Mental health is one of the top topics of discussion for the year due to the rise of depression and feelings of isolation that arose due to the need for quarantine as countries all over the world continue to battle the pandemic. Thus, it’s more important now than ever for everyone to take note of their mental health as the situation around COVID-19 evolves.
What is Shine?
Shine was created as a motivational app that promotes mental health wellness especially for those who identify and/or are part of marginalized communities. This includes people of color as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community. The Shine app aims to deliver and provide personalized mental wellness content based on the unique profile that its app user provides.
Shine Functions: How To Use It
The app begins by having their users inform them about the worries and anxieties that they wish to resolve. Like a good friend, Shine gives the user a listening ear and plans out a self-care ritual around a specific goal that a user can select which includes feeling less stressed, having more focus, and more.

Furthermore, the app does not stop there. When it comes to demons from the past, the Shine app also encourages their users to confront them calmly. The app invites their users to tap into their ‘sense of courage today’ and accompanies it with a podcast that informs how their users can greet what they have been avoiding, whether it be current fears or past traumas.

To add on, the Shine app also enables their users to be part of a community with their ‘Question of the Day’ feature that gets you and other users of the Shine app to share and reflect on various topics.

Why Use Shine?
Shine is definitely an app that users can consider turning to if they are looking to find an everyday companion that helps them deal with daily worries that they might have in their lives. Worries about looking good for a last-minute date arrangement or doing well for an upcoming work presentation are put to ease with the Shine’s app curation of thoughtful podcasts or audio sessions. Shine’s always there for them on their smartphones, ready to provide the right podcast session to help them ease their stress and help with building mental stability.
Shine: To Install or Not Install?
Even though the Shine app is undoubtedly great at giving much needed mental wellness and advice to their users, it can come across as too female-driven for some. Furthermore, their features are rather limited with the free model as opposed to the paid subscription one. The verdict is: skip if you are still at a place where your finances tend to run tight but download if you can consciously afford it and see yourself using the app’s paid features extensively in the long run!