10 iPhone Apps To Help You Reduce Stress
We live in stressful times. With so many things going on around us, it's pretty normal to feel stressed out, even if you're actually doing fine.
While there are plenty of ways to reduce stress, doing it alone can be tough. Luckily, technology is on our side. There are countless apps on the App Store that can help you reduce stress and feel better just by taking a few minutes out of your day to take care of your mental health.
Whether it's through meditation, laughs, or workouts, there are many ways to reduce stress by yourself, and using the right app will help you get the job done faster.
However, with so many options, choosing the right one can be tough. To help you get started, read on for 10 of the best apps to help you reduce stress.
Calm
When it comes to apps that help reduce your stress, there's no better option than Calm. It's one of the most popular options for meditation and relaxation.
Calm gives you access to a lot of different classes, programs, and sounds to help you reduce stress. The classes will only take a few minutes, but they'll teach you a lot about yourself.
If you're not sure how to get started, there are also classes for beginners that take anywhere from 7 to 21 days. If you don't want to deal with classes right now, you can simply use Calm to help you sleep better. The app offers sleep stories and even relaxing music to help you go to bed feeling brand new.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is an exclusive Apple Watch app developed by Apple itself. This simple app can help you feel more relaxed by using it for only a few minutes of your day.
Mindfulness offers several different options. It can help you practice mindfulness by giving you things to focus on for a few minutes during the day, or it can give you a small guided breathing session by using the haptic feedback on your Apple Watch to tell you when to breathe in and breathe out.
If you're subscribed to Apple Fitness+ — which we'll talk about in a moment — you can listen to guided meditations made by professionals without touching your iPhone.
BetterSleep: Relax and Sleep
BetterSleep is, as you can probably guess, an app that helps you improve your sleep and feel more relaxed.
The app offers more than 300 different sounds and noises that you can choose based on your mood. For instance, there's "green noise" for relaxation or "brown noise" for meditation. There are plenty of sounds, and they're also helpful for people who have tinnitus.
The app also comes with sleep tracker and sleep recorder features. The former will track how well you sleep at night, while the latter will literally record the sounds you make while you sleep. With that data, you can get tips to help you improve your sleep and understand the science behind it.
If you want to be more relaxed during the day, the app can also help you with other exercises. For instance, besides the sounds, the app also features over 250 meditation classes at the tip of your fingers.
Apple Fitness+
It's no secret that working out can also help you feel more relaxed. And while there are plenty of ways you can work out on your own, you can also use Apple Fitness+ to improve your physical and mental well-being.
With Apple Fitness+, you get access to hundreds of classes that fit every need. There are dance lessons, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) classes, and even meditation exercises you can do while you're at home.
Every workout has different teachers who are all there to help you become the best version of yourself. And you can even download these classes to work out on the go.
Headspace: Sleep & Meditation
You can think of Headspace as a Jack of all trades. The app is packed with information and guides about sleep meditation classes to help you achieve your specific goals. For instance, there are meditation classes to help you focus, exercise, or sleep better.
If you don't want to commit to a full class, there are mini-meditation classes to help when you need to relax but don't have the time.
What's cool is that it also comes with emergency sessions. The SOS sessions are for when you're feeling a panic or anxiety attack, and you need help with them.
What's more, the app also features personalized recommendations that will be tailored to your specific needs.
Apple Health
When you think of Apple's Health app, you probably think about tracking things like your heart rate or your menstrual cycle. But as it turns out, you can also use it to help you relax and understand your feelings.
This is thanks to the Mental Wellbeing section, which lets you track your moods and the reasons behind them. You can record how you're feeling on a specific day, which can help you understand what's causing these feelings.
If you want to go further, there's also a Mental Health Questionnaire you can take to understand your current mental health and get specific tips on how to improve it.
While it doesn't offer as many different features as other apps on the list, it's still a great first step to understand why you're so stressed out and learn what you can do about it, especially if you combine it with other apps.
Happify: for Stress & Worry
Happify stands out for its science-based activities and games to help deal with negative thoughts. The app was developed by doctors and experts who studied mindfulness and positive psychology for years.
Besides helping you reduce stress, you can also use Happify to boost your self-confidence or practice meditation. There are 65 different tracks available that will help you achieve your goals.
But what really makes this app stand out is its games, which will help you stay entertained while improving your mental health.
TIDE: Meditation, Sleep & Rest
The TIDE app focuses on sleep and meditation. It allows you to track your sleep, record yourself at night, and even get tips to improve it.
The app also comes with many different types of relaxing songs to help you sleep better.
As for meditation, TIDE offers sessions you can practice for a few minutes to help you relax or practice mindfulness.
And if that's not enough, the app also comes with a timer to help you focus and boost your productivity, which can also help you feel better about yourself and fix stress.
Yes, this is a strange option for a list of apps to help you reduce stress, but bear with us.
Just like any other social media app, Reddit is filled with millions of posts about pretty much anything. What's great about Reddit is that it comes with different subreddits for specific topics. For instance, you'll find subreddits to help you laugh, relax, or feel more healthy.
Of course, you need to know where to look to get some wholesome content. To help you get started, you can start with r/ContagiousLaughter, r/MadeMeSmile, and r/wholesome. All of these subreddits have more than enough content to give you that boost you need during the day.
Of course, Reddit is just one example. You can find wholesome and fun content on pretty much any social media app like YouTube or Instagram, but you should be sure that you're following content that actually makes you feel more relaxed. As a general rule, you should avoid current news or trends.
Atmosphere: Relaxing Sounds
The Atmosphere app is extremely simple but effective. You can use it to listen to sounds to help you relax or fall asleep. Or you can wake up with specific sounds to start your day on the right foot.
Besides white noise, there are other environmental sounds like waves, rain, or animals. All of these have been picked to provide a soothing experience for your days or nights.
Plus, the app comes with a feature that lets you combine any sound to create your own relaxing sound.