Stress management is an essential skill to have in today’s busy world. Nobody is immune to the damaging effects of stress. For the lucky few it’s an occasional episode, but for many people, stress is a battle that needs to be fought on a daily basis. Thankfully nowadays we can enlist the help of technology when it comes to fighting stress. Here are seven free apps that put stress management in your pocket.
- Stop, Breathe & Think is a 4.8 star rated guided meditation and mindfulness app that lets you “rewire your brain for the better”. There are lots of free sessions to help with slaying stress, sleeping better, feeling calm, being kinder, becoming focussed and more. Daily check-ins encourage you to track how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally, then makes recommendations to help you improve and guides you through your chosen course of action. According to the app, 46% of users says their anxiety is reduced, and 78% of users report an increase in positive feeling after the first sessions.
- Happify: for Stress & Worry helps you reduce stress, anxiety and negative thoughts through guided relaxation and meditation. It provides you with quick, actionable science-based activities and games to combat stress, help you focus on the positives and elevate happiness. You can track your progress over time to gain insights into your emotional well-being and see the improvements you make through use of the app. This app gets a 4.5-star rating
- Breathe: Sleep & Meditation is a free app from Lynne Goldberg, the renowned meditation expert. It’s been featured in Time Magazine, Forbes and Cosmopolitan and has been rated 4.6 stars by its users. Calm down anywhere by listening to the built-in nature sounds or watching a calming video. The app features 100s of guided meditations for stress relief, health and success, and has hours of soothing music to unwind to, or help you focus on your work. Trouble getting to sleep? You will love the bedtime stories and meditations to help you.
- Tapping Solution. EFT tapping is a proven way to release stress and feel calmer by using your fingers to put pressure on the body’s meridian endpoints. This app from tapping guru Nick Ortner is free to download and includes courses to lower stress levels, reduce anxiety, eliminate negative thinking, get motivated, sleep better and more. Some of the sessions are free; others will need a paid upgrade. Rated 4.6 by users it’s a must-try app if you want to add another tool to your stress-busting arsenal.
- MyWater. Did you know you only have to be 2% dehydrated for it to affect your stress levels? This app will help you calculate how much water you should be drinking each day, and then give you reminders to keep up and track your fluid intake each day to ensure you stay properly hydrated and give yourself the best chance of keeping on top of your stress levels.
You can track water, coffee and tea intake with the free version, plus a ton of other fluids like smoothies, broths and fruit juices with the paid version.
- Laugh My App Off. It’s scientifically proven that laughter really is the best medicine and can help to release and reduce stress anytime anywhere. This app gets a 4.6-star rating and is “guaranteed to give you the best chuckles all day long”. It features hundreds of funnies you can read and share, and you can even set how many times a day you want to receive joke notifications to give you a steady stream of stress relief throughout the day.
- MyFitnessPal. Proper nutrition and regular exercise are both proven to help fight stress. This app enables you to track both so you can aim for optimum health to help you reduce your stress levels and cope with life’s ups and downs. Keep a daily food diary, so you become more mindful of what you’re eating and track your nutrients, and monitor your exercise to keep up with your fitness and health goals. This app has a 4.7-star rating from users.
