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When it comes to taking care of yourself, there are basically infinite options out there – including self-care apps. And thank goodness for them, because we so desperately need all the resources we can get for loving ourselves better.
The apps cluttering my phone weren’t filling me up. They were part of the problem. I consume so much that doesn’t leave me feeling good day-to-day. I’ll watch other people live their days on Instagram, and scroll through feeling a little envious and a lack of worthiness for what feels unattainable to me.
Every time I’m choosing to concentrate on watching other people live, I’m wasting time that I could be using to better myself. Yikes. It makes me think of this tweet we just shared on the Life Goals Instagram from Cara Alwill Leyba:
So after realizing that what I have on my phone isn’t serving me, I started to eliminate apps that felt like a waste of time and trade them for ones that actually added value to my life.
Through this search for positive replacements, I found twelve apps that were positive influences. These are the self-care apps you can keep on your phone with zero guilt, knowing that they are tools in your self-care toolkit and worth your precious time.
Self-Care Apps For Improving Your Life
Sanity & Self
If you’re looking for an app that is built fully for your self-care, Sanity & Self might be the one for you. With self-love audios and direct texts to helpful experts, it’s filled with tools to help your healing process. We’re all dealing with different stress, anxiety and past experiences that we hold onto every day. It’s great that tools like this are out there, to help you to feel better.
Insight Timer
Insight Timer is the holy grail of meditation apps, if you ask me. There are hundreds of mediation apps, but I haven’t found any that have the kind of free library that Insight Timer does. You can find just about any kind of meditation for free, and if you get the paid version, you can get access to their courses and premium features. Their goal is to make meditation accessible to all, and I feel that they truly have a dedication to
Prosper
There’s a self-care app for your career? You bet there is! If you want to become a better leader, find better work/life balance, learn how to motivate others and figure out your career goals, Prosper coaches can help you do that. You meet virtually with a Prosper coach to get personalized guidance through hour-long video or audio sessions. Then, your coach will craft an action plan to help you reach your career goals.
Gratitude
Sure sure, we should have a gratitude practice. We all know this is one of the best ways to practice self-care. But we lead full lives that keep us on the move, so how can we practice on the go without lugging around a notebook everywhere?
The Gratitude app makes it easy to consistently list your gratitudes and affirmations. If you’re starting out with the intention to make it a consistent practice, you can set alerts to remind you daily. You can customize the entries with colors (maybe based on your mood?), add photos, and even write letters of gratitude. It’s pretty cool to have a log of all your gratitudes and photo memories. You just can’t get that in a notebook.
The Breathing App
Resonance breathing is a powerful practice, because it lowers blood pressure, helps anxiety and stress levels. I’ll choose a simple app over one that overcomplicates any day of the week, and that’s part of the reason I love the Breathing App.
You breathe in as the circle on the screen expands, breathe out as the circle gets contracts. You can select different amounts of time, and switch the scenery between a few different options. That’s it.
Tapping Solution
EFT Tapping is my favorite self-care technique because it works. The goal of the process is to make you feel better than you did at the start of the process – and it does just that each time I use it. It works through tapping on specific meridian points of the body in sequence while talking through emotional issues that come up for you.
The free version of the app includes a lot of tapping meditations, like “Releasing Anxiety”, “Motivation For A Productive Day”, and “Clearing Negative Energy Picked Up From Others”.
MyFLO
Did you know that the four phases of your cycle affect you, beyond just the PMS before your period? Your energy, focus and intimacy levels are all affected. If you want to start keeping track of those phases and learn how to take care of yourself based on what time of the month it is, we recommend MyFLO.
The app was created by Alisa Vitti, our favorite expert on hormone health. She has a book called “Woman Code” that I recommend to all the women in my life.
(Psst. We have a post all about her cycle syncing process with a free spreadsheet.)
Audible*
It’s hard to make time for reading when we’re always on the go. Audiobooks make it easy to consume more personal growth reads while you’re commuting to work. Some of our favorite listens (that are really worth the audio listen vs. the physical book) include: The Universe Has Your Back, Loving What Is, and non-personal growth but kept me happily listening through a 8+ hour drive, Born A Crime. Gift an Audible subscription to a friend.
Cacti Wellness Collective
Fitness is such an essential part of self-care, and Kira’s Cacti Wellness app is the perfect way to kick off your personal development with quick workouts, productivity workshops and breathwork meditations. With under 20 minutes a day, you can transform your life, so that you have more work/life integration.
Use the code LIFEGOALS for a free 30-day trial.
Ellevest
Financially investing in yourself, especially as a woman, is the ultimate self-care practice. Did you know that the gender difference in pay, lifespan, and career pauses matter in terms of how we plan our finances? Ellevest takes all that into account, the fees are low, and there are no commitments.
Shine
Shine is a text message platform and app that can help you start the day with encouragement. If you sign up for the automated texts, you’ll receive weekday messages that inspire growth. If you want to go a step further with Shine, you can sign up for the app, which includes 200+ audio meditations and 7-Day Shine Challenges.
Mend
For the brokenhearted, Mend is an app that was built to help you heal. Relationship endings are one of the hardest things for us to go through, and I love that there’s an app with a supportive community and company to help you get through it. You are not alone, and your community can exist online.
Do you use any self-care apps? What are your favorites?
