The pace of our lives seems to accelerate every year. With the increased responsibilities and speed of interactions we can often be left feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Many people find it difficult to unwind after a stressful day or to even find the space to clear one’s mind of all of the accumulated detritus. Here are a few of our favorite apps that you can download to encourage a calm and peaceful mindset.
Calm
The Mission: To make the world healthier and happier through the super power of meditation and mindfulness.
We love it because:
- It caters to both the beginner and the experienced mediator.
- You can learn the basic meditation techniques with their 7-day program.
- There are both guided and unguided meditations.
- It’s available on iOS, Android and the Web.
- It’s free to use with options for monthly and yearly subscriptions ($4.99).
- There are a variety of different lengths from 3- 30 minutes.
- You can set a timer for silent meditation options.
- The platform is very user friendly and not intimidating.
- You can also choose different background sounds of your choice like rain on leaves, wind in the pines, sunset beach, birds chirping by a mountain lake, a crackling fire, celestial “white noise” etc.
- Easy, relaxing listening.
They offer a range of 7 and 21 day sessions that include areas like managing stress, calming anxiety, loving kindness, sleep, happiness, forgiveness, gratitude, confidence, compassion and self-esteem. A wonderful support for anyone wishing to embark on a journey towards mindfulness.
Headspace
The Mission: To teach the world to meditate, so that everyone can live a happier, healthier, more enjoyable life.
We love it because:
- The level one course for beginners is free and involves 10-minute daily sessions to encourage a regular mediation habit.
- There is easy to follow step by step guidance.
- There are reminders to encourage continuous practice.
- You can choose to focus on a specific area like foundation, health and performance.
- Their mindfulness techniques help you to manage anxiety and improve your well-being and sense of happiness.
- There’s a “buddy” system to help you keep engaged in the process and motivated and you can do the same for others.
- It also offers science backed information about the brain told through animation.
- They have a few one-off meditation options for emergencies like a mini meltdown or to target a specific issue like a fear of flying.
- You can track and reward your progress.
- For a wider range of options to “treat your head right” you can purchase a monthly subscription ($7.99)
Headspace makes the health of your mind a priority by inspiring people to meditate for a few minutes every day.
Moodnotes
The Mission: Moodnotes empowers you to track your mood over time, avoid common thinking traps, and develop perspectives associated with increased happiness and well-being.
We love it because:
- It’s an innovative approach to journaling your mood.
- It helps you to think about your feelings and reflect on them.
- It’s based on cognitive behavior therapy and positive psychology techniques.
- You can choose the “face” that reflects your mood and then the background color changes to suit it. You can choose to quick save or add detail. If you want to add more you will be asked “what is happening at the moment?” and you can describe your life situation. You then select your feeling either positive or negative, find the relevant emotion and adjust the intensity of the feeling.
- There is a mood trend section where you can see a monthly graph of your emotions and gain insight into your thought patterns.
- There are opportunities to enrich your journaling activities. If you mention negative emotions the app helps you to identify traps you could be falling into.
- Subscription costs $3.99
Ultimately, the app helps you to develop healthier thinking habits to increase self-awareness and reduce distress.
Buddhify
The Mission: To help people around the world reduce stress, be present & get better sleep in even the busiest of lifestyles.
What’s to love:
- You can incorporate meditation and mindfulness into your entire day, with meditations that target every aspect of your life, from sleeping, to traveling, to being online.
- You simply select an activity or mediation style from a colorful wheel of options, and then pick a duration that’s a fit for that time of day.
- 80 different guided meditation tracks, ranging from five to 30 minutes.
- There are stats and graphs to track your progress.
- $4.99 subscription
Relax Melodies
The Mission: Sleep easily, wake-up refreshed and improve your life in every aspect.
What’s to love:
- Free
- 52 sleep sounds, white noise & melodies you can mix to create unlimited ambiences.
- Five-day meditation programs to reach specific sleep goals.
- 6 different brainwave frequencies to enable you reach a specific relaxation state.
Anxiety Free
The Mission: To make it a priority to introduce a balanced and appropriate response to tension, and learn through self-hypnosis some vital strategies to reducing anxiety.
What’s to love:
- It’s Free
- Helps anyone suffering from stress, anxiety and panic attacks.
- Self-hypnosis techniques to help lessen stress and quell feelings of anxiousness.
- Guided lessons developed by Donald Mackinnon which are each 90 minutes long.
Free Relaxing Sounds of Nature
The Mission: These beautiful soundscapes will help you to get away from the noise of the city, feel free from the problems that surround you and help you fall asleep.
What’s to love:
- It’s Free
- It has a 2 in 1 application -an audio experience with 25 beautiful nature sounds and a soundboard with 35 sounds where you can mix a number of soundtracks to have a peaceful experience.
- It reduces stress, promotes a good night’s sleep and helps you relax.
Insight Timer
The Mission: 4,707 free guided meditations, music tracks, talks and courses to bring peace and insight in our time.
What’s to Love:
- It’s Free
- Over 1000 teachers
- It feels like you are part of a community. On the home screen you will see announcements like “4,045 meditating right now / Home to 1,854,900 meditators.”
- After your meditation session you can find out how many other people were also meditating with you.
So, those are 8 options that I like. Let me know what apps you are using and why they have really worked for you. Have a calm, peaceful, relaxing day and a great night’s sleep!
Additional Resources to Help With Stress & Anxiety
5 Tips For Daily Management of Stress and Anxiety – Here are 5 simple things you can do on a daily basis to help manage and minimize your stress and anxiety, no matter what’s going on in your life.
A Guide To Prepare For The Holidays : Keep Calm & Holiday On – The holiday season doesn’t have to be painful, stressful, and negative.
3 Ways to Fall Asleep Sooner & Stay Asleep Longer – By alleviating the stress you have about not sleeping enough, the mind and body have one less worry, creating more space for a good night’s sleep to occur.
Nicolle Osequeda, LMFT, is the founder of Lincoln Park Therapy Group, specializing in anxiety, depression, and relationship counseling in Chicago. As a Certified Daring Way™ Facilitator, she incorporates Dr. Brené Brown’s research into her therapy. Nicolle holds a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco and is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Illinois and California. She is a Clinical Fellow of AAMFT, a member of IAMFT, and the Financial Therapy Association. Nicolle has Gottman Method training and has taught at DePaul University, dedicated to helping individuals and couples achieve meaningful change. 
