I’ve been teaching Vedic Meditation for two decades. In this time I’ve seen the meditation space evolve in significant ways.

The biggest change has been the explosion in meditation apps. These apps aim to bring you mindfulness via a device.

The first apps entered the commercial market in 2011. However it took a few years before they attracted large numbers of investment, users and revenue.

Between 2015 and 2020, over 2,500 meditation apps were launched. At the same time, many general health and fitness apps launched with mindfulness training on their platforms (Singh, 2020).

This flood of apps has proven popular, with the top ten surpassing 300 million downloads.

There are many reasons for this demand:

• they’re easy to access – the barrier to entry is low and you don’t need to commit to a course
• they don’t ask much of the end user – you can use them anytime, anywhere, and the daily time commitment is minimal
• they’re relatively cheap – around $70 USD for an annual subscription to one of the more mainstream apps
• they provide a simple offering – most often a basic guided experience with visualisation or a simple breathing technique

Despite these low hurdles and large numbers of initial downloads, studies show usage drops after only a few sessions.

95% of those who download a meditation app stop using it within one month.

Only 4.7% of initial users continue to use digital meditation apps after 30 days. Some estimates suggest that the average use of a meditation app is only 1–4 sessions (Baumel et al., 2019; Lam et al., 2023).

That’s a terrible usage rate.

These numbers are not surprising. We encounter many people who have tried to meditate via an app and it hasn’t worked out as they had hoped. Very few maintained a daily practice using an app before learning to meditate in person.

Why are meditation apps not working?

If they’re so easy and flexible, why aren’t people sticking with them?

Let’s break this down.

• Personal growth asks something of you.

If you want to lose weight and get fit, you’re not going to succeed without changing your diet and lifestyle. You need to be committed and consistent with a new plan.

Likewise if you want to calm your nervous system you have to find an efficient way to dissolve stress. And then you need to be regular with that practice.

Scientific studies show that meditation is one of the most powerful ways to quieten the mind and body. However you need to do it regularly.

Two or three sessions of listening to guided relaxation in your airpods on the train isn’t enough.

Like any other tool for personal change, meditation requires commitment and consistency. It asks you to stop and close your eyes, to carve out the time and let go of doing something else.

And if you’re going to spend your precious time on this, it better be worth it.

• Do meditation apps deliver a satisfactory ROI?

No one is going to meditate every day if it’s not delivering a worthwhile result.

The return on investment needs to be high enough to motivate you to sit down and close your eyes.

Early days research does show there may be some moderate positive change from using an app.

However, these studies need to be treated with care. They are often funded by the company that created the app. They also tend to rely on subjective reports from users rather than measurable, identifiable changes.

There doesn’t seem to be any research that directly compares an in-person style of meditation with meditation via an app. Given the wide variety of approaches used by the apps, there are limitations in comparing the two. This lack of consistency means that what one app calls a mindfulness practice can be very different on another.

• Not all meditations are the same.

Generally there are three main styles of meditation:

i.   Focused Attention or Concentration

       This involves fixing your attention on something with the aim of not thinking anything else. It might be concentrating on a candle, staring at an image or simply focusing on your breath. The goal is to create and maintain a state of silence. This approach takes effort and discipline. In practice, people may find it to be hard work and abandon the process after a short time.

ii.   Open Monitoring or Mindfulness

       Mindfulness is what most meditation apps are trying to deliver. The aim with Open Monitoring is to direct the meditator’s awareness to feelings, thoughts or breathing – all with a mood of non-judgment. The practitioner looks to maintain a sense of calm in the midst of a thought-filled mind. The goal is to become more grounded by developing awareness of the present moment, rather than overreacting to the situation.

iii.   Automatic Self-Transcending

       This involves the use of a specific sound called a mantra to orient the mind towards quieter levels of thinking. The mantra works as a vehicle for the mind. Automatically the mind follows the mantra to experience finer layers of thinking. A moment comes when the mantra disappears and thinking falls quiet. The mind is alert, however there are no thoughts going on – a state of pure inner contentedness. Examples of this style of meditation are Vedic Meditation or Transcendental MeditationTM.

• Different meditations have different effects.

Just as various styles of meditation are practised differently, they also produce very different effects on the mind and body.

When examining meditation techniques, there are three aspects to look at:

1. What’s the impact on brain functioning?

       The brain is the most important organ in the human body. It is key to governing and coordinating thoughts and actions at the centre of the nervous system. So it makes sense to know what impact a particular practice is having on the brain. By using neural imaging and EEG readouts, we see different parts of the brain are activated with different styles of meditation.

For example, in a Concentration style, we see a predominance of fast brain waves called gamma waves. This contrasts with a non-reactive Mindfulness practice where we see theta brain waves. In an Automatic Self-Transcending style, we see predominantly alpha-1 waves. This is indicates an experience of a restful, alert state. Different meditations deliver distinct brain signatures.

2. How deeply are you resting?

       One of the potential benefits of meditation, is the deep rest that it can bring. In certain styles of meditation this rest is much deeper than sleep. We know how much better we feel and perform when we’re well rested. This is why having a regular way of resting well is key.

It is possible to determine the true resting state of the nervous system. Key measureables include oxygen consumption, respiration rate, heart rate and blood pressure . This is where we see differences in different meditation styles. For example, an Automatic Self-Transcending style leads to significant reductions in oxygen consumption and heart rate. This suggests a level of rest that is deeper than other techniques.

3. Is it enjoyable and practical?

       For me this is the most important of all. Meditation only works when you do it. Do you look forward to meditating? Or does it feel like hard work? Can you fit this into your life?

• Results can be quick when what you’re doing is effective.

If the results of your meditation practice are modest it’s unlikely you’ll stick with it. If it takes a long time for you to see any sustainable difference, you’ll also lack motivation.

I’m often asked, “How long before I see change?”. In my experience, the improvements for students come quickly. I recently had a student with chronic fatigue. For the last three years she had taken pain medication every morning. After three days of meditating, she did not need her pain medication. Another student had been having difficulties sleeping. After a week of practice he reported sleeping better than he had in years.

Of course everyone’s situation is particular. Not everyone experiences results in the same timeframe. However, when you’re doing something that works, positive changes can happen relatively quickly.

• Self-sufficiency vs device dependency

We know we can’t get rid of our phones, yet most people would like to reduce their screen time.

For many people, the idea of turning to technology to calm down is jarring to begin with. I worked with an executive who was struggling to fall asleep at night. He had tried many different guided apps with no success. And he didn’t like it. The last thing he wanted was the distraction of having to be on his phone late at night. As every sleep hygiene expert will tell you; keep your phone out of the bedroom and get an alarm clock instead.

If it’s not possible to meditate without an internet connection, then something’s off.

Technology adds value to our life when it enhances our experiences and achievements. However it’s when it starts to create an unnecessary dependency that we need to pay attention.

• The power of in-person, professional instruction

You’re not going to become an accomplished piano player through an app or by watching YouTube videos.

It’s the same for meditation.

It can be a start. The easy access of a meditation app can be a first rung on the ladder. You may pick up useful language and some pointers to get you going. But it only takes you so far on your journey.

Meditation is one of the most fundamental and powerful tools to stay balanced and well. However you’re not going to become skilled and confident in your practice without good guidance.

–    Learning to meditate works best with personal instruction. Although it’s an effortless process, it’s a delicate one. Generic descriptions are not enough. The teacher needs to meet with the student to give guidance suited to the individual.

–    Everyone’s experiences are unique and they learn at their own pace. A teacher needs to support this so the student learns properly and understands how it works.

–    From the moment of initial instruction, experiences will change and develop. It’s crucial for the beginner to be able to check in with a teacher who understands this progression.

Conclusion

In this hectic and demanding world, the need for a counterbalance is urgent. To be well and happy we all have to find some inner peace. The need for an effective antidote to stress and tiredness is universal. For this to be a sustainable part of our life, we need to find something that is practical, enjoyable and that works.

This is the promise of meditation.

J. David Creswell, is a health psychologist at Carnegie Mellon University. He is also the lead author of a review paper on meditation apps published in the journalAmerican Psychologist. “I don’t think there is ever going to be a complete replacement for a good, in-person meditation group or teacher,” he says. “But I think meditation apps are a great first step for anyone who wants to dip their toes in and start training up their mindfulness skills” (Creswell & Goldberg, 2025).

I agree.

If apps can be the first rung on the ladder to move in the direction of learning meditation, then that’s positive.

However whilst they might be an easy starting point, they’re not the whole story.

The next step is to graduate by learning to meditate properly. By moving beyond basic guided exercises you can learn to rest your mind and body to the deepest level, self-sufficiently.

If you’ve tried an app and felt it didn’t quite work, don’t stop searching. Take next steps – research, read a book, listen to a podcast. Find out more. Seek out a professional who has experience teaching and supporting meditators.

The reason you’re not meditating every day is not because you can’t do it.

Rather it’s a matter of receiving quality instruction in the right technique. One that delivers benefits that make a positive difference to how you feel. An approach that is practical and fits with your busy life. And most importantly, a practice that is enjoyable and that you look forward to doing every day.

Jillian Lavender
Co-founder, New York Meditation Center and London Meditation Centre

References

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