Guided meditation can be incredibly helpful in addiction recovery, providing you with structure and a sense of calm when your thoughts might feel overwhelming.
Unlike more general silent or self-guided meditation, guided meditation apps can help you to avoid relapse triggers and stay present during cravings, anxiety, or emotional distress.
Below are ten guided meditation apps that can help if you are recovering from drug or alcohol addiction.
For the best range of recovery-focused guided meditations
Insight Timer offers one of the largest libraries of guided meditations, with many focused on addiction, recovery, cravings, and emotional regulation.
There is the option to choose which meditation by length, teacher, or theme, which makes the app suitable for both beginners and experienced meditators.
You can access many of the guided sessions for free, allowing Insight Timer to be more accessible during early recovery.
Clear, beginner-friendly guided programmes
Headspace is one of the most widely recognised mindfulness apps, and a highly recommended guided meditation app.
Short, structured sessions clearly explain what to do and why, which can be reassuring, especially if you are new to meditation and want to make sure you’re getting it “right”.
Included in the app are guided exercises that can help manage stress, cravings, and any difficult emotions you might be experiencing.
Some meditations are accessible without paying, but to access the full content and all of the meditations, a subscription is needed.
Guided meditations for stress and sleep
Calm’s main focus is on guided meditations for relaxation, reducing stress, and improving sleep.
The app meditations aren’t directly addiction-specific, but tackling poor sleep and stress can be crucial in preventing relapse.
Calm includes gentle narration and simple breathing-based meditations that are accessible for beginners.
Guided mindfulness for cravings and everyday moments
Buddhify is designed around short, guided meditations you can use to help you through everyday situations, such as triggers or cravings, anxiety or other difficult emotions.
Whilst other apps offer meditation practice that is often not necessarily for in-the-moment addiction recovery support, Buddhify gives practical guidance for specific scenarios you may encounter during your recovery.
This includes walking, travelling, resting, and dealing with urges.
Structured guided practice with a deeper, philosophical focus
Waking Up gives users daily guided meditations alongside longer, more in-depth philosophical lessons on mindfulness and awareness.
The app has a reflective and philosophical angle, but it still provides clear verbal guidance throughout each of the meditation sessions.
This might be better suited to you if you are further along in your recovery journey, when you’ve already established stability and want to understand your thought patterns in more depth.
A practical, no-nonsense approach to guided meditations
Happier Meditation is designed around straightforward, teacher-led guided meditations without spiritual language.
The app is practical and approachable, which can be important to those who may be sceptical about meditation.
Some sessions address anxiety, impulse control and emotional resilience, which can be relevant to someone in recovery.
Structured guided courses
The Mindfulness App gives users guided meditations with multi-week programmes that can help with consistency, improved sleep, and breathing tools.
Developing a consistent routine is an important part of addiction recovery, and these structured courses can aid in replacing old habits with new, healthier ones.
Meditations include short check-ins to longer guided practices.
Short, guided meditation sessions for busy schedules
Simple Habit is great if you’re on a busy schedule, with brief, guided, 5-minute meditations that are easy to fit into your daily life.
With sessions often lasting just a few minutes, these can be ideal if you’re struggling with your attention span early in your recovery or if your emotions are particularly high.
Guided meditations created for recovery
Sober Meditations is specifically designed for people in recovery from alcohol and drug addiction, and is 100% free.
The guided meditations work on cravings, relapse prevention and emotional healing, often aligning with recovery principles.
With its specific focus on addiction recovery, many people find the language to be relatable and reassuring.
Guided practice, research and evidence-based
The UCLA Mindful App provides free, guided meditations developed by a leading mindfulness research centre. The app design is simple, but the guidance is clear and backed by evidence.
This is a great option for someone who wants a no-frills, science-informed approach.
Choosing the right guided meditation app doesn’t have to be complex:
Guided meditation apps can be a valuable part of addiction recovery, offering calm, structure and support when thoughts and urges feel overwhelming.
Whether you prefer recovery-specific guidance or general stress reduction, the right app can help strengthen emotional regulation and reduce relapse risk over time.
Boris is our editor-in-chief at Rehab 4 Addiction. Boris is an addiction expert with more than 20 years in the field. His expertise covers a broad of topics relating to addiction, rehab and recovery. Boris is an addiction therapist and assists in the alcohol detox and rehab process. Boris has been featured on a variety of websites, including the BBC, Verywell Mind and Healthline. You can connect with Boris online at LinkedIn or X.com.
