Insight Timer App Review

Today, I'd like to do my first review on this blog and I have chosen to talk about my favourite meditation/music app which I have been using for over a year now.
As you may know from a previous article, meditation is an integral part of my daily life and the Insight Timer app, I have found, has been supporting my needs very well.

While my meditation practice has a specific structure, I find that I rarely use the app for actual meditations instead of my established Ziva practice, but more for the vast array of relaxing music available on this app. Seriously, it is a gold mine! I will play longer pieces for my evening wind down or even during the day when I feel anxious, stressed or overwhelmed. I also like to listen to calm music when I read as, I have come to realise, it helps me relax while I'm reading and helps me focus more. The "Evening Fire" instrumental song by Loula Taylor is my favourite go-to background music for my Ziva meditation; it is exactly 20 minutes, just like my meditation session, which makes it perfect for me to gently time my session. The music is also not distracting which is very important.

But let's have a look at this wondrous app that is now a full part of my well-being kit.

The app is available both on Google Play and Apple App Store. It is free to download and use, but a subscription is also available (monthly, yearly) to be able to access content offline and have availability of courses (they are not accessible if you are on a free account). You can start with a free trial period before you decide to subscribe, if you want access to every option available on the app. I did the trial, cancelled it before the end of the trial period and then received a half price offer on the annual subscription (at that time, annual was the only option offered for Premium). This is how I am currently on a Premium account. It will expire in August this year and, unless I get another good offer like this one, there is a fair chance that I will stay on the free account, just because there is still so much you can access.
The free account gives you access to all the meditations and music so, in my books, that's fantastic to start with. There are thousands of teachers, musicians and meditations available. You can search by type, length, teacher, style, keywords, which makes the search very efficient in quickly finding what you're looking for.

Here are a few screenshots of my Insight Timer to give you an idea of how it's organised:

As you can see, there is a Parents category with music, talks and meditations for children and teenagers. A really invaluable resource, especially in these uncertain times.

As I said, the search lets you search in different ways. Here are the default search options on the Search page:

Here are some of my personal favourites and recently played (there are MANY more but that would take an awful lot of photos for you to look at!):

Some of my faves teachers I follow, so far (there are thousands I haven't discovered yet!) -

Here is the Courses page (only available with Premium accounts):

And here is a look at the Account page and options:

As you can see, this app is very comprehensive and the materials availability quite diverse.

Since I have discovered Jacqui Prydie a few months ago, I have delved into the world of Affirmations and have been listening to one of her Affirmations meditations every night when I go to bed. You can see a few titles on my Recently Played screens.

What I love the most about Insight Timer, apart from the fact that you have gigantic access even with the free account, which is definitely not the case for other meditation apps, is the variety of styles that you get. Often, meditation apps focus on a particular style of meditation, exploring different aspects and with different courses, like the Headspace app, for instance, which was the first meditation app I actually used.
But Insight Timer enables you to discover and explore a multitude of meditation aspects, from sound therapy, to mindfulness, gratitude, affirmations, reprogramming, manifestation and mantras, to name but a few. There are also some very good talks about a variety of wellness and social subjects. I particularly enjoyed Justin Michael Williams "Forgiving Yourself", which is a big thing for me I need to work on, and "The Revolution Starts Inside" which I found very inspiring and beautiful.

I invite you to give this app a try, even if it's just staying on the free account.
You have truly nothing to lose and everything to gain.