An app that emphasizes the importance of self care.
CAMH (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) mentions that a whopping 450 million people are affected world-wide by mental health issues, while The Government of Canada mentions that 1 in 3 Canadians are affected. That’s a minimum of 1 person per family. I am no stranger to poor mental health, especially with inflation of prices and living through the Covid-19 pandemic. My anxiety has only gotten higher, and my thoughts more consuming. That being said, I am always looking for ways to improve myself both mentally and physically. Walking is my usual go-to, but in the winter I found it hard to motivate myself to leave the house.
I was browsing Twitter one day and came across Lumi Intereactive’s twitter page. I found their app Kinder World and instantly fell in love. The premise of the game is that you take care of plants by watering them up to a maximum of two times per day, and you build cozy spaces of your own. When watering the plants, you get a choice of using rain water, or enriched water. Rain water will help you grow your plants, if that is what you want from the game. Enriched water takes a few moments from your day to focus on yourself. This self-kindness enriches the water used for the plants, boosting their growth. Here are some of activities used to focus on your mental health, enriching the water.
Pause & Breathe
Take a moment to breathe with your plant. The app gives you the option to take 30 seconds, 1 minute, or 2 minutes to focus on your breathing. It will give you a prompt to breathe in, hold your breath, breathe out, and hold your breath again. This cycle will continue until the amount of time you selected is up. At the end of your time, your water will be enriched and you can water your plant. Focusing on your breathing is a great way to start your day, or wind down from the day. I find whenever I use this meditation method I always feel more focused and relaxed, which is amazing for someone who suffers from anxiety.
Daily Gratitude
When you have a busy schedule, it’s easy to become lost. Finding reasons to be thankful can be tough. Daily gratitude is a message prompt that makes you take some time to think about what is being asked. My prompt for today is, “What part of nature are you grateful for today?“. I responded, “I’m grateful for the sun’s ability to melt the snow. Happy Spring!”. After you give your gratitude, your water will be enriched.
Emotional Naming
This simple activity can also be difficult. This activity asks you how you are feeling at the moment. All feelings are categorized under 6 colours of sand, which you will use to fill a jar with sand. There is a flower at the top of the jar that is colourless until the jar is full. The colours of sand are as follows: yellow is joy, blue is calm, green is confidence, orange is fear, red is anger, and purple is sadness. These colours will be combined after you complete this activity 5 times. The colour of the combined sand in the jar will become the colour of the flower at the top. Once you finish a jar, you start another. After you choose a colour for your sand, your water will be enriched.
This activity is my favourite one. It really forces me to think about how I am feeling at the time. I am known for masking my feelings at times, but this activity prevents that. If I’m feeling anything but a positive feeling, this activity makes me think about why I am feeling that way and what I can do better myself in the moment.
After watering your plant, your plant grows and becomes happy… similar to how you should be feeling after you give yourself some kindness. How did you take care of yourself today? Leave a comment below!
Kinder World has a new trailer out now. Check it out their pinned Tweet: Twitter Trailer
Don’t forget to follow their instagram too, they post cute reels about the game: Kinder World Game Instagram
Want to try the app for yourself? Download it here: Play Kinder World
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 