You can improve your mind and body for free with a little help from your mobile phone.

There are a rising number of wellbeing apps to download to help with everything from ­depression to giving up smoking. Here are some of the best.

Headspace

Founded by a Bristol-born Buddhist monk, this mindfulness app is popular with celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow and Emma Watson.

It provides guided meditation sessions in the form of soothing ten-minute daily time-outs.

MyFitnessPal

This clever, simple-to-use calorie counting app is a great weight loss aid.

It determines your ideal daily calorie and nutrient intake and if a food is not on its database, you scan the ­barcode to make sure you are ­logging it accurately.
Apps can help you cut down on booze (
Image:
Getty)

Gymboss

This lets you create your own personal timer to use with ­high-intensity interval training in the gym or at home.

Known as HIIT, this form of exercise in short bursts works the full body and tests your strength and endurance.

DOTS

Launched by charity Anxiety UK this week, this app is for people with mobility issues or those ­suffering from social anxiety.

It aims to help them access therapy easily – and that is ­something that is needed. More than six million people have work-related stress, anxiety or depression but only a third access mental health treatment.

Couch to 5k

If you are struggling to exercise and ­motivate yourself, this could give you a shove off the sofa.

The running plan for ­beginners is ­designed to get you running 5k – or for 30minutes – without stopping.

This NHS app has helped countless beginners get ­moving and catch the running bug.
Monitor your level of movement when you kip with a sleep app (
Image:
Getty)

Smokefree

Quitting cigarettes is never easy but this app is packed with ­features to help you give up for good.

Open it to see how long you have been smoke free, the number of cigs you have not smoked, the amount of money you have saved and how much your health is improving.

My Possible Self

This self-help app has modules to help manage fear, anxiety, stress and overload.

It aims to build happiness and manage life change by helping you ­understand your feelings and spot patterns in behaviour.

Drinkaware

If you are becoming too reliant on booze, this app from the Drinkaware charity can help you reel it in. You can set goals, ­calculate units and calories and receive personalised feedback.

Dream: ON

This sleep app lets you monitor your kip through your level of movement and it even plays a “soundscape” to try to ­influence your dreams.

You can also be ­woken up more gently than with an alarm ­during the ideal part of your sleep cycle.