The Best Meditation and Mindfulness Apps to Help Teens De-Stress and Think Positively
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When life gets a little overwhelming — and trust us, we've all been there — practicing mindfulness is one way to slow down and take a breather. The end of the year can be an especially difficult time for many young people, between the stress of the holidays, school exams, and the apparent pressure of making New Year's resolutions. But if you've never practiced mindfulness or meditation before, getting started can be intimidating.
Luckily, there are a variety of different meditation apps out there to help you incorporate intentionality and positive thinking into your daily routine. Plus, with so many different choices, you can tailor your mindfulness journey to your own goals, needs, and passions.
Three Good Things – A Happiness Journal
Designed by a teenager who was inspired by positive psychology, Three Good Things makes it easy to keep a digital happiness journal. It prompts you to write three things that went well each day, encouraging a focus on positive thoughts. The best part? The Tweet-style entries are limited to 100 characters, so you only need to carve out a couple minutes in your busy schedule for self-reflection.
Happy Not Perfect: Daily Boost
Even the name of Happy Not Perfect: Daily Boost offers a valuable message for young people dealing with pressure. It is essentially a one-stop-mindfulness-shop with guided meditations, breathing exercises, and daily affirmations. You can also set personal goals for yourself with the Mindful Minutes feature. Happy Not Perfect has five "happiness workouts" available for free and to unlock the rest of the content, you can purchase a one month subscription for $10 or one year subscription for $60.
Calm
Calm is intended for users of all ages, but it can be especially beneficial to teenagers who suffer from sleep deprivation. From stress to school work to the harmful blue light of a smartphone, teens face many hindrances to getting a good night's sleep. Enter Calm, the award-winning sleep story app that teaches meditation and transports you to tranquil worlds via relaxing narration. You can even choose stories read by celebs like Harry Styles and LeBron James. Subscribe for $15 for a month, $70 for a year, and while pricey, $400 will get you a lifetime subscription.
Aura: Meditation and Sleep
If your schedule is so packed with school, sports, work or other activities that you feel like you never have a moment to yourself, Aura is the app for you. It delivers a free, three-minute guided meditation to your phone every day. Push notifications will remind you to take a breather every so often. With a paid subscription, you can also access longer meditations and download them to access offline on-the-go.
Simple Habit Sleep, Meditation
Simple Habit is the perfect meditation app for the person who is looking to manage specific, situational stress. If you get anxious studying for a big test, Simple Habit has a meditation for that. If you take the bus to work or school, you can hit play on one of their commuting meditations. There is even a series to help you "feel at ease while on your period." A subscription costs $12 for a month, $100 for a year, and $300 for life.
Download Simple Habit Sleep, Meditation here!
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