5 Meditation and Prayer Resources to Start the New Year

While it’s impossible to leave some of the problems of 2020 behind, 2021 presents an opportunity to start with a “clean slate,” beginning with a positive outlook and healthier lifestyle choices. 

Rather than opening gym memberships or starting diets, many will turn to spirituality to find peace and positivity. The most common and trendy spiritual practice adopted in search of a spiritual life is meditation and mindfulness, the art of raising consciousness and allowing acceptance.

Meditation has an ancient tradition: archaeologists have found wall art that dates back to 5,000 BCE of figures sitting in traditional meditative poses. The figures are part of texts dated between 400 BCE and 200 CE — the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita — that draw on older traditions to show the practice of meditation and yoga. 

Buddha was influenced by Hinduism, both originating in ancient India, and meditation became a core part of the Buddhist practice. In Buddhism, meditation is one of the main ways to reach nirvana (the ultimate goal, which removes desire and ends suffering). In China and Japan, the schools of Chan and Zen Buddhism developed and made meditation the most important part of practice. 

In chapter six of the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu holy text, meditation is presented in the position we often think of it today: “Holding the body, head and neck straight, unmoving and stable, gazing upon the tip of the nose and not glancing in any direction, fixed in the vow of celibacy, with an unagaited mind, fearless, completely subduing the mind.”

For the holistic meditative experience and lifestyle, it also recommends being “regulated in eating and recreation, regulated in discharging prescribed duties for self maintenance, regulated in sleeping and wakefulness.”

Sounds like a good New Years’ resolution, right?

The practice of meditation is not one only used in Hinduism and Buddhism, however. In fact, it’s influenced most other world religions.

Kabbalah is an esoteric discipline in Judaism that involves a mystical interpretation of the Torah that deals directly with the essence of God. Meditation has a place in modern Judaism as well in the act of hitbodedut, a self-secluded and calm style of prayer that offers a direct connection to God. 

Sufism — or Islamic mysticism — is a less common but still practiced form of the religion. It also seeks the direct essence of God, and in that truth, love and wisdom. A practice of Islamic spirituality mentioned directly in the Quran is “tafakkur,” which points to a quiet reflection or prayer. 

Meditation became popular in the U.S. in the 1960s as scientists began studying it for its medical benefits and has grown as a practice in the Western world since, now the focus of apps, classes at gyms and seminars. Though sometimes more secularized, this focus on slowing down isn’t a bad thing. In fact, all religions emphasize the importance of quiet, spiritual reflection — whether through prayer or reading and studying of scriptures. 

Here are some of the best resources to grow spiritual peace in the coming year. 

1. Headspace Guide to Meditation

The Headspace Guide to Meditation — an eight-episode series — releases on Netflix Jan. 1. It includes lessons on the benefits of the practice, guided meditations and a new technique in each episode. It’s all presented in a calming, cheerful animated format. 

Headspace, the service that partnered with Netflix on this series, is an app and online meditation service that was founded by ordained Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe. His goal is to bring the practice of meditation to as many people as possible. The result is a more secular form of meditation that doesn’t require a specific faith background to participate in. Its purpose is less about a spiritual or religious calling and more about the individual benefits of meditation: reducing stress, improving focus, aiding sleep, strengthening relationships and more. 

With a Netflix subscription, it’s a good introduction course for meditation.

2. YouVersion

Popular Bible app YouVision announced that searches increased 80% over the course of this year, marking almost 600 million searches total. Founder Bobby Grunewald attributed this to the fact that “this has been a challenging year with many people facing devastating loss, loneliness, and fear.”

Searches for fear became common in March and April as COVID-19 spread for the first time across the country. Searches for justice became more common throughout the summer, as Black Lives Matter protests caused churches and Christians to rethink their role in combating injustice. 

Apps like YouVersion are beneficial for Christians wanting to read the Bible on their phone or are looking for a specific, searchable topic. They’ve increased in popularity because of these search features and other reading plans and devotionals that make the Bible-reading experience more accessible. 

Other popular Bible apps are Bible Gateway, Bible on iOS and Bible.is. 

3. The BEMA Podcast

Launched in 2016, the BEMA Podcast works through the Bible to deconstruct and study it. They do so in “an attempt to return to a more ancient, rabbinic approach to discipleship.” Currently, 203 episodes are split into five sections: Torah, Prophets & Writings, Gospels, Early Church and Church History. 

It often incorporates views from both Eastern and Western Christianity and serves as one of the most in-depth podcasts for the Bible on the market. 

Check it out here. 

4. Athan: Prayer Times

In 2020, Vice released a report about apps selling user data to military contractors — one of those being Muslim Pro, the most popular app for finding prayer times, reading the Quran and finding Qibla. It caused uproar on social media of Muslims claiming they would delete the app. Muslim Pro may still have emerged with the largest number of subscribers, but Muslims are searching for alternatives. 

There are several others available with similar features, but Athan was recommended by many. It’s relatively new, with a clean interface and over 5 million downloads according to the Google Play store. It includes prayer times, Qibla, ways to recite the Quran, Hajj guides and calendars. 

It’s available on Google Play and the App Store.

5. The Mindfulness App

The popularity of meditation and mindfulness only continues to grow as a way to combat stress and get more in touch with the world. Most of the apps available on the market are similar to Headspace in that they were created by those who have studied Buddhism in depth but appeal to a Westernized Buddhism that doesn’t require adherence to religious principles. 

Of these, The Mindfulness App — offered on both Google Play and the App Store — is one of the most common that offers more of an emphasis on Buddhist teaching, in part by including some of the most common Buddhist teachers as guides and resources. It also offers guided meditations and mindfulness reminders.  

Here’s hoping you can take some time at the beginning of this new year to pause, breathe and reflect.

Jillian Cheney is a Poynter-Koch fellow for Religion Unplugged who loves consuming good culture and writing about it. She also reports on American Protestantism and evangelical Christianity. You can find her on Twitter @_jilliancheney.