Practice
- Unguided meditation: how to practice without a guide
A simple four-part structure for a silent session, and how to work with a wandering mind.
- Guided or unguided meditation?
What each gives you, how to tell which suits you now, and a four-week plan for moving to silence.
- Starting meditation on your own
A plain first week of practice without a voice, what to expect, and an honest note on when a guide is the better start.
- How long should you meditate?
What the research says about session length, and a simple way to choose and extend yours.
Setting up a session
- The meditation bell: why sessions start and end with one
What the opening and closing bells do, how Zen centers and Plum Village use them, and how to choose a sound.
- Silence or rain sounds?
When a steady background helps a session, when silence is better, and how to keep sound from becoming a crutch.
- Choosing a meditation timer app
A checklist for people who already meditate, a one-session test, and a plain table of what Echo does and doesn't do.
- Meditating with the iPhone Clock timer
The timer you already have will end a session. Here's what it leaves out.
Keeping it going
- A daily meditation habit, without the scoreboard
How habits form, what's worth tracking, how to read a streak, and what to do after you miss a day.
Echo: Meditation Timer
A free iPhone timer for unguided meditation. Choose a length; a bell opens and closes the session. Rain or wind if you want it. Every session is tracked.
Free · iPhone · Requires iOS 26 or later