing experiences to make you feel less alone if you’re really struggling with something. 

Based on cognitive behavioural therapy principles, it also offers specific courses on different topics, such as Braving Anxiety, Feeling Better and Becoming Mindful. Each sub-topic contains a structured list of self-paced multimedia activities (starting with short, informative videos and text explanations illustrated by diagrams before moving on to audios on signs & symptoms, plans and a calming meditation to finish). The app has new daily ‘Mood Booster’ videos, which can help you reframe how you see shift mindsets, as well as blogs on topics like coping with chronic pain. You can also try a premium meditation every day for free.

Sanvello has taken more of a therapeutic twist than other apps. It’s the shoulder you can cry on and the secret diary you can vent to and without being judged. Add mood and thought entries, allowing you to track changes and patterns over time. You can also set goals; whether you want to feel happier, improve social skills or decrease anxiety, you can add specific steps to work towards those goals. The app offers a range of suggestions based on the goal and the area in which it is based (e.g. friends and family, eating, transport etc. and even wildcard ones), Create your own hope board and set health habits, which you can track over time like your mood.

Whichever meditation app you choose (you can even mix and match), I hope it helps you to find inner peace in your PhD journey. Namaste!