Apps for Anxiety, Stress Relief and Relaxation for Kids and Adults

Feeling overwhelmed? You're not alone. And the good news is, you don't have to navigate stress or big feelings all by yourself. Whether you're a school counselor looking for tools to share with students, a parent hoping to support your child's emotional health, or just someone trying to feel a little more balanced, there’s an app out there that can help.

This blog post rounds up some of the most helpful mental health and mindfulness apps available today. You'll find options for kids, teens, and adults that cover everything from breathing exercises and guided meditations to calming games and emotional check-ins. Many of these apps are free, based on research, and super easy to use.

Scroll through and see which ones might be a good fit for your needs, your students, or your family.

Breathe 2 Relax: Android, Apple

• Description from the developers: This app is a stress management tool, which will help you learn how to perform and use diaphragmatic breathing techniques for stress control. It also provides you with education about the biology of stress, the effects of stress on the body, how to do diaphragmatic breathing, and the biology of breathing. Using this app can be helpful to your meditation practice as well. Even though this app was developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and T2, it is not restricted to use by military or veterans.

Calm: Available Here

• Description from the developers: Sleep more. Stress Less. Live Better. Join the millions experiencing better sleep, lower stress, and less anxiety with Calm.

Breathe, Think, Do with Sesame: Android, Apple

• Description from the developers: Laugh and learn as you help a Sesame Street monster friend calm down and solve everyday challenges. This bilingual (English and Spanish), research-based app helps your child learn Sesame’s “Breathe, Think, Do” strategy for problem-solving. Tap and touch to help the monster friend take deep breaths, think of plans, and try them out! Your child will enjoy silly animations and playful interactions as she is exposed to important emotional vocabulary, a calm breathing technique, personalized encouragements, and more!
  

Headspace: Guided Meditation and Mindfulness: Available here

• Description from the developers: Meditation has been shown to help people stress less, focus more and even sleep better. Headspace is meditation made simple. We'll teach you the life-changing skills of meditation and mindfulness in just a few minutes a day.

Breathing Bubbles: Android, Apple

• Description from the developers: Emotional well-being is critical for children. Breathing Bubbles is an app specifically designed for Samsung Tab 4 and Samsung Note 8 tablets that helps kids practice releasing worries and focusing on good feelings. Select an emotion and rate how strongly you are feeling that emotion. Choose to either release a worry or receive a joy. When releasing a worry, type it into the bubble and watch it float away as you breathe deeply with Manny the Manatee. When receiving a joy, type it into the bubble and watch it float toward you as you breathe deeply with Manny the Manatee. We are not our worries and sometimes it helps to get some distance from them. Spending time thinking about the things that bring us joy shifts our mood and improves overall well-being.

Smiling Mind: Available here

• Description from the developers: Practice your daily meditation and mindfulness exercises from any device. Smiling Mind is a unique tool developed by psychologists and educators to help bring balance to your life. We suggest 10 minutes a day. What are you waiting for?

Antistress: Android, Apple

• Description from the developers: When you need relaxation, diversion or just a moment of distraction enjoy this collection of toys: hear the sound of a bamboo chime, play with wooden boxes, swipe gently your finger in the water, tap buttons, draw with chalks and so on! Are you waiting for something and you need a diversion? Open Antistress app and start playing with a Newton's cradle! Are you furious with someone? Have some relaxation with the never-old fifteen game! Do you need distraction from study? Open Antistress app and choose one of 50 (fifty!!!) toys to play!

Better Sleep: Available here

• Description from the developers: Music, meditations, and stories backed by the science of sleep

  
  

Woebot: Available here

• Description from the developers: Tiny conversations to feel your best. Get hundreds of expert-crafted tools to learn about yourself and improve your mood whenever you need them.

3 Minute Mindfulness: Apple

• Description from the developers: 3 Minute Mindfulness was designed to make Mindfulness as quick, easy and accessible as possible. The app contains meditations, breathing exercises and courses help you relax, reduce anxiety, improve sleep and much more.

Happify: Android, Apple

• Description from the developers: Overcome negative thoughts, stress, and life’s challenges! Happify is the single destination for effective, evidence-based solutions for better mental health.

Insight Timer: Available here

• Description from the developers: number one 1 free app for sleep, anxiety and stress.

Colorfy: Android, Apple

• Description from the developers: Coloring therapy for adults now on your mobile. The secret against anxiety. Let the colors fill your mind in a relaxing painting experience. Time flies by and problems fade away while you chill out and have fun.

iSleepEasy: Android, Apple

• Description from the developers: A calm voice helps you manage anxieties, relax and sleep, in an array of guided meditations and nature sounds.

Mindshift CBT: Android, Apple

• Description from the developers: Free Evidence-Based Mental Health Relief: Is anxiety getting in the way of your life? MindShift™ CBT uses scientifically proven strategies based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help you learn to relax and be mindful, develop more effective ways of thinking, and use active steps to take charge of your anxiety.

iChill: Android, Apple

• Description from the developers: Are you stressed out, not feeling like yourself or worried about a family member? iChill can help by teaching you the Community Resiliency Model, a set of self-help skills. You will learn simple info about how stress affects the mind and body.

Calm Harm: Android, Apple

• Description from the developers: Calm Harm provides tasks to help you resist or manage the urge to self-harm. If you want to you can set a password so that it's completely private. You can also personalise it if you wish, by choosing the background colour theme and deciding on whether you would like some company using a variety of friendly characters.

DreamyKid Meditation App: Apple

• Description from the developers: The DreamyKid meditation app offers meditation, guided visualization and affirmations curated just for children & teens. It uses proven techniques that teach your kids methods to guide them towards a happier life through mindfulness.

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