I won the project lottery getting to work with Dr. Dzung Vo & Dr. Joanna McDermid on the Breathr app. Who knew our Friday afternoon meetings would soon become my favourite send-off into the weekend, sharing a mindful moment or two.  

The BC Children’s Centre for Mindfulness and BC Children’s Kelty Mental Health Resource Centre have been working together to revamp the Breathr mindfulness app.

The Breathr mindfulness app was developed back in 2017, to show youth that practicing mindfulness can be easy to try and have benefits for overall health and well-being. The app offers many ways to begin to explore and experience practices of mindfulness and self-compassion.

We are very excited to announce the updated Breathr version “2.0” is now available!

We were delighted and grateful to work with many youth and youth adults to help design and test the app, and they shared their excitement too:

~ I just want to start off by saying it looks AMAZING!

~ I love it! It is very soothing and visually pleasing, and feels good to use.

~ I think that this would be a great tool for anyone to use! Excited for when the app is launched!

~ I have a lot of friends who could benefit from this app because of the stress and anxiety they experience as a result of school.

It was refreshing to hear their insights, and because of their input we were able to do so much more with this app than we originally planned!

So, what’s new?

Breathr has a brand new look and feel, featuring a design overhaul, a simple layout, and some new functionality.

We also had the opportunity to add a few new mindfulness practices! For example, youth can now give a few different self-compassion practices a try, including Self-Compassion Break and Kindness & Self-compassion guided meditations, as well as a simple self-compassion mindfulness practice.

I will say that I quite enjoyed testing the new 7 minute “Power nap” practice, and taking a big exhale every time I opened the app to the new “Welcome back to the present moment” screen. This little action often caught me by surprise, reminding me of the calming power of the breath. 

You will recognize familiar voices guiding the Breathr meditations – led by Dr.Dzung Vo & new audio recordings by Dr. Joanna McDermid.

Another favourite addition is new content around what “Mindfulness is not…,” helping to debunk some myths and expectations youth may have about mindfulness.   

Spreading the word!

We invite you to check out the app yourself, and share this ‘improved Breathr app now available’ announcement with the young people in your life – whether at home or work.

You can download the FREE Breathr app directly from the App (iPhone) or Google Play (android) store, and learn more about the app on www.keltymentalhealth.ca/breathr

Please direct any feedback you have to Danielle at danielle.burch@cw.bc.ca.