Gallery: 5 iPhone apps to help you relax and manage stress while waiting for Apple Breathe
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Feeling stressed?
The more devices and screens we add to our lives the greater our stress levels seem to be. If you find yourself needing a moment of calm in the middle of your busy day these apps just might help. Take today’s 4th of July holiday to decompress and give one or two a try. You just might find yourself more prepared to face the four-day workweek.
Calm
If waiting for WatchOS 3 is stressing you out then Calm might help. It’s the closest thing to Apple’s anticipated Breathe app for the Apple Watch, right down to its little moving sphere that tells you to breathe in and out.
Guided meditations
Calm can bring you through guided meditations, and it comes with the 7 Days Of Calm program for free. Beyond that most of the features are locked behind a paywall, so if that stresses you out I’d recommend avoiding it.
Calm is available on iOS and Android.
Headspace
Like Calm, Headspace’s main focus is on guided mindfulness meditations. There is a series of ten that come with the app by default, but that’s it—unless you’re scared of flying. A series of two one-off meditation sessions designed to help you calm before taking to the air are free as well. The rest? You’ve gotta subscribe.
Single session meditation
The one-off meditation options in Headspace are probably one of the cooler features, but you’re unable to access them without a subscription. It also lacks a breathe-like mode that simply helps you take controlled breaths.
Headspace does offer an Apple Watch app, which is nice. If you want meditation at your fingertips then consider checking it out. Just don’t expect too much for free.
Headspace is available on iOS and Android.
Yoga Studio
I try to avoid recommending paid apps, but Yoga Studio is an exception. I decided to fork over $3.99 for the iOS version, and I was pleased with the results.
The app speaks pose cues as well as guiding you through breathing and relaxation. It also plays videos of each pose in case you aren’t sure what you should be doing.
Customizing your Yoga Studio experience
Yoga Studio offers a number of different classes based on your objectives and skill level, but the best feature might be the custom class builder. You can select from a variety of different poses and order them however you like. That might not sound like much, but if you’ve ever done yoga you know how hard it can be to flow smoothly between poses.
With Yoga Studio you simply hit the “Link Poses” button and the app does the work for you, instantly building a full sequence based on just a few key poses.
Yoga Studio is $3.99 on both iOS and Android.
Fitstar Yoga
If you’ve been wanting to be a bit more vigorous with your yoga routine I’d recommend Fitstar Yoga. The app is based around Tara Stiles’ Strala yoga, which ditches all the spiritual aspects of yoga and focuses purely on the workout.
Fitstar Yoga has a subscription service that provides customized yoga workouts based on your desire and your rating of different aspects of your workouts. The free version still allows you to do one custom session per week.
Freestyle sessions with Fitstar Yoga
There are also a number of freestyle sessions that are available without purchasing the app. These sessions focus on different things, like loosening up after sitting all day, strength training, yoga for runners, and a bunch of others.
Fitstar Yoga is only available on iOS. Sorry, Android users.
Locate the best trails
AllTrails is an app that helps you find new places to hike based on your GPS locations. You can rate trails, leave comments, and see a difficulty rating. There’s also trail information that gives distance, elevation change, and info about who can use the trail and pet-friendliness.
AllTrails is free on both iOS and Android. There is a subscription option that allows you to download maps and see more detailed information, but it isn’t necessary to enjoy the app.
How do you relax?
Know of any good apps to help make the weekend a bit more calming? Give us a shout in the comments so that your fellow readers can benefit from your expert app experience!
Have a great Independence Day!
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