Resources:
Books
- The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook; Martha Davis, PhD, Elizabeth Robbins Eshelmen, MSW, Matthew McKay, PhD, New Harbinger ( 5/2008); 371p.
- A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook by Bob Stahl and Elisha Goldstein (Mar 1, 2010
Recommended Apps or Blogs
- Stop, Breath and Think, free: This app is a free mindfulness, meditation, and compassion-building tool that is simple, fun and easy to use. Check how you think and feel, and select emotions that guide you to recommended meditations. Easy to customize your use to very time-specific exercises. Scientific evidence shows that you can develop kindness and compassion by focusing on these attitudes through mindfulness and meditation. By using the app, you can develop skills that support academic and professional achievement, in addition to more positive interactions and relationships.
- ADHDAdvisor: Online mental health care, specialized for ADHD
- Mindshift, free; A great tool for anxiety, developed by Anxiety BC. It teaches relaxation skills, develops new thinking, and suggests healthy activities. Designed for youth but is useful to anyone.
- The Smiling Mind, free: This app was created by psychologists specializing in adolescent therapy, and it’s simply designed. This app can help to increase a sense of calm, clarity, and contentment. Users begin by answering a questionnaire on their emotional state and then following meditation exercise prompts.
- Headspace, monthly subscription required: Meditation is another great stress relief technique, besides offering plenty of other benefits it provides for your well-being. However, it can be difficult to meditate, especially for beginners, whose continuously chattering minds can stop them from thinking they are getting anything from the meditation. Headspace can help you with that by offering guided meditations that teach you how meditate so that you can eventually do so on your own. The first 10 days will give you 10 minutes of meditation for free, and after that you can decide to pay the monthly subscription.
- What'sMyM3, free: When you're aware of what you feel and you know what's driving these emotions, it's easier to get a grip on your worries.. This app is a symptom tracker to screen for anxiety, depression and bipolar disorders. This app helps the user rate the severity of their symptoms and provides guidance for treatment.
- Personal Zen (Game), If ever there was a game developed to ease your stresses, it's not Candy Crush Saga and it's most definitely not Angry Birds. It's Personal Zen, an iOS-only app that helps you train your brain to focus on the positive things. Personal Zen has been clinically proven, complete with a study published in the Clinical Psychological Science journal, to lower the anxiety levels of people prone to anxiety. The game takes place on a plane of green grass, where two blue sprites, one with a happy face and one with an angry face, bury themselves under the grass. Once they're gone, your goal is to trace the line that leads to the hole of the happy face. It's easy enough, and you only need to play 25 minutes every day to get the app's benefits.
- 4:7:8 Breathing Technique
- Demonstration
- Breathwork, initial download fee: The truth behind the 4-7-8 exercise is it takes practicing this twice a day over two months to perfect the technique until you can truly fall asleep in a minute. Once you’ve mastered it, it will become more and more effective and even help you deal with anxiety and stress in your life. Soon, going to bed will be as simple as taking a deep breath.
- Imperfect Mormon Guy Blog
Other Supports and Resources
- Anxiety Screening Tool
- Stress Assessment
- The American Institute of Stress
- University of Utah Counseling Center's Mindfulness Clinic
- Stress management – Center for Disease Control and Prevention