Our Favorite Emotional Wellness Apps for Seniors
Most of us appreciate the importance of physical wellness both now and as we age. Intellectual wellness too has garnered more attention as we learn about the effects aging can have on our cognitive functions. But what many of us never consider is our emotional wellness and our ability to reduce anxiety, boost happiness, and enjoy sharper mental focus.
Yet, within the ever-growing list of apps with which you can decorate your home screen are a slew of mental health apps that can help all of us in our quest to achieve emotional wellness and improved mental health. Each of these apps can be downloaded from the Apple App Store or on Google Play. Our list of favorites includes:
6 Emotional Wellness Apps for Seniors
Headspace
If you’re new to meditation, Headspace is a great place to start with easily digestible ten-minute sessions for beginners. You can then subscribe to thousands of hours of content available whenever you feel the need for Zen arise. The cool thing about Headspace is you can partner up with other Headspace users to encourage and motivate each other to stay on track to a happier, more focused mental state.
Ten Percent Happier
The idea behind Ten Percent Happier is that you don’t have to reorganize your life around meditation for it to make a difference. The ten percent number isn’t scientific. It’s meant to represent the idea of small, yet noticeable, improvements. Whereas Headspace features a single teacher, for all your meditations, Ten Percent Happier taps a multitude of experienced meditation experts with varied approaches to lead your sessions.
Calm
Another one of the best mental health apps for emotional wellness is Calm. It’s filled with hundreds of meditation practices and stories to help you sleep that are written and recorded by some of the top experts in cognitive behavior therapy. But Calm is much more than meditation. Calm also features sessions for training your mind to focus – including one led by NBA superstar Lebron James.
Happy Not Perfect
For a science-backed meditation and emotional wellness app, check out Happy Not Perfect featuring seven steps that are proven to boost happiness. But the best part? Each of the seven exercises are pretty fun. You may even find yourself looking forward to them every day. You can take advantage of up to five happiness workouts and five daily doses for free, but a subscription is needed to unlock more content.
Jour
Unlike the meditation apps listed above, Jour is a journaling app featuring daily reflections and “Journeys.” Daily reflections asks users to answer a series of questions about their feelings, what they’re excited about, a recent success and so on. “Journeys” are guided journals that include self-affirmations, dreams, travel, future goals, positivity, etc. Finally, those who are comfortable journaling on their own can do so in an open journal space. All entries are encrypted so your most private thoughts stay that way.
Relax Melodies
One of the most important factors to better mental and emotional wellness is a good night’s sleep. Relax Melodies lets you select the sounds and melodies you like and mix them together for a playlist. Easy, right? Plus, you can set it to turn off after a certain amount of time to save your battery. But it’s not just for sleep. Because you can customize it to your preferences, you can use it to set the mood during your next meditation or yoga session.
Wellness programs are important.
While apps are a convenient way to boost happiness and mental focus, they’re no substitute for more substantial wellness programs that help seniors cope with, and adapt to, life’s changes in a healthy, positive way. Research on healthy aging continually shows that seniors who embrace wellness as part of everyday life receive significant benefits. That’s why senior living communities that provide a robust wellness program, are attracting people who understand the importance of wellness on overall health, happiness, and quality of life.
Emotional wellness is also one of the 8 Dimensions of Wellness That Can Enhance Seniors’ Lives that Life Care Services® nurtures and promotes through the Life Care Services Lifestyle and Health Services wellness program. Emotional wellness support can take the form of grief and mental health counseling, peer groups, informal circles of friends, and interactions with staff members. For seniors, emotional wellness includes support for the challenges that come with aging and can result in increased comfort and strength in difficult times.
If you’re considering a senior living community and you understand the importance wellness plays to enjoying all that life has in store, find a community near you.