34 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • FEBRUARY 2021
FAMILY & EDUCATION
5 SELF-CARE APPS TO HELP SUPPORT BUSY MOMS
continued from page 33
The Shine premium account offers
many tiers of daily support. Start
your morning with the Daily Shine, a
9-minute breathing exercise that sets
an intention such as helping you when
life throws you a curveball. Or work
on letting go of the past. You can check
in for the day and click on the mood
you are currently in or click on gratitude.
Depending on your perspective,
the app will provide you the tools to
help you work through this feeling.
For example, when I clicked that
Covid- 19 was a worry, I was presented
with a helpful article on “How to Build
a Routine During the Pandemic.” The
app offers a library of meditations
(more than 800) from some pretty
cool people, covering topics that affect
many mothers, such as Covid-19, Black
Mental Health, and a biggie for moms,
Sleep. Gentle nudging from Shine will
suggest writing out a helpful mantra
for the day, to read or post on the community
board.
GRATITUDE JOURNAL:
PRESENTLY
If you own an Android phone and are
looking to document what you are
grateful for this year, then you may
want to try Presently. This free app
(and ad-free, whoo-hoo) lets you
record daily entries and look at past
gratitudes. As busy parents know, it
is easy to drop off from self-care; you
can set helpful daily reminders to
keep your practice going. It will also
nudge you to share your thoughts
by presenting you with an array of
questions that get the brain and heart
reflecting. You can treat Presently as
your personal diary and keep your
entries to yourself or share them with
others. The app allows you to import
and export entries.
MEDITATION AND YOGA
SUPPORT: INSIGHT TIMER
If anxiety or lack of sleep has been
an issue for you, Insight Timer is
a free app that has become quite
popular. Insight Timer shares yoga,
meditation, and live sessions that can
help with sleep and anxiety. There is
even a mediation guide the kids can
join in on from the wildly optimistic
and happy Goldie Hawn, “Keep Your
MindUP For Your Brain.” One of my
personal favorite meditations is from
the author and wellness consultant Alexandra
Elle, “Re-Centering In Times
Of Uncertainty.”
If you would like to take your practice
to the next level by having access to
the library of micro courses, you can
sign up for a subscription that is $60
for the year.
VISION BOARDING: CANVA
Vision Boarding involves creating a
space that helps you set goals for the
future. It is used to set a realistic number
of goals, dig into old magazines,
and cut out words and images. A
modern approach would be to design
a vision board via an app. Whether
you craft on paper or on your device,
your board should feel inspirational
and aspirational. Canva is free and
offers fun fonts; using an array of
templates, you can add images, edit,
or change up with gorgeous filters,
icons, and shapes. The app is free,
but you are charged for any premium
elements you add to your design. You
can download in PNG, JPG, and PDF
formats.
MOOD SELF-CARE: MINDDOC
If you suffer from depression, anxiety,
or an eating disorder, MindDoc
is a self-management app that offers
insights and monitors your mood.
Because many people may not have
as many human connections as we
had prepandemic — MindDoc can
be a useful tool in self-management
for mental health disorders. While
MindDoc is not meant to replace a
therapist or a psychologist, it can be
used to check in with your feelings
and find helpful words to calm you.
The full version costs $4.99 per
month/$47.99 per year.
This story first appeared in New York
Family.
"While virtual life can be both a blessing and a
curse, it can also serve as a lifeline."
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
