A Few Step 11 Meditation Apps
Over the years I’ve tried out a few “digital” meditation aids for my Step 11. I’ve always been aware that Step 11 says Prayer AND Meditation, and I’ve found apps helpful for the second (as well as a few books). Here’s my digital experience. Most of these apps have free versions, which then require you to do a year’s subscription to get full access.
CALM
This app feels quite American (which is fine) but if you want to meditate to a British accent it may not be your preference. It is “non-religious” in that it doesn’t go deeply into any particular theology. But it is based on Buddhist ideas of meditation as far as I can tell – watching the breath, sounds, body sensations etc. The paid version was a yearly subscription when I last used it. It has short and long meditations and some meditation courses.
HEADSPACE
Headspace and Calm are similar. Headspace is also non-religious but seems quite Buddhist-inspired underneath. I switch to Headspace after perhaps 6 months of using Calm. I’m not sure why I did. Headspace seems to have more British accents, but I don’t think that’s why I switched. They also have topic meditations, short courses, and daily meditations – like Calm. I suspect that some people will prefer Headspace and some Calm.
SOULTIME
Soultime is a Christian (Protestant / Church of England) meditation app. I tried it out because I was attending an Alpha course and wanted a more Western meditation app. Apps like Calm and Headspace are more based on eastern techniques (mantras, watching the breath, body sensation) whereas Soultime (and the app below HALLOW) are based on Western Christian ideas. Soultime is perhaps a little closer to the Step 11 Meditation guide in the Twelve and Twelve, where Bill describes a prayer and then meditates on it. In Soultime, sections of the Bible are mentioned and then you are asked to meditate on them. There are influences of Eastern Meditation – with some breathing as well. I subscribed but then felt I ran out of content I wanted quite quickly. Hence switching to the app below.
HALLOW
Hallow is a Christian (Catholic) meditation app. Catholic meditation is a western form of meditation, involving meditative prayer, or meditating on the Bible. I’ve been enjoying the meditative prayer on Hallow, but it won’t be for everybody. If you like Catholic content, the app spans elements of Eastern Mediation and Western meditative prayer – so I’ve been happy with it so far. But both this – and Soultime – are religious.
NEW KADAMPA CDs/MP3s
Technically this isn’t an app. But before I could get hold of apps, I bought CDs from the New Kadampa Buddhist Centre (which is now on Mutley Plain). I think I also bought some of the MP3s from online. These are – obviously – Eastern Meditation. Lots of watching the breath and mantras. However, they are also more religious than the Eastern-inspired meditation apps (Calm/Headspace). They include less basic Buddhist practices which start to tap into the Buddhist theology. I found them pretty good – and of course they’re not subscription based – you just buy them once!
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So that’s my experience with meditation apps. I hope it gives some insight into what’s out there. Of course, there is also Youtube which has loads of meditations of various religions and spiritualities. Good luck with your journey of Step 11!
AK., July 2022