I THINK it’s very much safe to say that with the quarantine and movement restrictions for the past months, we became heavily dependent on our mobile phones for almost anything that we do. There are so many mobile apps created pre-pandemic and during the pandemic that have made life so much easier for us. There were errand and food delivery apps, music and movie streaming for entertainment, and even mobile apps assisting one’s education.
In keeping one’s health in check, there are also thousands of app for that. Personally, I’ve discovered three that are very useful to keep my physical and mental health stable. Let me share some with you:
1. Yoga Workout
I’ve been skinny for as long as I can remember and so working out for me has different goals versus the other women my age. I don’t go for losing weight instead they’re more towards keeping my blood pumping and to be more flexible because I have advanced lumbar scoliosis. I look for workouts that would help me with my condition and do a lot of stretching.
There were a few yoga workout apps I’ve downloaded but I was disturbed by how the instructions were in robotic women voice-overs. This is contrary to the friendly and gentle voices of actual yoga instructors. This Yoga Workout that I’ve downloaded still has that robotic voice but better than the others. They tell you how to do the yoga position so you don’t need to glance at your phone every now and then. You would just need to hear the voice out exactly how yoga exercises should be.
What I love: It has a 30-day tracking feature for beginner, advanced, and weight loss. There’s a rest day gap every three days. The app is for free and you can use it even if you’re offline. And if you sign up for their premium membership, you also unlock the “Yoga for Health Life.”
What can be improved: They sometimes allot too short a time for a specific yoga form to be copied. Adjustment must be taken into consideration.
Rating 3/5
2. Petit BamBou
I’ve only been using this app for a week and so far, I’m very satisfied. This is a mindfulness and meditation app that I’ve been trying to use every morning. The best thing about this app, or maybe any other meditation apps available for download, is that it emphasizes the importance of the balance between being present and letting your mind soar at the same time. These past several months in the pandemic have been very tough for everyone and have taken its toll on our mental health and it’s important to try all the means to silence our minds and be present.
What I love: The voice over sounds very friendly and exactly what I was looking for. They also have tracking features of how far you’ve come in your meditation journey; each session focuses on different areas. I also especially love their choices of relaxing sounds that anyone can choose and just play as background sound such as cold rain, purring cat, cozy fireplace, tropical jungle, underwater, and so much more. Everything’s for free. If you don’t trust your internet connection at certain times of the day, you can download them beforehand.
What can be improved: I haven’t really explored all its features so I can’t comment on the improvement portion just yet but I love what I’m discovering so far. It’s really a great help with how I interact with my thoughts for the past week.
Rating: 4.5/5
3. Flo
This is very much helpful to the women out there. I started using this more than a year ago. As someone who has a history of reproductive organ problem in the family, I decided to be more hands-on with my health. Flo is an app that can help you trace your menstrual cycle. It helps you determine whether you are regular or irregular. It has videos and short articles that may help a woman understand better what they’re going through.
Flo recently had a major upgrade and included new features in the app but still very simple to use. As long as you properly log your symptoms, menstrual schedule, etc, it helps you figure out the basics of your menstrual health. Of course, this should never be an alternative in seeing an Ob-gyne. With or without experiencing problems, a woman should visit her Ob-gyne about once a year.
What I love: It’s very simple to use and to understand. And their explanations are from physicians from all over the world so it’s really valid.
What can be improved: They have so many other features that are helpful but are only available to the premium users. Hehe!
Rating: 4/5