21 Apps That'll Help You Wind Down, Relax, and Be More Mindful

The Mindfulness App promises to send you on a journey "to a more relaxed and healthier state of mind." It's suitable no matter what stage you're at on your meditation path and includes an introduction to mindfulness, timed sessions from three to 30 minutes, and personalised meditations. The Premium section has an additional 200-plus guided meditations and courses.

Available on Android and iOS.

Apple's 2017 App of the Year, Calm provides guided meditation sessions in lengths of three, five, 10, 15, 20, or 25 minutes on various topics. Its mindfulness programme — which includes breathing, music, and Sleep Stories — is recommended by psychologists and mental health experts and is said to help reduce anxiety and improve sleep.

Available on Android and iOS.

Colorfly lets you paint more than 1,000 patterns, mandalas, florals, and animals from its artists as well as upload your own drawings or create your own mandalas. Visualise your creations in the real world with the AR virtual gallery.

Available on Android and iOS.

Prune describes itself as "a love letter to trees" and has the tagline "cultivate what matters." Grow and shape your tree against a background of meditative music.

Available on Android and iOS.

Stop, Breathe & Think has great credentials, having won the 2017 Webby People's Voice Award for best health app. The personalised meditation and mindfulness app recommends short guided meditations, yoga, and acupressure videos, with more than 55 tailored meditations and a customisable timer.

Available on Android and iOS.

Buddhify offers guided meditations for a variety of situations, whether you're trying to sleep, travelling, taking a break, or wanting to reduce stress, pain, and anxiety. It has more than 200 meditations from three to 40 minutes for beginners and kids to those with more experience.

Available on Android and iOS.

Pigment gives you the option to "tap and fill" or colour like you would on paper. Choose from 23 brushes, pencils, and markers that simulate the real thing to paint the largest collection of professionally drawn illustrations (2,400 pages), including animals, mandalas, mermaids, landscapes, flowers, and more.

Available on Android and iOS.

In Viridi, you nurture a pot of succulents, which grow in real time in a peaceful environment. Name them, care for them, and watch them flower.

Available on Android and iOS.

Headspace offers guided meditations to foster mindfulness, teaching you how to live a "healthier, happier life" in the Basics package. The subscription service provides access to hundreds of meditations on a variety of topics, from focus and sleep to dealing with anxiety and stress, as well as Sport packs, SOS sessions, and packs to build healthy relationships.

Available on Android and iOS.

Smiling Mind comes from an Australian not-for-profit organisation that wants to make mindfulness meditation accessible to everyone and thus has programmes for different ages, from those suitable for 7-year-olds and Mindfulness in the Classroom options right up to adults, sport, and Mindfulness in the Workplace.

Available on Android and iOS.

Colouring Book For Me suggests you "find joy and colour your stress away" with its variety of colouring pages in 15-plus categories, including butterflies, birds, flowers, animals, mandalas, patterns, places, and more. Import your own outline drawings and use the custom palettes and colouring tools while listening to relaxing sounds.

Available on Android and iOS.

Apple Game of the Year and Apple Design Award Winner in 2014, Monument Valley takes you into a beautiful world of impossible architecture, where you're required to guide the silent princess, Ida, around optical illusions and amazing geometry, set to a stunning soundscape.

Available on Android and iOS.

Need help sleeping? Relax Melodies uses 52 sounds and melodies that you can combine together to create your own mix, overlaid with meditations designed for sleep.

Available on Android and iOS.

If you're a sceptic, give 10% Happier a go — it's designed with you in mind, and it provides a simple approach to meditation from a bestselling author and respected meditation teachers. You'll get a seven-session introductory course with mindful meditations, daily videos, and guided audio meditations for walking, sleeping, and coping with anxiety.

Available on Android and iOS.

Sandbox brings the colour-by-number approach to your device. You can subscribe for unlimited access.

Available on Android and iOS.

Zen Koi 2 is all about combining the strategy of collecting koi with chilling to the languid action. It follows the Asian myth about koi ascending into dragons, and this sequel features the new Dragon Realm and My Pond, where you can play with your ascended dragon and decorate your pond.

Available on Android and iOS.

Your own mindfulness coach will help you learn how to sleep better and de-stress in just 10 minutes a day via Breethe. The simple mindfulness and meditation techniques are also said to help improve your relationships, sharpen your mind, and help you deal with weight loss, anxiety, and work performance. It includes a mindfulness programme for kids too.

Available on Android and iOS.

Insight Timer is packed full of free meditation content from meditation teachers around the world, including 8,000 guided meditations and 1,000 music tracks to stream. It includes a meditation timer and hundreds of topics plus thousands of discussion groups.

Available on Android and iOS.

Alto's Adventure is billed as "a serene snowboarding odyssey" that sees Alto and friends embark on an endless snowboarding journey across beautiful landscapes.

Available on Android and iOS.

Omvana teaches you how to meditate and improve your mindfulness with guided meditations from three to 60 minutes for all aspects of life from a variety of meditation experts. You can also personalise your practice with the background music mixer.

Available on Android and iOS.

Escape into a world of nature, a camping environment, and animal friends in Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, where you choose how to arrange your campsite and complete requests for animals. There's nothing quite like a spot of fishing for a relaxing experience!

Available on Android and iOS.