Wellbeing apps and mindfulness practices offer accessible and effective tools to support mental health and overall wellbeing. These apps provide guided meditations, mood tracking, breathing exercises, and stress management techniques, helping users develop greater self-awareness and resilience. Mindfulness, in particular, encourages individuals to focus on the present moment, reducing anxiety and enhancing emotional regulation. With the flexibility to integrate into daily routines, wellbeing apps empower people to take proactive steps toward better mental health, offering a sense of balance, calm, and personal growth.

 

The Headspace app is a mental health app that helps users improve their mindfulness, sleep, and stress management: 

 

  • Meditation: Offers guided meditations and mindfulness practices to help users focus on their breath and observe their thoughts 
  • Sleep: Helps users improve their sleep
  • Stress management: Helps users reduce stress and build resilience 
  • Physical activity: Includes videos for low-impact activities like yoga and rest day meditations, as well as more strenuous workouts like mindful cardio 
The app also includes:
  • Progress tracking to help users follow their mental health journey
  • Goals and daily reminders to help users stay consistent
  • The ability to buddy up with friends to motivate each other
  • The ability to download sessions to use offline

 

The Calm app is used for meditation, sleep, and relaxation: 

 

  • Guided meditation: Calm offers a variety of guided meditation sessions that range from 90 seconds to 90 minutes.
  • Sleep stories: Calm has over 100 sleep stories narrated by well-known talent, including Cillian Murphy, Rosé, and Jerome Flynn.
  • Soundscapes: Calm has calming soundscapes and nature sounds to help you meditate or sleep.
  • Breathing exercises: Calm offers breathing exercises to help you relax.
  • Stretching exercises: Calm offers mindful movement and stretching for every body type.
  • Masterclasses: Calm offers masterclasses taught by world-renowned experts in mindfulness.
  • Music playlists: Calm has music playlists for a variety of moods and preferences.

 

The WorryTree app is a self-help tool that helps people manage their anxiety and worries using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques: 

 

  • Identify worries: Name your worries and record them in a journal
  • Challenge worries: Use CBT questioning techniques to shift how you view your worries
  • Reform thoughts: Learn to transform negative thoughts and practice positive thinking
  • Make a plan: Create a plan of action to address your worries
  • Find distractions: Find ways to cope with your worries
  • Schedule reminders: Set reminders to help you take action on your plan 

NHS APPROVED APPS

The MindShift CBT app is a free, self-help app that uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies to help people manage anxiety: 

  • Reduce anxiety: The app can help reduce worry, stress, and panic. 
  • Develop coping skills: The app provides tools to help users learn more about anxiety, challenge negativity, and develop more effective ways of thinking. 
  • Track progress: Users can track their mood and thoughts, and set goals.
  • Share progress: Users can manually share data from the app with carers, clinicians, or other health professionals. 
  • Connect with others: The app includes a community forum where users can share stories and learn from others. 
The app’s features include: 
  • Thought journals
  • Belief experiments
  • Coping cards
  • Fear ladders
  • Expanding your comfort zone guides
  • Audio recordings
  • Quick relief tools
  • Meditations
  • Challenges

 

The My Possible Self app is a mental health app that helps people take care of themselves: 

  • Mood tracking: Record feelings and understand moods
  • Visual and audio exercises: Boost mood, relax the mind, or help you sleep
  • Personalized self-help: A customized version of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for digital use