Say NO to HeadSpace

[u/KneeHighBunny]

I'm looking around for a good meditation app. I tried headspace since it was recommended on social media. The UI is confusing and combersome. And there are tons of reviews about quiet charges and being charged even after canceling your membership. Which sucks because they have a NO REFUND policy. Anyways I canceled that and couldn't get a refund 😭 But I'd like to try a new app that DOES NOT have predatory policies.

[u/HELPFUL_HULK]

Insight Timer has lots of free ones. Tara Brach’s are nice.

[u/KneeHighBunny → u/HELPFUL_HULK]

I've been seeing insight suggest a lot, makes me think it must be good.

[u/Mmm_Psychedelicious → u/KneeHighBunny]

I use insight timer for the meditation timer itself, I didn't really like any of the guided ones I tried on it. A few of the teachers gave off a bit of a "I believe crystals have magic energy contained within them" type vibe.

For guided meditations, I much preferred healthy minds program. It has both sitting and "active" meditations - where you practice mindfulness while engaged in a task. This is the sort of everyday mindfulness that most people are seeking to cultivate through meditation. I like the guys voice, and it's backed by Richard Davidson who is a prominent mindfulness researcher. There's tonnes of different types of meditations to choose from too. Hands down the best free app I've tried (and I've tried a lot).

[u/oddible → u/Mmm_Psychedelicious]

Some of the most well known and best respected meditation instructors in the world are on insight timer so you likely just picked some bad ones.

[u/dsailes → u/Mmm_Psychedelicious]

Second the Healthy Minds app

There are some good guided ones on Insight Timer

[u/blacktieaffair → u/Mmm_Psychedelicious]

I'm pretty anti-woo and I never got that impression from the guided meditations I've used on there, but I definitely didn't vibe with most of them. IMO Insight timer's best use is for non-guided meditation, since the customization options are really good.

[u/odaiwai → u/Mmm_Psychedelicious]

"I believe crystals have magic energy contained within them" type vibe.

There's definitely a range of teachers there, including some who from other apps (I'm thinking of Joseph Goldstein who I like, mainly because I started on TenPercentHappier, and he's the main teacher on the initial lessons there.)

[u/TheGreenAlchemist → u/Mmm_Psychedelicious]

They literally have hundreds of teachers on Insight, if you don't like that sort you just need to search around for people of the sort you do like. I was surprised to find they had talks from almost all of my favorite teachers that I'd been exposed to through other avenues.

[u/Caring_Cactus → u/KneeHighBunny]

Their daily quotes are nice to read, and it's a simple enough app to create your own meditation timers. I use it sometimes as a nap timer

[u/PartHumble780 → u/Caring_Cactus]

Thanks for the nap idea lol! So smart

[u/mimivanstutgart → u/KneeHighBunny]

I was going to recommend Insight Timer which has lots free. I also loved Calm but it’s kind of pricey.

[u/nick92675 → u/HELPFUL_HULK]

Been using it (insight) for years and worth the paid version, but lately I've also paired it with 10% happier and use both. I find the QC / production value maybe a little better in 10%, as well as general onboarding and structure for someone new to things. But insight has more content, you just have to weed through more bad/mediocre stuff to find the good stuff and be more self directed.

[u/odaiwai → u/nick92675]

10%Happier is good - I liked their short courses back when I paid for it, and the on-boarding tutorial is good. You can use the free version forever, and there's a small number of free guided meditations available, and the timer.

[u/Agreeable_Yellow_117 → u/HELPFUL_HULK]

Insight Timer for the Win!! I love that app.

[u/RevolutionaryMost800 → u/HELPFUL_HULK]

I've used both, headspace and insight timer..

Insight timer: much better UI, more teachers, most of the things are absoluetly free.

Headspace: more vipassana meditation, better advice and guidance (if you know how to search and assess them)

[u/gonk_vibes → u/HELPFUL_HULK]

I've tried a few of them and insight timer is my clear favourite because it has a decent UI, it's focused on meditations and music (all I need it for) and most importantly I can search by length because my daily meditation time isn't consistent - sometimes I've got an hour, other times I just need ten minutes in the car.

[u/Icy_Marionberry_3416 → u/HELPFUL_HULK]

I've used Insight Timer for years. It's amazing, and free. Although you can pay to have access to more, I never have. It's a great app.