I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder my first year of nursing school. When I sat down to study, instead of focusing on schoolwork, I kept thinking of all the times I had trouble learning something new.

I felt overwhelmed with thoughts of why I would never make it through the program. That is when I knew I needed help.

Fortunately my school had great counseling services. By working with a therapist my anxiety became manageable. She taught me different techniques to keep my thoughts in perspective, and how to get out of unhelpful sink holes.

The pandemic has caused so many people to feel anxious that some providers are prescribing breathing therapy to both patients and other health professionals. One therapy technique is called ‘box breathing,’ which involves inhaling, holding your breath, exhaling, and holding your breath again. It is supposed to calm the nervous system in a way that reduces the specific type of anxiety many of us are experiencing this year.

Curious about this and other breathing exercises for anxiety, I decided to try four different free apps. All of the apps I chose work on both iPhone and Android. Here is how it went.

App 1: Breathe by Joachim Nohl (Apple, Android)

What I was doing that triggered anxiety: Checking the news after a two-hour performance meeting at work.

Anxiety before using app: 6 out of 10

How the app greeted me: “Good to see you! It’s a beautiful day outside!” This was followed by “Start” and “Coherent Breathing.”

What the app does:

A ring of light appeared against a black background. It spread outward, growing larger across the screen. There was a prompt saying “inhale.” As I did so, a bell dinged and the ring of light started to shrink. Then there was a prompt saying “exhale.” This repeated a few times, and then the prompts disappeared. The ring continued to grow and shrink, with the points to inhale or exhale marked by the bell. It stopped after five minutes.

‘Coherent Breathing’ – described as ‘anti-anxiety and depression’ – was one of six pre-programmed choices. The others are:

• Meditation Timer
• Power Breathing: controlled hyperventilation
• Box Breathing: calm, regulate, relax
• 4-7-8: fall asleep, control cravings and anger
• 1:2: calm and connect

The app provides an option to have a daily reminder, as well as to change the icon from the ring of light to flowers or the moon. The bell can also be changed to a different bell tone, a harp, or a guitar. There is also ambient sound available, which I imagine is for meditation.

Anxiety after using app: 2 out of 10

Costs: Free and I do not see any in-app purchases.

Pros:

• It is a very simple, straight-forward app – all you have to do is open it and begin.
• I like the use of the ring of fire and the prompts – it was very intuitive.
• The daily reminder option is great if you are trying to build a breathing or meditation habit.

Cons:

• If you are looking for more bells and whistles, like guided meditations, this is not the app for you.

App 2: Breethe by OMG. I Can Meditate

What I was doing that triggered anxiety: Watching an election debate.

Anxiety before using app: 7 out of 10

How the app greeted me: The app opened with soft spa music and a greeting that said, “Inner Wellness for Real Life,” followed by a “Get Started” button. The app then asked for my name, tells me, “We’re happy you’re here, Lisa!”, and asked what are my top goals. The choices include things like: Fall Asleep, Deal with Anxiety, Feel Happier, Lose Weight, and Age Well.

What the app does:

The app provides a wide selection of guided meditations – meditations where a voice tells you when to take deep breaths and what to imagine. Once I set goals, I was given a list of guided meditations aligned to those goals.

There were also ‘Featured’ categories that included things like helping kids fall asleep, meditations for people of color, and, my new favorite: Election Stress Relief. Since I just watched a debate, Election Stress Relief seemed on point. That category had options for voters, election workers, and candidates, and stressors like Waiting in Line and News-Induced High Blood Pressure.

I chose ‘Middle of the Night Worries’ because this was just before bedtime. The app took me through an eight-minute guided meditation, with a voice telling me to start with a few deep breaths and talked me through imagining being on a beach.

Anxiety after using app: 4 out of 10

Costs: The free version of the app gives you access to a some of the meditations. To unlock the rest there is a subscription fee of $89.99 per year.

Pros:

• Wide selection of guided meditations, and quite a few available for free.
• Addresses the very real stressors we are dealing with this year.
• Meditations for people of color is something I have been looking for and not found until now.
• If you are someone who loves guided meditations, this is a gold mine.

Cons:

• The focus is not on breathing exercises specifically, although breathing is part of the guided meditations.
• There are so many choices that if you opened the app because you were feeling overwhelmed this would not help.
• The price for full access is high, so I would want to have a regular meditation habit before making that kind of investment.

App 3: Calm by Calm.com (Apple, Android)

What I was doing that triggered anxiety: Sweeping up sawdust my new upstairs neighbor dumped on my deck.

Anxiety before using app: 6 out of 10

How the app greeted me: Upon opening the app, I was greeted with “Take a deep breath.” Instinctively I did. That was followed by “What brings you to Calm?” The options included things like: Improve Performance, Develop Gratitude, Build Self Esteem, Reduce Stress, and Reduce Anxiety.

Then there was a questionnaire asking how often I feel stressed (several times a day), what is the biggest source of my stress (other reasons since ‘politics’ and ‘neighbors’ were not listed), and how I usually experience stress (anxious thoughts and difficulty sleeping).

What the app does:

I had to sign up for a free account with my first name, email, and a password. After signing up the app prompts you select options you are interested in, like breathing exercises, guided meditations, or relaxing music.

They have categories like Quick & Easy and Mental Fitness, and some options include celebrities. I saw one where LeBron James shares his approach to mental fitness.

I chose to start with 7 Days of Calming Anxiety, but only the first session (Day 1) is available for free. Day 1 explained why we feel anxious, had me take a few breaths, then went through a head-to-toe relaxation exercise.

Anxiety after using app: 3 out of 10

Costs: The free version gives access to just a few guided meditations. Even though they have quite a few series that sound great, only the first of the series will be free. To unlock remaining content the cost is $69.99 per year.

Pros:

• Wide variety of guided meditations.
• Less expensive yearly cost than Breethe.
• Offers other soothing experience, like story time (including have a story read by Matthew McConaughey).

Cons:

• Very limited free content – they definitely want you to sign up for the subscription.
• Even though it is $20 less than Breethe, I would still want to establish a regular habit before putting money down.

App 4: Awesome Breathing: Pacer Timer by Awesome Labs LLC (Apple, Android)

What I was doing that triggered anxiety: Deleting and re-downloading my favorite audiobook app that suddenly decided to stop working.

Anxiety before using app: 6 out of 10

How the app greeted me: The app opened to just a circle in the middle of the screen with the following written under it:

STARTING IN
5
BOX BREATHING (4-4-4-4)
REMAINING

Below this was a timer and play, fast-forward, menu, and settings buttons. There was no prompt, so I hit ‘play.’

What the app does:

Similar to Breathe, this app shows a circle that gets bigger or smaller to let you know when to inhale and exhale. Because it was on the ‘box breathing’ setting, I knew I was supposed to inhale, hold for a moment, exhale, and hold for another moment. There were two extra circles on the screen to show when to hold my breath.

However, unlike Breathe, there was no actual written prompt to tell me what to do. If I did not already know what ‘box breathing’ meant, I would have been lost until I looked at the settings and menu.

In the menu, the app offers five breathing exercise options:

• Box breathing
• Relaxing breathing
• Equal breathing
• Measured breathing
• Triangle breathing

Each type of breathing exercise has a different goal, such as reducing anxiety, falling asleep, or focusing your thoughts. In the settings you can change the length of your inhale and exhale, add audio cues like a bell or voice, change the color of the circles, and add daily reminders.

Anxiety after using app: 4 out of 10

Costs: Free and I do not see any options for in-app purchases.

Pros:

• Simple design and easy to use once you know what it does.
• The reminders would be great for building a daily practice.
• Similar to Breathe, I like the options to customize the experience.

Cons:

• I wish there had been a prompt on what to do when you first open the app. It happened to work out that this is the fourth breathing app I tried, so I already had a sense of what to do. But if it was the first I would have been lost.

Key takeaways:

I could see good things about all of the apps I tried. So, here are some key questions that may help you decide which is right for you:

Which one reduced my anxiety the fastest? Breathe helped me to relax almost immediately. As soon as I opened the app, it got me right into a relaxation breathing exercise. I did not have to know what I was doing or have any prior experience to use it.

Which one had the most lasting effect? The guided meditation I did with Calm lasted most of the afternoon. I felt strangely upbeat and optimistic (not a feeling I have often in 2020) for several hours after using the app.

Which one I would go back to? Either Breathe or Awesome Breathing because they were the simplest and I could jump right into an exercise. They were also the only ones that were truly free and not trying to sell me anything.

I like that both because it saves money, and because money can be a major source of stress and anxiety. If I was constantly reminded of all the great content I cannot access because I do not have $70-$90 to cough up, that would not help my anxiety.

If they were not free, how much would I pay for these? For Breathe and Awesome Breathing, I would be willing to pay up to $5 because they are so simple. Any more than that and I would expect more features. For Breethe and Calm, I could see paying up to $60 ($5 per month) for a yearly subscription. Again, I would want to have a daily meditation habit before committing money to it.

The thing I love about apps like these is I get to try something new in the privacy of my own home. I also like when they are free (or have free versions) so I am not committed. Whether you decide to try these apps, or something else, I hope you stay well!