With daily texts, mindful audio moments, and inspiring content, our “App of the Week” has your self-improvement needs covered, and not in a cheesy way.
Think of Shine, the new app that personalizes mindfulness, as your phone’s way of giving you official permission to “check in” daily. Because God knows it’s not easy to stick to without a nudge, right?
A statement from the app’s creators says that “Shine Text,” in its first web iteration, has reached over a million people who are making use of its personalized text messaging service. Essentially, when you get the app, you get a daily text reminder to prioritize your well-being, and some light reading material to help you, you know, do that.
Since December 6 however, Shine’s pulled out the big guns, releasing a complimentary audio feature called “Mindful Moments.” So now, when you subscribe to the app, you get to choose from a menu of five-minute “conversational meditation” programs, to work through your specific blocks.
Listeners can get quick hits of mindfulness that center around “burnout,” “self-love” or basically anything that makes you want to yell “SAME.”
Created in collaboration with psychologist Dr. Anna Rowley, the “Mindful Moments” program is a form of acceptance training (ACT) in that it pairs mindfulness and acceptance strategies with commitment and behavior-change strategies, with the goal of helping you train your mind to be more kind (to you).
Like any app that sends you daily texts or reminders (looking at you, Duolingo, you sadist), the pressure to not drop the ball is often enough to keep one committed. But Shine isn’t passive aggressive, nor is it cheesy. It’s more aiming for something that resembles a text from your most Oprah-like friend, and on a scale of zero to not-throwing-a-phone-against-the-wall-in-frustration, we give it full marks.
Of course, nothing this supportive is free. Subscribers can sign up for an annual rate of $4.99 a month (that’s $59.99 billed upfront) or pay month-to-month for $7.99.
You can find Shine on the App Store.
