Today, I’m doing a roundup of some apps and sharing with you the best guided meditation app for sleep I’ve been using for months now.
Whether you have serious difficulty unwinding and getting to sleep or you’re just looking for ways to improve the quality of your sleep – using guided tracks can be a game-changer for you.
How do I know?
Because guided meditations took me from a sleep-deprived zombie to sleeping like a baby!
I hope they will do the same for you too, and I’m sure they will if you dive in and really try them out.
Millions of people around the world suffer from sleep-related issues, don’t be part of that statistic any longer!
4 of The Best Guided Meditation Apps for Better Sleep
InsightTimer
I love InsightTimer. Finding this app had a huge positive impact on me and the quality of my guided sleep meditations.
They say they have “The largest free library of guided meditations on earth”, and I’ll take their word for it.
This means you have access to loads of free meditations – which is always welcome – and I can confirm the quality is awesome.
If you’re new to meditation I recommend going through their free Learn How To Meditate In Seven Days course. I went through this just to see what it was like and have to say it’s the best introduction to meditation I’ve experienced.
How much does it cost?: It costs $59.99/year or $9.99/mo to unlock all the features, premium courses, and some other stuff. But to be honest, and this is how it should be, you don’t need to pay for premium.
Download the app here: iOS and Android.
Headspace
It’s hard to talk about any form of meditation apps without mentioning Headspace. Headspace is probably the most well-known of all the meditation apps, and it’s great.
I’ve used it, but I’ll be honest and tell you that I don’t have it any longer. It doesn’t offer as much value in the way of free content as InsightTimer, it’s as simple as that.
I notice they’re offering a free-year for anyone finding themselves unemployed due to the pandemic we’re currently going through (I’m writing this in May 2020).
That’s one of the most thoughtful and timely things I’ve seen for a long time.
They do have some “sleepcasts” as part of their free features though. These are basically bedtime stories with calming sounds. Not quite a guided meditation, but still a great sleep aid.
How much does it cost?: It costs $95 for an annual subscription, which works out at around $8/mo. If you pay monthly it costs $12.99.
Download the app here: iOS and Android.
Related – Prefer YouTube? Here are 11 of my favorite guided meditations for sleep on YouTube.
Calm
Calm has a large library and a good range of meditations and mindfulness tracks.
They have both guided sleep meditations, and bedtime stories if you’d prefer to fall asleep that way. They even have some celebrity voices reading their stories.
I haven’t actually revisited the app for a few months, so it may have changed, but back then the tracks and features were very limited for the free version.
Still, it’s always worth checking out the free stuff, and they offer a 7-day free trial too if you want to see behind the paywall.
How much does it cost?: It costs $69.99 for an annual subscription. If you are sure you love it, then you can pay a one-off fee of $399.99 for a lifetime subscription
Download the app here: iOS and Android.
Aura
Aura is a little bit different from the other apps. It’s a lot more interactive, in that it asks you how you’re feeling and then offers a meditation based on your response.
For the purpose of this article, I’m focusing on improving sleep. Saying you “can’t sleep” is one of the options, and you’re offered guided meditations to help.
The main downside with Aura is how limited the free version is. For some features you can only get a 3-minute sample without upgrading to Premium, which isn’t ideal.
It’s a great mindfulness app though. You can set reminders throughout the day, it tracks your moods/sleep and makes sure you’re on the right path, and more.
How much does it cost?: There are some different subscription plans. Basically, to unlock all the premium features it’ll cost you $11.99/mo, or $94.99/year, or you can pay a one-off fee of $399.99 for lifetime access.
Download the app here: iOS and Android.
What Exactly Is a Guided Sleep Meditation?
First of all, quality sleep isn’t about the number of hours you sleep – it’s the quality of your sleep that really makes a difference in how you feel both physically and mentally.
When you’ve experienced a great night’s sleep, which I hope you will through a guided meditation, you notice the difference.
Guided sleep meditations are basically audio tracks in which someone guides you through a meditation designed to help you drift off to sleep.
This is done through a combination of using meditation and calming sounds. Meditation helps us train our brains to let go of thoughts stopping us sleeping, helps us breathe easier, and lowers our heart rate.
Calming sounds have been scientifically proven to help us sleep better too. It’s a powerful and highly effective combination, and a way many people – myself included – get a much better night’s sleep.
Related – Seeing colors while meditating? I’ve covered a few of these, start with seeing a golden light while meditating here.
Does Guided Sleep Meditation Work?
Yes, absolutely. There is loads of scientific evidence to support the fact that guided sleep meditation helps promote better sleep.
Something that’s more powerful for me is that it’s worked wonders for me. It really has.
I used to have a hard time unwinding after a long day, and a lack of quality sleep was causing me a number of health issues.
Using guided meditations solved that almost instantly. So I’ve always been happy to tell anyone and everyone who would listen that they had to try it.
Quite a few friends and family members did. They tried some of the apps I’ve covered above in this article, and it worked for everyone who gave it a serious try.
In Summary
No more excuses for feeling tired and fatigued because you can’t unwind and get a good night’s sleep.
All of these apps have enough free content and offer free trials that you don’t even need to spend any money to get the benefit from professional meditation teachers.
Try them out and leave me a message below to let me know how you got one. If I hear from one person who now get’s an awesome night’s sleep – I’ll consider this a success!
Resources
The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human – ncbi.org
Why Does the Sound of Water Help You Sleep? – LiveScience.com
Getting Started With Guided Sleep Meditation – VeryWellMind.com
Image credits – Header photo by Claudia Mañas on Unsplash
Phil lives in England, UK, and has around 20 years experience as a professional life, career and executive coach. He started this blog to help others find and define their own self development journey. Blogging about a wide range of topics to help facilitate a better future.