Stress is just a part of life. It comes out of nowhere when you’re trying to make a deadline and your client changes their mind last minute (again), you drip mustard on your khakis right before a big meeting, or that jerk in traffic who doesn’t know how to use a blinker cuts you off for no good reason.
These stressful moments can range from annoying to totally debilitating. That’s why it’s important to make an effort to keep your emotional health in check. According to the Mayo Clinic, unmanaged stress can affect your body, your feelings, and your thoughts.
Self-help can be our biggest asset and we’re lucky enough to have some great apps at our disposal to help manage stress on a regular basis. Here are seven of our favorite stress management apps that will help you relax.
Best 7 Stress Management Apps
- Pacifica. Pacifica is a pretty low-maintenance app. You just track your daily activities via audio or writing. Pacifica then helps you understand what activities might be influencing certain moods and emotions, especially stress. The idea is to help you break the cycle and set goals to achieve this. It’s refreshingly non-fluffy for a self-help app.
Pacifica is available on Android and iOS for everybody’s favorite price: FREE. - Buddha Board. Buddha Board was inspired by the Zen concept of living in the moment. It let’s you paint “virtually” and once you’re done painting, you watch your masterpiece slowly disappear. Eventually you’ll be left with a clean slate and theoretically, a clear mind.
Buddha Board is only available for iOS but it’s FREE. - GPS for the Soul. This app allows you to connect with “guides” that make it easier to manage your stress. Each guide, created by Arianna Huffington and Deepak Chopra, includes a combination of breathing exercises, meditation, pictures of nature, and yoga. The point of the app is to help you put things in perspective and reflect on what you’re grateful for.
GPS for the Soul is only available for iOS but it’s completely FREE to download. - Breathe2Relax. Breathe2Relax was created by The Department of Defense’s Center for Telehealth and Technology to help soldiers and their families learn stress-relieving breathing techniques. If it’s good enough for America’s Servicemen and Women, it’s good enough for us.
Breathe2Relax is available on both Android and iOS for FREE. - Self-Help Anxiety Management. Nicknamed SAM, this app was created by a university team of computer scientists, psychologists, and student users to help you figure out what’s making you anxious and effectively fight it. Over time you’ll see a graph of what stresses you out so you can monitor yourself.
SAM is available on both Android and iOS for FREE. - Happify. Happify helps you improve your mood through the power of positive-thinking. The app has been successful among its users, CNN named this app as one of the best to train your mind and cope with stress.
Happify is available for iOS only and it’s FREE to download.
- The Worry Box. Have you ever wished you could just take all the things weighing on your mind and close them up in a box somewhere so you don’t have to carry them with you? Well, you can! The Worry Box is a virtual box where you can unload everything that’s bugging you and think through them individually. It’s based on a philosophy similar to the Buddha Board app.
The Worry Box is available for Android users only and it’s FREE!
Whether it’s in your work life or personal life, don’t let whatever is facing you overwhelm you. Take control of the situation and refuse to let it get the best of you.
