7 self-care apps to help you combat mental exhaustion

From sleep stories to guided exercises to manage stress, these apps will take you to the next level of well-being

JUNE 22, 2020 8:09 AM EDTJUN 22, 2020, 8:09 AM EDT

The global community continues to grapple with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and other community issues such as systemic racism. While our lives continue to shift, it is critical to practice self-care on a daily basis to avoid other health problems, especially when world news impacts our mood. Whether you enjoy doing yoga or talking to a therapist, sometimes these resources are not immediately available. There are different self-care apps that offer meditation tools, self-care tips and guided soundtracks to manage stress and combat mental exhaustion. All you need to do is download the app and find a comfortable space to unwind for the next five minutes. Here are the best mental health apps to improve your well-being.

Calm

Take a deep breath while listening to a sleep story with the voice of Matthew McConaughey or enjoy the smooth sound of a cup of tea while relaxing your mind. Calm offers different soundtracks, self-care series, meditation for beginners and other personal growth audio tracks to help you calm your mind. The app’s approach to self-care is simple and helps listeners to improve wellbeing with easy breathing programs, stretching exercises and relaxing music by top therapists and mental health experts.

Insight

Insight offers over 40,000 free meditation and music tracks from the world’s top mindfulness experts. You can start your morning routine with a five-minute morning practice on gratitude or master coping skills when you are feeling stressed. The app also has different sounds of nature and soothing instruments such as cello to ease your mental exhaustion.

Inscape

Whether you suffer from anxiety, depression or daily stress, Inscape features different sessions targeted to different goals. Inscape also has a brick and mortar meditation studio in New York City that offers meditation sessions. Whether you are overseas or in your office, the app has different levels and lengths of meditation to do from five to 85 minutes.

MyLife

MyLife app focuses on checking in with your emotions while following simple habits and exercises to manage stress. You can track your mental wellbeing in the app while using a personalized mindfulness coach to tame anxiety, sleep better and other topics related to self-care.

Aura

Aura helps you to reduce stress, improve focus and sleep better based on your mood. This is an AI-driven app with personalized mindfulness meditations, life coaching, stories and music to help you control your stress. In addition, you can track your mood and learn about your mood patterns.

Headspace

Sometimes it is hard to get in the right headspace with so many negative news around. Headspace app has different categories of meditation depending on your lifestyle such as how to deepen your practice, focus at work, how to reframe stress and more. The app has The Wake Up‘s short real-life stories with experts’ advice that will keep you inspired throughout the day.

Shine

The Shine app offers a great community to connect with other people fighting the same issues. It has a discussion session where you can offer your thoughts and knowledge to others and a library with different playlists to manage stress, boost resilience, practice daily rituals and more.