When Marah Lidey and her co-founder Naomi Hirabayashi created Shine text messages, they aimed to provide a sense of community to everyone who subscribes to the positive, motivational messages that went out each day. Earlier this year, they raised $2.5 million in funding to further develop the brand.
This morning it was announced that Shine launched a new app that will bring mindfulness and meditation to the modern, busy user. Shine Texts boasted 1 million active users subscribed to the daily motivational messages, and those users now have access to a library of interactive audio content based around topics including 'Ditching a Toxic Friend' and 'Self-Care for Online Dating,' or even 'Slaying Your Workday.'
"We believe everyone should have access to a wellness solution that works for their world," says Lidey, "So our new app not only serves to make mindfulness more accessible but more engaging and centered around real-world issues."
Users can find short audio 'Mindful Moments' within the app to help them through their personal situations and then follow the interactive prompts that focus advice toward their individual needs. The advice itself is crafted and curated by the Shine team in collaboration with their advisor, Dr. Anna Rowley (who holds a PhD. in Psychology with a focus on millennials and wellbeing.
If traditional meditation bores you, doesn't feel relatable or tempts you to fall asleep, the Shine app is challenging you to try again with a more modernized approach to self-care and wellness.
To commemorate the launch, the Shine team placed bright yellow "time-out" benches throughout some of the most stressful places in New York City. Anyone can sit and sample some of the app's content through the built-in digital display and headphones on each bench.
Users everywhere can join the app with either annual or monthly plans — check out www.shinetext.com/app for more info.