Buddhify 2 for iOS offers some 40 guided-meditation tracks.

Buddhism 2 for iOS is an app that teaches mindfulness-based meditation through a series of guided lessons.

Meditation? Please. I'm not a hippie or a Buddhist, or a Whole Foods customer.

That was more or less my sentiment until a few weeks ago, when a friend recommended a book about mindfulness -- a state of awareness best achieved through, you guessed it, meditation. There's a large and growing body of evidence to suggest that mindfulness can improve both mental and physical health.

In fact, it's great for lowering stress, and I've discovered I'm a lot more stressed than I ever thought. After reading that first book and then another, I decided I was ready to give the practice a try.

Buddhism 2 couldn't have come along at a better time. The app includes more than 40 guided-meditation tracks, all of them categorized by mood or activity: traveling, going to bed, feeling stressed, etc. Each lesson ranges from 5 to 20 minutes, so they're pretty easy to incorporate into your day.

These lessons fan out across a colorful wheel that slowly (calmingly?) fans open even further when you tap one of the categories. From there you can... [Read more]