Shine

What it does

Shine wants to help you reduce your stress and anxiety levels by being kinder to yourself. The app gets started by asking what you’d like to get out of it. Less anxiety, more confidence, better sleep, etc. 

With that simple question answered, you’ll receive a motivational messaging and content across a wide range of topics, like:

• Productivity
• Mindfulness
• Focus
• Stress and anxiety
• Burn out
• Acceptance
• Self-care
• Creativity
• Forgiveness
• Work frustrations

Every day you’ll receive a “Daily Shine”, a cross between a short podcast and meditation that explores a different wellness theme each day. 

You’ll also be prompted to “check in”. You’ll interact with a chatbot that asks you whether you’d like to check in for a goal you’re working towards, or simply to express your gratitude, which has been shown to be a powerful way to create sense of joy.

The app also includes other features like soothing sounds and music that you can listen to while you meditate or fall asleep, and a community system called Shine Squad. 

How it helps

If you’re the kind of person who loves inspiring quotes and easily digestible philosophy, you’ll love Shine. Bite-sized aphorisms and advice delivered in the morning, afternoon, and evening will give you encouragement and motivation that will hopefully lift your spirits. 

For those who are a little wary of “Instagram Wellness” and the exploding self-care movement, a slightly more goal-focused app like Stickk might work better.

A lot of Shine’s functionality requires you to pay for their subscription version, which isn’t too expensive, and you can get a pretty good idea whether you’ll like Shine or not by playing around with the free version.

Conclusion

Overall, the app has excellent reviews, various awards, and a passionate fanbase. Download it, give it a look, and you’ll probably instantly know whether it’s for you or not. 

What the experts say

“Digital wellness is a huge right now, making it easy for everyone to find motivational words and advice whenever it’s needed. But before it got this big, one app started to make a difference: Shine, which was founded by two women who wanted to help and encourage other women both in and out of the workplace. If you’ve been looking for a confidence booster, this is absolutely for you.” – Hello Giggles