In a recent development that some might consider ironic, there are some new iPhone apps that will attempt to help you reduce stress. There are two new iPhone apps that have come out recently that are geared towards helping you have a stress free holidays. The first one we’ll discuss is a relatively basic one, and the second one is by the master of serenity himself, Deepak Chopra.
Pranayama iPhone App for Reducing Stress
Pranayama, or controlled breathing, is a basic app that hopes to help you reduce stress by, you guessed it, helping you control your breathing. You can choose from different skill levels, breathing patterns, and timing. For example, you can choose from inhale/exhale or inhale/retain/exhale as different patterns, and then you can decide how long each step will last. Musical tones will guide you through inhaling and exhaling properly.
How much does it cost? It’s currently $4.99. But if this is all the motivation and assistance you need to have a stress free holiday, then it might just be worth it.
Pranayama – Link to app in iTunes
Preview of Pranayama iPhone App
Stress Free iPhone App by Deepak Chopra
The second app is called Stress Free, and it’s by the renowned Deepak Chopra. Stress Free is a more complete self-help and stress reduction program than Pranayama and includes various activities, music therapy, nutrition advice, and videos of Deepak himself. It appears to be just the beginning of more mobile apps from the Guru.
The Stress Free application also has an interesting feature called Karma Mail, which helps users focus on application’s concepts by allowing the user to send positive messages to people around the world. The user can anonymously send their brief positive messages to other users. Whether people will really grasp onto the concept is unknown right now, but it’s nice to see them think a little outside the box and apply that level of sharing and engagement into the app.
The Stress Free app is currently $9.99, but may go up to $14.99. Although much more comprehensive than the Pranayama app, it’s also a little more pricey.
Stress Free – Link to app in iTunes
Deepak Chopra Mobile website
Deepak Talks About Reducing Stress and the Stress Free App
Hi, I’m Deepak Chopra. As you know, stress is one of the major factors that negatively affects our society today. Stress leads to numerous medical problems like inflammatory disease, heart disease, and many types of cancer. It affects our well-being as well as the people who surround us, and is a multi-billion dollar problem that all countries face worldwide.
The root of the problem and the reason that so many people experience stress, is that as humans we are still to a large extent driven by a primal instict called the Fight or Flight response. We interpret small, minor, sometimes imaginary negative events as a threat to our very survival.
This disproportional emotional response results in the release of gadigal amine hormones like adrenaline, noradrenaline and also hormones like cortisol that weaken the immune system and also put our bodies in a state of emergency, preparing it to fight violently or run amok and escape. That type of response is of course vital and necessary when we are surrounded by predators. But it has a purely negative and disruptive effect on our lives in the modern societies we live in.
To become truly stress free, you must start reacting differently to situations you encounter in your daily life wherever you are and whatever you do. That is why I’ve created Stress Free, a new personal coaching program for the iPhone and iPod Touch where I coach you through the six keys to removing stress from your life. I encourage you to take the first step and learn about it at deepakchopramobile.com.
Preview of Stress Free iPhone App
Actually now and again I use the Koi Pond app, the zen garden app or one of the white noise apps to zone out and refocus with. Comes in handy at doc offices, waiting rooms and commuter trains.