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We all have stress in our lives. In fact, tech can often be a source of the stress. But tech can also help you to relax, offering a more calm environment and helping you to take your mind off of your troubles.
When using apps or surfing the Web, you may become upset by a Facebook post, tweet, or news report. Or maybe you read an email from your boss unfairly criticizing your hard work.
You may be tempted to step away from your tech, but perhaps tech can be the solution to your tension. These tech tools may help you relax and unwind from your stressors.
Don’t miss => 10 Free Apps to Help You Sleep Better — Infographic
Soothing Sounds
Bring peace to your place with soothing sounds. Fill your space with relaxing music to help bring calm.
Music
Search for “relaxing music for stress relief” on YouTube to find hours of video with relaxing music.
Check out relaxing music on Spotify, including this playlist called Pure Relaxation:
Sounds of Nature
If noisy surroundings are causing you stress, try a sound soother app to drown out the stressful sounds. Listen to the sounds of nature, such as ocean waves, raindrops, birds singing and crickets chirping.
No need to buy a machine to get sounds of nature, you can use free apps instead.
Check out Free Relaxing Sounds of Nature for iPhone and Relax and Sleep for Android.
Need a baby to relax? Try Sound Sleeper for iPhone and Android.
Calm
Calm.com is a website with tranquil sounds, soothing scenery and guided meditation. Choose from timed or open meditation for a single session, or start a program ranging from seven to twenty-one days.
This video shows a sample of a Calm meditation:
https://youtu.be/FZb3TQ_URpU
The website also offers calming videos. Watch nature scenes such as above the clouds, under the ocean, and sunset beach. Each scene has different sounds so you can find the best combination for relaxation.
The Calm website is free, with paid subscriptions available for more advanced meditation programs. A Calm app is available free for iPhone and Android.
Flowy
Flowy is a game developed to help users combat panic and anxiety attacks. Based on a UK study Coping with Panic, Flowy is a game that helps practice controlled breathing.
The developers say that by playing Flowy for 90 seconds a day, users can learn to breathe better and become more calm. “In trials Flowy produced measurable decreases in anxiety and panic symptoms. Just 90 seconds of play can be enough to soothe the symptoms of a panic attack.”
Flowy puts you on a sailboat in the middle of the ocean where you must guide the captain home. The app guides you to breathe rhythmically to power the boat across the water. Tap the screen to steer the boat to collect coins and avoid obstacles.
Flowy is available as a free app for:
Puzzles
Redirect your thoughts by focusing on a different problem to solve. Puzzle apps and websites can help your brain work on solving problems. The analytic skills you use to solve puzzles may be just what you need to solve real life problems.
Check out these puzzle games that are easy to learn but challenging to master:
Curvy, a free online puzzle game that has you spin and connect tiles to complete a circuit.
Flow, a free app for iPhone and Android that has you connect colored pipes on a grid without crossing or overlapping them.
Ball Smash! a free app for iPhone and Android that requires you to clear a board of colored balls by smashing them into each other.
=> Also see, 6 Super Fun Puzzle Apps to Stimulate Your Brain! and 5 Fantastic Puzzle Websites — Free Fun for Everyone!
Websites
Do Nothing for 2 Minutes
By sparing just two minutes out of your day, you may become calmer. Do Nothing for 2 Minutes is a website from Calm (see above) that helps you take breaks during the day.
Head to the website and enjoy a beautiful scene and calming sounds. A timer counts down two minutes during which you are supposed to do absolutely nothing. If you cheat and do anything, even as simple as moving the mouse or touching the keyboard, the clock stops and you have to start over.
Doing nothing for two minutes is not as easy as you may think…
Weave Silk
Make the world a more beautiful place while getting your mind off of your woes. Weave Silk is a website that lets you create art by dragging your cursor around the computer screen.
After you’ve finished your creation, you can share it with others, then start a new masterpiece.
Weave Silk is also available as an app for iPhone and iPad. The website is free, but the app is $2.99.
Make Everything Ok
Did you ever wish for a website that would solve all of your problems? Make Everything Ok tries to do just that.
Click the button at the Make Everything Ok website and watch the magic happen.
Your Thoughts
Do you use tech to help you relax? Do you have any favorite apps or websites that calm you?
Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
* Relaxing photo (edited) courtesy of Diego da Silva via Flickr and Creative Commons.
Hi Carolyn,
Happy Monday 🙂
Interesting indeed! I never knew there were so many tech tools to help us relax – in fact I thought we needed to get away from all kind of gadgets to do that, but yes, some of these are very good, and I’d surely be checking them out right away, especially the ones related to music, as that is the ultimate way for me to relax for sure.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, Yes, there are many tech tools to help you relax. Some are expensive gadgets but these tech tools are free and readily available for all.
We often think of tech as a source of stress, but it can also help guide us to a more relaxed state of mind. Whether you like to relax to music or the sounds of nature, you have plenty of free resources to listen to.
Enjoy your week ahead, Harleena!
You and your shared wisdom are a blessing in my life.
Hello Karen, Thank you for your kind words. I’m so very glad you found this article helpful. Best wishes for much peace and calm in your life!
Great Ideas worth trying out.
You definately need some kind of release from tech once in a while.;)
Greetings from Germany
Hi Niclas, You’re right, sometimes we want to take a break from tech to relieve our stress. But while a nature hike or a tropical beach may bring peace, we can’t always get there. The good news is that as long as we have tech, we can have tools to help us relax.
Hi Carolyn
Thanks for the list I guess we all need to relax from our busy day from time to time. I just took myself a little puzzle games a minute ago 🙂
Hi Thomas, Yes, this list includes a variety of ways to relax. If you don’t have the patience for a serene scene or meditation, you can use puzzle apps to get your mind off of your stresses.
I hope you enjoyed the puzzle game!
Wow,nice post.Nowadays it’s very important to have a few minutes of relaxation for yourself.I added some of these websites to bookmarks.
Hello Valentine, I’m so glad you found this post to be helpful. Great idea to save these sites as bookmarks so you can find them easily later when you need them.
Do nothing for 2 minutes seem to do the trick for me 😉
Hi Tom, That’s great! I’m so glad you were able to discover a tool to help you relax.
Great advise.
very relaxing music.
Hello Jerry, I’m glad you like the music. I hope these tools help to calm you when you’re feeling stressed.
Hi Carolyn,
You have a great job by sharing about these tools. mainly calm.com is really good.
Thanks for the share.
Hi Robin, I’m glad you enjoyed learning about these tools. I hope they help you to relax when you’re feeling stressed.
Thanks for sharing your secret weapons 😀 These websites are useful. Did you used all websites personally.
Hi Julian, You’re very welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed this article.
Yes, I have used all of these websites and apps. Some I use more regularly than others. I find puzzle apps especially relaxing which is why I included them in this article.
I hope these apps and websites help you too, Julian.
Hi Carolyn,
your list made me smile!
I am actually the kind of person who needs a break from time to time and needs to do something completely different. WeaveSilk or a little puzzle are an excellent idea to get the other brain hemisphere involved again! 🙂
Great list, I am going to bookmark your site!
Hi Katrin, I’m so glad you found these tools helpful. Yes, sometimes busying your mind with a puzzle or artwork can be just what you need to take a break.
Thank you for bookmarking The Wonder of Tech, Katrin, and for your wonderful comment.
Thanks for that list of soothing sounds! I will be sure to check some of them out. My current “go to” station is “classical for studying” on Pandora.
I also like the idea of a meditation app. I’ve been using another guided meditation app called Headspace for about a year with great results. It has 10 free 10 minutes lessons.
Hi Eric, You’re welcome and thank you for the suggestion about the app and Pandora Channel. Always great to find out about more tech tools for relaxation!
Thanks for sharing these useful tools. Technology has changed our life in a far better way. One have to equipped with such useful tech tools to stay relax whenever feel to much stressed. Thanks for this wonderful share.
Hi Satanu, I’m so glad you enjoyed this article. Yes, many people think of tech as the cause of stress. But tech can also help you to unwind.
I hope you are able to relax using some of these tech tools, Santanu!