mindfulness podcasts

Top 10 Mindfulness Podcasts

Times are tough. Now, more than ever, everyone needs just a few minutes to quiet down and chill out.

These days, you can find many different ways to help you de-stress. One of them is through mindfulness podcasts. There are a lot of resources available online including meditation apps, some of which have their own podcasts. With that said, the curated list of podcasts in this article will be different from the apps already mentioned in the previous article.

If you’re new to mindfulness and meditation, you might feel intimidated or uneasy at first. But, with discipline and guidance, you can ease in through the process to give yourself some clarity when needed.

Do you need encouragement? Fresh inspiration? A new perspective, maybe? Are you feeling overwhelmed? Distracted? Disconnected? Find a quiet place at home or a cozy spot wherever you may be and listen to these mindfulness podcasts.

Best Mindfulness Podcasts

When you search for mindfulness podcasts in Google, you can find thousands to your heart’s content. You can choose podcasts with episodes focusing on mindfulness exercises, meditation, yoga, healing, anxiety, personal growth, etc.

Some of the best mindfulness podcasts are 10% Happier (comes with a meditation app), Mindfulness for Beginners, and Mindfulness Psychotherapy. They often come up first in the list when you’re looking for any random podcast on mindfulness and meditation.

Due to the wide range of selection you can find online, Cognitive Health and Wellness Institute breaks down these podcasts into these general focus areas: Positivity and Happiness, and Anxiety.

Go get your headphones, put them on, and check these out!

Top Mindfulness Podcasts for Positivity and Happiness

1. Optimal Living Daily Podcast
optimal living daily podcasts

Optimal Living Daily, previously known as OLD podcast, started as a passion project on personal development. Co-founders Justin Malik and Lee Rankinen wanted a business that spreads motivational and inspirational messages. Hence, they hand-picked the best content on minimalism, personal growth, health, business, and finance with permission from their respective authors.

If you’re looking for positive changes in your life, especially if you’re always on the go, this podcast’s for you. The latest episodes talk about meditative practices, simple ways to feel better, how to take charge of your motivation, and overcoming procrastination. You have an audioblog or blogcast narrated for you for free in all streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple podcasts.

2. Mindfulness Meditation Podcast
mindfulness meditation podcast

This podcast focuses on guided meditation to help you undo toxic and oppressive energy you get internally and externally. You can practice meditation to cultivate a healthy and accepting relationship with yourself authentically. There are short snippets of episodes you can choose from or longer versions of mindful breathing, embodied listening, and relaxing in presence, for example.

This is one of the few mindfulness podcasts that invites you to “connect consciously with feelings of safety, welcome, and belonging.” If you want to feel more satisfied and have confidence in yourself, listen to this podcast. You can be happier and have a more positive outlook in life when you honor your natural needs. Open your eyes and ears on how it feels to be understood, feel seen, included, and valued.

3. Wake Me Up
Wake Me Up: Morning meditation and motivation | Listen Notes

Starting your day right can make or break your entire day, even your whole week. This morning routine podcast can be your companion to meditation and mindfulness to motivate you to get out of your bed. If you need to feel energized and excited to jump start each day, begin your mornings with this podcast.

Sometimes, all you need is a perk-me-up to encourage you in spreading good vibes as soon as you wake up. Open your eyes with gratitude from a good night’s sleep. Let go of yesterday and start anew, believing in opportunities for the new day. You can begin your days releasing yourself from expectations and pressures of this world. Learn to live freely and fully with a refreshed mind and soul, too!

4. Tara Brach Podcasts

Tara Brach combines a blend of Western psychology teachings and Eastern spiritual practices in this mindfulness podcast. She earned a doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology and spent her dissertation on meditation as a therapeutic modality to treat addiction. She also has a five-year Buddhist teaching program background supporting her credible work as psychotherapist and meditation teacher. 

In her podcast, with over 3 million downloads monthly, you can find themes on emotional healing, spiritual awakening, compassion, and mindfulness. Learn mindfulness principles and practices useful in understanding peace, issues on inclusivity and justice, and other societal sensitivities. Train your mind and heart in unconditional and loving presence; this might be what you need for your path of true freedom!

5. Mindfulness Mode

Hosted by Bruce Langford, this podcast is perfect if you’re a parent, educator, entrepreneur or in business. Do you need to increase your focus and happiness? Bruce’s podcast can help keep you calm, relaxed, contented, and satisfied in your life.

Topics you can choose from are: how to manifest abundance, using movement to let go, mindfulness through gratitude, how to discover your career purpose, 7 laws of mindful living, etc. When you’re feeling discouraged, this podcast may help you move to your peace, confidence, and contentment.

If you aren’t convinced yet, check some of the episode titles below and see if these are to your liking.

  • Embracing the Peace Process
  • Feel Better in Five Minutes
  • Color is an Energy Vitamin
  • Nourishing your Truth and Finding your Voice
  • Achin’ or Feelin’ Good
  • The Korean Art of Living Meditation
  • Amplified: Unleash your Potential with Music

Top Mindfulness Podcasts for Anxiety

6. The Anxiety Coaches Podcast

Looking for mindfulness podcasts to help you relax and inspire you to do lifestyle changes? Anxiety Coaches podcast is one of them. You can subscribe for free and get 2 new episodes each week to help you manage anxiety and panic attacks. You don’t have to feel alone in understanding the traumas you experience in your life.

Anxiety can really take its toll in many aspects of your health mentally, physically, and emotionally. With this podcast, you can gain wisdom in what to do in changing seasons, as well as how to bring your anxious mind back to the present. There are also episodes talking about transforming stress for more peace and calm and the difference between anxious thinking and wise mind thinking, for instance.

7. Guided Meditation by The Yoga Bunny

Yoga is one of the mindfulness exercises you can do. You can follow the free mindfulness practices available on YouTube to incorporate guided meditation in your life. There are yoga classes, breathing exercises, even cooking videos, that may be useful in your journey to good health. You can find the daily meditation episodes, on the other hand, by streaming on Apple, Pandora, Spotify, and Amazon Music.

Yoga Bunny is the brainchild of Bunok Kravitz, using her childhood nickname “Bunny” so people can remember her name more easily. She has 12 years of classical ballet training and extensive background in Transcendental Meditation and Mindfulness with advanced teachers and chiropractors. 

If you’re new to yoga and meditation, you will find that this can be an effective exercise to manage anxiety and stress. In the podcast, you’ll also find meditation using the sound of waves to wash blockers away and free yourself from tension.

8. The Overwhelmed Brain

Only a few mindfulness podcasts focus on the inner workings of a human brain. This is one of them. You can find the full library of episodes of The Overwhelmed Brain podcast focusing on emotional intelligence. Here, you can listen to tips and anecdotes on making healthy decisions to unblock anxiety and negative thoughts.

The Overwhelmed Brain podcast may be a good fit if you’re looking to avoid dysfunction and help you handle toxic situations. Take control of your thoughts and emotional well-being so you can show up in the world more authentically.

Here are other episode titles worth checking out:

  • Training yourself ahead of time to deal with difficult people
  • Taking the big leap into self-worth and self-esteem
  • What do you do when you’re so tired of the world being against you?
  • The betrayal of relationship trust – Emotional Affairs
  • The obstacles that block the path to self-worth and happiness

9. Practicing Human

For insights and practices on mindfulness and how to live a fulfilling life, you can listen to this podcast hosted by Cory Muscara. He spent time in Burma as a Buddhist monk where he gained wisdom as a mindfulness and meditation teacher. In the Practicing Human podcast, he also shares his knowledge and work in Positive Psychology such as on topics of acceptance and purpose.

If you’re having trouble navigating chaotic times in your life, you may find this podcast helpful. There are episodes discussing “defense systems” in your body that you have access to when you’re starting to feel unsafe. High stress environment can make you anxious with heightened emotions. When you feel threatened, you can use mindfulness and meditation practices to produce positive outcomes.

10. The Rubin Mindfulness Meditation

The Rubin Museum of Art in New York is famous for stimulating people’s learning in order to inspire personal connections, understanding and appreciation of art. One of the core values of the museum is engaging learners in any level about shared ideas, and cultures of the Himalayan region and the rest of the world. 

It is no surprise when they came up with the Rubin Mindfulness Meditation podcast because it stays true to the museum’s mission. Hence, there is a live podcast session led by legit meditation teachers inspired by specific art collections and held every week.

In this mindfulness podcast, you can effectively quiet your mind when you open your heart. It is when you truly engage with the world through art more consciously that you can feel transformed. Many listeners enjoy the great balance of quiet and talking in these mindfulness episodes.

Found the mindfulness podcast that speaks to you yet?

mindfulness podcasts

Try streaming a few episodes from each and any of these mindfulness podcasts. It’s good to have a variety of options with different styles and formats so you can find which one works for you. You can either listen to the podcast in the morning or before you go to bed. Find a routine that you can be comfortable with as you reconnect your body with your mind and emotions.

Remember that your brain may take time to rewire. These mindfulness podcasts may involve some therapy but shouldn’t be treated as a quick fix. It takes time to develop habits and turn them into routines. With discipline and acknowledging your personal needs, you will learn how to face challenges so you can move towards a full, satisfied life.

Overall, find podcasts that help you uncover conditioned beliefs that have held you back for so long. There are patterns and behaviors you may have developed over the years blocking you from mindfulness. Be more present. Learn self-compassion. Feel more empowered. When you get these results from listening to these podcasts, subscribe to them to help you stay grounded.

References:
https://positivepsychology.com/mindfulness-meditation-podcasts/
https://www.happiness.com/magazine/art-culture-leisure/best-mindfulness-podcasts/
https://www.verywellmind.com/best-meditation-podcasts-4771686
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/best-meditation-podcasts
https://www.theurbanlist.com/a-list/mindfulness-and-meditation-podcasts
https://www.developgoodhabits.com/best-mindfulness-podcasts/

meditation apps

Top 10 Meditation Apps

With everything that’s going on with the world these days, it is normal to feel anxious and uneasy. This may be unfamiliar and if you don’t know what to do, there are meditation apps that can be instrumental in managing your conditions and emotions.

Meditation apps are the best way to get into relaxation and yoga. But, if you are one who doesn’t have the resources to be in an actual class just yet, there are meditation apps that you can surely use at your disposal.

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health confirms that meditation is beneficial in reducing stress, blood pressure and chronic pain. It also helps people who want to quit smoking, and improve their mental health. 

If you’ve been anxious with what is going on with the world, meditation might be all you need. Prioritize your self-care and ensure that you incorporate daily mindfulness practice whenever you can. There is convenience in relaxing at your own pace, and you can do this today with just the use of a cell phone. No matter how busy you are, you can meditate at a schedule that works for you, and that’s what these apps are for. 

Why should you use meditation apps

There are many benefits to using meditation apps. Carnegie Mellon University shared in Psychoneuroendocrinology that using these programs regularly intervenes with stress and anxiety, most especially for people who are always under pressure because of work, school, and other external factors.

A study also suggests that meditation apps can be instrumental in controlling cortisol levels which is a stress-related response of the body. So, how do these apps work?

What to expect from meditation apps

Meditation apps are useful in channelling various tools that would allow you to develop different kinds of meditation skills. There are also mood timers and trackers that could be advantageous in maximizing your meditation. In some instances, these applications have expert support so that you are certain a professional guides you on your journey.

So, what are the best meditation apps that you can download for your practice?

Meditation apps for you

Headspace

User rating: 4.9 (Apple)
Price: $12.99 monthly or $69.99 annually

First in our list of meditation apps is Headspace. This program features the basics of meditation and mindfulness, and it comes with a 10-day free trial if you are new to the practice. This may serve as a foundation course which holds ten sessions, and ten minutes with six infographic videos to easily illustrate concepts. 

The library of content has full access to 365 meditations which are constantly updated to suit the needs of its users. You can simply stream or download the content on your mobile or computer. Be ready for mindfulness workouts, themed meditations and sleep stories to restore that relaxation and peace your body deserves. 

What can you get from Headspace? You can expect some lively animations and interesting designs. The website is informative enough that it shares articles on emotion management, sleep improvement and mood enhancement. The application highlights mental focus to calm the nerves and harmonize your mind with the surroundings. 

Calm

User rating: 4.8 
Price: $12.99 monthly or $59.99 annually

Calm is a mindfulness app that is suitable for both newcomers and meditation pros. This is the best way for users to look for their inner peace and navigate the stressors in your life. This award-winning program is compatible for desktop, Android, and iOS. It has over 100 million downloads, 700,000 of which are 5-star reviews from users. 

This application comes with a simple interface that is friendly to all kinds of users. It includes a wide array of calming exercises, breathing techniques, and sleep stories. Celebrities such as Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey.

How can Calm help you even more? You’ll have to start taking great deep breaths. Once you are done, a pop-up menu will show and that’s when you have to select the feature that best represents your goal. There are different categories you can pick from like Anxiety, Focus, Relationships, and Stress. Enjoy both the guided and unguided meditations that can go about three to 30 minutes. 

Buddhify

User rating: 4.8
Price: $30 annually

Buddhify pioneers in urban meditation which offers 80 daily guided meditation for the benefit of your well-being. An expert in urban meditation created this app and it is available for Android and iOS users. The content is simple to understand and navigate. It is also affordable too. 

Since mindfulness experts are responsible for creating the course of this program, you can be sure that you are learning from the best. The packages available are easily customizable as well. So, if you are not confident with your schedule, that’s okay. This app can adapt to your lifestyle. 

This meditation app will free you from all the excuses you might have in the future for it ranges from two minutes to half an hour, depending upon your availability. Of course, it’s ideal that you squeeze in some routines as consistently as you can. 

Aura

User rating: 4.7 (Apple)
Price: $7.92 monthly, $30 annually

If you are looking for peace, Aura is an award winning-program that may be the key to transforming your well-being and sleeping habits. This is a personalized, and all-in-one mental application that The New York Times, The Oprah Magazine, Women’s & Men’s Health and Forbes have featured.

There are times when getting into the idea of meditation takes a long adjustment. Don’t worry. Aura is free if you only have one to three minutes a day for this activity, and then you can give this a try. You can get into at least 200 meditations depending upon how you’re feeling for the day. 

According to the co-founder of Aura Health, Daniel Lee, their goal is to customize their machine learning to the situation and needs of their users. In fact, this is beginner friendly, and the sessions are not dragging, but still effective. You can expect a gratitude journal towards the end of every meditation so you can provide feedback to the developers of the program for further improvement. 

Sattva

User rating: 4
Price: $399.99 lifetime membership

Sattva stays true to the ancient roots of meditation – with the Vedic principles this time. Millions of people have been drawn to it for thousands of years now, and Sanskrit scholars have delivered them constantly and mastered the inner ways the mind works.

This popular meditation app is easy to navigate and understand. It introduces the basics of the Vedic principles, and provides mantras and chants that could help you relax daily. You won’t have to worry about your pace with this program. Even if you’re new, your body will not be surprised with the activity for you can embark on this journey six minutes at a time, per day.

As for seasoned meditators, they won’t get bored with the application because there are 100 plus guided meditations, music tracks and sacred sounds that they can practice. They can challenge themselves and achieve milestone trophies that would help you track your progress and inspire you to keep on going. 

Ten Percent Happier

User rating: 4.8
Price: $99 annually 

Ten Percent Happier is an app like no other. If you want to check what it has to offer, you can begin with the free version that usually includes basic skills and daily reminders to keep you disciplined in your regular meditation. 

Once you register as a member, you’ll have full access to a wider range of meditative skills that can help you advance. You may also be entitled for a personal coaching to customize the service that you’ll get with the membership. The aim of this meditation app is to lower your stress, improve your focus, and pump up your serotonin.  

This application doesn’t intend to provide therapy techniques for people who are going through mental health issues. Scheduling a one-on-one appointment with a licensed provider is still the best option to address the concern. What Ten Percent Happier does best is promote the benefits of meditation. 

Breethe

User rating: 4.7
Price: $12.95 monthly, and $149.99 annually

Breethe offers a 14-day free trial to give you a glimpse of what it’s going to be like when you subscribe to this meditation app. According to reviews, people call Breethe “the friendliest wellness app” because you can customize the programs for your personal goals.

The app can help you sleep and relax better with its music, nature sounds, hypnotherapy, meditations, and masterclasses offering. It also veers away from giving more to-do lists. Instead, the app provides content to help you tune out and wind down to feel lighter and happier. You can easily organize your day with the app’s “Start Your Day,” “Take a Break,” and “Go to Sleep” sections. You can even create your own personalized toolkit through “My Life Kit” that intuitively gets to know you with your specific needs.

Breethe’s masterclasses contain talks from qualified professionals and bestselling authors, even kids and young adults can enjoy. You can use this app on your mobile phone or computer, and sync your progress across all your gadgets. You can have an effective and supportive experience with its relatable meditations to get you through the day.

InsightTimer

User Rating: 4.9 (Apple)
Price: Free (plus in-app purchases)

InsightTimer is an award-winning app with millions of meditators (and growing!) and thousands of teachers from all over the world. It’s the number 1 free meditation app with an ever-increasing library of guided meditations led by mindfulness experts. Psychologists, neuroscientists, and teachers from Ivy League schools like Stanford and Harvard provide talks on calming the mind and managing stress, for example.

This meditation app has a 30-day free trial but has an optional in-app subscription for $59.99 (annually) or $9.99 (monthly). That subscription unlocks thousands more Insight Courses plus other premium features.

Even without the paid subscription, you can practice different meditation types such as zen, advaita vedanta, kundalini yoga, MBSR, Buddhist mindfulness, etc. There are music tracks from world-renowned artists you can use either as ambient sounds or to help you focus and relax. You can also join discussion and community groups for beginners, poetry, Hinduism, Christianity, and others.

Unplug

User Rating: 4.9
Price: $12.99 monthly, and $69.99 annually

The creators of Unplug started opening the doors of the world’s first drop-in meditation studio in Los Angeles in 2014. From here developed the idea of creating this meditation app to help people overcome life’s battles and not just sit around all day. You can expect meditation guides and techniques filmed from the LA studio itself.

Unplug boasts of its diverse meditation instructors including stress managers, nutritionists, sleep scientists, aromatherapists, somologists, and mindfulness coaches. These are award-winning practitioners who have in-depth knowledge and understanding of the marvelously complex science of both body and mind. However, Unplug also emphasizes that they are real people in the real world. Hence, you can easily relate to them as mothers, fathers, business owners, and employees, among others.

If you want a meditation app with short, consumable tips and content (from podcasts to meditation guides), you can try this one. You can even build a meditation practice and join the 30-day challenge to help you feel good everyday. 

 The Mindfulness App

If you are looking for a healthier state of mind, The Mindfulness app may just be what you need. It has 250+ guided meditations from experts all over the world and you can decide the amount of time you spend in the app. You can learn about spiritual practices and lessons from the likes of Eckhart Tolle, Tara Brach, Catherine Orzech, and Jon Kabat-Zinn.

This meditation app has a 7-day free trial. You can test if this is the right companion for you to have more restful sleep and less stress. You will see your personalized user statistics, reminders to help you meditate, and tracked minutes which you can sync with Apple’s Health app.

It’s easy to follow, straightforward, and does not require you to share on social media unlike other apps. You can also save your favorite teachers and follow mindfulness lessons from them. With the premium subscription, you will have unlimited access to all the courses in various topics on meditation. Plus, you can save the sessions offline if you want to go back to them later.

The Benefits of Meditation

The ever increasing stress you feel in today’s world can easily wear you down if you are not careful. You need something – anything – that can help you relax and tune these noises out. You can select from these various meditation apps and find which one works for you. 

Overall, these applications are only used to supplement your journey to better health. Hence, they are not the only and final answer to any underlying health problems you may have. 

Nevertheless, you should gain from these apps as a result of actually doing the discipline of meditation. Here is a list of benefits you can experience with these applications:

  • Increase self-awareness
  • Promote emotional health and flexibility
  • Enhance will-power and self-esteem
  • Focus on the present
  • Gain new perspective on stressful situations
  • Build skills to manage stress
  • Sharpen focus, concentration and attention span
  • Increase patience, tolerance, and perseverance
  • Elevate imagination and creativity
  • Help fight addictions
  • Reduce, control, and manage anxiety, depression and negative emotions
  • Lower blood pressure
  • Reduce age-related memory loss
  • Control pain
  • Improve sleep
  • Generate kindness and compassion

Meditation to keep you in tip top shape!

meditation apps

Meditation, though it has been here for quite a while, hasn’t received a lot of attention in the past as it is now. Even celebrities and high profile names try meditation apps to help keep them mentally in shape. 

You can start and end your day in meditation, even do a few minutes in between, whenever you need to calm down and relax. Find the meditation apps that match your personal needs so you can practice mindfulness techniques. 

In another article, you can find mindfulness exercises that you may also do along with lessons you can learn from meditation apps. Cognitive Health and Wellness Institute is not only about better food but also a body in motion, with the best diagnostics and continued community support that will lead to a healthy life. Hence, these meditation apps should aid in the improvement of your overall health, quality of life, and cognitive function.

References:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/best-meditation-apps
https://www.menshealth.com/health/g32127813/best-meditation-apps/
https://www.self.com/story/best-meditation-apps
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-meditation-apps/
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/best-meditation-apps#list-of-apps
https://www.verywellmind.com/best-meditation-apps-4767322