These are unprecedented times. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is testing the best of us. There is no end in sight as the virus keeps spreading and the majority of the world is under lockdown. The added social distancing norms have led to many people being isolated from their near and dear ones. All of this combined has resulted in severe anxiety, stress, and depression in hordes of people all over the world.
The stress and anxiety are natural. After all, you can’t leave your home or meet people outside. Moreover, we don’t know how long this phase will continue. So, what is the way out? Technology has come to the rescue in these times, and several apps focused on mediation have seen a surge in downloads as they are helping people deal with their anxiety. Many apps have also created coronavirus-focused programs, including free resources for healthcare workers. What’s more, a lot of these meditation apps are even offering free memberships to help people cope with their stress in the current situation.
These anxiety apps will hence be of great help to many people – from the elderly to the young students. Let’s take a look at five of the best of such apps that might prove beneficial to you in dealing with the stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Image Source: The Tapping Solution
The Tapping Solution is a free app that integrates the EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Tapping Technique – an alternate treatment used particularly for emotional distress. This unique self-soothing technique is based on the principles of Chinese acupuncture along with modern psychology.
The Tapping Solution app attempts to help people lower their stress levels along with reducing anxiety, getting motivated, getting better sleep and removing negative emotions. They have a huge range of topics that includes Stress Relief, Releasing Fears, Emotional Freedom, Sleep Support, Healing Your Body, and much more. The app measures people's anxiety before and after the EFT tapping technique that people can follow from the guidelines listed. According to the creators, their app has measured an "average decrease in anxiety [of] 49 percent in 10 minutes."
In light of the extreme stress and anxiety that is being caused because of the coronavirus pandemic, the app's creator Jessica Ortner recently said that they have “grabbed every meditation that's relevant to what's going on right now and unlocked it all and made it free."
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Image Source: Headspace
Headspace has established its name as one of the most well-known meditation apps out there. The app usually costs $12.99 per month, but they are offering it for free in the U.S. to healthcare workers. This is a great move, as it is these healthcare workers who are at the forefront of this war and must be dealing with unimaginable stress.
With hundreds of guided meditations that you can even listen on the go, Headspace can be utilized in the current situation perfectly. It also features some great mindfulness tips like managing stress and better sleep. This isn’t all. The app is also providing a collection of coronavirus-specific content called "Weathering the Storm" for free to everyone. This includes meditations, sleep, and movement exercises depending on how you are feeling. According to the website, “It’s our small way of helping you find some space and kindness for yourself and those around you.”
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Image Source: Breethe
Breethe is not just your run-of-the-mill meditation app. It offers a plethora of features like music, nature sounds, bedtime stories, guided meditations, masterclasses, and hypnotherapy sessions to help you return to your natural happy state. There are also breathing classes and inspirational talks here that you can make use of to unwind and relax. Users have found Breethe to be a great tool to help them relax and energize. You can choose from the many sections and use them according to your needs.
The app usually costs $89.99 per year, but owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the creators are offering it for free to everyone during this period.
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Image Source: Talkspace
While mediation apps are great, they might not be enough to deal with the dread from the ongoing pandemic. This is where an app like Talkspace can be a real boon. It allows users to connect virtually with a licensed therapist. It will help you find the best-suited therapist in your area and you can talk to them via text, audio or video chat multiple times a week. While the app is free, the therapy sessions aren’t. But they are still much more affordable than the compatible therapy sessions online.
The creators also announced recently that they will be "donating 1,000 months of free online therapy to medical workers across the United States." So, if you know of any medical workers in your social circle, now would be a good time to let them take advantage of this app.
Talkspace has also initiated a number of free and notable coronavirus-related resources to help people in these stressful times like Facebook groups led by professional therapists, blog posts by mental health professionals, as well as an Instagram channel to resolve the various stress-related issues of users.
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Image Source: Insight Timer
Having more than 40,000 free meditations for everyone, Insight Timer is a great anxiety app for all age groups including children. There are a lot of options to choose from in their free library organized into neat sections with more than 200 choices. Depending on your needs, you can opt for Nature Sounds, Spirituality, Sound Meditation, and Relaxation Meditation, among a host of other choices. Their section on ‘Recovery & Healing’ has got great feedback, as they cover aspects like depression, grief, healing, pain, body image, and addiction.
Since the ongoing pandemic, they have also updated coronavirus-relevant content for the public like a guided meditation on how to cultivate compassion in this time of panic and fear.
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