4 Awesome Women-Led Wellness Platforms For Healing And Self-Care

According to the Global Wellness Institute, the global wellness industry accounted for $4.4 trillion in 2020. It is also the only industry of its size that is predominately headed by women. Frontiers in Psychology reports that “the total physical activity of the population is significantly reduced during periods of quarantine, self-isolation and lockdown, with profound negative effects on people’s mental health and well-being.” This has also contributed to a significant toll on people, particularly, women’s mental health.

We all could use a little support and inspiration to find new ways to enrich ourselves mentally, physically, and spiritually. Here are five women-led wellness platforms that can provide that support in a variety of areas:

Need fitness inspiration and motivation? One of Massy Arias’s programs is for you. Massy has shared her story online of how she went through a phase of partying, drinking, smoking, and an abusive relationship that left her depressed and unhealthy. The thing that pulled her up was fitness and strength training. After friends started asking her for advice, she realized she could help other women gain strength and confidence.

She has been incredibly successful in launching six fitness and strength programs, building a community of over 3.9 million members, and attracting 2.7 million followers on Instagram. She offers regular challenges with community support, live sessions, and weekly prizes to get you started. She doesn’t expect perfection though.

Depression and anxiety have increased amongst youth significantly in recent years. According to the American Psychological Association, “71% of parents said the pandemic had taken a toll on their child’s mental health, and 69% said the pandemic was the worst thing to happen to their child.” It is nearly impossible to take care of your own health when your child is struggling.

Brightline, founded by Naomi Allen in 2019, is a platform that helps families obtain mental health support. Naomi found Brightline after having challenges with the complexity of receiving behavioral healthcare for her own child. Kids are matched with licensed behavioral coaches for guidance when needed and with expert therapists for behavior challenges. Per the site, “Everything Brightline does is to move families forward to reach their bright future.” They have been very successful with 70% of parents reporting a significant reduction in anxiety, and 80% a significant reduction in disruptive behavior.

If you are looking for ways to simplify your health habits, then you get to know Robyn Conley Downs. Robyn has 20 years of experience studying human behavior. She learned that happiness is related to establishing small habits, being kind to yourself, and living a life in alignment with your values. She wrote a book and hosts a podcast called the Feel Good Effect. Her focus is on small, easy-to-implement habits. On her site, she shares that “My mission is to make it easy to create happy, healthy habits – designed with your real life in mind.”

Her popular platform, Real Food Whole Life focuses on super easy, healthy recipes that will make you feel good. Find what you want by type, method, habit key, or dietary preferences. She offers a capsule meal plan for even more convenience. Her platform also provides easy-to-follow healthy habits and self-care tips. One of the site’s tag lines is Radically Simple, Ridiculously Doable, which sounds wonderful.

Katara McCarty, who is biracial, grew up experiencing racism in many forms. She became a single mom and ended an abusive relationship at age 19. She overcame many challenges and became a successful entrepreneur in the corporate and non-profit world. She wrote a book titled Pretty Girl, started a podcast focused on the stories of women of color, and built a coaching business. She continued to realize that women of color experience unique challenges to their emotional well-being.

In 2020, she released the app Exhale so she could support the well-being of even more women of color. The app provides what Katara refers to as ‘soul medicine’. The app offers meditations, visualizations, breath work, coaching talks, and daily affirmations. The app has a 4.8/5 rating and is a 2021 Webby Award winner. As her site says, “No more waiting to EXHALE, it’s time to breathe.”