I wonder if you would describe yourself as a person under stress?
Money is tight and bills are piling up. Family members got sick. The boiler has failed again and the temperature is dropping rapidly. Kids argue like it's an Olympic sport. These are common issues that affect us all and can often cause us stress and anxiety. It's not just me, is it?
All this stress can seriously throw us off balance. Joy, happiness and peace become distant friends. Getting out of bed proves difficult because the difficulties seem insurmountable. In short, our mental health is suffering and finding a way forward seems impossible.
If this sounds like your life experience, let me introduce you to an app that started helping me. It's called Balanceand although it has been around for several years, I only recently discovered it. I was impressed to learn that it's backed by incredible results (at least according to the company that created the app): 95% of dedicated Balance users report less stress, and over half a million people around the world have downloaded the app.
Home Screen Heroes
This is part of a regular series of articles highlighting apps we couldn't live without. Read them all here.
Balance is a meditation app that offers a personalized program designed to relieve stress and improve sleep, focus and mood. To do this, it provides an audio library of meditations selected based on how you answer the app's daily questions. As a result, meditation becomes more effective over time.
Focus on breathing to reduce stress
The first few meditations, called “The Basics,” focus on breath concentration, which is, you guessed it, the art of focusing on your breathing. The idea is to watch your breath, noticing how your breath moves in and out of your body. These guided breathing exercises are a gentle introduction that orients you to a broader meditation practice. This low-intensity approach is ideal for beginners who have never meditated before.
All breathing meditations are easy to do and incredibly beginner-friendly. I liked how the “guide” explained that it is completely normal for your mind to wander. She even said, “That’s what the mind does.” I love it and it made me feel understood and accepted.
From this initial experience, I then moved on to specific meditations called solitary meditations, which quickly became my companion at various points in my day, including meals, walks, stretching, and more. Having Balance with me has helped me stay grounded and not catastrophize events in my life or become overwhelmed.
My two favorite types of meditations are the ones I used last night and the moment I woke up. It helped me end my days, rest deeply, and wake up refreshed. If you share a bed with someone, it may seem a little strange, but you can always put on headphones or share a meditation experience with them.
Incredibly effective immersive meditations
In addition to more traditional guided meditations, the Balance app also offers iOS users the privilege of accessing immersive content that combines vibration and sound to help sleep and reduce stress. This is an absolute game changer unlike anything I have ever experienced before.
Before you begin, you'll need to decide whether you'll hold the phone in one hand, two hands, or even rest it on your chest, leg, or other convenient location. I have a lot of tension in my chest, so I usually find my phone there.
My personal favorite experience was called the Immersive Forest, which was perfect for helping me unwind before bed. It's a walk through lush green forest with your friendly dog. Along the way you meet other animals, interact with fireflies and even a stream. I was amazed at how realistic the feeling of “plunging your hand into the steam” was. Everything about it was so authentic, except for the fact that I didn't get wet!
I have set a daily nightly reminder for this meditation and you can do this with any experience contained in the app. I also “checked” the app regularly, telling it how I was feeling. As a result, I received meditations tailored to me.
Get a premium experience
If you want full access to all Balance features, you will need to subscribe to the Premium Plan. It will cost $69.99/£39.99 per year, which isn't that much at all if good mental health is worth every penny.
Balance Premium gives you unlimited access to a full library of personalized 10-day plans, one-on-one on-the-go meditations, sleep stories, color noises, animated breathing exercises, and immersive meditations.
If you'd like to try Balance, download the app at iOS or Android and enjoy a free one-month trial with access to all premium features.
Follow TechRadar on Google News. And add us as your preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the “Subscribe” button!
And of course you can also Follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxing videos and get regular updates from us on whatsapp too much.
