No. 1) Take a Break - Guided Meditations for Stress Relief
From: The Meditation Oasis
FREE for iPad and iPhone
Features: two short guided meditations for relaxation and stress relief
Optional music or nature sounds
Soothing female voice
Helpful instructions to help you get the most out of the app.
This app includes two short meditations, ideal for incorporating into your work day for optimum productivity and health. The first guided meditation is 7min long. It gives you the opportunity to stop between tasks, or break up long tasks throughout the day to acknowledge and attend to what is going on in your mind and body on a personal level. This meditation will help you let go of tension in your body and return to the day refreshed. The second guided meditation is a 13min practice designed to help you relax more deeply and release stress when you are feeling under pressure. Frequent short meditations are going to have a more lasting effect than infrequent long meditations and for this reason, this is my favourite so far. Because of their length, these short 'guided' breaks are perfect for incorporating stress reduction into your daily routine. If you are new to meditation I strongly recommend reading the instructions which will encourage you to relax your expectations and let the instructions was over you without worrying about doing it right or wrong. Although 7min doesn't sound like a long time, it is very difficult to sit still and observe your thoughts and feelings without aborting the practice to do something. With practice, 'just being' will become easier.
No. 2) Stress Check
FREE research-based stress analysis
For iPad and iPhone
by AIIR Consulting LLC
Optional stress management tools (0.69p each)
Stress Tracker: the app stores your results so you can track your stress levels over time
This app analyses your responses to a series of multi-choice questions. It is then able to determine where your stress vulnerabilities lie. You could be vulnerable to stress in four different areas of your life, control (whether or not you feel in control of yourself), situational (stressful life circumstances), interpersonal (in your relationships with other people), or physiological (when stress impacts your body). This app will be able to offer personalised recommendations for reducing stress, based on your responses and the areas where you score highly. The analysis is FREE, and there are optional add-ons for £0.69p (Guided Relaxations (4) and Office Yoga Videos). These can be added to the app as part of your commitment to stress reduction. Although people can tell whether stress is a problem for them or not, the insight offered by this FREE analysis tool allows one to take the first steps toward better stress management by identifying areas for improvement and confirming your self-diagnosis. The recommendations and don't simply promote the stress management tools by AIIR Consulting, but are genuinely helpful.
No. 3) Stress Free Lite "Be Stress Free Fast"
by A New Day Counseling Center
FREE for iPad and iPhone
Instruction in the Emotional Freedom Technique
Step by step instructions to reduce stress
Diagrams of key meridian points to compliment the instructions
This is a hands on stress reduction technique. In 5 simple steps you can learn how to reduce your stress levels by gently tapping or applying a circular motion to key points on your face (temples, forehead etc). This is an empowering little app that allows you to adopt a technique which is traditionally employed by complimentary therapists to good effect. I have tried this technique today in combination with the Take a Break meditations (no. 1) above and spaced throughout the day they did an excellent job at reducing my stress levels. Instead of finding something else to keep me busy and blocking out the increased tension in my body and mood I was able to make space for my personal experience of mind and body, and then return to my day refreshed.
stress reduction management starts with identifying the sources of stress reduction in your life. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Your true sources of stress reduction aren’t always obvious, and it’s all too easy to overlook your own stress reduction-inducing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Sure, you may know that you’re constantly worried about work deadlines. But maybe it’s your procrastination, rather than the actual job demands, that leads to deadline stress reduction.
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