Meditation timer with interval bells

What the evidence says

Goyal and colleagues reviewed 47 randomized trials with 3,515 participants (Goyal et al., 2014). They found moderate evidence that meditation programs improve anxiety (effect size 0.38 at 8 weeks), depression (0.30) and pain (0.33), and low evidence that they improve stress and mental-health quality of life. Evidence was low or insufficient for positive mood, attention, substance use, eating habits, sleep and weight.

Those effect sizes are small, and the review found no evidence that meditation programs did better than other active treatments such as exercise or medication (Goyal et al., 2014). A timer can help you keep a regular practice; it cannot promise a particular result.

Using the timer

Pick a length and an interval bell, then press Start. The big number counts down the whole sit and the line under it shows the time to the next bell. Bells only sound if you turn sound on, and the timer keeps time from the clock so it stays accurate when the screen is in the background.

For a shorter, structured practice, try the box breathing timer. If evening sits are part of winding down, plan the rest of the night with the sleep calculator.