Download healthy habits

While scrolling on your smartphone may not be considered a healthy habit, some apps you’ll find can help you improve your mental and physical wellbeing:

Virtual pickleball training

Apple’s Fitness+ app now features pickleball! The four-part program offers exercises from professional pickleball champion Catherine Parenteau’s training regimen. Work on your agility, endurance, and lower-body strength for pickleball.

Whether you are joining a local pickleball league or jumping in on a match at the park, it’s a great way to connect and get moving.

Swipe into new social experiences

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to get out and meet new people, JSwipe is the app to download.

Swipe on Jewish singles and set up some dates to start the year. It’s a great way to connect with community members with shared values.

As dating coach Stef Safran says, dating is a form of “self-care” you can activate in the new year. “[After] a very challenging year, now is the time to put some energy back into self-care and dating,” she said. “Loneliness is an epidemic, making new connections is crucial to everyone’s self-care.”

Running into the new year

Running can be a big feat, especially for beginners. Chicago-area runners Nicole Mann, her husband Curt, and coach Chris Werhman created an app to help get you to the starting line.

The Run Better app helps runners of all abilities train for different courses-5Ks, 10Ks, half marathons, full marathons, and triathlons. Users can also customize their runs and choose from over 50 racecourses from all over the globe.

Journaling on-the-go

Taking time to reflect on your day can have a positive impact on your mental health. Journaling apps offer a private space to write and reflect on the go.

Apple’s Journal app is password-protected to ensure your thoughts are privately stored on your phone. You can even add photos and audio messages to your virtual journal.

“Journaling is an extremely effective coping mechanism, because it allows people to get the thoughts out of their heads and onto paper,” said Skyler Wittenberg, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor.

Ready, set… relax

From work and social lives to the nonstop news cycle and social media addiction, calming down is almost impossible. Taking a step back can be difficult without some help.

The Calm and Headspace apps offer services to help boost your health goals.

The Calm app features programs for sleep quality, stress reduction, and self-improvement through meditation and other practices. Through in-app surveys, you can tailor the self-care features to meet your needs.

The Headspace app provides “meditation and sleep made simple.” It helps users manage anxiety and improve their sleep through podcasts, exercises, and guided lessons.

According to Skyler Wittenberg, a licensed professional counselor, these apps can help with mental health accessibility and accountability.

“The easier you can make mental health resources available, the higher likelihood people will [use them] more consistently,” she explained. “We use our phones for everything, and it can be helpful when we have positive mental health apps… Apps like that also can have notifications or reminders to help people stay accountable for completing their goals.”

Elyssa Kaufman is a Digital News Producer at CBS Chicago.