Stress Less! 5 (Free) Mediation Apps for Women Who Don’t Have Time to Meditate

Everyone is stressed, including women with PCOS. Stress contributes to 80% of chronic conditions, and for women with PCOS, causes damage to our adrenal glands. This can lead to adrenal fatigue, interrupted sleep, and a difficultly to lose weight even while exercising.

So, this means if you’re stressed, your ability to get a good night’s sleep or loose unwanted pounds becomes more difficult…and that’s sure to stress you out even more!

How do we stop this viscous circle?

One of my favorite techniques for reducing stress—and one that I recommend to my clients regularly—is meditation.

I’ve heard it before, so I know exactly what you’re thinking….

You don’t have time for meditation. Last weekend’s laundry is still sitting unfolded in the basket in the living room.

If you don’t think you have time for meditation or have a hard time making it a regular daily practice, try bundling or pairing your mediation practice with another aspect of your PCOS-friendly protocol.

For example, my client ‘Amanda’ felt extremely stressed at work and found herself reaching for sugar- and salt-laden junk foods every afternoon.

Of course, she was emotionally eating…using food to calm her stress.

I recommended that ‘Amanda’ bundle her meditation practice and afternoon snack. Because we’d already set her up with a PCOS-friendly diet that included scheduled meal and snack times, ‘Amanda’ knew that she was scheduled for a snack every day at 2:45. So, every day at 2:40 she did the 5 Minute Relaxation (see below) before grabbing her snack.

Combining her meditation practice and snack time was a sure-fire way to make sure that she included some down time in her hectic schedule. And by incorporating only five minutes of meditation every day, ‘Amanda’ was able to concur her emotional eating in the afternoon. Instead of reaching for office donuts and vending-machine treats, ‘Amanda’ started snacking on her PCOS-friendly foods she’d brought to work.

Eventually, Amanda’s meditation practice became a regular part of her day that she looked forward to and she felt great, so we added one more 5 Minute Relaxation to another part of her day.

It’s techniques like this that I love sharing with my clients because I genuinely believe that finding freedom from our PCOS symptoms and changing our lifestyles to feel better shouldn’t be stressful—that’s counterintuitive to what we’re trying to manage!

Here are five of my favorite meditation apps:

1. 5 Minute Relaxation—Guided Meditation for Rest, Sleep, and Stress Relief.

More sleep and less stress? Yes, please! This is my personal favorite, and the app that I use every single day. Because it’s only five minutes long, it’s easy to fit into busy days even when we think we don’t have time.

2. Headspace

Described on its website as a “gym membership for the mind”, Headspace is like a personal trainer that offers different levels of mindfulness training. The free “Take 10” program does a great job of helping us understand what meditation is and isn’t, so we can get the most out of the experience. Plus, the guided meditations are perfect for those who hate sitting in silence.

3. Meditation Minis Podcast—Meditations for Crazy, Busy People

All of Chel Hamilton’s meditations are 10 minutes or less. In addition to the topics you’d expect—stress, anxiety, sleep—there’s a variety of others: mindful eating, anger, positivity, and more, so you can pick a meditation that best suits your needs or desires in the moment.

4. Meditate Om

This is a non-sense, straight-forward, no-fluff meditation app for chanting 20+ Hindu and Buddist mantras. This app honors the ancient tradition of meditation as authentically as possible on a modern-day smartphone, and includes the sounds of Tibetan bowls, bells, and gongs. Just set the timer for as little or as long as you like, and get your Om on in seconds!

5. Meditate Without Meditating

While not an app, it is a technique that you can apply every day without setting aside specific time in your day to meditate. This technique involves being in the present moment—always—or in the beginning, at least for a minute or two!

If you’re brushing your teeth, notice the taste and smell of the toothpaste instead of thinking about the bills that needs to be paid or the kids’ lunches that need to be packed for the following day. When you’re having coffee with your girlfriends, actively listen to what they are saying instead of checking your phone for messages or thinking about the looming deadline at work.

Remember that unfolded basket of laundry? Embrace it—notice the colors and the feel of the clothes. Just for five minutes. Give it a try.

Staying present in the moment is, by far, the hardest mindfulness technique to cultivate in our crazy, busy lives that have us running from one activity to the next. But, it is so worth it once we give ourselves the permission to fully embrace what/who is in front of us instead of treating everything we do and everyone we interact with as line item on a to-do list that must be quickly checked off before moving on to something/someone else.

Do you meditate? What’s your favorite app? Share below!

I hope this post has inspired you to start seeking freedom from your PCOS symptoms.

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