13 Best Meditation Apps for Stress Relief 2021

best meditation apps for anxiety

Stressful events continue to loom in every part of the world. But not every stressful event is bad. Some stress responses are normal and can motivate you to do certain meaningful things.

However, chronic stress is dangerous as it can affect your normal bodily functions. For instance, it weakens your immune system, affects your digestive, reproductive, and excretory systems.

Extreme stress causes anxiety, impairs sleep, causes headaches and depression or even death.

According to the American Institute of Stress, about 120,000 individuals die each year due to work-related stress.

There are many ways to manage stress, and one of them is using stress-relief apps.

If you’re a victim, fear not, as this article will review the best apps for stress relief in 2021.

15 Best Apps for Stress Relief in 2021

Here’s our review of the top apps that can help you manage stress:

personal zen1. Personal Zen

Personal Zen is one of the most useful apps for relieving stress and anxiety. That’s by just using it a few minutes a day and multiple times a week.

The app has games created based on 20 years of neuroscience and clinical research. It will help you achieve better results.

Play the games on this app for extended periods to build a happier and less stressed appearance in just minutes. Personal Zen mainly focuses on helping you build positive and good habits of attention.

Additionally, it helps you become resilient to stress or fight stronger feelings of anxiety. The app also allows you to keep records and track your progress.

2. Sanvello

Check-InSanvello, a new app on the market, is one of the best for stress relief in 2021. It’s a leading lifestyle program that empowers you to become a better version of yourself every day.

The Sanvello App gives you personal training and daily action steps to perform each day. You receive daily messages to improve your mind, body, and soul to become a better version of yourself each day.

The sessions are based on a mindfulness philosophy that you can practice anywhere at any time. They include breathing exercises and meditations for stress relief.

They’re designed by the best professionals who understand what this digitalized world wants.

The app has a community of people with similar interests and goals. And you can easily interact with them to share your experiences and learn from each other. Additionally, you earn badges as long as meeting the criteria for different sessions.

3. Headspace

Headspace is an excellent app if you are looking to explore meditation and mindfulness in the comfort of your own home or while on the go! Just like Lyft, Headspace has several packages available: Foundation, Take10, and Plus.

headspace for stress and anxiety

In addition to several different meditation packages, the app offers a range of guided meditations for you to listen to and practice while taking your time or during your daily commute to work or school. One great feature is that you can get a free lesson to try it out!

If you do not want to go through all ten sessions, it is the most common problem that Americans face today. It usually occurs as a result of stress, undiagnosed medical conditions, or job-related issues.

You can relieve your anxiety with some relaxation techniques like yoga and meditation. These are effective because they reduce or eliminate physical tension, promote deep breathing, or slow down your heart rate, which lowers blood pressure, stress hormones and calms the mind.

4. Calm

Calm is another leading stress relief and anxiety meditation app. It lets you experience guided meditation sessions using high-quality audio.

calm app for stress

You can choose from over 1,000 relaxing songs, including music for sleeping and meditation music. Additionally, there are iftars sessions with pro instructors to guide you through the process of practicing deep relaxation, even at home.

Calm will help:

  • Boost your sleep quality
  • Lower stress or anxiety levels
  • Enhance attention and focus
  • Self-improvement, and more

Best of all, you can try using the app for free to see if it will meet your stress relief goals.

5. The Mindfulness App

The Mindfulness App is from the same developers of Calm above. It offers a range of meditation music and guided meditations sessions to help you relax and deal with stress more effectively.

One advantage it has over Calm is that it offers four main categories:

  • Breath Concentration
  • Body Scan
  • Imagery
  • Mindfulness Training

Additionally, it enables you to select a category of your choice and according to the amount of time you have available. The app guides you on how long each session should take or if they will fit into your schedule for that day.

Your stress relief is just a few minutes away!

6. Meditation Studio

Meditation Studio is a powerful app that helps you to learn and practice meditation in an easy way.

Meditation Studio for stress

It offers step-by-step training to help you relax and focus better than before in just 5 minutes per day!

The app has:

  • Guided meditation instruction
  • Meditation music for stress relief
  • Exercises, techniques, and strategies to practice meditation

Additionally, it offers a community of people who meditate with you each day. They help each other build healthy habits of mind and body by sharing their experiences and helping each other become better versions of themselves.

You can also follow experts and experience their techniques and methods of meditation. There are stress-relieving apps for Android and iOS devices and web-based options for those who prefer to meditate from a computer.

7. Stop, Breathe & Think

Stop, Breathe & Think is a contemplation and meditation app that offers guided meditations and breathing exercises. They also provide quizzes and courses to help you better understand yourself and your mental health.

stop breathe and think app

The app enables you to improve your mood by practicing mindfulness meditation at work, at home, or on the go. It helps you manage stress & anxiety in work & daily life with breathing exercises.

Additionally, it helps you understand how to deal with your emotions and improve your mental health condition through daily activities. The app is available on Android devices only for now.

8. Breathe2Relax

Breathe2Relax is another great app for relaxation and stress relief, but it also targets anger management issues, so men, in particular, might find this app to be the most useful one out there!

The app is available on Android devices only, but it does offer tutorials in English, Spanish, French, and German. Breathe2Relax has the following features:

  • Configuration of your preferred breathing patterns for different activities;
  • Relaxation exercises using visualizations;
  • A CPR training module to help you learn this life-saving skill;
  • A behavior module that helps you keep track of different habits and how to improve them

9. Worry Watch

WorryWatch is a great app for those who struggle with anxiety and constantly feel on-edge, as it can help you keep track of your feelings and fears and provide you with assistance to deal with them.

The app contains numerous relaxation videos that will show you how to deal with feelings of anxiety and fear and how to relax your mind and body. It also provides positive affirmation videos that will help you learn how to overcome negative thoughts.

To use the app, all you have to do is tell it when and for how long you feel stressed, and it will suggest different activities focused on stress relief: guided meditations, breathing exercises, and more!

10. Happify

If you want to stop feeling stressed and depressed, Happify is a great app for helping you get on the right track and achieve your goals and dreams.

happify app for stress

It relies on positive psychology, which is the scientific study of what people do and how they feel and think, leading to well-being rather than unhappiness.

You will find this app available on Android and iOS devices. Plus, it features games that aim to boost positive emotions, increase self-awareness and help you connect with others in a more meaningful way.

It works by measuring your current mood, then giving you personalized recommendations based on what will most effectively make you feel better!

11. Guided Meditation

Meditation Oasis is an amazing app that helps you learn how to meditate by following professionally narrated sessions lasting from 2 to 60 minutes. New meditation is added every week, so you always have something new and interesting to try!

The Meditation Oasis app is available for Android and iOS devices, but it does offer an online version that you can try before committing to the download.

12. Breathwrk

BreathWork is a great app that teaches you how to relax and reduce stress by controlling your breathing!

Breathwrk app

The app has the following features:

  • Meditation sessions for three different purposes: stress relief, health, and well-being;
  • A personalized meditation approach that tailors the sessions to your specific needs;
  • Different breathing patterns to help you find the optimal one for stress relief;

However, the app is available on Android devices only.

13. Nature Sounds Relax and Sleep

If you want to relax and unwind by listening to the soothing sounds of nature, try the Nature Sounds Relax and Sleep app!

It features 60 unique, high-quality nature sounds that will lull you to sleep or help you relax after a hard day’s work. The app also includes “Rain” mode, which gently rains on your device for an enjoyable rainstorm experience!

Conclusion

Indeed, there are lots of apps designed for stress relief. But any of the above apps will add great value to your stress and anxiety management goals.

They are easy, reliable, and highly convenient apps you can try when you feel stressed. Most of them are incredibly affordable and won’t compromise your budget.