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The Best Meditation Apps To Help You Relax

3rd November 2022

Fitness Health

3rd November 2022

By Shivraj Bassi

Feeling stressed? Wired? Unable to sleep? Instead of reaching for your phone, a Netflix binge orย a stiff drinkย to try and numb your overworked and overstimulated brain,ย why not try something new?

Meditation is the practise of focusing your awareness on an object, activity or thought, with the goal of achieving a calm, stable and relaxed mental state. A successful meditation session leaves you feeling rested, refreshed and ready to tackle the road ahead. It can help to reduce stress levels and chronic pain, lower blood pressure and tackle issues such as quitting smoking and navigating depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions. Who wouldnโ€™t want all of these benefits?ย 

However tempting the sound of a calm, collected mind might be, meditation can be intimidating if youโ€™ve never tried it before. The thought of sitting alone, urging yourself to be calm, can backfire and have the opposite effect. A meditation app is an approachable, simple way to be guided through your first experience with sitting still and focusing on your mantra. Itโ€™s easier to calm yourself down when thereโ€™s a soothing voice talking you through how to do it in your ear.ย 

Weโ€™ve put together our top choices of the best meditation apps which will help you to find your peaceful groove. And to really put the icing on the cake, consider our The Relax Capsules, nootropics whichย contain research-backed ingredients that help reduce stress, promote relaxation and help you get a great night's sleep.

Calm

One of the most popular meditation apps out there, Calm specialises in guided meditation sessions ranging from three minutes long to much, much longer. You can get super specific about the topic you want to focus on, ranging from gratitude to workplace stress to reducing anxiety and panic attacks. Thereโ€™s also specific tracks to listen to for falling asleep - we recommend the sleep stories feature, where celebrities including Harry Styles, Stephen Fry and Matthew McConaughey read reimagined bedtime stories to help you drift into pleasant slumber.ย 

Frequently updated with new meditations, the app allows you to track your progress. Beginners will find the seven and 21 day guided programs designed for them to get started especially helpful.ย 

Free, with in-app purchases

Headspace

If you havenโ€™t heard of Headspace before, you need only to mention it in public to be inundated with positive reviews and testimonials. There really is something for everyone here, no matter your level of meditation experience. With literally hundreds of guided meditations to choose from, you can customise the tone, voice, subject and length of your new practise until itโ€™s just as perfect as you are.ย 

Headspace is known for its mini meditations, perfect for when youโ€™re out and about, on your way to a stressful meeting or desperately needing a moment of zen while on public transport. Another great feature are the SOS meditations, designed for moments of emotional turmoil and emergency. With a new meditation uploaded on the app every day, you can feel certain that youโ€™ll never be bored.ย 

From ยฃ9.99 a month after a free trial

Aura

What makes Aura different, and one of the best mindfulness apps out there, is the amount of personalisation this app allows you. All of the daily meditations, life coaching sessions and stories are customised based on the mood you input when you open the app. You can also enjoy sounds of nature such as a forest soundscape, the ocean or rain noises, and music.ย 

Aura allows you to track your mood, take notes on how youโ€™re feeling and review the patterns in what youโ€™re thinking and experiencing emotionally. For those who struggle to remember to take time for themselves, you can even set reminders to take a breath or meditate throughout the day.ย 

Free, with in-app purchases

Simple habit

Want to emulate the folks at Google when youโ€™re searching for the best meditation app for you? Simple habit could well turn out to be your winner. It features five minute meditations voiced and led by everyone from Googleโ€™s top mindfulness experts to former monks. It provides an interesting mix which will mean that everyone using the app will be satisfied, no matter how eclectic their taste.ย 

As well as the classic guided meditations, Simple habit offers motivational guides, life coaching and bedtime stories for those nights when sleep eludes you. With an easy-to-use interface and the ability to break meditation and mindfulness down into manageable chunks, it slots into your life seamlessly.ย 

Free, with in-app purchases

Breethe

Breethe begins by asking you a number of questions about your goals and what you hope to achieve (through meditation and beyond), to super-tailor your relaxation offering. Choose between recommended meditations, breathing routines, nature sounds, and more to help you manage stress, sleep better or approach specific goals. They've also got an amazing library of inspirational talks and therapy bites.

Breethe offers 7 day, 30 day and 90 day 'learn to meditate' programs to get you into the habit of daily meditation and incorporate meditation seamlessly into day to day life.

Freeย 14 day trial, then ยฃ2.99 per week.

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How To Stick To Your New Year Fitness Routine

Itโ€™s that time of the year again - the New Year's fitness buzz. A time where motivation is high, new workout plans are made, gym bags make a return, and everything feels full of possibility! And yet, for many people, this momentum is short-lived. By mid-February, routines can start to slip. Sessions get skipped. Motivation fades. The resolution quietly dissolves, something often accompanied by frustration or guilt. If that sounds at all familiar, itโ€™s firstly worth saying this upfront: itโ€™s not a personal failure. In most cases, itโ€™s a structural one. It might sound strange, but having a long term and consistent fitness routine isnโ€™t solely about having the most โ€˜willpowerโ€™, or forcing yourself to run just because itโ€™s โ€˜new year, new meโ€™, itโ€™s about building an individual routine that works for you and sets you up in the best position to hit your workout goals in the long term. To make things easier, weโ€™ve put together this nifty guide diving into the science of new yearโ€™s fitness, why traditional workout resolutions so often fall apart, and what genuinely helps when it comes to building habits that last for the long term. Right, letโ€™s get into it. Why New Yearโ€™s fitness resolutions donโ€™t succeedย  Before exploring how you can set your fitness goals for the long term, itโ€™s important to understand why so many fall short.ย  The main reason comes down to something psychologists call the โ€œfresh start effectโ€. This is a period that interrupts the calendar schedule (such as New Year's), creating a mental separation between the past and the future. Such a fresh start makes change - like the restarting of aย fitness routine - mentally easier to overcome because the past feels neatly boxed away.ย  While this sounds good on paper, the problem is that motivation alone isnโ€™t enough to sustain long-term behavioural change.ย  Many New Yearโ€™s fitness routines struggle to last because they often: Focus on outcomes instead of training plans and sustainable behaviours. Target instant change Focus on unrealistic fitness goals Shall we run from the top? Outcome-based targets One pitfall people often find themselves in is setting a New Yearโ€™s fitness goal that is driven by outcome without proper planning.ย  Some examples might be: Losing weightย  Getting fitย  Running a marathon All great targets to strive for, yet without a training plan or strategy to achieve them, they can quickly feel unattainable and therefore interest drops off. This makes creating and sticking to a new yearโ€™s exercise plan key to achieving your goals, asking: what do you want to achieve? What steps are you going to take to achieve them? And how will you measure your progress? Too much change and unattainable fitness goals With the fresh start effect, it can feel productive to try and overhaul all your health practices. A new training plan. A stricter diet. Earlier mornings. Fewer social plans. Better sleep. More productivity. Individually, these changes are all positive (weโ€™ve spoken about the positive effects of many in the past ourselves). Making all these large life changes in a short space of time, however, can lead to something called โ€˜cognitive overloadโ€™. Each new habit requires attention, decision-making, and self-control, leading to decision fatigue buildup and increasing the likelihood that behaviours will be dropped rather than maintained. Sustainable change tends to work the opposite way. Small, manageable shifts layered gradually over time allow habits to stabilise before new ones are added. Instead of replacing your entire lifestyle in January, long-term routines are built by choosing one or two priorities, letting them settle, and then building from there. Unrealistic fitness goals Another common reason why new year workout plans donโ€™t work is that the end goals being set arenโ€™t realistic to achieve in the time frame given. Training every day. Completely overhauling diet. Expecting visible results within weeks are just a few sure-fire ways to see your fitness plans gone by the end of January. This is because when progress isnโ€™t immediately visible, individual motivation drops. Any missed sessions start to feel like failure, and the routine becomes something to avoid rather than return to. This can lead to a plateau in motivation and a workout rut that sees you lose all motivation to continue your fitness plan. The best way to avoid this? Tailor your New Yearโ€™s workout plan to what is realistic for you to achieve. Remember, everyone is different and you should avoid trying to replicate someoneโ€™s workout plan who is at a much different point in their journey. What helps you stick to a fitness routine So now weโ€™ve covered the pitfalls faced with New Year's resolutions, what are some of the ways that you can set yourself up for success going into 2026? Starting your workouts small It might sound a little backward, but maintaining a new yearโ€™s fitness routine is all about incremental improvements - starting small and building up to ambitious fitness goals. In essence, try to make your workouts feel manageable from the outset.ย  This removes much of the physical and mental friction caused by sharp changes and removes the possibility of overtraining syndrome - something that can lead to both physical and mental fatigue. Instead of asking your body and mind to adapt to a dramatic shift all at once, you allow both to adjust gradually - which is exactly how sustainable habits are formed. Personal, not performative goals A common reason New Year's fitness routines fall apart is that the goal itself was never truly personal.ย  Many resolutions are shaped - often unconsciously - by external pressures: how we think we should look, what others are doing, or what feels โ€˜socially impressiveโ€™. These goals can create a strong initial push, but they rarely provide enough depth to sustain effort in the long term. Personal goals, by contrast, are rooted in lived experience. Theyโ€™re connected to how you want to feel day-to-day, not how you want to appear to others. Wanting more stable energy through the afternoon, fewer aches and pains, better sleep, or improved resilience during stressful periods may not sound as dramatic as a body transformation, but theyโ€™re far more motivating over time.ย  This is supported by behavioural research showing that exercise routines rooted in intrinsic motivation - feeling better, moving more easily, managing stress - are significantly more likely to be maintained long-term than goals shaped by appearance or external pressure. These outcomes are felt quickly and repeatedly, which reinforces the habit itself. Fitting fitness into your routine Again, seems counterintuitive, but a workout routine that only works under perfect conditions wonโ€™t survive beyond January.ย  You canโ€™t change things like long workdays, family responsibilities, travel, and low-energy weeks, and you shouldnโ€™t try to. Your regular workout routine should function around these things. The key here is that fitness is flexible. It allows for shorter sessions, longer sessions, varied training styles, and a broader definition of movement that can all be tailored to your day-to-day routine. Your also not limited by location, you could workout at home, at the gym, with groups, whatever fits into your routine.ย  The role of recovery in New Yearโ€™s fitness One of the most overlooked reasons people struggle to stick to New Yearโ€™s fitness routines is actually physical and mental fatigue. While this is to be expected to some extent - and you can control fatigue by following the above tips - you also need to consider the importance of effective recovery and how you are fuelling your body between workouts. Just some of the ways you can improve recovery are: Sleep quality: Quality sleep is when the body actually recovers, repairs tissue, and resets energy levels for the next day. Without it, even light training can start to feel disproportionately demanding. Effective hydration: Staying properly hydrated helps support circulation, muscle function, and focus, making both workouts and recovery feel smoother and more manageable. Complete nutrition: Providing the body with enough protein, carbohydrates, fats, and micronutrients gives it the building blocks it needs to repair, adapt, and maintain steady energy over time. Itโ€™s also worth considering tailoredย nutrition-focusedย supplementation such as Innermostโ€™s The Recover Capsules and The Hydrate Blend. Reframing New Year fitness: from resolution to routine An effective mindset shift you can make this new year is moving away from the idea of a โ€œresolutionโ€ and towards a routine. Resolutions are often outcome-focused - lose weight, build muscle, run faster. Routines are behaviour-focused - train three times a week, walk daily, prioritise recovery. This reframing is also key when thinking about how to stick to your New Yearโ€™s fitness resolution. Instead of asking, โ€œAm I seeing results yet?โ€, the more useful question becomes, โ€œCan I repeat this next week?โ€ Remember, the most effective fitness routines arenโ€™t created in January - theyโ€™re carried through February, March, and beyond. References Dai, H., Milkman K.L., Riis,J. (2013).The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior. Management Science. 60 (10), 2563-2582.ย Click here. Cezar, B., Macada, A. (2023). Cognitive Overload, Anxiety, Cognitive Fatigue, Avoidance Behavior and Data Literacy in Big Data environments. Information Processing & Management. 60 (6). Click here. Ntoumanis, N., Healy, L. et.al. (2014). Self-Regulatory Responses to Unattainable Goals: The Role of Goal Motives. 13 (5), 594-612. Click here. Cleveland Clinic. Overtraining Syndrome. Click here. Sebire,S., Standage, M., Vansteenkiste,M. (2011). Predicting objectively assessed physical activity from the content and regulation of exercise goals: evidence for a mediational model. 33 (2), 175-197. Click here. ย 
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Why the Festive Period Breaks Your Habits

Why the Festive Period Breaks Your Habits

Every year, the festive period gets blamed for breaking peopleโ€™s health. Too many meals out. Too many late nights. Too many โ€œIโ€™ll start again in Januaryโ€ moments. By the time the New Year arrives, the narrative is already locked in. Damage done. Time to reset, detox, or punish yourself back into shape. But hereโ€™s the truth. The festive period doesnโ€™t ruin your health. Losing structure does. The end of the year is uniquely disruptive. Work schedules loosen. Social plans multiply. Travel, celebrations, and irregular routines blur the days together. Sleep shifts later. Meal timing becomes unpredictable. Hydration drops. Movement becomes sporadic. Stress quietly rises. Food gets the blame because itโ€™s visible. But the real changes are happening beneath the surface. Our bodies are built around rhythm. Circadian biology governs hormones, appetite, energy, glucose regulation, and recovery. When sleep timing drifts and meals become inconsistent, insulin sensitivity drops, hunger cues become noisier, and cravings increase. Not because youโ€™ve lost discipline, but because your physiology is responding exactly as it should. This is why willpower fails so reliably during the festive period. Willpower is not a plan. It never was. Behaviour follows environment. And the end-of-year environment is designed to disrupt even the best intentions. More social pressure. More choice. Less routine. Less recovery. Expecting motivation to override that is unrealistic. Yet the wellness industry loves this moment. January resets. Detoxes. Thirty-day transformations. The implication is always the same. You slipped up. Now fix it. That framing is wrong. You didnโ€™t fail. Your anchors disappeared. So instead of trying to be perfect between now and the New Year, thereโ€™s a better approach. Protect structure. Not outcomes. I think of this as a Minimum Effective Routine. The smallest set of habits that keep your system regulated when life gets noisy. You donโ€™t need control all day. You need a few non-negotiables. First, a morning anchor. How you start the day sets the tone for everything that follows. Consistent wake times, early light exposure, and hydration matter more than whether you train or not. Even during the festive period, waking within a similar window each day helps stabilise energy, appetite, and sleep later on. Second, a nutrition anchor. Health doesnโ€™t unravel because of one rich meal. It unravels when eating becomes random. Skipped meals followed by late, heavy dinners create blood sugar swings that drive overeating. One simple rule makes a difference. Anchor at least one meal per day around protein and fibre. No tracking. No guilt. Just consistency. Protein in particular becomes critical when routines loosen. It supports lean mass, regulates appetite hormones like GLP-1, and reduces the likelihood of grazing later in the day. Third, a movement anchor. This is not about training hard. Itโ€™s about staying active. Walking, light resistance work, mobility, or a short session at home. Ten to twenty minutes counts. Movement improves glucose handling, digestion, mood, and sleep quality. It is one of the most reliable ways to offset stress and irregular eating. Fourth, an evening wind-down anchor. Late nights are part of the festive period. Thatโ€™s normal. What matters is how often they stack. Alcohol, screens, and social stimulation all fragment sleep. A simple wind-down routine most nights helps signal safety to your nervous system. Lower lights. Fewer screens. Breathing. Reading. Repetition matters more than perfection. These anchors donโ€™t make you โ€œhealthyโ€. They keep you regulated. Now, an honest word on supplements. Supplements wonโ€™t rescue a chaotic routine. Anyone promising that is selling shortcuts. But they can support physiology when structure is under pressure. Hydration often drops at this time of year, especially when alcohol intake increases. Electrolytes support fluid balance, nerve signalling, and muscle function. Protein becomes more important when meals are irregular, helping to stabilise appetite and maintain muscle. Micronutrients also matter when sleep, stress, and food quality are inconsistent. This is how we think about Innermost products. Not as a reset. Not as a fix. But as tools that support the fundamentals when life is busy and routines loosen. The biggest mistake people make is treating the festive period as a write-off and the New Year as a clean slate. That approach creates a cycle of extremes. If you protect structure now, the New Year doesnโ€™t need repairing. Thereโ€™s no detox required. No dramatic restart. Just continuity. Finally, as we close out the year, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your support. Thank you for trusting us in an industry that often values hype over health. And thank you for being part of a community that cares about doing things properly. I hope you enjoy the festive period with your friends and loved ones, get some well-earned rest, and step into 2026 feeling steady, not behind.
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