Most of us are aware of the many benefits of regular meditation and relaxation. There are many tech aids to help us to incorporate these well-being practices into our daily lives. One of the leading apps in well-being is Insight Timer. We’ll take a closer look at what this app offers and whether it’s worth paying for a subscription.
What Is Insight Timer?
Insight Timer is a meditation app designed to help users cope with anxiety and stress and promote relaxation and better sleep.
With over 21 million community members worldwide, it is a hugely popular choice for people who want to meditate, practice mindfulness, and relax.
Winner of numerous awards, including Time magazine and Women’s Health App of the Year, Insight Timer has been called the “happiest app in the world” by American technology ethicist Tristan Harris.
Download: Insight Timer for iOS | Android (Free, subscription available)
Getting Started With Insight Timer
When you first fire up Insight Timer, you are asked a series of questions to tailor the Home screen to your needs. After that, check in each day by describing your mood.
In response to your answers, you’ll get a range of meditations, talks, and musical passages to suit your mood. No matter which option you select, you’ll be accessing a vast catalog of wisdom and guidance.
Insight Timer Meditations
With over 140,000 guided meditations, Insight Timer claims to have the largest free library of its type on earth. With over 100 added daily, the only difficulty is selecting the best one to suit your needs.
The Discover tab of the app guides you through this. Choose meditations based on how much time you have, the newest additions to the catalog, or pick from a diverse topic list of over 200 subjects.
There’s a lot to navigate, so you’ll want to bookmark any items of interest. You can also create playlists easily and follow your favorite teachers.
The meditation screen is simple, with a still photograph overlaid with a countdown timer, so there is little to distract you from the spoken word.
If you prefer visual aids, try the Portal App to help you relax.
Sleep Aid From Insight Timer
If you need help getting a good night’s sleep, Insight Timer offers a series of thousands of free audio tracks to help you improve your slumber. Choose from:
- Sleep music
- Sleep meditations
- Soundscapes
- Bedtime stories
There is a sleep timer to enable you to nod off in the knowledge that your music will switch off without disturbing you.
Listen to Free Relaxing Music
Thousands of music tracks are included on Insight Timer to help you disconnect from the world and enter a state of deep relaxation. These include classical music, binaural beats, and nature sounds. Create playlists of your favorites and share your favorites via social media.
Here are some more soundscape apps that can help you to relax.
Learn With Insight Timer Courses
On the Learn tab of the app, you’ll find a range of courses, workshops, live events, and mentoring.
The live events are free, and these include yoga classes, talks, music, and guided meditations. No matter what time you join, there is a constant stream of these.
You’ll also find free beginner yoga classes on these YouTube channels.
There are over one thousand courses, most of them accessed via the Insight Timer Member Plus paid plan. Further guidance is available through mentoring and workshops, which require additional payment.
Join the Worldwide Insight Timer Community
One of the most impressive functions of Insight Timer is the worldwide community that it has built up. The social element of this app is vital to its functionality.
On the Connect tab of the app, you’ll find the latest community statistics, including the number of people who are online at the same time as you. Join groups with similar interests, and invite your friends along.
Is Member Plus Worth the Subscription Charge?
Insight Timer has so many elements for free that it may be some time before you consider upgrading to Member Plus. The benefits of this are:
- Full access to all the courses.
- Listen to your meditation and sleep music offline.
- High-quality audio.
- An advanced player with no fast-forward and rewind limits.
At the time of writing, this costs $60 per year. However, If you can persuade three friends to create an Insight Timer account, you’ll get a year’s membership for free. And regardless, you'll get a seven-day free trial in the beginning.
Should You Download Insight Timer?
Insight Timer is an incredibly impressive app. It provides a great free way to access yoga, meditation, mindfulness tools, and music. More than that, it’s a mood tracker, it includes sleep aids, and the social element reminds you that across the world, we are united in striving for a more peaceful, positive way to live our lives.
Develop a Daily Meditation Habit
Now that you have the tools and support to develop a daily meditation habit, you’ll become more relaxed and better able to face life’s challenges. And there are many more great apps and resources to help you take time out for daily well-being.