Say Yes to Inner Peace: Top 9 Apps for a Stress-free and Happier Mind

Think this world is a stressful place to be? You're not alone. Constantly feeling uptight and frustrated, and feeling like you're losing control of life while being drained of energy and motivation is not a good thing at all.

Fortunately there are solutions to counter stress and make life more relaxing. Here are 9 apps that will lead you to a healthier, happier, stress-free mind (and body).

Who can benefit from these apps:
●    students who want to learn how to benefit from a stress-free mind, allowing them to perform better at school
●    working adults who want to taste a little piece of calm in their busy, hectic life
●    people who are stuck in a rut and want more inspiration to brighten their lives and make it more meaningful
●    mothers who sometimes find their frenzied household too difficult to cope

1. Smiling Mind (free; iOS)
Meditation isn't a pretentious fad for super healthy “tree huggers”. In fact, more and more young people are getting into meditation due to its long-term benefits such as emotional balance, increased immunity boost, lower blood pressure, to name a few.

Convinced of its numerous benefits? Then this Smiling Mind app may be just the thing to get you started quickly. Accessing this app daily ensures a higher sense of calm, clarity and contentment. Children as young as 7 can benefit from this simple app – in fact, the instructions are so easy that just about any young user can understand and follow them effortlessly.

Developed by a team of psychologists who specializes in youth and adolescent therapy, this Smiling Mind app was created to help improve the lives of young people through modern meditation.

Young users have expressed just how much they love it, attesting to the fact that it really does make them calmer while releasing stress.

2. Mindfulness (free; iOS)
Mindfulness is considered the first app in the world that will help to train your mindfulness, resulting in stress reduction without having to hire a yoga or meditation guru. The bright color scheme is a delight to behold, so bright and cheery that I was motivated to start the app and marvel at its pretty colors each day.

Features of the Mindfulness app include:
●    comprehensive tests to evaluate yourself
●    audio-exercises, featuring a soothing female voice you'd love to fall asleep listening to
●    easy-to-follow mindfulness practices with short and simple instructions

The Mindfulness app has been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times and has benefited users such as stressed workers, patients undergoing treatment for serious illnesses as well as those who suffer from anxiety or depression.

3. Squeeze and Shake Stress Relief ($0.99; iOS)
Studies have shown that squeezing a stress ball is one of the fastest way to destress. The reason is simple: when you squeeze it, and then release, your muscle will contract and relax. As you do so, you will be relieved of tension in your body, and your mind will feel frustration beginning to ebb away.

Rather than carry around a stress ball, there's now an app that acts as a great stress reliever. Enter the Squeeze and Shake Stress Relief app. You can now turn to this adorable little toy rubber duck and vent out your anger and displeasure without ever breaking again in anger or unleashing your tantrum on unsuspecting family members or co-workers ever again.

●    Treat it like a stress ball and hear the comical duckling quacking away.
●    Download this app on your iPhone and get a hand massage at the same time as the iPhone vibrates in to the rhythm of your squeezes.
●    This app is also a great entertainer for young kids who'll be charmed and amused with the bright yellow graphics and funny sounds.

4. Yoga in Bed ($1.99; iOS)
Can Yoga be done in bed, before you truly get out of the bedroom and start your day? This app truly believes so, and will help you relax, destress and reduce physical as well as mental tension.

The great thing about this app is that if you set your alarm to 20 minutes before you wake up, you'll be rewarded with a more refreshed day ahead. The yoga instructor featured here, Johnna, exudes peace and calm with her soothing voice. She helps you with simple yoga techniques that will help aid your circulation, digestion, coordination, allowing you take on the day ahead with a positive outlook.

5. Simply Being ($0.99; iOS and Android)
Developed by Richard and Mary Maddux who were the ones behind the successful Meditation Oasis podcast, the Simple Being app lets just about anyone (beginners included!) enjoy the advantages of meditation and positive thinking.

Features include:
●    Choose to let the app play nature sounds or the silence (if it comforts you) during meditation
●    Select meditation sessions of 5, 10 or 20 minutes
●    Easy meditation techniques you can bring with you on the go

6. Breathe & Relax ($0.99; iOS)
The key to complete relaxation even when encountering frustrations in a competitive, stressful world is to BREATHE. This app helps you exactly with that and keeps you relaxed daily.

●    BREATHING EXERCISE: Listen to soothing, intuitive voice-guided exercise to help you take control of your breathing. You'll experience a world of difference once you learn how to breathe and take charge of your life.

●    BREATHING BREAK AUDIOS: Discover different breathing techniques (Basic Breath Awareness, Deep Breathing, Pleasure Breathing, and Belly Breathing) to help you achieve different goals, be it to relax, destress, feel happier or just simply prevent an outbreak of panic attacks.
●    BREATHING REMINDERS: The voice prompts or sounds literally remind you to breathe optimally when you feel stress or panic attacks coming on.

7. Acupressure: Treat Yourself ($1.99; iOS and Android)
Besides being able to combat stress, acupressure treatments can relieve you of ailments like digestive disorders, blood circulatory conditions and harmful addictions. It's also a great pain relief solution. But running to an acupressure expert every time you feel the need coming on won't help; instead, download this app and treat yourself easily (and cost-effectively too).

The user-friendly layout and instructions are easy to follow. Try it and you'll wonder why you didn't start practicing acupressure earlier in life.

8. Headspace Meditation (free; iOS and Android)
Available on both iOS and Android, Headspace Meditation is an app that lets you study meditation techniques without realizing you're actually in the process of learning! The app's color scheme is very pleasing – coupled with a user-friendly layout and optimal usability (it's not a coincidence that this app's layout was designed to mimic that of an infographic), this app will cause intrigue and interest among curious over-the-shoulder onlookers.

This app gives you access to:
●    free 10 unique guided meditations (upgrade to premium edition for more)
●    365 meditation sessions, one for each day of the year
●    inspiring podcasts delivered straight to your app's homepage daily for added help
●    gentle reminders for you to NOT slack off (I know I've been guilty of ignoring some of them)
●    timely reports sent, allowing you to track your progress easily

One thing I love about this app is that it always thinks ahead by allowing you to download future meditation lessons for offline use. This is especially nifty for when you know you're not going to be online for the next few days due to a vacation or extended working period.

9. GPS for the Soul (free; iOS)
Created by Arianna Huffington and Deepak Chopra, two big names in the media industry, this app somewhat mirrors the functions of a biofeedback.

What's awesome about this app is that the built-in sensor measures users' heart rate (this is done by placing your finger over your iPhone or iPad's camera lens) and tells them your current stress level.

Deemed too stressed for words? The app helps lower your heart rate and calms you down somewhat by suggesting you listen to some calming tunes or view photos of loved ones. A pacer will activate soon as you sign into the app, allowing you to follow the rhythmic indication so that you'll learn to sync your breathing with it, allowing you to de-stress easily.