I Started Meditating Every Day With Buddhify. Here’s What I Learned.
From evenings in the bath to my daily commutes, Buddhify had my back at every moment.
In March 2018 I started a new job. Not just any job. My first full-time job as a university graduate. Since I was incredibly anxious about starting, I spent the weeks and even months before my start date looking up and thinking of ways to relieve the inevitable fear and stress that I was going to experience as a trainee at a law firm.
I wondered how I might be able to relax and unwind from the stress when I got home every day, even if it was really late. I knew that my Netflix subscription wouldn’t cut it; I needed something that was actually de-stressing. Just in case.
So I thought of meditation. A few days before the day I was to begin my new job, I downloaded an app called Buddhify. No one had recommended it to me, I just found it through the app store and thought it might be worth it — it was only £2.49 after all.

What is Buddhify?
Buddhify is an app that is worth far more than the price you pay for it. Rather than an overpriced cup of coffee or an unnecessarily pretentious smoothie, your moneygoes a lot further with this app, which is available on Apple and Android devices.
Buddhify is essentially a set of guided meditations, set out in a beautiful coloured wheel, with each track ranging from 4–20 minutes. The tracks are tailored towards all kinds of situations and daily activities, and are split into categories such as “At Your Computer” or “Walking”. It’s meditation that can be done on the go, and absolutely anywhere. Since downloading the app, I’ve meditated on the Tube, in bed, whilst walking down my road, sitting down a friend, arm in arm with my boyfriend, in the bath and at the dining table. I’ve never felt so calm before.
I’m going to set out below some of the best Buddhify experiences I’ve had in my 6 months of using the app, and how they’ve changed my outlook or my habits (for the better!)
Bedtime
The most played tracks on Buddhify are the ones that help you get to sleep. That’s only natural, right? We have all been there, desperately trying to get some shut-eye but unable to stop our minds from running through 101 things we need to do tomorrow, or frantically replaying an embarrassing event from the day, or reminding us of all the fears and worries we have. The soothing, slow voice of Lucy or Rohan reminds you, in each of the eleven “Going to Sleep” tracks, that it is normal to be unable to fall asleep. The tracks reassure you by stating how typical it is that your mind wants to focus on the negative rather than the positive from your day, or reminds you how frustrating it is when you want to sleep but feel hyper-alert. They often also remind you that meditation is a kind thing to do for yourself to help you get to sleep. Just these reassurances helped me feel calmer about the whole stress of trying to fall asleep.
I am amazed by how effective the tracks are in making me switch off and focus on whatever it is I’m told to focus on, whether that’s gratitude for my breakfast that day in “Thanks” or the gap between the in-breath and the out-breath in “Fall”. In my 6 months of using Buddhify, I’ve only made it to the end of a “Going to Sleep” meditation track once. Every other night is a complete knockout.
This was a particular highlight of Buddhify for me when I went through a very stressful period for a few weeks back in July and found it harder and harder to switch off. I found that I would get into bed, exhausted, and look forward to choosing my Buddhify track for the night, safe in the knowledge that it would surely help me relax. It did. Every single time.

Waking up
After a good night’s sleep, what could be better that a morning wake-up meditation? One of the best parts of the app for me is the waking up meditations. Some months before I’d gotten the app, I’d made a vow to sit up in bed each morning as soon as I woke up and think — or better, say out loud — my intentions for that day. I thought this would be a great way for a forward planner and overly anxious person like me to focus on the day ahead and not worry about the future. I’d be zen in no time, right?
Wrong. I would end up falling asleep again whilst propped up in my bed, or find myself rambling on in my head or sometimes out loud about a bunch of other things I needed to do that day. I’d end up feeling stressed, as it would be hard to focus on just a couple of solid, honest intentions for how I wanted to feel that day.
That’s why Buddhify changed my mornings for the better. I remember the first morning I tried the “Soak” 5-minute morning meditation. I managed to focus throughout. My mind didn’t run away or, when it did, I was able to bring it back to the soft tones of the meditation very quickly, focusing on enjoying the warmth of my bed. In “Good”, you even repeat a mantra that the day will be good, which has the same warming, positive effect that my failed intention practice should have had. If you are the kind of person who leaps out of bed when the alarm goes off without thinking, or the kind of person who lazes around grumpily till you have to get up and rush, or if you’re anywhere in between, then Buddhify’s “Waking Up” meditations will change your morning. So, basically, it’s fantastic for everyone.
Taking just 5 minutes in between waking up and getting out of bed to reconnect with myself has made me calm down a little and start my morning routine with a sense of intention and slowness that I think I would not otherwise have.
Daily activities
“Massage” allowed me to enjoy a hot bath, an activity which I tend to only do for purposeful relaxation and self care, with a renewed sense of concentration on myself and my enjoyment. Combining self massage with the sensation of warm water around my body felt like I was giving myself one long hug. I didn’t want the bath to be over. I’m looking forward to trying another of the Bathtime meditations the next time my body needs some real love and care.
In “Kiss”, a 4-minute long meditation for walking, I saw my walk to the Tube station in the morning in a new light, as I imagined my feet kissing the ground with each step. “Pace” then inspired me to focus on how changing my walking speed affects how I perceive what is around me and makes my whole body feel different. I found these walking meditations incredibly eye-opening, as I, like most people, so often look at walking as a chore, a physical task that has to be done to get from one place to another. Meditation encouraged me to slow down just a little and remember that my body is doing something amazing: my own two feet are carrying me to where I need to be.

With the gym meditation “Charge”, I used the technique of focusing on different parts of my body and how they were feeling to really dive into my work-out on the cross-trainer. I wouldn’t recommend using the gym meditations for your entire work-out, as music is often a lot more motivational. However, the experience of focusing in on my body and being present in my session, rather than concentrating on the beat of my music, was new and invigorating. Next time, I think I’ll try it while doing a more repetitive muscle exercise rather than cardio.
On a particularly stressful day at work where I still hadn’t gotten round to lunch by 4pm, I was a mess. I popped my headphones in and put on the 5-minute “Texture” in the “Work Break” category whilst sat at my desk. Five minutes of handling and focusing my attention on the stripy mug that I leave on my desk for endless cups of tea left me feeling more composed, and strong enough to tackle the next tasks.
Journeys on the Tube have been interesting when I’ve decided to play a travelling meditation such as “Speed”, which guides you to feel the stillness within you, whilst moving. Try doing that in a rush hour Metropolitan line train on a Monday morning — the calm , peaceful expression on my face must have concerned some of my fellow grouchy, perma-scowl commuters.
Partner/Friend meditation
I’ve only tried these twice. Firstly, my boyfriend and I tried “Presents” together a few months ago. As we’re in a long distance relationship and don’t see each other all the time, it can sometimes take a few hours or so of being reunited before we feel 100% relaxed and comfortable. It’ll take me even longer than that if I’m feeling preoccupied by something. Indeed, after 10 minutes of being silent and present together I definitely felt much closer to him spiritually, which is so very important. I think this could be valuable for any couple. The busyness of life gets in the way so often that we so rarely spend time in silence and stillness together, yet that time is so valuable.
More recently, I tried meditating with a friend of mine who is also a meditation newbie (but has a phone so old that she can’t download apps so unfortunately could not get Buddhify for herself). We tried the track “Parts”, a playful meditation practice which required us to actually speak out loud! I would only recommend trying this with a particularly close friend. The friend I tried it with is someone very dear to me, yet because we live in different cities, we don’t see one another very often.
We did this meditation together in my candlelit bedroom on the last night she was staying with me before heading out of town again. Though we had a couple of giggles in the middle, the overall experience of sharing meditation, something I normally do for myself by myself, with someone so important to me felt very special. I will definitely try the other “With a Friend” meditations again with her or with a few other particularly close friends of mine as a way of connecting on a deeper level than just chatting.
The future of Buddhify
Buddhify recently launched a paid membership, for £25 or $30 a year. The creators said they encouraged anybody who feels they got more than the few pounds or dollars they paid for the app out of it, to buy a membership and support their work. This definitely describes me, and I will definitely be buying a membership. I can imagine I’ll be one of many who feel this way. The membership will feature more meditation content, including video guides, as well as a more formal guide to meditative practice.
It’s incredible how looking at the daily things you do in life in a new light, helps you to reframe your entire day and routine. Buddhify’s guided meditations have encouraged me to change my daily routine so much so that I find myself incorporating some of the techniques daily without even listening to the guided tracks. Importantly, there is no pressure in Buddhify tracks. There is no terminology that you need to learnand no forcefulness to make you concentrate or breathe in a certain way. The tracks are made with care, attention and love — this is clear — but they are also made to be forgiving. Forgiving of all us novice meditators who do have minds that tend to wander off, and who do find it hard to be completely still.

The voices of Buddhify have a calm way of inspiring gentleness with yourself and awareness of your body and surroundings. The tracks often remind you to smile, if it feels right, to feel softness in your belly, to notice how a body part feels and take it however it is. Using Buddhify tracks regularly has encouraged me to try to see beauty in the less classically beautiful places, such as during my walk to the tube station every morning along a run-down suburban high street, and to find joy in the smallest of pleasures, like swallowing my food more mindfully or enjoying the feeling of my cold hands around a warm cup of tea.
The “Stress and Difficult Emotion” practices on Buddhify have also helped me to understand my emotions better when they feel overwhelming, and allowed me to observe my feelings of stress and panic from a distance. It seems that doing these practices just once or twice when really stressed out or anxious creates a lasting imprint in our minds which we are able to then draw on the next time a similar difficult emotion comes up.
Little pleasures are just that — little. But life is made up of moments, not grand events.
I truly believe that the key to satisfaction and contentment in life is being able to enjoy the smaller moments just as much as the bigger ones. Daily meditation has helped me do just that.
Regular meditation has an effect that trickles slowly and gently into our everyday lives, and Buddhify is an incredible and effective way to start you on that journey.
