Best Meditation App: Insight Timer Review (goodbye, stress!)

with so many meditation apps out there how do 
you know which is the best for you in this video  
i’m going to tell you why the insight timer app 
might just be the best meditation app for you  
whether you’re a beginner or advanced meditator 
stick around till the end and i’ll take you  
through some of my favorite features about 
the app and my favorite teachers because if  
you’re just starting out on the app it can be 
quite overwhelming with the choice of teachers  
and meditations available to you i’ll help you 
narrow it down hi and welcome back to my channel  
if we haven’t met yet i’m jaime tan at enlightened 
spoon feeding your mind body soul on this channel  
you’ll get my recommendations for the lifestyle 
tools to help bring some ease into your busy life  
just like today’s and other times you’ll get quick 
yoga and meditation sessions all ways to help you  
stress less yet accomplish more so hit that like 
button and subscribe if you want more like this  
and if you like stuff like this you might want 
to get on my email list where i send out five  
mind and body tips every month there are five 
good things in the mind body soul area similar  
to the stuff i talk about here in my videos 
i’ll put that link in description below too so  
i’ve been practicing yoga for more than 20 years 
now and teaching yoga and meditation since 2008  

that’s 13 years now all this alongside a mega
intense full-time job as an executive producer
in a creative agency all this also to say i need
my yoga and meditation practice to keep me sane
and in busy periods i need it to be short snappy
effective and in times when i’ve got more time to
explore i like to delve a little deeper into the
philosophy or science of the practice and this
is why the insight timer app is so amazing this
review is in no way paid for by insight timer
i’ve been using the app for many years now and i
love it so much to the point where i’ve decided
to share my meditations on the app too so i
am now also a teacher on the inside timer app
and you can follow me there i’ll put my link
in the description below the app is available
on apple android and on the web too some of the
features are limited on mobile versus web but
either way they work great first let’s talk
about what separates insight timer from
so many of the other apps don’t get me wrong i do
recommend the headspace and calm apps a lot too to
my clients but one of the reasons why inside timer
shines over the others is because there are so
many different teachers with different meditation
styles voices accents languages and different
focuses and themes when it comes to supporting
a really busy stressed out life there are times
when you’ll need help with sleep and then there
are other times where you might need help with
the non-stop thoughts or perhaps the anxiety
with an overwhelming amount of work to do
or maybe even some difficulties you’re coming
up against with a particular person at work
all of which can be looked at and reflected
on through different kinds of meditations
there are a variety of guided meditations
available on insight timer from visualizations
to affirmations to pure sound only whether
it’s tibetan bells or piano or cello
to support the different moods you might be in
that particular day there are even meditations
specifically for kids if you want to get your
little ones involved in this lifelong learning
process already and if you don’t want to listen
to a guided meditation you can have a timer with
your preset duration opening and closing bells
or even meditate to ambient sounds whether it’s
music or nature sounds available in the app here
are some examples of opening and closing bells
here are some examples of the ambient sounds you
can listen to during your self-led meditation
the next reason why i love insight timer
so much is because meditation can be
quite a lonely process of course the whole point
is to sit with and check in with yourself but
sometimes we have questions or it feels good
to share in our experiences and the community
aspect of insight timer is truly one of its unique
points each guided meditation is peer-reviewed on
a five-star rating system so you can see how
others have rated a particular session you’re
interested in or you can leave a review or comment
if you loved a particular guided meditation when
you’re meditating you can also opt to see who else
is meditating along with you at the same time too
you can even see which meditations other people
have been meditating along to and discover new
teachers and meditation sessions this way it’s
kind of like the social aspect of spotify this way
even if you’re having an individual experience
it’s nice to know there are hundreds of other
people all over the world also sharing in a
similar experience especially right now in 2021
when our lives are so fractured and siloed
inside time also has meditation circles
they’re basically different groups you can join
around different themes like yoga nidra sleep
affirmations anxiety just key in your search term
and see which circles come up in these circles you
can share your favorite meditations teachers or
even other tools outside of meditation and connect
with other people with similar interests to you
you can also connect with your favorite teachers
in these circles if they’ve started one one of
my favorite features has to be the live events
join your favorite teachers as they give live
meditation or yoga classes and just like being
in a real life class you can ask them questions
and have conversations with them before and after
the live event you can even choose to donate a
little something to them for their time do you
use the insight timer app too and which is your
favorite feature do share in the comments below
and if you’re getting value out of this review i’d
appreciate if you’d hit like and subscribe to this
channel too for more like this it really helps me
out with the youtube algorithm so more people get
to learn about how to stress less yet accomplish
more now let’s look into the differences between
the free and paid for accounts of course there
are less features in the free account but
even then the free account still has something
like 80 000 meditations available to you it’s
the largest library of meditations available on
any free account the timer meditation circles
and live events are also available on the free
account so what’s available on subscription first
it’s good to know that you can test drive the full
features with a free 30-day trial after which it’s
us$60 per year at the time of making this video
on the technical side the subscription lets you
download and listen to meditations offline pause
fast forward and rewind the meditation as well
this i found really handy when i’ve been
traveling and on airplanes without any connection
but the best part about the subscription is
the access to the meditation courses you can
go deeper with 7-day 10-day or 40-day courses
on various topics from learn how to meditate
in seven days with sarah blondin to mindfulness
daily at work with jack kornfield and tara brach
it’s great especially if you want to deeper
dive into understanding the philosophy
theory science or mechanics of the practice i
find understanding why i’m doing what i’m doing
really helps me stick to the practice you can also
message the teachers in the classroom section of
each course handy for when you’ve got questions
all of the courses are available and included in
your annual subscription but if you’re on the free
plan and want to purchase an individual course
for life that’s also possible for a fee of about
us$20 at the time of this video the next point
about having a subscription doesn’t really affect
you as a subscriber but it’s helpful to know that
insight timer shares 50 percent of its
subscription fees with all of the teachers it’s
all dependent on play times and ratings of course
but having a subscription is also another way for
you to support your favorite teachers you can also
of course choose to donate to them individually as
another way to show your support and if you stuck
around till here you probably want to know who my
favorite teachers are on the app if you’re just
getting started definitely check out sarah blondon
her meditations are soulful heartfelt and really
connect you to your heart space i also love the
courses from jack kornfield and tara brach they
are the world’s leading meditation and mindfulness
teachers and of course from the world of yoga
nidra coz how could i not include any of my
favorite yoga nidra teachers becca yoga jennifer
piercy and ali boothroyd also known as sarovara
yoga she’s got an excellent youtube channel too
i’ll put her link and all the other links to
the other teachers below including the link to
my insight timer page so you can follow me and
my yoga nidra meditations when they’re released
if you want to check out any of my daytime yoga
nidra meditations yes yoga nidra works in the
day too i have a playlist right here on youtube
or check out what actually happens during
a guided yoga nidra meditation over here
i hope this helps you flow through your busy
life with more grace ease and flow and don’t
forget to smash like and subscribe to my
channel and i’ll see you in the next one