Essence: An App to Help You Master Your Anxiety

Disclaimer: I was not asked to write a review of this app, this post is strictly my own opinion. I figured people could use some help dealing with anxiety, since a large chunk of the American population suffers from it. 

I’ve written about ways to treat anxiety before. Anxiety is a big part of my life, it's something that I have a hate/hate relationship with. For the better part of my life, I succumbed to it, but it with a lot of help, I learned to take control. Most of the time I manage my anxiety very well and it feels like it’s completely gone. Other times it’s all I can do to keep it in check. Usually, that happens when I go through something really emotionally taxing. (Read: my mom dying.)

When an anxiety attack hits, it's hard to know what to do to make it stop. When I first started seeing a therapist, one of the first things I was taught, was belly breathing. Deep, slow, controlled breathing. When anxiety hit me, I didn't hyperventilate, although it is common to do so. For me, my brain would move at a million miles per hour while flooding itself with negative thoughts. It would cause my temperature to rise, and my heart would start to pound. If I didn’t reverse it immediately, I’d end up with an upset stomach and I would have to spend hours feeling miserable. My therapist taught me how to see this happening in myself, and control it with this breathing technique. 

It goes like this: 

Inhale slooooooowly until your lungs are full to capacity, hold for a few seconds, and exhale sloooooooowly until they’re empty. Repeat until you feel calm. Make sure to breathe with your belly. It should expand as you inhale and shrink as you exhale.

The trick was, you had to do it UNTIL you felt calm. The reason this works is, two fold -- it not only slows down everything crazy going on with the systems in your body, but it also requires focus and control of your mind. Anxiety attacks happen when you lose control. If you do the breathing technique, you immediately take a step back in the direction of control. The first time I decided to actually put this method to the test, it worked. It took forever, but it worked. I couldn't believe something as simple as breathing could've prevented years of awful anxiety. Interestingly enough, this breathing has also helped me deal with bouts of pain or nausea, it's not just for mental health!

Last year, I discovered an app to guide you through the breathing. It’s called Essence. I find it helps me focus even more on breath control when I really need it, which thankfully isn’t as often as it used to be. I love the simplicity of the app. There is nothing to it. You just open the app, it shows you how to breathe, and when you’re done, you close the app. 

+ To get the app, click here.

+ For other ways I treat anxiety, click here. 

+++Do you have any great apps for dealing with anxiety?

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