It’s not an exaggeration to say that meditation has changed my life. It eases my stress, helps me focus and tap into my creativity, and has made me much less reactive. Several apps have helped make meditation such an important part of my life and a solid daily practice.
I started with Headspace for mastering the basics and loved its simple visualisations. Then I used Waking Up for a while, enjoying its hands-off approach. I more recently recommended Balance for a simple and affordable option. But I know meditation apps are very subjective – what works for me won’t always work for you and vice-versa.
Which is why I’m always looking for new mediation apps and approaches to mindfulness to recommend – but with so much experience of meditation apps, my standards are high.
The Way is the meditation app I’ve been recommending recently. It’s a meditation app for the iPhone that encourages you to commit to a daily meditation practice. It’s founded by Zen Master, Henry Shukman, who has more than 35 years of meditation experience.
A soothing journey through mindfulness
What I like about The Way is it explains the basics of mediation in a manner that’s straightforward but in no way condescending – perfect for both beginners and seasoned meditators.
I love the choice of experiences from big meditation apps like Calm. You’ve got body scan meditations, sleep meditations, simple mindfulness practices and so much more. But if you’re just starting out or at all stressed, that’s way too much choice. I’ve opened Calm before, quickly became overwhelmed and then closed it again seconds later.
This is what I find so appealing about The Way. It may not house a huge library of meditation practices, but I don’t think most people need that. Instead, it presents one journey, featuring a mixture of daily meditation sessions, talks and tutorials to feed your practice and understanding.
To help you visualize your journey to understanding and, hopefully, even mastering meditation, the app is set out as a path through mountains and nature with simple and beautiful artwork. These visualizations may sound like a small aesthetic choice, but to me they’re significant. They present a real sense of accomplishment and forward momentum. I also find Henry’s voice soothing, and his explanations and directions are easy to understand – his approach just really gels with me.
The app also has a few nice added features, like a meditation timer for going at your own pace, Apple Health integration so you can clock up your Mindful Minutes and options to download sessions for offline listening.
The Way has quickly become one of my favorite mediation apps – and that’s really saying something when I’ve tried so many at this point. It’ll be what I recommend for beginners in 2024, anyone who wants a fresh meditation option or even those with loads of experience who want to fall back in love with their mindfulness practice.
When you sign up you’ll get the first 30 meditation sessions for free – and you’ll always be able to go back and access previous classes. To progress further in your journey, it costs $74.99/£74.99 for an annual subscription and $9.99/£9.99 for a monthly subscription. If you’ve enjoyed the first 30 sessions and kept up the daily habit, this will be more than worth it.
