Tech Tools Offer Relaxation Techniques

Tech Tools Offer Relaxation¹ Techniques

We all experience tension in our lives. In fact, technology can often be a source of the tension. But technology can also help us relax and think less about our troubles.

Sometimes, Facebook posts, tweets, or web news reports can be upsetting. Emails can also bring bad news, like criticism from a boss or angry words from a friend.

It can be tempting² to step away from technology. But perhaps technology offers some solutions to life’s tensions, instead. There are some tech tools designed to help people relax.

Soothing³ Sounds

Sound can have a major effect on a person’s state of mind. Filling a space with peaceful music can ease nerves. YouTube offers hours of videos with calming music. Type “relaxing music for stress relief” in the YouTube search box.

Spotify is another online service where soothing sounds can be found. Check out the playlist, “Pure Relaxation.”

Sounds of Nature

Humanity produces a lot of noise – car horns, televisions, airplanes and crowds. But there are sound effect apps that can help drown out that stressful noise. Listen to recorded nature instead, like ocean waves, raindrops, birds singing and crickets chirping⁵.

Many free apps provide such sounds.

Check out “Free Relaxing Sounds of Nature for iPhone” and “Relax and Sleep for Android.”

Trying to get your baby to sleep? Try the app "Sound Sleeper⁶ for iPhone" and Android.

Calm

Calm.com is a website with tranquil⁷ sounds, soothing images and guided meditation⁸. Choose between timed or open meditation for a single session. There are also longer-term programs available.

A YouTube video provides an example of Calm.com meditation.

The website also offers videos designed to ease worries. The videos include scenes of nature, such as clouds, ocean and the beach at sunset.

Calm.com is free. More advanced meditation programs are available for purchase. A Calm app is free for iPhone and Android.

Flowy

Flowy is an electronic game developed to help users fight panic and anxiety attacks. The designers said they based the game on findings from a group of studies about how to ease anxiety. Flowy teaches controlled breathing.

The developers say that by playing Flowy for 90 seconds a day, users can learn to breathe better and become calmer. The website says Flowy “produced measurable decreases in anxiety and panic symptoms” during testing.

Flowy puts the user on a boat in the middle of the ocean where he or she must sail the captain home. The app guides the user to breathe rhythmically⁹ to power the boat across the water. Tap the screen to steer¹⁰ the boat to collect coins and avoid obstacles.

Flowy is available as a free app.

Puzzles

Problem-solving can help redirect thoughts. Puzzle apps and websites can help the brain work on solving problems. The skills used to solve puzzles may help solve real life problems.

There are many games that are easy to learn but difficult to master, like Curvy. It is a free online puzzle game where the user spins and connects tiles to complete a circuit.

Flow is a free app for iPhone and Android. In that game, users connect colored pipes on a grid¹¹ without crossing or overlapping¹³ them.

Ball Smash! is a free app for Android and iPhone that requires users to clear a board of colored balls by smashing them into each other.

Websites

Do Nothing for 2 Minutes

By taking a two-minute break, you may become calmer.

Do Nothing for 2 Minutes is a website from Calm.com. It helps you take breaks during the day.

Head to the website and enjoy a beautiful image and calming sounds. A timer counts down two minutes during which you are supposed to do nothing. If you move the mouse, touch the keyboard or take other action, the clock stops and the two minutes begin again.

Weave Silk

Make the world a more beautiful place as you forget your troubles. Weave Silk is a website that lets the user create art by dragging a cursor around the computer screen.

Creations can be shared with others.

Weave Silk is also available as an app for iPhone and iPad.

The website is free, but the app costs money.

Make Everything OK

Did you ever wish for a website that would solve all your problems? Make Everything OK tries to do just that.

Click the button at the Make Everything OK website and watch the magic happen.

Words in This Story

upset - adj. angry or unhappy

boss - n, the person whose job is to tell other workers what to do

tempting - adj. causing an urge or desire to have or do something

drown out - v. to overwhelm by a louder sound

chirp⁴ - v. to make a short high-pitched sound

tranquil - adj. quiet and peaceful

meditation - n. the act or process of spending time in quiet thought

scene - n. a view or sight that looks like a picture

panic - n. a state or feeling of extreme fear that makes someone unable to act or think normally

anxiety - n. fear or nervousness about what might happen

obstacle - n. something that makes it difficult to do something

master - v. to learn (something) completely

circuit - n. a path or trip around something

grid - n. a pattern of lines that cross each other to form squares on a piece of paper, a map, etc.

overlap¹² - v. to lie over the edge of (something)

1 relaxation   

n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐

参考例句：

• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law.部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

2 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

3 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

4 chirp   

v.(尤指鸟)唧唧喳喳的叫

参考例句：

• The birds chirp merrily at the top of tree.鸟儿在枝头欢快地啾啾鸣唱。
• The sparrows chirp outside the window every morning.麻雀每天清晨在窗外嘁嘁喳喳地叫。

5 chirping   

鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The birds,chirping relentlessly,woke us up at daybreak. 破晓时鸟儿不断吱吱地叫，把我们吵醒了。
• The birds are chirping merrily. 鸟儿在欢快地鸣叫着。

6 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

7 tranquil   

adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的

参考例句：

• The boy disturbed the tranquil surface of the pond with a stick. 那男孩用棍子打破了平静的池面。
• The tranquil beauty of the village scenery is unique. 这乡村景色的宁静是绝无仅有的。

8 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

9 rhythmically   

adv.有节奏地

参考例句：

• A pigeon strutted along the roof, cooing rhythmically. 一只鸽子沿着屋顶大摇大摆地走，有节奏地咕咕叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Exposures of rhythmically banded protore are common in the workings. 在工作面中常见有韵律条带“原矿石”。 来自辞典例句

10 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

11 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

12 overlap   

v.重叠，与…交叠；n.重叠

参考例句：

• The overlap between the jacket and the trousers is not good.夹克和裤子重叠的部分不好看。
• Tiles overlap each other.屋瓦相互叠盖。

13 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。