In the age of digital and connectivity, more and more people are turning to their smartphones to help guide healthy habits and overall well being. We now have access to everything from recipes, workout routines, meditation, and even doctor’s visits from our phones. While staring at a screen all day may not be great for well being, the apps that are available to help us feel better can offer some benefits.
Health and wellness apps can help people relieve stress, manage sleep cycles, discover healthy recipes, and get a workout in, all from a mobile device. Anyone who has browsed an app store knows that there are hundreds of thousands of these apps available. These can be especially helpful for people working from home as remote workspaces become the norm. We’ve put together a list of 10 health and wellness apps that you may want to consider.
Meditation Apps
1. Balance
Billing itself as the “world’s first personalized meditation audio program,” Balance allows users to tap into its library of thousands of meditations and have personalized meditation programs assembled just for them. Whether you’re looking to improve focus, relieve anxiety, or sleep better, Balance has a meditation for you.
The app also claims to help people improve their meditation practice by breaking down each meditation into skills that can be learned and improved upon. The app also tracks how much time its users spend practicing each of these skills.
2. Headspace
Headspace is one of the most popular health and wellness apps that focuses on both meditation and mindfulness and offers guided meditations narrated by former Buddhist monk Andy Puddicombe. This app aims to help its users lengthen attention spans, improve alertness, and calm the mind. The app offers a free Basics pack that consists of a 10-day-long beginner’s course. This pack is meant to teach users the basics of meditation and mindfulness and serve as a foundation for more advanced meditations.
Headspace merges the ancient practice of meditation with the modern science behind it to deliver an authentic meditation experience. As part of its commitment to the modern science aspect, the app partners with large national institutions on research studies focused on mindfulness meditation.
Healthy Recipe Apps
3. Healthy Recipes - SparkRecipes
The Healthy Recipes app by SparkRecipes.com features more than a half a million recipes available for free. Each recipe includes the ingredients and directions, but users can also access nutrition information, reviews from other users, and related recipes. Users are able to search for recipes by meal type, occasion, prep time, and more. The app also features recipes that meet different dietary needs, including low carb, vegetarian, gluten-free, and more.
The app includes features that allow users to save their favorite recipes so it’s easy to come back to them time and time again. Users also have the option to create a free account, which allows them to view their favorite recipes across all devices. Favorite recipes can also be shared with friends and across social channels.
4. Mealime
Mealime app boasts more than 4 million users and offers features that streamline grocery shopping, meal planning, and cooking to help its busy users eat healthier. options. It offers plans that meet a wide array of lifestyles and tastes. The focus is on helping busy individuals, families, and couples eat healthy through simple, stress-free meals that can be cooked at home.
Users are able to view comprehensive nutritional information that includes calories, macros, and micros. In-app purchases are available for users who may want to add favorite recipes and view the list of exclusive recipes that are added weekly.
Stress & Anxiety Management Apps
5. Happify
Happify aims to help users beat stress, negative thoughts, and other life challenges. It uses evidence-based solutions to help users feel empowered around their feelings and thoughts. Users gain access to programs and tools that can combat sadness, anxiety, and stress. These programs are based around proven techniques from scientists who are leaders in the field of positive psychology, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mindfulness.
The app uses games and other engaging activities that users can use on-the-go or at home. Users can view their “happiness score” and learn how to improve it through weekly activities.
6. Self-Help for Anxiety Management (SAM)
The Self-Help for Anxiety Management (SAM) app was developed by scientists at the University of the West of England. It is geared at helping people to break avoidance habits and learn coping skills to help them deal with stressful situations. It uses exposure-based treatments to have users think about anxiety-inducing situations in order to face their fears.
The app allows users to self-monitor anxiety by providing a graphical display. It offers 25 self-help options that cover a wide variety of topics, including health and anxiety, thinking and anxiety, information and anxiety, physical relaxation, and mental relaxation.
Sleep Management Apps
7. SleepScore
The SleepScore app helps people track their sleep by assigning a sleep score on the first night they use SleepScore. By using the person’s smartphone mic and speaker, the app is able to measure breathing rate and body movement to deliver insights and analysis about the person’s sleep environment and the different stages of sleep they experience.
The app uses this sleep data to offer personalized recommendations to improve sleep and may also offer advice on products that can help based on the user’s sleep profile. Sleep data is tracked over time to show how sleep is improving.
8. Sleep Cycle
Sleep Cycle helps users analyze and track sleep patterns and also helps users find the perfect wake up window so they can feel rested. It does this by using sound analysis to track different sleep states and movements in bed. It uses a wake-up phase of 30 minutes that ends at a user’s desired alarm time. By monitoring signals from the body, the app is able to use the wake-up phase to gently awaken a person when they are in the lightest sleep stage.
The app also offers two snooze modes. Users can use intelligent snooze to snooze through the wake-up phase, with each snooze duration getting shorter over time. Regular snooze lets people specify their snooze time from between one and 20 minutes.
Workout Apps
9. Aaptiv
Aaptiv lets users access a personal trainer at a fraction of the cost. Users can access a library of thousands of workout programs, each led by certified trainers. By entering their fitness goals, the app tailors each user’s experience by recommending different workouts. These programs can also be filtered by both music and duration to offer a very personalized experience.
Since the app is audio-based, users do not need to worry about following along on their small screens. Instead, users can put in headphones and focus on the workout at hand, freely moving about without missing a beat.
10. Peloton App
The Peloton App is not just for those who own a Peloton bike or treadmill. Now anyone is able to access the app, which houses an extensive library of both on-demand and live classes. Users can choose between cycling, yoga, running, strength training, and other types of classes that can be done indoors or outdoors. Users can begin with a one-week free trial.
Users can track their performance over time and also compete on the leaderboard of different sessions for a chance at the top spot.
Health and wellness starts with Decent health
Health and wellness apps have given us greater access than ever to programs and experts that can help us live our healthiest lives. Decent understands that connection is important, so we offer virtual versions of our plans for those who would prefer virtual visits with their primary care doctor.
We also now offer small business plans for companies that would like to offer Decent health plans to their employees. Offering Decent plans is a great way to save you and your employees money while getting even better coverage. Get more information today!
