Waking Up: Meditation & Wisdom

Waking Up LLC

In-app purchases

About this app

Recognized as a 2025 Pick by NYT Wirecutter

Thousands worldwide call Waking Up life-changing. Whether you want better sleep, more clarity, or deeper meditation, Waking Up is your complete guide.

What’s Inside

• Introductory Course—a transformative 28-day program, for both beginners and experienced meditators
• Daily Meditations—regular guided sessions with Sam Harris
• Moments—short reflections when you need them most
• Daily Quotes—a spark of insight each day
• Reflections—breif lessons that shift perspective
• Sleep—talks and meditations to help you rest
• Meditation Timer—customize your own sessions
• A vast library of meditations, theory sessions, life courses, conversations, and Q&As
• Community—connect with members to discuss meditation, philosophy, psychedelics, and more


Why Waking Up Stands Out

Unlike conventional meditation apps, Waking Up blends practice with theory—so you not only learn to meditate but also understand how it transforms your mind. It’s meditation, science, and timeless wisdom in one place.

Topics & Techniques

Our library combines contemplative traditions with modern science, offering tools for both practice and understanding. Techniques include mindfulness (Vipassana), Loving-Kindness, body scans, yoga nidra, and nondual awareness practices from Dzogchen, Zen, and Advaita Vedanta. Topics span neuroscience, psychology, Stoicism, ethics, psychedelics, productivity, and happiness.

Content & Teachers

Created by neuroscientist and best-selling author Sam Harris, Waking Up features leading voices in meditation, philosophy, and psychology:

• Practice—Vipassana, Zen, Dzogchen, Advaita Vedanta (Joseph Goldstein, Diana Winston, Adyashanti, Henry Shukman, Richard Lang)
• Theory—Philosophy and science of consciousness, ethics, and well-being (Alan Watts, Charlotte Joko Beck, Joan Tollifson, James Low, Douglas Harding)
• Life—Mindfulness in relationships, productivity, Stoicism, and more (David Whyte, Oliver Burkeman, Matthew Walker, Amanda Knox, Donald Robertson, Bob Waldinger)
• Conversations—Sam Harris with Yuval Noah Harari, Michael Pollan, Morgan Housel, Roland Griffiths, Cal Newport, Shinzen Young, and more
• Q&As—Sam Harris with Joseph Goldstein, Adyashanti, Henry Shukman, Jack Kornfield, Loch Kelly

Created by Sam Harris

Neuroscientist and best-selling author Sam Harris built Waking Up as the resource he wished he’d had when he began meditating 30 years ago. Every practice, course, and teacher is chosen for its power to change lives.

Testimonials

“Waking Up has led to my most consistent meditation practice. Family and staff also use it because it’s such a powerful tool.” —Andrew Huberman, neuroscientist

“Waking Up is a critical part of my daily practice. It’s my go-to for presence, peace, and well-being.” —Rich Roll, athlete & author

“Waking Up is the most important meditation guide I’ve ever used.” —Peter Attia, MD

“If you’ve had trouble getting into meditation, this app is your answer!” —Susan Cain, best-selling author

Free for Anyone Who Can’t Afford It

We never want money to be the reason someone can’t benefit.

Subscriptions renew unless auto-renew is disabled 24 hours before the current period ends. Manage in Apple account settings. Payment charged to your Apple account.

Terms: https://wakingup.com/terms-of-service/

Privacy: https://wakingup.com/privacy-policy/

Satisfaction guarantee: Email [e-mail] for a full refund.

Ratings and reviews

This is a great app for people who have always wanted to meditate, but lacked motivation and structure. Sam is a great guide through everyday sessions and at the same time expands the practice with more and more techniques, nuances and details which make the meditations engaging. After a few sessions I began to linger in meditative state way beyond the usual 10minutes. This means that I am really getting into this, and I can already feel it changing my life. Great app, Mr. Harris. You made us wait, but it was well worth it!!

Without a doubt one of the best guided meditation apps to get started The resources it offers are varied and of high quality. The option of having background sound while you meditate fascinates me.If I could improve something it would be that the application had a journal, a log, of every activity you do in the app. Something like "Date and time, followed by the activity performed and its duration"

I was totally new to meditation and mindfulness when I downloaded the app. Having completed the introductory course, I've noticed a significant decrease in my depressive symptoms and negative thought loops. The app has helped me, for the first time, take a step back from my conscious experience and just "be" without drowning in thought. Highly recommend!

What’s new

We’ve made some behind-the-scenes improvements to enhance your app experience. This update focuses on fixing bugs and optimizing performance, ensuring everything runs smoothly and reliably. No big changes to note this time—just refining the little details that make a big difference.