When it comes to the long list of things that are good for you, meditation is right up there with journaling, stretching, walking, and drinking enough water. You know it should be a top priority — and when you remember to do it, you always feel amazing — but it’s still so easy to put it to the bottom of your to-do list.
Over the years, I’ve dabbled in various meditation apps and have always loved how I feel after listening to a guided practice. I’m centered, grounded, and way less stressed. That said, it’s been a hot minute since I last closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths to meditate. While I fell out of my routine, as is so easy to do, I recently got back to it thanks to the Happier app.
Happier first caught my eye when it showed up on my FYP on TikTok, and it seems to be a go-to choice for many. In the app store, Happier has 4.8 stars out of five plus nearly 140,000 reviews, and people are raving about the course selection and the app’s “meet you where you are” approach to quieting your mind.
Convinced that it was about to change my life, I quickly downloaded it and tried it. Here’s what it’s been like to use Happier, and more info about the app.
Fast Facts
- Price: Free to download, free 7-day trial, $99/annual subscription
- Best for: Relaxing, sleeping, coping with anxiety, feeling more grounded & present
- My rating: 4/5
- What I like: Easy-to-use app, a wide variety of courses and subjects, engaging teachers
- What I don't like: Not budget-friendly, some meditations seem basic
What To Know About Happier
Happier’s claim to fame is that it meets you where you are, meaning you don’t have to be “good” at meditation to get something out of it. You can be a total beginner or someone who’s convinced they can’t sit still. No matter your experience level or beliefs about meditation, the app will help you reset and start anew with the help of relatable teachers and personalized tools.
Formerly called “Ten Percent Happier,” this app offers many different courses with names like, “Unlearn to Meditate,” “10% Nicer,” “The Dalai Lama’s Guide to Happiness,” “Meditation for Skeptics,” and “Stress Better.” You name a problem — anxiety, work stress, current event-related overwhelm, lack of focus — and there’s likely a meditation for that, too.
Some meditations come in the form of Courses that guide you over several days. Others are Singles, aka shorter, one-off audios that help with everything from self-compassion and building healthier routines, to sorting through relationship problems and big changes, to taming anxiety. In total, there are over 500 options to listen to.
The app also has a Sleep tab with meditations from experts like speaker Sebene Selassie and mindfulness teacher Cara Lai who guide you through sleepy stories, relaxing pre-bed meditations, or offer tips for falling sleep when you’re anxious, stressed, angry, etc. There’s a Podcast tab, too, where you can listen to all the latest episodes of “Ten Percent Happier.”
Trying It Out
To test out Happier I got the 7-day free trial, which gave me full access to the app and all of its courses. I started by scrolling through the Home page where I could keep track of how many days I’ve meditated, and also peruse various meditation tracks, like “Boosting Low Energy,” which promises to snap you out of slump by guiding your attention through your senses so you feel more awake and aware.
Right away I felt excited about diving into. Instead of just listening to wind chimes and relaxing rain sounds — which are great, too, don’t get me wrong — I found myself wanting to learn about meditation, different approaches, and new topics I would have never thought to investigate.
Next, I looked at the Courses tab and was drawn to meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg’s course called “10% nicer,” which aims to help you feel happier and more at ease by practicing “loving-kindness” for yourself and others.
When you click on the course you can watch a series of videos with Salzberg and journalist Dan Harris as they break down what the phrase means — the first chat is titled, “Ew, What Is Loving-kindness,” which I thought was funny — or you can jump right into Salzberg’s guided meditations.
As a world-renowned meditation expert, Salzberg definitely knows what’s she talking about. Throughout the first 10-minute meditation, she reminded me that it’s OK to mentally drift away. In fact, she said that would be a perfect moment to practice loving-kindness towards myself, instead of getting frustrated or judging my scattered brain. The meditation was simple, but it felt grounding and inspirational — and that was only Day 1.
While I continued Salzberg’s course, I also checked out the Singles tab when I wanted something more specific. I scrolled through meditations with subjects like “morning,” “on-the-go,” “neurodivergence,” “happiness,” and “relationships,” but it was the “stress” option that immediately caught my eye. A tab opened to reveal dozens of guided meditations from various experts who all hoped to “build my inner reserve” so I could “regain my balance.” And really, who doesn’t need more of that?
I listened to a 10-minute meditation called “Getting out of your Head” by Sebene Selassie, who helped me “take a break from information overload” and return to the “basic experience of the breath and body” by taking a moment to myself. As I listened, my body relaxed and my mind tuned in, and that’s when I noticed that many of Happier’s meditations seem different from other ones I’ve tried.
The experts often encourage you to stay alert while meditating versus turning into Jell-O and becoming fully relaxed. According to Selassie, I should look for “a balance between being grounded and open.” By the end, my brain was noticeably less jumbled — and it felt amazing.
The Takeaway
While I initially kept opening the app to peruse the course selection, I stayed because I remembered how nice it feels to get grounded regularly. Nothing beats that post-meditation clarity.
I’m a fan of the fact you can use Happier any way you like: every day to really dig into a meditation routine or at random moments when you need extra support. (Feeling worried? That’d be the perfect time to open the app and try a one-minute body scan for anxiety or a deep breathing exercise.)
It’s also nice that each teacher offers a different approach so you can find what works best for you. Personally, I was drawn to Selassie’s calm content as well as Matthew Hepburn, who has a soothing voice and lots of interesting things to say about gratitude and feeling focused.
It’s been a while since I meditated regularly, but with Happier I’m officially back into it. I picked right back up where I left off — and I already feel so much better.
