I’m glad the World Health Organization has designated December 21 as World Meditation Day. A growing research base, along with decades of clinical experience, suggests that meditation can be genuinely helpful for several mental health conditions.
From a clinical perspective, I believe mental health clinicians should do the following:
✅ Recommend meditation to patients—especially those with anxiety, insomnia, and ADHD—as part of a comprehensive treatment plan.
✅ Give patients concrete guidance on how to get started.
✅ Practice meditation themselves, both for personal benefit and to guide patients more effectively.
One of the simplest ways for patients to begin is with a meditation app. The meditation teacher in the app guides the person, telling them what to do, step-by-step. This is very helpful for those who are relatively new to meditation.
In recommending that a person should start by using a meditation app, two problems come up, and we should not underestimate the extent to which these are obstacles to starting with meditation:
Problem no. 1: There are too many meditation apps, making it hard for patients to choose.
Problem no. 2: There are too many options for meditations within each app, making them a bit overwhelming and directionless for patients so that many of them either don’t start at all or soon stop using the app.
That’s why my patients often appreciate it when I recommend a specific meditation app and a specific beginner course within that app. (Also, “free” should not be the only criterion we use when recommending tools to our patients.)
I’m curious to hear from colleagues:
1. Are there specific meditation apps that you’ve found especially helpful—for yourself or your patients?
2. Within those apps, are there specific beginner courses that you recommend starting with?
Here are the articles on this website about meditation apps:
BEST apps and websites for meditation
How to get started with mindfulness meditation using the Calm app
How to get started with mindfulness meditation using the Happier app
How to get started with mindfulness meditation using the Headspace app
Several reasons for recommending the Calm app to parents of children and adolescents
Related Pages
Books
Best books on mindfulness and mindfulness meditation
Breathing Exercises
Teach “box breathing” to patients with anxiety, panic, insomnia, or high stress levels
Relaxation Techniques
Relaxation practice: A simple and powerful tool for anxiety, tension, and insomnia
Relaxation practice: Handout for patients
Videos
Tips on Incorporating Mindfulness Meditation as a Treatment (Interview with Seema Desai, MD)
TED talks about meditation
Yoga
BEST books on yoga
Miscellaneous
Quotes about meditation
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