With Apollo, a novel health wearable, improving your well-being can happen in the background of your life.
Wellness rarely happens in the background. Exercising, eating nutritious foods, and caring for your mental well-being all take hours of conscious thought, planning, and execution. But what if more of your health could be taken care of while you’re not even paying attention?
Enter: Apollo, a wearable that actively changes your health by sending soothing vibrations that mimic the effects of meditation, all to help you reduce your stress while you’re preoccupied.
“When we enter into a meditative state by doing meditation, breathing techniques, or things of that nature, what happens is our bodies start to breathe in a specific rhythm. That rhythm is actually the same for over 95 percent of human beings, which is really interesting,” says David Rabin, M.D., Ph.D., a neuroscientist, board-certified psychiatrist, and co-founder of Apollo.
This breathing rhythm is known as a “coherence” rhythm, usually about five to seven breaths per second. “That means that the heart, lungs, and brain are all working optimally together,” says Dr. Rabin. As your nervous system chills out, your mind starts to clear and slow.
Before Apollo, accessing this peaceful mental state was difficult without the use of tried-and-true techniques like meditation and breathwork. But through research, Dr. Rabin and his team have discovered that delivering biofeedback (in this case, pulses on the wrist) in a coherent rhythm triggers the same calming impacts on your nervous system while you’re going about your day, whether you’re answering emails, completing reps at the Club, or dining with friends.
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Essentially, Apollo works to improve your mental state by minimizing stress at its foundation. “The way to think about stress is that it creates a resource allocation problem,” says Dr. Rabin. “When we’re stressed, our bodies behave like we’re running from a lion.”
This evolutionary response to stress prompts the body to send all its blood supply to the major organs, including the heart, lungs, and brain. “That blood has to come from somewhere, right? It comes from our reproductive system, our digestive system, our immune system, and the parts of our brains involved in creativity and sleep,” explains Dr. Rabin.
While this reaction is crucial when you’re in real danger, it’s not exactly ideal when you’re just trying to give a work presentation. That’s why Apollo’s ability to calm you down in real time can be invaluable for everything from your creativity and your confidence to your ability to stay fully present with your family.
And research suggests Apollo may have legitimate benefits: The device has been studied in seven independently conducted and funded clinical studies, amounting to 1,700 total research subjects, according to the company’s website. Some of the findings indicate that, after using Apollo, participants felt a 40 percent decline in stress and anxiety, experienced up to a 19 percent increase in deep sleep, and had up to a 25 percent increase in focus and concentration, on average. The company has 14 other clinical studies underway.
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More good news: Incorporating the wearable into your routine won’t cause you any additional stress. The Apollo Neuro app makes the device incredibly simple to use; just strap the device onto your wrist, ankle, shirt collar, waistband, or bra strap, then head to the app to select a Vibe (think: your goal for the session, such as Fall Asleep, Social, or Focus), duration (usually 15 to 60 minutes), and intensity. To reap as many benefits as possible, the company recommends using your Apollo wearable at least three hours a day for five days a week, during both the day and night.
Depending on your goals, you may want to feel the vibrations before bed, while you’re resting in between sets of landmine shoulder presses, during your lunch break, or all of the above. “Apollo helps improve recovery even just in those two minutes in between those sets and then, most importantly, at the end of the workout,” says Dr. Rabin.
To start experiencing its soothing effects, shop the Apollo wearable at an Equinox Shop near you or online. Then, download the Apollo app for a free trial of what the Apollo experience feels like.