We’re all glued to our smartphones these days. We rely upon them for all manner of things, from banking to work, shopping to, of course, communicating. But they play a big part in us relaxing too. Well, kind of.

While a bright light in your face isn’t exactly relaxing, many of us play games on your phones to kick back a bit. But, did you know they can play an even bigger part in relaxation too?

More and more of us are turning to the likes of yoga and meditation in recent years to forget about the stresses of life and try and keep our day-to-day on track, whether it be due to work-related stress, alcohol addiction, financial problems and more. In fact, as part of many drugs rehabilitation clinic programmes, there’s a huge emphasis on the likes of meditation in order to be more focused, be clearer in thinking, and reduce stress when it comes to battling the likes of alcohol and drugs.

Of course, you don’t need to be suffering from any kind of mental or physical condition in order to meditate, anyone can do it, and thanks to our smartphones, it’s easier than ever to get started.

So, if you’re looking to start meditation, here are three apps you should download…

Headspace

Headspace is a subscription based app available for both iOS and Android devices and there are a range of plans to suit all budgets and various levels of user. It is perfect for the beginner and takes people on a journey, with hundreds of different meditation sessions to choose from and plenty of guides for beginners.

You do need a membership to really make the most of this, however, so that is worth bearing in mind.

Calm

For those who mainly want to use meditation to aid sleeping, Calm is certainly up there with the best. Again, you need to subscribe to this app, working out around $70 for the year and there is only limited free content. It’s core focus is calming sounds, but there are many individual exercises and sessions that you can take part in too.

It’s available in both the iOS and Android app stores and many people are sleeping much more soundly because of it.

Insight Timer

Insight Timer is one of the best meditation apps for those on a budget, and it actually includes around 45,000 different meditation sessions for free.

There are also a number of free courses before you dig into the subscription, so you are getting plenty before you even delve into the paid content. You will find the odd tech glitch, which isn’t exactly great for stress, but it’s an app certainly worth trialling.