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The app

Meditation · Health & Body · HourLife Premium

Sit for the minutes you have, and watch sixteen weeks of them fill in.

A meditation timer with four practices, a breathing guide, a short reflection after each sit, and a heatmap of your practice.

  • A timer that keeps timeA session runs on the clock, not the screen. Leave the app and it keeps counting. Come back and the Begin button reads “Resume active session”, or “Complete reflection” once the bell has gone.
  • A breathing guide you can followIn “Breathing”, a circle grows for four seconds, holds for four, shrinks for four and holds for four. No voice and no music, only a bell when you begin and a softer one at the end.
  • Every sit on one gridEach day is a square, shaded by the minutes you sat. Ten minutes is a full square, and every sit shows, even one minute.
HourLife Meditation: The Meditation page with the practice heatmap, duration chips, the four practice cards, and the “Begin — 5 min silent sit” button.
The Meditation page with the practice heatmap, duration chips, the four practice cards, and the “Begin — 5 min silent sit” button.

Your first sit

  1. Pick a length and a practice

    Tap a duration chip, from "1 min" to "30 min", and one of the four cards. The button at the foot of the page names what you picked, as in "Begin — 5 min silent sit". Meditation is part of Premium.

  2. Sit until the bell

    Tap Begin. A bell starts the timer and a softer one ends it. "End early" at the top and "Done for today" below stop it sooner, and the minutes you actually sat are what count.

  3. Say how you feel, then save

    Under "How do you feel now?", pick one of five faces if you like, add a note, and tap "Save session". The sit is logged only when you save it.

Every step, in detail
  1. 1 Open Meditation and pick a length from the duration chips (1, 3, 5, 10, 20, or 30 min).
  2. 2 Choose a practice card, such as "Silent sit" or "Breathing".
  3. 3 Tap the "Begin" button, which names the length and practice you picked.
  4. 4 When the bell sounds, choose how you feel under "How do you feel now?", add an optional note, and tap "Save session".
  5. 5 If you meditated away from the app, tap "Log a past session" under the Begin button instead.
HourLife Meditation: The reflection after a session, with five faces under “How do you feel now?”, an optional note, and “Save session”.
The reflection after a session, with five faces under “How do you feel now?”, an optional note, and “Save session”.

Sixteen weeks of sitting

The top of the Meditation page is one square a day for sixteen weeks, shaded by the minutes you sat. Ten minutes fills a square, so a short daily sit shows up as clearly as a long one now and then. Pick a length and a practice, sit, and watch today’s square change.

Sample · Jul 6 to Tuesday, Oct 20, at 18:00 · try it

A sit here takes no time: the sample clock moves on by its length, from 18:00.

Meditation

Sit, breathe, return.

The heatmap

Each square is a day’s minutes

Weeks run down in columns from Monday, the newest on the right. Days after today stay blank, and today has a gold ring.

Sixteen weeks of sample practice, Monday Jul 6 to Tuesday Oct 20: 69 days practiced and 38 without. 38 empty, 3 light, 27 medium, 2 deep, 37 full. Jul Aug Sep Oct M W F Mon Jul 6: 6 min Tue Jul 7: 5 min Wed Jul 8: no practice Thu Jul 9: no practice Fri Jul 10: 10 min Sat Jul 11: no practice Sun Jul 12: 13 min Mon Jul 13: 10 min Tue Jul 14: 5 min Wed Jul 15: no practice Thu Jul 16: 10 min Fri Jul 17: no practice Sat Jul 18: no practice Sun Jul 19: no practice Mon Jul 20: no practice Tue Jul 21: 5 min Wed Jul 22: 10 min Thu Jul 23: 1 min Fri Jul 24: 10 min Sat Jul 25: no practice Sun Jul 26: no practice Mon Jul 27: 10 min Tue Jul 28: no practice Wed Jul 29: no practice Thu Jul 30: no practice Fri Jul 31: 10 min Sat Aug 1: no practice Sun Aug 2: 4 min Mon Aug 3: 10 min Tue Aug 4: 8 min Wed Aug 5: 4 min Thu Aug 6: no practice Fri Aug 7: 10 min Sat Aug 8: no practice Sun Aug 9: 20 min Mon Aug 10: no practice Tue Aug 11: 10 min Wed Aug 12: no practice Thu Aug 13: no practice Fri Aug 14: 5 min Sat Aug 15: 10 min Sun Aug 16: 15 min Mon Aug 17: no practice Tue Aug 18: no practice Wed Aug 19: no practice Thu Aug 20: 10 min Fri Aug 21: 10 min Sat Aug 22: 10 min Sun Aug 23: 5 min Mon Aug 24: 10 min Tue Aug 25: 3 min Wed Aug 26: 10 min Thu Aug 27: 5 min Fri Aug 28: no practice Sat Aug 29: 3 min Sun Aug 30: no practice Mon Aug 31: no practice Tue Sep 1: 30 min Wed Sep 2: 20 min Thu Sep 3: no practice Fri Sep 4: no practice Sat Sep 5: no practice Sun Sep 6: 10 min Mon Sep 7: 5 min Tue Sep 8: no practice Wed Sep 9: 5 min Thu Sep 10: 5 min Fri Sep 11: 5 min Sat Sep 12: no practice Sun Sep 13: 15 min Mon Sep 14: no practice Tue Sep 15: 5 min Wed Sep 16: 2 min Thu Sep 17: 3 min Fri Sep 18: no practice Sat Sep 19: no practice Sun Sep 20: 10 min Mon Sep 21: 8 min Tue Sep 22: 20 min Wed Sep 23: no practice Thu Sep 24: 10 min Fri Sep 25: 20 min Sat Sep 26: 10 min Sun Sep 27: 20 min Mon Sep 28: no practice Tue Sep 29: 5 min Wed Sep 30: 5 min Thu Oct 1: 10 min Fri Oct 2: 3 min Sat Oct 3: 5 min Sun Oct 4: 5 min Mon Oct 5: 5 min Tue Oct 6: 20 min Wed Oct 7: 5 min Thu Oct 8: 5 min Fri Oct 9: 20 min Sat Oct 10: no practice Sun Oct 11: 5 min Mon Oct 12: no practice Tue Oct 13: 10 min Wed Oct 14: no practice Thu Oct 15: 20 min Fri Oct 16: 7 min Sat Oct 17: 30 min Sun Oct 18: 1 min Mon Oct 19: 5 min Tue Oct 20: 5 min
16 weeks
  1. none
  2. 1–2 min
  3. 3–5
  4. 6–7
  5. 8 or more
  6. today
MEDITATION · ON TODAY 5m today Before a sit it reads the default, “5 min silent sit”.

History, newest first

  • BreathingOct 20 at 07:175 min
  • Body scanOct 19 at 07:215 min
  • Silent sitOct 18 at 06:581 min

“Log a past session” here files the length and practice you picked under yesterday, at the clock’s time. In the app its own sheet picks them, a day as well.

Four cards, two screens

The four practice cards lead to two session screens. Breathing draws a circle to follow. The other three are the same quiet timer with the same words on it, so the card you pick mostly decides what History calls the sit.

  • Silent sit

    What it promisesTimer only · Gentle bell at close

    The session screenBreathe naturallyJust observe · nothing to do

    HistorySilent sit

  • Breathing

    What it promisesVisual breath guide · 4-4-4 rhythm

    The session screenFollow the circleIn · hold · out · hold

    HistoryBreathing

  • Body scan

    What it promisesGuided attention · Head to toe

    The session screenBreathe naturallyJust observe · nothing to do

    HistoryBody scan

  • Open awareness

    What it promisesUnguided · Observe what arises

    The session screenBreathe naturallyJust observe · nothing to do

    HistoryOther

Body scan’s card says “Guided attention · Head to toe”, but the app gives no guidance through the body yet: no voice, no prompts, the same quiet screen. Every practice rings a bell when it starts and a softer one when it ends.

Breathing

Four seconds a side

In for four, hold for four, out for four, hold for four: one breath is sixteen seconds, and the circle grows on the in-breath and shrinks on the out.

The breathing rhythm as a square: in for 4 seconds up the left side, hold 4 across the top, out 4 down the right, hold 4 along the foot. Beside it the circle, small after the out-breath and large after the in-breath. in 4s hold 4s out 4s hold 4s Ready

A minute is three and three-quarter breaths, so it ends as an out-breath finishes.

The words under the circle never change: “Follow the circle”, then “In · hold · out · hold”. With Reduce Motion on, the circle jumps between its two sizes instead of gliding.

HourLife Meditation: A one-minute Breathing session on the dark session screen, with the timer inside the breathing circle and “Follow the circle” below.
A one-minute Breathing sit, the time inside the circle.

What a sit leaves behind

The timer runs on the clock, so a sit keeps going with the app closed. What gets saved is the minutes you actually sat, whole minutes and at least one, filed at the moment the sit ended rather than when you tapped “Save session”.

Sample · two ten-minute Breathing sits from 07:00

Two ten-minute sits from 07:00 to 07:26. The first runs its full ten minutes while you are away from the app from 07:02 to 07:24, and is saved at 07:25 as 10 minutes at 07:10. The second ends early at 6 minutes 40 seconds, is saved at 07:09, and is kept as 6 minutes at 07:06. The lists below give each step. 07:00 07:05 07:10 07:15 07:20 07:25 A · Sat it through, with the app closed 1 2 3 4 5 B · Ended early 1 2 3
  1. A · Sat it through, with the app closed
    1. Begin. A bell, and the clock starts.
    2. You leave the app. The session keeps counting.
    3. Time’s up: a softer bell, and “Mindfulness complete” if “Session end reminder” is on.
    4. You come back. The button reads “Complete reflection”.
    5. “Save session”.

    KEPTBreathing · 10 min, Oct 20 at 07:10

  2. B · Ended early
    1. Begin.
    2. “End early” at 6:40. The reflection opens.
    3. “Save session”.

    KEPTBreathing · 6 min, Oct 20 at 07:06

Where a saved sit goes

  • The heatmap, History and Insights

    The minutes join the day’s square, History gets a row, and Insights counts it. A session cannot be edited or deleted afterwards.

  • A linked habit

    A habit set to tick itself from Mindfulness gets the minutes added. A session logged for a past day does not tick it.

  • Apple Health, if you allow it

    Mindful Minutes from the real start to the real end. A logged session goes in from its date for its length.

  • Day by Day

    A line at the time it ended, “Breathing · 10 min”, captioned “Mindfulness”.

  • Your other devices

    Sessions sync through iCloud like most of HourLife.

  • The face and the note

    Kept with the session, but no screen shows them again yet. Write the note for now, not for later.

HourLife Meditation: “Log a past session” filled in for a 15-minute body scan yesterday: a type, a length and a day, then “Log session”.
"Log a past session": a type, a length and a day. It asks no mood or note.

Insights adds up the minutes

“Insights” in the ••• menu reads every session as minutes: your total, the last fourteen days, this week against last, the weekday you sit most, and the practice you come back to.

Sample · the sixteen weeks above, seen at 18:00 on Tuesday, Oct 20

You’ve sat for 10h 41m across 74 sessions.

Practiced on 69 days total.

Practice · 14 days

You’re up 23m over last week.

Minutes practiced by day, with today at the far right.

Minutes practiced on each of the 14 days to Tuesday, Oct 20: Wed Oct 7 5, Thu Oct 8 5, Fri Oct 9 20, Sat Oct 10 0, Sun Oct 11 5, Mon Oct 12 0, Tue Oct 13 10, Wed Oct 14 0, Thu Oct 15 20, Fri Oct 16 7, Sat Oct 17 30, Sun Oct 18 1, Mon Oct 19 5, Tue Oct 20 5. 0 15 30 T S W S T

The pale bars are last week and the full ones this week. The weeks are the seven days back from now, not Monday to Sunday.

1h 8mthis week
45mlast week
9mavg session

Weekly rhythm

Tuesday is your steadiest day to practice.

Minutes meditated by weekday.

  1. 69M
  2. 131T
  3. 61W
  4. 79T
  5. 110F
  6. 68S
  7. 123S

How you practice

Silent sit is your most-used practice.

Sorted by minutes. Open awareness counts as “Other”.

  1. Silent sit28 sessions4h 27m
  2. Breathing24 sessions2h 39m
  3. Body scan12 sessions1h 51m
  4. Other10 sessions1h 44m

Outside the Meditation page

A sit can start from Today or from a habit, and it can end with the phone locked.

  • The Meditation card on Today

    Off until you add it. It shows today’s minutes, resumes a sit in progress, and starts one from its tiles. Every tile starts Breathing, whatever your default is.

    MEDITATION5m today
  • Rest mode

    Today’s Rest mode carries a “Breathing” card that starts a two-minute Breathing sit in one tap.

  • A habit linked to Mindfulness

    Opening it from Habits starts Meditation at the habit’s target length, and a finished sit adds its minutes back.

  • Session end reminder

    Turn it on in Settings, and a sit that ends while the phone is locked or HourLife is in the background sends a notification.

Tips

  • "End early" and "Done for today" both stop the timer and take you to the reflection. The minutes you actually sat are what get saved.
  • Turn on "Session end reminder" in Settings to get a notification when a session finishes while your phone is locked or the app is in the background.
  • On Today, Rest mode has a "Breathing" card that starts a two-minute breathing session in one tap.
  • Add the Meditation card to Today, which is off until you do. Its 1, 3, 5, and 10 minute tiles each start a Breathing session, and it resumes a session in progress.

Questions

About Meditation day to day.

  • Does the timer keep running if I leave the app?

    Yes. A session is kept with the time it started, so it keeps counting in the background and survives the app closing. When the time is up, the Begin button reads "Complete reflection". Turn on "Session end reminder" in Settings for a notification when it finishes.

  • What happens if I end early?

    "End early" and "Done for today" both stop the timer and open the reflection. The saved length is the whole minutes you sat, at least one, so ending a 10-minute sit at 6:40 saves 6 minutes.

  • Does it write to Apple Health?

    Yes, if you allow it. Each saved session, and each one you log for a past day, is written to Apple Health as Mindful Minutes. HourLife reads nothing from Health for Meditation, and the session is saved in HourLife either way.

  • Can I count a meditation I did somewhere else?

    Yes. "Already done? Log a past session" under the Begin button takes a type, a length from 1 to 180 minutes, and Today, Yesterday or a date you pick. A logged session goes on the grid, into Insights and to Apple Health, but it does not tick a habit.

  • Is there voice guidance or background sound?

    No. A session has a bell at the start and a softer one at the end, the breathing circle in Breathing, and a line of text. Body scan's card reads "Head to toe", but its screen is the same quiet timer as Silent sit.

  • Is Meditation free?

    Meditation is part of Premium.

Works with

Where Meditation hands off to the rest of HourLife.

  • Today

    The Meditation widget on Today starts or resumes a session, and Rest mode's "Breathing" card starts a two-minute breathing sit.

  • Habits

    A habit linked to Mindfulness opens Meditation at the habit's target length, and a finished timed session can add its minutes to that habit automatically. A session logged for a past day does not.

Read and try

Books from the library that Meditation puts into practice.

Already have HourLife?

Meditation is under Health in the module list. Its ⋯ menu holds "Insights", "History" and "Settings". Today can carry a "Meditation" card too, which is off until you add it.

Meditation is in the Library, under Health & Body. If it isn’t there, turn it on in Settings → Look & Feel → Modules. It needs HourLife Premium.

What would you like to know?

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Try Meditation in HourLife.

HourLife is free to download. Meditation comes with HourLife Premium.

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