Life in the time of Coronavirus has taught us many things already, including the fact that the Happy Birthday song is approximately 20 seconds long, that you can make your own hand sanitiser with just three ingredients, and that face masks don't have to be boring. But do you know what else it's taught us? That while being confined with your family certainly has its pros, it also kinda shatters one's inner equilibrium. That's why we're downloading these mindfulness apps and trying to take a daily mum-time moment when we can...
The Mindfulness App
Finding time to concentrate on inner peace when the dogs are barking, the kids are running riot and the husband has stolen your 'home office', is not always easy. Thankfully The Mindfulness App comes complete with guided sessions that start from just three mins, and go up to a whopping 30 mins (if you can escape to a quiet corner for that long). Not only will it improve wellbeing and mental health, but it comes with a month-long trial for the premium package which will give you access to over 200 guided meditations.
Breethe: Meditation and Sleep
With its soothing music (no Baby Shark!), nature sounds, masterclasses and guided meditation sessions, Breethe: Meditation and Sleep promises to help you de-stress and get a decent night's kip in just a five-minute sesh. Our fave part? The bedtime stories and narration of inspirational books designed to lull you into a deep slumber.
Headspace: Meditation and Sleep
Get happy. Stress less. Sleep soundly. These are the lofty but definitely achievable claims from Headspace: Meditation and Sleep, an app designed to introduce mindfulness into your day, a few minutes at a time. Choose from hundreds of guided meditations, including SOS meditations (perfect for when you just found out your three-year-old painted the wall with toothpaste). We especially love the two to three minute mini-meditations for a super quick mental reset.
Smiling Mind
Australia's leading free, not-for-profit mediation app, Smiling Mind, is used by over four million people around the globe, and has been developed by psychologists and educators alike to help bring balance into our lives. It has programmes for kids as young as seven years, and covers everything from mindfulness in the classroom (we could definitely could have done with that while we were homeschooling!) to sleep programmes, workplace mindfulness to mental wellbeing.
Buddhify: Meditation On The Go
Rohan and Lucy, a hubby and wife duo, created Buddhify for those of us time-crunched but still looking to bring a bit of modern meditation into our life. Easy-to-follow guided meditations make it easy for total newbs through to part time gurus to lead a healthier and happier kind of life, and we're totally on board with its theory that you can bring mindfulness to your life wherever you are. Even with kids in the house... Choose from a basic free subscription or go for a £4.99 monthly subscription for access to over 200 guided meditations that also includes content for kids.
MindU
Calm breathing, simple meditations, mindful living, deep sleep and self-healing are the name of the peace-inducing game with MindU. It gets great reviews for its easy approach to reducing stress and bringing calm to your mind with its five-minute meditations, and is perfect for the whole fam to get on board with. It also tracks your heart rate to help you stay fit (and to let you know when your pulse is going through the roof thanks to that toothpaste incident). There's a free trial and then monthly or annual choices when it comes to its subscriptions.
Calm
We'll take all the Calm we can get right now, and we're loving the guided meditations in this app that cover sleeping, anxiety, relationships, concentration and self-esteem amongst other things. Take some time out and Calm your mind with its free and premium options, and dive into what has been voted the 'happiest app in the world' by the Center of Humane Technology. Calm
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