by Have you noticed? Millennials are pretty much obsessed with looking after themselves.
No?
Neither have I.
I’ve been too busy enjoying my meat and mocking them for being precious, entitled snowflakes. There’s a lot to be said for healthy living, clean eating and getting plenty of exercise, though, and booming self-care apps are paving the way.
According to data from the likes of the App Store and Google Play, there has been a massive boost in the general category of wellness and good living.
So, why are Millennials, above all other generations, so in touch with what is happening within and around them? How are they able to ask the question; what’s most important in life?
Is it good mental health? Mindfulness? Less stress?
Perhaps it’s because now, more than ever before, people have wider access to all the resources and information they could possibly want. The always-on news cycle of the internet. Increased awareness.
People now know beyond all doubt that social media is poisoning the way we think. That the toxic lifestyles we’ve been living and chasing are ripping the fabric of society apart at the seams. That the food we eat is slowly killing us. The planet is ill.
This awareness has no doubt created a growing need for self-care tools. A shift in priority that is felt in every sector, from marriage to home-ownership. People are now taking the time to focus on themselves. Though they’re no replacement for traditional health / mental health care, some of these apps are helping.
In this article, we’ll have a look at some of the most popular self-care apps available.
Calm
App Store named Calm the App of the Year in 2017. It is rated as the number one app for mindfulness and meditation.
Society has a way of encouraging overwork. Pushing us beyond all sanity. The goal is to find a balance between work and rest, avoiding burnout and working smarter, not harder. We need to rest properly, and avoid our addiction to screens. Everything in moderation, even self-care apps.
In today’s world, calmness shouldn’t have to be a gift. The Calm app uses meditation and mindfulness exercises to help you relax and prioritise your life.
It also provides bedtime stories for adults, read by a number of familiar voices such as Stephen Fry. Sign me up!
Headspace
Headspace has been praised by so many publications and influencers it’s hard to keep track. The app is designed to teach you how to meditate, as well as offering a number of other wellness-related content.
Friends can use Headspace to connect and motivate one another, and it provides a powerful boost to your mental wellbeing. Mindfulness has become tremendously important, and the app teaches you a number of techniques to apply in different aspects of life.
Research has frequently shown that meditation can improve your mood, lower blood pressure, promote healthier sleeping and reduce stress. Learning the method can be tricky, though. Headspace makes it fun, providing guidance all the way through.
By making the insurance process quick and simple, we have created a whole lot of happy customers!
10% Happier
Some of you may already be annoyed by meditation, and may even be sceptical. This app was created specifically with you in mind.
10% Happier: Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, avoids all the song and dance and goes directly to the practicality of meditation.
The app essentially delivers a personalized two-week course that provides guided audio meditations, daily video lessons and a personal coach at your disposal. It focuses on practical, simple exercises that are backed up by science.
No robes. No crystals.
Simple Habit Whil
We were originally going to go with Simple Habit here, which is a great app for really busy people, and also the third most popular self-care app in the world, according to revenue. Simple Habit, though, has some problems. So, why settle for the copy when you can go for the tried and tested original – Whil.
Whil takes a slightly different approach to wellbeing and happiness, in that it shifts the focus over to where adults need relief the most. The workplace.
The founder, Joe Burton, used to be the President of Headspace. He observed a glaring gap in the market and began Whil to combat the global stress epidemic so many businesses are fighting. Whil provides leadership training, stress reduction and resilience exercises, yoga sessions and emotional intelligence training programs.
Stop, Breathe & Think
If you find yourself in over your head with the previous apps on this list, Stop, Breathe & Think may be the best place to begin your journey.
The app urges users to get acquainted with mindfulness first and foremost. What does it mean to be mindful? Why is it beneficial to your health? How does it work from a neuroscience perspective? What is the physiology of stress and why do other people’s Facebook posts about their babies and weddings and vacations and promotions make you want to throw yourself off a balcony? This app explains it all before you even hit Play on your first meditation session.
Manage your breathing. Connect with your body. Learn to be kinder. Calm the storm in your heart.
The Rise Of Self-Care Apps In A Chaotic Age
It’s all beginning to pay off for the developers of these apps. In the first quarter of this year, the top ten grossing self-care apps hit $27 million revenue, worldwide.
A massive percentage of the overall self-care app revenue is due to the first and second apps on our list; Calm and Headspace. Calm alone earned around half ($13.5 million) of all the global revenue. Combined, these two apps generated over 90% of the top ten app revenue for the last quarter.
According to Sensor Tower – the mobile app marketing intelligence firm – the top ten self-care apps made around 170% more revenue in Q1 2018 than the top ten self-care apps of Q1 2017.
Even Apple named self-care apps as one of the top four breakout trends for 2017. Whether you think meditation is a bunch of hokum or not, anybody can get behind living in peace.
