Happiness hacks: how to combat stress and anxiety using the internet

How stressed are you right now?

Chances are, more so than you would let on to others — or even realise yourself. We’ve all accepted stress as a normal part of life, and if we aren’t stressed we are anxious or depressed. According to recent research by health insurer Aviva, 55 per cent of those with severe stress don’t seek help. Little wonder: London is working and playing harder than ever before, and social media-induced FOMO can take its toll.

Rare is the internet browser with only one tab open at a time. Add a constant stream of email, WhatsApp, news, text and other notification pop-ups, and it’s impossible to concentrate fully on one task. Given that it takes an average of 11 minutes to refocus after an interruption, it’s no wonder we’re left feeling overloaded, anxious and unproductive. Dr Michael Sinclair, author of Working with Mindfulness, points out that “our brain is programmed to take in information and process it; technology means we’re taking in ever more and impulsively trying to process it all.”

Even bed isn’t a haven: a fifth of us check our emails seconds before we nod off. And that’s if we manage to sleep at all — the glow of the phone screen disrupts sleep cycles.

But technology isn’t all bad. In fact, somewhat ironically, the solution to our tech-related stress and anxiety lies back on the internet. That’s where Sophia Clark comes in. The yoga and mindfulness teacher has just launched WholeHearted Mind, an online service which hosts interactive, live Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) courses, based on a programme originally developed in Michigan in 1979. Mindfulness — being aware of what’s going on, right here and right now, and accepting it — has long been championed as a remedy to stressful human life, and studies suggest therapy based on mindfulness can reduce relapses into depression by up to 44 per cent.

Clark says the flurry of mindfulness apps is “fantastic” and “offers a great way in” to the process but she wants to take self-therapy up a notch. Apps, she says, “enable the same frantic pace of life” that our phones encourage, making them somewhat counter-productive; instead, she encourages immersion via her paid-for eight week programme. Those who sign up have access to weekly hour-long live streams, in which Clark talks them through the stages of the programme. If you can’t get to your screen at the right time you can access each session later. There are also free 20-minute vlogs, filmed in Clark’s “consciously cheerful” turquoise kitchen.

Given our reliance on our smartphones, it’s unsurprising that we turn to them for a solution — they are seemingly both cause and cure for our modern anxiety. Sinclair accepts the irony of using an app to prevent stress but suggests they are “more accessible, more attractive” for our screen-centric lives.

One of the originals, Headspace, which offers “your very own personal trainer, to train your mind” via 10- minute interactive animations, has been downloaded millions of times across 150 countries since its launch in 2010. Search “mindfulness” on the app store and hundreds of options surface, from Buddhify, which offers more than 80 meditation videos, to Mindfulness Daily, which uses a “Lifelog” to monitor how many days in a row you’ve managed to be mindful.

Clark’s free vlogs take on topics from “Self Doubt” to “FOMO” and “Perfectionism” — issues she has had first-hand experience of.

It was while she was at university in London and suffering from these anxieties that she discovered mindfulness. Unwilling to seek help for overwhelming stress, she ended up following a daily 10-minute YouTube meditation video for the next two years. “I cured myself and piqued my own interest in mindfulness,” she says.

Post-university, she trained in MBSR and worked with children, themselves frantic with the stress of social media. “Social comparison is a key driver of anxiety,” Clark rues. Her videos are an “antidote to seeing everyone’s best side on social media. Being able to identify with others relieves anxiety.”

By taking the MBSR course online, Clark is able to hugely reduce its cost. While the average price for eight weeks of mindfulness sessions is £295, Clark’s is £147.50. It’s pricier than an app but this is designed to be more intensive, immersive and therefore ultimately effective than staring absently at your phone for 10 minutes whenever you remember.

Granted, WholeHearted Mind still has you staring at a screen, but after 20 minutes with Clark you will feel ready to put down your device and take on London.