I am always very thankful for the little things in life like, kind gestures from friends or finding tools that make life easier. In this case, finding apps that make it easy for me to practice self-care. These aren’t necessarily created as self-care apps, but they help.

Living in Lagos, Nigeria requires so much energy from you both mentally and physically, so taking out time for self-care is important to me.  I have tried out different self-care apps, but these are the few that I am currently using and getting the best experience from. 

1. Tide

A friend of mine recommended this to me when I complained about how I’m limited because of Calm’s paid features, I then decided to try it. I love this app because of its sleep, nap, and focus features. Soothing sounds (they also have rain and deep-sea!) as you do what’s important.

I love the interface of this app, it is minimal, with a calming background photo, and an inspiring quote.

I love the Muse sound and I even wrote this blog post listening to it😊. The Muse sound has a way of making me feel at peace and reflective.  This app also keeps track of how focused you were each day and gives you weekly or monthly reports. If you struggle with staying focused on things or generally need some white noise/ background noise to stay calm, I highly recommend this app.

The sleep feature is also amazing! It helped me with my messed up sleeping patterns.

2. Affirmations Assistant.

Daily affirmations are one of my favorite self-care activities. Reminding myself of who I should be helps set my mood for the day. I recite my affirmations every morning and the Affirmation Assistant App makes it easier and fun. This app lets you choose from some of the pre-loaded affirmations, create your collection of affirmations,  set up notifications to remind you to recite your affirmations, and sends you several inspiring positive affirmations daily.  I like this app because it provides information about the science surrounding affirmations and how they impact your life. The app also donates 10% of the profit made to charity to increase awareness of mental health. 

3. Nike Training Club

 I started taking exercise seriously at the beginning of this year and since COVID happened, t his app has helped me stay on top with exercising. My most used exercise on the app is Beginners Yoga, I’ve always wanted to practice improved flexibility and I can’t get over how I felt after my first exercise. I moved my body in ways I didn’t know I could.

This app helps you reach your fitness goals with expertly designed workouts from world-class Nike Master Trainers. It provides different flexible workout programs on yoga, cardio, strength training, and mobility. It also provides tips on nutrition, sleep, and wellness. I simply love this app. It’s like a handy fitness coach and the best part is, it is FREE😉.

4. Apple Screen Time

I use this app to track the time I spend on my phone to measure my productivity. It’s so easy to get distracted with your phone, you could just want to quickly respond to a message, then you find yourself 15 minutes later on Instagram. With screen time, you can set daily limits for apps to reduce the time you spend on certain apps. You can also set downtime for your device to restrict the number of apps accessible at a particular time.

5. Flo

I’ve always been someone who couldn’t tell what was going on with my body. However, since I stumbled on Flo it’s been a different love story. I’m able to log different things that are happening with my body per time.

Some of the key features of this app are that it lets you track your period, has an ovulation calendar and also acts as a health assistant, while giving you daily health insight on your health, it also tracks pregnancy and post-pregnancy moods.
The best part of this app is that it has a platform, where you can anonymously discuss intimate topics, ask questions, and get support from millions of women worldwide. Think of it as your secret girl group chat where you can hear experiences and learn from women across the globe.

 Self-care is very important and I think we should all be intentional about taking time out to care for our mind, body, and soul. I have a 30-day self-care challenge that I have created to help anyone who’s new to the world of self-care.

I hope it helps.

All my love,
Valerie 🤎