5 Apps That Are Guaranteed To Help You Relax

Had a crazy day at work? Exhausted after a long weekend with friends? Sometimes you need some time to yourself to relax when life gets hectic. I know a lot of us turn to scrolling through our social media feeds, but even that can be stressful at times. What if I told you there are other ways of using your phone to help you relax? There are thousands of apps out there to help you do just that, but here is a list of my 5 favorites!

Relax + with Andrew Johnson

I have been using this app for years. It is my go-to meditation app. I use it every time I have to fly for work. There are lots of versions of Andrew Johnson meditation apps, but this one is my absolute favorite because it holds all of his meditation topics in one place. This app is free, and comes loaded with the “Deep Relaxation Topic” but you can purchase other topics at $1.99 each. Before you begin, you can set the length of your session, from 20-60 minutes in increments of 5 minutes, and there is an infinite loop option. I love this feature because I can time my mediation to my flight, or if I have a little down time at home. From there you can choose which induction you would like from four options. After that you can choose up to three meditation topics, called “Therapy Topics,” and during your session it will go over all of them. You can also choose the music you would like to play and the voice to music volume ratio. The final step is choosing whether or not you’re going to sleep right after, or if you need to be awake. I used to use this app every night before bed, but even when I’m not listening to it I’ve found myself using some of the breathing and relaxation techniques when I can’t fall asleep. This guided meditation app is great when you’re looking for an extremely deep relaxation.

Stop, Breathe, & Think

This is another guided meditation app that takes things a step further than just choosing a topic. Through this app you can actually track your emotions and mood for the day, and the app will recommend short mediation sessions to help improve your mood. I like this app because it has a bit of accountability to it, by actually tracking when you check in and your emotions over time. And by having short sessions, it’s really quick and easy to use. The app is super user-friendly, and explains every step of the process. After using it for awhile, you will see a graph of your emotions and can see your improvement over time.

Re Color

This coloring book app is great for when you’re trying to get your mind off of something, or give yourself something else to focus on. This virtual coloring book offers thousands of 2D and 3D options to color, with new additions every day. You can save your progress and go back to your masterpiece, and you can save it yo your gallery when you’re done. There a tons of free options, or you can upgrade to the premium version for $7.99/week. With as many free options as there are, I’m not sure it’s worth the investment, but if you really love the app and are using it every day, it might be worth it for you!

RELATED READ: 8 Relaxation Items Every Stressed Out Woman Needs In Her Life

Poly Art

This app is a fresh new take on the virtual coloring book apps, like “Re Color.”This app is a mix of a coloring book and a tangram puzzle, where you put together polygons to create a picture. You choose a picture from the menu, and from there begin creating the picture by piecing together colored triangles. The game will hint at the general area of the picture that the piece belongs, but it’s up to you to find it’s exact place. This gives a slightly more competitive feel to the basic coloring app, by actually making you work for the picture, but it’s very low-stress because you are not timed, and can take as long as you’d like to create an image. I’m not going to lie – I was addicted to this app for awhile. It’s a great way to distract yourself for a nice breather!

Noizio

White noise machines are very popular right now – especially for helping adults and children alike fall asleep. They’re also great to create some background noise while you’re trying to relax, or even trying to focus on something at work. This white noise app lends itself, especially towards helping you relax, by offering a pretty large variety of sounds that you can mix together to create a custom relaxation track. Choose from options like “October Rain”, “Winter Wind” or “Sea Waves” and adjust the volumes of each option to create a mixture that will best help you relax. I love this app when I want to relax in my bubble bath with a glass of wine and focus just on myself and relaxing. I also like using this app when I am staying at a hotel in a busy city because it helps to drown out the background noise of traffic and helps me get some much needed “zzz’s”!