Headspace, Calm App or another?

[ritzbiscuits]

Have been suffering from some anxiety this year and I think it's also causing shoulder and back pain unfortunately. I've really got to get myself in better mental shape in 2019.

I know these apps mentioned above aren't for everyone, but I want to start daily meditation/mindfulness and I want something very quick and easy on my phone to get me started.

I've been recently emailed a 40% off Headspace offer, as I'd done the 10 meditation trial. Though have noticed the Calm app mentioned a few times and may be worth a look.

Any experience of these apps and what you get out of a longer term subscription would be most welcome.

I use Calm, purely because it’s free. It is good, though possibly too many American accents for my personal taste. I probably don’t get the most out of it - haven’t had it that long/don’t use it as often as I should.

Watching here for recommendations....

Insight Timer is free with a huge choice of material, that's the one I use regularly.

@MHsupport I didn't realise there was some free material there, I thought you had to sign up for a trial.

I'll give this a go, there is a 7 day anxiety one to give me more of a flavour.

I use headspace, I like it.

Not sure if it is an offer for everyone or just subscribers but I got a 'give the gift of headspace with 25% off email the other day'.

Sorry, got totally confused, you’re right, I ditched Calm because it is not free, and use Insight Timer instead. Sorry, am losing the plot!

Calm works for me. I love the sleep stories. I pay an annual subscription but if I use it in 2019 as much as I did this year then I’ll fork out for a lifetime membership.

You need some Bluetooth headphones to lay in bed with for maximum comfort

I used both. Headspace for the guided meditation, and Calm for the breathing excercise when I’m panicking.

I haven't tried those, but buddhify is really good - very helpful for anxiety. Maybe worth a try first as it's much cheaper.

I really like Headspace, I too have anxiety.

Insight Timer, which is free, has tons of stuff to choose from.

Thanks everyone. Can anyone recommend where to start with Insight Timer? I had a look earlier and it looks really overwhelming knowing where to start.

Thanks also for recommending Buddhify, I've not heard of that one.

I did the 40% headspace offer this time a year ago and it helped me enormously so would recommend. I used it daily for about 6 months & then slacked off. New Years resolution is to subscribe for another year and to get back into a regular practice. There are packs for so many life experiences.. I've done depression, anger, anxiety, grief, pregnancy and lots of sleep ones, as well as some running motivation which were good too.
I tried the free bits on Calm but didn't like it so much and it was taking up lots of space on my phone so I deleted it. But one thing I liked about it was the 'bed time stories' narrated by Stephen Fry which I think were on there.

@KarBB Thanks for your post, that's the offer I'm debating whether to get or not.

I'm working through the free content at the mo to see if I like his voice. Have tried a little bit of calm but Tamara seems very chatty, seems like there is more talking than with Andy.

I like Buddhify and it's free. They have recently started offering a membership to get extra features but all the main content is free.

There's another free one called Slumber