5 iOS or Android apps to learn meditation this summer – CNET France

Reduce stress, stimulate your cognitive system, reduce pain related to muscle tension and even strengthen your immune defences: many scientific studies lend real virtues to meditation, when it is practiced on a regular and voluntary basis.

Only, when you know absolutely nothing about this discipline and you don’t necessarily have the means to pay a coach specialized in the subject, how to take advantage of it? Several mobile apps can help you get started.

In their free versions, they often offer you limited experiences (to a certain number of exercises, or over a predetermined duration). But first, they still present a great opportunity to find out whether or not meditation is for you.

Here are 4 particularly useful apps for this purpose, which you can even use simultaneously to immerse yourself more intensely in this universe during your holidays. It’s up to you whether you want to perpetuate the ritual afterwards.

Petit BamBou: 10 minutes a day to feel better

The Petit BamBou application adapts to our lifestyles at 100 km/h: according to its developers, 10 minutes a day is enough to feel its benefits. By downloading it to your phone, you will get the first 8 free sessions, including videos and texts, which will help you disconnect and “cultivate serenity” within you.

The program mixes several disciplines such as sophrology, positive psychology or the notion of mindfulness, which is also referred to as the English term “mindfulness”. If the concept really appeals to you, you can have unlimited access to all the sessions with a 6-month subscription at €41.99: this represents a cost, but it is still much lower than that of courses taken in town with a professional.

Namatata: a community around ASMR and personal development

If you watch personal development and serenity oriented videos from time to time on YouTube, you have certainly not missed the “ASMR” hurricane. It is precisely on this discipline that Namatata is based, an application in which the soft voice of Antoine helps you to enter into meditation.

The “Pure 1” program, completely free, introduces you to the basics in 7 sessions of 10 minutes, i.e. more than one hour of content accessible to all in total. You can also use the community side of the application and connect with your friends, to compare your respective progress and encourage each other.

The most seduced will take a subscription at the end of the 7-day free trial period (otherwise, you can cancel and you will not be charged a single penny). The rates are set at €38.99 for 6 months, for access to all the sessions, the possibility of downloading them to carry them out offline and even a personalized page to follow its evolutions, and obtain meditation advice adapted to your needs. its own activity.

Serenity: 7 days to learn the basics of meditation for free

With its very refined interface, the serenity application inspires, as its name suggests, peace of mind. It is based on several meditation and mindfulness techniques, all aimed at inner peace and even “happiness in your life”, according to its creators.

The free part lasts 7 days and offers a daily introductory lesson, both for those who wish to fall asleep more easily, reduce their stress, meditate effectively in a short time or teach their children the basics.

If the test week is not enough for you to make your decision, you can order an additional one-month subscription, for €5.49 (long-term subscriptions available for the most motivated).
Among the “little extras” that can convince you to choose Serenity, we find the functionality to configure daily reminders to meet your goals, the possibility of monitoring your progress in real time with graphs and even compatibility with Apple Health.

Anti-stress: fun and unusual objects to relax

Of all the applications we have selected, Antistress is probably the most unexpected: its principle oscillates between a game and a method of relaxation. Concretely, the program takes with it about fifty toys, which you can use for free and in an unlimited way.

Those who are really looking for mindfulness will favor the relaxing pond with its water lilies, while the very nervous will appreciate the games on which you can press buttons to produce repetitive and reassuring noises, a bit like a ball. flexible that you knead between your fingers.

Some sounds like the chalk on the blackboard or the hammer appear more like games than pretexts for relaxation. But there are some more soothing modules, around the sea, or psychedelic images associated with soft music.

Here, we are not really looking for pure and hard meditation, but simply relaxation through everyday objects available at any time on the phone… An application that is more “fun” than “Zen”, in short.

Respirelax+: learning to breathe

If breathing is an automatic reflex from birth that we don’t necessarily need to learn, it can be used in some way for other purposes than bringing oxygen to our blood. The Repirelax+ application can guide you to learn how to breathe in order to calm the heartbeat or relax.

Free and with an easy-to-use interface, the application displays a bubble that goes up and down to show you the inspiration and expiration phases. It also contains a user guide and settings to personalize your experience or activate relaxing music.

It’s up to you to choose the application(s) to make your summer milder and learn to disconnect well. Knowing that from time to time, it may also be necessary to move away from the smartphone and screens, if only to rest your eyes and take a breath of fresh air.