Nothing warms our heart quite like accessible self-care.
Mindfulness can play an integral part in your self-care routine, and with a bunch of free mindfulness apps at your fingertips (and ears!) you don’t need to splash any cash to get started.
If mindfulness is your thing, apps are an easy way to make it a part of your daily self-care habit. Whether they’re guiding you through a full meditation, or just prompting you to stop and breathe for a few minutes, you can get everything you need right from your phone – how amazing is that?!
We’ve rounded up our favourite, tried-and-tested apps to provide you with some inspiration (and a great deals!) to download and get started.
1. Insight Timer
Insight Timer has over 130,000 guided meditations led by qualified instructors.
There are special meditations for sleep and anxiety, a timer and unwind music from talented Australian musicians.
The app is available on iOS, android and web and completely free. If you want to uplevel, there’s a paid option for $60/year which includes extra courses and resources.
2. Calm
Calm app also has meditations to choose from, but there’s only around 100 available on the free plan (100 is still plenty!)
It also has breathing exercises, a mood tracker and the Self Cared team’s personal favourite – sleep stories!
There is nothing better than falling asleep to the dulcet tones of Harry Styles reading a bedtime fairytale.
The app is available on iOS, android and web and has limited (but still very decent content) or you can experience the full library on a freemium model for 7-days, then $14.99/month.
3. Smiling Mind
With that name, how can this app be anything but joyful?! Smiling app was developed by psychologists and educators and has a big focus on younger minds and families.
We love that they are a not-for-profit and the app (available iOS and android) and the thousands of mediations are completely free. You really can’t beat that!
4. Aura
This app is great for those looking for a quick and easy meditation!
Aura is free to use for one, three-minute meditation every two hours, daily. A tiny chunk of mindfulness may be just what you’re after.
There is an option to upgrade to the paid subscription for unlimited access to stories, music and hypnosis for $59.99/year (which does work out to be around $4/month – basically a cup of coffee).
5. Headspace
With a Headspace free trial you get access to a 10-day meditation course – perfect for beginners to step through how to relax and focus your mind.
Unfortunately, Headspace doesn’t have a free forever plan and costs $19.99/month (or only $7.67/month if paid annually (and with an extended 14-day free trial) but we still think it’s worth checking out.
It has some handy free content, including exercises for better sleep.
Headspace is available on iOS and android.
Get started with Headspace here
Sadly, another popular free meditation app, Stop Breathe Think (formerly My Life) closed in April 2022 - but as you can see, there are still plenty of options out there for you to take for a test-drive to see what may suit your self-care!
If you’ve tried mindfulness apps and decided they’re not for you (you totally do you!) you might prefer to take a peep at our Self Cared Spotify playlist. Pump up the volume and dance or kick* it out!
*inanimate objects only, please!
