The Happynesshub MAPPS Guide
Feeling in the mood for meditation? Need a few tips on technique? Or maybe you’re curious about the options on offer? With so many options to choose from, we wanted to share our favourites.
About: Headspace is a highly established meditation app with over 60 million users across 190 countries. Voiced by Andy Puddicombe, Headspace offers free meditations, sleep exercises and short animations – all for a healthier and happier life.
Once you have tried the app out for free, you have the option to sign up to a paid subscription which offers a more extensive range of meditation experiences. At £4.17/month or £49.99/year it is a little pricey – but a truly tried and tested MAPP.
About: Calm’s offering is an initial free 7-day programme, aimed at introducing you to daily meditation, with tracks featuring gentle nature sounds in the background. You can also access a free breathing exercise, aimed for quick anxiety relief, alongside ‘Sleep Stories’ voiced by celebrities such as Matthew McConaughey and Stephen Fry!
If signed up to the paid subscription, you can access a greater library of content. Content includes more of the above in conjunction with ‘Masterclasses’ for deep-dives with experts on various wellbeing topics, music and body exercises.
Calm is priced at £28.99/year, and comes recommended due to its range of unique content.
About: With dedicated programmes for adults, children, the classroom and the workplace, Smiling Mind is 100% free. Most meditations are between 5 and 15 minutes long, with some ranging up to 45 minutes for a more advanced practice.
As well as guided meditations, Smiling Mind encourages you to incorporate your mindfulness tools within everyday life using audio instructions for ‘activities’, helping you to apply what you have learned to everyday circumstances.
Get Here: https://www.stopbreathethink.com/
About: This app really aims to encourage you to do exactly what it says: ‘Stop’ what you are doing, and check in with your thoughts and feelings; ‘Breathe’ mindfully to create space between your thoughts, emotions and reactions; and ‘Think’ to broaden your perspective. This app will also recommend meditations, based on how you are feeling at the time.
Within its ‘Learn to Meditate’ section, you can access information on the definition of mindfulness, why it is good for you, and also the neurology and physiology behind it all.
There are a reasonable number of free meditations you can access before being encouraged to subscribe to the ‘premium membership’ which includes a body scan, a breathing exercise, some stories, and themed meditations such as ‘compassion’, ‘gratitude’ and ‘change’.
The ‘premium membership’, costs £9.99/month or £54.99/year (it’s worth considering subscribing for the year if you want to save some money).
About: Insight Timer is a social app that creates a community-feel by showing you the number of people meditating at any given time. There are community groups which encourage users to join meetups throughout the UK with like-minded people.
The app’s free meditation library includes meditations ranging from beginners’ flows to more specific sessions which are focussed on topics that include building better relationships and self love.
In addition to the substantial amount of content you can access for free, there is also a ‘premium’ option for £55.99/year which allows you to access courses with well-known teachers, new daily meditations for anxiety and stress, as well as offline listening.
About: One-Moment is a nifty, cartoon-like app that focuses on (as the name suggests) just one moment. The idea is to root yourself in a singular moment, for one minute at a time. Nothing more, nothing less. There is however, the added option of the ‘warm up’ and ‘cool down’, plus some guided tips on focussing on your meditative moment – if you need it.