By Caitlin Welsh2020-03-25 10:42:30 UTC

March Mindfulness is Mashable's series that examines the intersection of meditation practice and technology. Because even in the time of coronavirus, March doesn't have to be madness.

Whether you're social distancing, in lockdown, self-isolating, sheltering in place, working to keep essential services going, or just finding yourself with a lot more free time and uncertainty ahead, you could probably benefit from developing a mindfulness or meditation habit right now. Or at least doing something with your phone that isn't doom-scrolling the news.

The coronavirus pandemic is impacting everyone in different ways, but stress and anxiety is a pretty universal effect. Whether or not you were already in the habit of taking some time regularly to meditate, the practice could be extra helpful for your mental health now and in the coming weeks and months.

There are loads of apps, courses, and other resources to help you develop a regular practice, but some of the most popular apps and guides now have dedicated resources to help you do so in the midst of this unprecedented moment. All the below have free resources, from special access for healthcare workers or people who've lost their income, to apps that are completely free anyway.

Take a deep, slow breath, and let's have a look.

This app is great if youre looking for something with minimal woo-woo vibes. Theres a pricey premium tier, but the Basics course of explanatory videos and guided sessions is free. With most, you can choose from a couple of options depending on how long you have, from just a couple of minutes to longer guided meditations. There are also free daily highlights you can do on their own, including some specific new ones for dealing with coronavirus anxiety.

Theyve even created some free meditations especially for healthcare workers and other coronavirus responders, and are offering those workers free subscriptions too. Their website now includes a whole section on managing anxiety around COVID-19 (the disease caused by coronavirus), with daily live sanity break videos.

App Store, Google Play

The OG gym membership for your mind is a comprehensive go-to in this, uh, space, and theyre now offering free Premium access for people working in U.S. public healthcare. The company says its working on ways to verify healthcare workers in other parts of the world, too.

For everyone else, theres a broader section with some free guided meditations, as well as more specialised resources for work and education.

App Store, Google Play

Calm has an entire page of resources dedicated to mindfulness exercises to practice during isolation.

Calm, another super-popular mindfulness and meditation app, has curated a page full of resources to help you meet this moment together, all of which which you can access in your browser without having to download the app and sign up.

As well as mindfulness exercises and guided meditations at a range of lengths, there are calm body stretching exercises to take care of your working-from-home back, resources for kids, a talk on creativity from Eat Pray Love author Elizabeth Gilbert, calendars to print out with a mindfulness exercise or idea for every day, conversation and kindness prompts to help you reach out to others, and even a half-hour bedtime story read to you by the most chill man in showbiz, Matthew McConaughey. The page is available in English, Spanish, German, French, Korean, and Portuguese.

App Store, Google Play

Insight Timer is incredibly popular and always free, with a library of over 30,000 guided meditations and a simple timer for meditation. You'll need to log in to use them. There's also a premium support tier, which has a generous 30-day trial.

App Store

This free app was designed originally for kids and young adults (and their parents and teachers) but its a comprehensive resource for everyone, including over 41 sessions across 10 modules in its Mindfulness Foundations section for adults. If youre a fan of Australian accents, the narrators soothing, incredibly chill tones are a relaxing listen on their own.

Their COVID-19 resource page isnt as comprehensive as Calms, as the resources are already completely free, but it features simple tips on self-care and grounding yourself during moments of panic, with a super effective, looping breath-guiding animation. The design is super kid-friendly, so it's great if your newly home-schooled littlies need some calm.

App Store, Google Play

Smiling Mind also has a page dedicated to COVID-19 resources.

This app from UCLAs Mindful Awareness Research Center is always free, with (as you might guess) a research-based approach. It includes basic meditations in English and Spanish, and the Center also hosts weekly podcasts from the Hammer Museum, which are currently being held over Zoom for safety reasons and will no doubt be tackling some topical strategies.

App Store, Google Play

This popular app, which focuses on five-minute sessions to help busy people develop a daily practice, also has a collection of online resources dedicated to combating anxiety and other feelings around the coronavirus crisis. Youll need to sign up for a free account to access them.

In a nice inclusive touch, theyre also offering free Premium memberships to anyone who cant afford to pay for them due to loss of income in the pandemic; you can just send them an email. Theres more detail in this blog post by the companys CEO.

App Store, Google Play

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7 meditation and mindfulness apps with free tools for coronavirus anxiety - Mashable