One word
In a UCLA brain-imaging study, choosing a word for a feeling reduced activity in the amygdala, the brain's threat detector, and increased activity in a region linked to regulation.
Lieberman et al., 2007, Psychological Science
For the moment it all gets too much
Name the feeling. Reset in five minutes.
Tap how you feel. Breathe with a calm, glowing orb. Then do one calm, hands-on activity matched to that exact feeling. No typing, no streaks, nothing to figure out.
3 days free, or 7 with a creator or partner code. Start your free trial.
- Built on published research
- Works in your phone's browser
- Faith-optional
Try it now
How are you right now?
Tap the word closest to how you feel. Naming it is the first step of every reset.
- 100+published studies reviewed to build the resets
- 54feeling words on the wheel
- 5 minthe best-supported dose for calming breathing
- 0streaks, points or badges
Sound familiar?
You handle everything. Until the moment you can't.
Most of us only have two words for how we feel: "stressed" and "fine". Reset Buddy starts by helping you find the real one, because that is what tells you what will help.
You're carrying everyone
Everyone needs something from you, and there is nothing left for you.
Try the reset for thisThe day piled up
Three things landed at once and your head is full of tabs.
Try the reset for thisThat conversation is on repeat
You keep replaying what they said, and what you should have said.
Try the reset for thisYou can't switch off
Your body is tired but your mind won't stop.
Try the reset for thisHow a reset works
Four steps. One tap to start. About five minutes.
Every reset follows the same path: calm the body first, then give the mind something better to do, then leave with one small step. What you do in each step depends on the feeling you named.
Step 1 · 10 sec
Name it
Tap the feeling on the wheel, then the word that fits best.
In lab studies, putting a feeling into words calmed the brain's alarm response.
Good evidenceSee the studiesStep 2 · 1 to 1.5 min
Settle
Breathe with a moving figure: two breaths in, one long breath out.
A long, slow out-breath is one of the best-studied ways to lower stress.
Strong evidenceSee the studiesStep 3 · 1 to 3 min
Shift
A calm, hands-on activity matched to your feeling: colour, draw, a quiet puzzle, move, hand on heart, tapping, or a slow pattern to follow with your eyes.
Absorbing your hands and eyes gives a busy mind somewhere better to go.
Good evidenceSee the studiesStep 4 · 30 sec
Step
Choose one small next thing, or a few words to carry with you.
Making one specific plan makes you more likely to actually follow through.
Strong evidenceSee the studies
See it in action
Take the full tour.
See everything you get: the one-minute reset, resets matched to how you feel, breathing you can follow, new body and senses resets with a spoken guide, Start and End my day, creative resets, tools to steady yourself and set boundaries, calm sounds, sleep stories in four voices, help for nights you can't sleep, and a check-in to see how things change. Sound on.
Why naming it works
A feeling you can name is a feeling you can work with.
Researchers call it affect labelling. In lab studies, putting a feeling into words, even a single word, took some of the edge off it. Naming it more exactly, like "let down" instead of just "bad", may help a little more. The wheel gives you the words, fast.
worrieduneasynervousafraiduncertainon edgeirritatedresentfulfuriousdisappointedfed upprovokedlowlonelygrievingdiscouragedheavytearfulrejectedlet downmisunderstoodbetrayedvulnerableleft outembarrassedguiltyself-criticalexposedinadequateregretfulpressuredoverloadedfloodedfranticscatteredtrappednumbemptydistantshut downdetachedexhaustedrelievedhopefulgratefulcalmconflictedunsureblockedstuckimpatientpowerlessannoyedthwarted
A week later
People afraid of spiders who put their feelings into words during exposure showed less physical fear a week later than those who didn't. (How afraid they said they felt didn't differ.)
Kircanski, Lieberman & Craske, 2012, Psychological Science
306 experiments
Across 306 experiments, turning attention to something else helped people manage emotions, while dwelling on the feeling made it worse. So every reset moves from naming the feeling to doing something.
Webb, Miles & Sheeran, 2012, Psychological Bulletin
Your day, with Reset Buddy
A calmer start, a reset when you need it, a softer landing.
about 3 min
Start my day
Before the day starts asking things of you
- 1
Breathe
Thirty seconds with the breathing figure.
- 2
Declare
A few declarations about what you value and choose today.
- 3
Carry one thing
Pick one line to carry and one small thing to do.
Declarations grounded in your values, not "I am perfect" slogans, plus one specific plan, which helps people follow through.
Good evidenceSee the studies
2 or 5 min
Reset
Whenever it gets too much
- 1
Name it
Tap the feeling on the wheel.
- 2
Settle
Breathe with the figure.
- 3
Shift
One calm activity matched to that feeling.
- 4
Step
One small next thing.
Body first, then attention, then one step. Five minutes is the best-supported dose; two minutes is the lighter version.
Good evidenceSee the studies
about 5 min
End my day
When your head won't switch off
- 1
Mind dump
Empty out what's still in your head. Nothing is saved.
- 2
Let it drift
Watch the day's thoughts float away.
- 3
Breathe
One slow minute with the figure.
- 4
Wind-down sounds
Rain, stream, wind or soft music, if you like. Switches off on its own.
In a sleep-lab study, people who wrote a to-do list before bed fell asleep faster than people who wrote about what they'd already done.
Some evidenceSee the studies
What's inside
Everything you need for the hard moments. Nothing you don't.
The feeling wheel
9 feeling families and 54 everyday words, plus finer words when you want them.
Resets matched to your feeling
11 guided experiences: Colour flow, Draw it away, Quiet puzzle, Hand on heart, Brow sweep, Follow the swing, Tap and name it, Soft focus, Move a little, Catch the good, Name it finer.
Body and senses
5 short resets with a spoken guide in 4 calm voices: Brow sweep, Follow the swing, Tap and name it, Soft focus and Long exhale.
Creative reset
8 drawing and colouring activities at 3 levels, from barely-any-thinking to properly absorbing.
Start my day
Breathe, declare what matters, carry one small thing into the day.
End my day
Mind dump, let it drift, breathe, then sleep sounds that switch off on their own.
Calming sound scenes
Rain, stream, birdsong, wind, soft pad and bedtime music. Optional, gentle, and they switch off on their own.
Faith, only if you want it
Optional Christian breath prayers and Scripture. Off unless you switch it on.
Always free
Urgent help and the 1-minute reset never sit behind the paywall.
What we'll never do
Built to calm you down, not to keep you hooked.
No streaks, points or badges
Across 38 studies, game elements didn't make mental-health apps work better or keep people coming back. Missing a day never undoes anything here.
No typing or journaling needed
Every reset starts with a tap. You never have to explain yourself.
Private by default
Only you see your history, and you can delete everything at any time.
Not therapy, and honest about it
Reset Buddy is for everyday hard moments. Urgent help is always one tap away.
Try it free
Everything above. Three days free. No surprises.
Use every reset, both daily rhythms and all the sounds. Got a code from a creator or partner? It gives you 7 days instead of 3.
3 days free (7 with a creator or partner code)
Full access from the moment you start.
A check-in before your free days end
We email you the day before, so nothing catches you out.
Keep it only if it helps
Choose a plan at the end of your trial, or do nothing and pay nothing.
$6.67
a month
$79.99 billed once a year. About $1.54 a week.
after your free trial
Today
Full access to everything in Reset Buddy.
Fri, Nov 6
We email you a reminder, the day before your free days end.
Sat, Nov 7
If it's helping, choose a plan ($79.99 per year). If not, you pay nothing.
Urgent help and the 1-minute reset are free, always.
Questions
Good questions, straight answers.
Is Reset Buddy therapy?
No. It's a self-help tool for everyday hard moments, built from techniques that have been studied in research. It doesn't diagnose or treat anything. If you're struggling a lot of the time, please talk to a doctor or a qualified therapist. If you're in danger right now, use Urgent help or call your local emergency number.
How long does a reset take?
Five minutes, which is the best-supported length for calming breathing. There's a two-minute version for busy moments, and a free one-minute reset for when you only have a minute.
Do I have to write or talk about how I feel?
No. You tap a feeling on the wheel and the app does the rest. The evening mind dump is the only writing, and nothing you type there is saved.
How long is the free trial?
3 days, or 7 days if a creator or partner gave you their code or link. We email you the day before your free days end, and if Reset Buddy is helping, you choose a plan then: $4.99 a week, $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year. If you don't choose a plan, nothing is charged.
Is it a Christian app?
It's for everyone. There's an optional faith layer with Christian breath prayers and Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible. You choose whether to switch it on, and you can change your mind any time.
Is my information private?
Your history is visible only to you, and you can delete it at any time. The drawings and the mind dump are never saved.
Is there an app to download?
Reset Buddy runs in your phone's browser, so there's nothing to download. After your first reset we show you how to add it to your home screen, so it opens like any other app.
What if I'm in crisis?
Please don't wait. Urgent help lists crisis lines and is free for everyone, any time.
Next time it all gets too much, you'll know what to do.
Five minutes. One tap to start. Free trial, then from $4.99 a week.
3 days free, or 7 with a creator or partner code. Start your free trial.