We are currently living in stressful times. Public health actions such as social distancing can make people feel isolated and increase stress and anxiety levels. Coping with stress successfully will make you, the people you care about, and your community as a whole stronger. Here are five apps that can help you do that:
The Mindfulness App
There are many science-based benefits to meditation. It reduces stress, controls anxiety, but it also helps with enhancing self-awareness and lengthening the attention span. The Mindfulness App is a popular tool to help you achieve these benefits.
The app is great for you who is just starting to get into meditation or for you who has been doing it for a longer while. The Mindfulness App has a five day course through which newcomers to meditation are introduced into the process. After that you can choose between many timed sessions. These sessions range from 3 to 30 minutes. That way you can squeeze in a quick meditation session during your lunch break, but also relax for a longer time in the morning or evening. The app also provides statistics so that you can reflect on how much of your time you invested in meditation.
If you like what the app provides you can pay for a Premium Subscription. This includes over 250 guided meditations by what MindApps (the developers behind the app) describe as some of the world’s most influential teachers. The subscription also entails meditations aimed at different goals such as relationships or focus.
Do you want to find out more about The Mindfulness App? Check out more info here!
Sömnappen
An effect directly linked to stress can be sleeplessness. During stressful times many people lie awake at night with their mind running, unable to fall asleep. Sömnappen (The Sleep App) can help with that. It has been developed by MindApps, the studio which is also behind The Mindfulness App.
Sömnappen is designed for people who have sleep difficulties, but also people who just want to improve their sleep. The app uses evidence-based methods developed through collaboration with sleep experts. These methods facilitate the creation of new routines to fall asleep quicker and easier.
Sleep can seem like a rather simple thing. However, it is linked to a lot of complex physical and mental processes taking place within the body. That is why the app also includes the Sleep School which teaches you about how sleep works.
Do you want to find out more about Sömnappen? Check out more info here!
Breathe
Another negative effect related to increased stress levels is shallow breath. Shallow breath, in turn, increases stress. The Breathe app can help you break out of that vicious circle. There are many benefits to controlled and deep breathing. For example, it brings more oxygen to the cells in your body, it stabilizes the nervous system and can even stabilize the immune system.
Breathe makes use of your phone’s microphone to analyze how many breaths you take per minute. Based on that information the app will then create a “breathing program” that will help you to gradually take deeper breaths. Additionally, the app also includes a number of programs which are aimed at helping you breathe deeper in a variety of situations.
Do you want to find out more about Breathe? Check out more info here!
Yoga Nidra
Yoga Nidra, or Yogic Sleep, is a state of consciousness between waking and sleeping. This kind of meditation can help to reduce stress. The app Yoga Nidra is designed to help you engage in this kind of meditation.
The benefits of Yoga Nidra include reduced stress and anxiety, balanced emotions, reduced insomnia and improved focus. The app includes a variety of tracks of which some are free and some are paid. The free track within the app is Gentle Relaxation, which lasts for about 10 minutes. It can be used by newcomers to Yoga Nidra and even kids. The other tracks within the app last longer, but have to be paid for.
Do you want to find out more about Yoga Nidra? Check out more info here!
Ahum Chat
Oftentimes it can be challenging to deal with stress and anxiety all by yourself. In that case the help of a psychologist can be more than helpful. However, many people do not want to, or do not have the time to visit a psychologist in person. This is where Ahum Chat comes to your aid. It is an app that lets you get in touch with licensed and experienced psychologists through your phone.
The app makes it possible for you to get in touch with a psychologist weekly via chat. That way you are not bound to video calls, which can be stressful and uncomfortable for many people. You can message your psychologist whenever you want and you are guaranteed an answer every week.
Ahum Chat is free for everyone between the ages of 18 and 20. For people who are not within that age group it costs 100 SEK per week. The app has already helped more than 10.000 Swedes to receive psychological support, counseling and treatment.
Do you want to find out more about Ahum Chat? Check out more info here!
