No Gym, No Equipment, Doesn’t Mean No Workout : Part 1 : Best Apps for Meditation

Working out at home is a big challenge for those of us who don't have much space or time to exercise. Now that many of us are working from home, it's become an even bigger challenge to exercise. Thankfully there are plenty of great apps that help you get the exercise the body needs, and to take care of your mental health, which is even more important in this day and age. In this list we've found apps that will help you workout when you can step outside, and those that will let you get the job done inside your house with little or no equipment. We've also found a great collection of apps to take care of your mental health and deal with issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression.

Here are the best fitness apps that you can try right now.

Best Apps for Meditation

While it is true that anyone can meditate anywhere as long as they have a quiet place to do so, a good meditation app can go a long way towards helping you destress and improving your mental health. Here are the best.

Calm

Calm has a lot of features that will appeal to people who meditate and even those who know nothing about meditation. It starts at a very basic level to help people learn how to meditate. Every day the app has a new meditation session based on certain themes such as new beginnings, for people to develop a meditation habit.

Beyond the basics, Sleep Stories (one of them by the actor Matthew McConaughey) is one of the best features of Calm and it has helped quite a few people with sleeping difficulties. The app's Emergency Calm section is perfect for dealing with bouts of anxiety and has helped people we know calm down.

There's a free trial on this app, but once that expires you will have to pay.

Download Calm on iOS or Android (free download, subscription price Rs. 4,000 per year).

Headspace

Headspace is another excellent meditation app that we like just as much as Calm. It teaches you different techniques for meditation and also has sleep sounds in case you are having trouble sleeping. The latter works for a lot of people even though it's not as effective as sleep stories that we've tried with Calm.

However, we really love the meditation courses on Headspace. It has meditations for various purposes such as movement and sports competition, among others, which have helped a lot of people focus better.

The free trial is good enough to get a taste of Headspace, but post that you will have to pay.

Download Headpsace on iOS or Android (free download, subscription price Rs. 6,700 per year).

Balance

Balance is a neat meditation app that personalises meditation goals for you. The core philosophy behind this app is that meditation, just like workouts, should be tailored to you individually. The app lets you define your goals such as improving sleep, reducing stress, or simply improving your mood, and creates a plan accordingly.

Balance is free to download on iOS with an Android app coming soon. It's premium subscription costs Rs. 4,199 per year, but right now Balance is offering one year of its premium plan for free.

Stoic

This app focuses on the philosophy of stoicism and helps you become happier, and less emotionally reactive when faced with misfortune. It has a daily morning and evening routine to help you improve your mental health. The morning routine focuses on preparing you to face the challenges of the day while the evening routine lets you reflect on your day via journaling, meditation, breathing, and other exercises.

Stoic (iOS) is free to download and use with an optional premium subscription that costs Rs. 3,199 per year.

Honourable mentions

There are free apps that provide some tools to improve your mental health as well.

Oak (iOS): Oak is a lovely meditation app that's also completely free. It has a nice tiered progress system that hooks you into meditating every day. It has breathing exercises for reducing stress, sleep, and much more.

Let's Meditate: Guided Meditation (Android): This is a free meditation app on Android that's good for beginners. It covers all the basics and you don't have to pay an expensive subscription fee either.

Reflectly (iOS, Android): is a personal journaling app that let—you log how you felt each day. It asks you AI-driven questions to help you gauge your mood and develop positivity. If the lockdown has you down and you just want to build some positivity every day, this app could work. (Free to download, around Rs. 3,799 per year to remove limits)

Wild Journey (iOS): If you're missing connecting with nature particularly in this period, you could check out Wild Journey. It has guided meditations with various nature sounds to make you feel like you're meditating out in the wild. A few such experiences are free and if you want access to all, the cost is around Rs. 3,849 per year.

Shine (iOS): Shine is a great app for self-care that focuses on meditation and sharing your journey with the community. This way you can work on improving your mental health and get that feeling of being with like-minded people who may share the same struggles as you do. The app is free to download and has a premium subscription that costs Rs. 4,499 per year.

Talklife (iOS, Android): Allows people to post about issues with anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues, with a supportive community to help out or to suggest ways to get help.

Daylio (iOS, Android): This is a free mood tracking app that helps you log how your mental health has been over a period of time. It has a nice UI that allows you to log entries quickly and you can add notes about your day if you wish.

You can also try motivational apps such as Daily Quote - Positive Quotes or Daily Quotes, positive thinking and affirmations in case you're feeling down and need some inspiration.

It goes without saying that you don't need apps for motivation, as you can get that from social media websites such as Reddit, where communities such as r/GetMotivated exist.