Top 4 Wearables for Stress Management [2018]

The dangers to human life have changed considerably over the centuries of their existence. People first sought protection from wild-life and fought to put food on the table. Then came the plagues and other medical dangers threatening their lives. During that time, what remained common was the stress we had to deal with. That stress has now taken the shape of the meeting of paying the bills or meeting deadlines or both. Similarly, dealing with stress has evolved too and although the core principle remains the same, the methods certainly have changed. In the modern world of technology, we have great tools at our disposal that make the process easier and faster for us. These tools, are available in the form of wearables and measure things such as our heart-rate, the amount of time we sleep, the distance we travel, the calories we burn and various others. Some of these tools make suggestions as well, based on the data they collect. There is certainly a wide variety of these products available on the market, but the problem for the consumer is separating the good ones from the bad ones. This is not a case of one wearable having a method or metrics that are better than the other, but deciding which of these provide the best quality products, as well as the effect they have on one’s physical and mental state. Some of the best products are mentioned below: • Touchpoints Basic Where a lot of wearables are conce ed with things such as heart-rate or tracking your breathing, Touchpoints has gone a more different route by involving neuroscience to help people relieve stress. The Touchpoints Basic is a wrist-watch like wearable that functions on the Bi-Lateral Alte ating Stimulation Tactile (BLAST) principle to generate vibrations when it detects that the person wearing the gadget is stressed. These vibrations are said to affect the brain in fighting the body’s fight, flight or freeze response. People have claimed that they have been calmed by the device in stressful moments and that it has helped them in thinking clearly. You can learn more about Touchpoint and their device at www.thetouchpointsolution.com.au. • Apple Watch 3 The 3rd generation of Apple smartwatch added more features to the previous generations that offered the ability to track runs or swims. A Breathe app was introduced by the company that helps the user control his breathing and relax. During a session of one to five minutes, the watch helps establish calmer breathing by sending out a few buzzes of vibrations. The watch also records your heart-rate during those sessions, to give you details on the progress you have made. • Fitbit Ionic Fitbit is usually known for its fitness trackers, but its smartwatch introduction is a good contender for helping people get rid of stress. The wearable combines the measurements of heart-rate and the changes in it to give out breathing suggestions unique to the user. These suggestions are carried out in a session lasting two to five minutes. Apart from these sessions, the watch offers the usual tracking features such as sleep tracking and measuring the current fitness level of the user. • Garmin Vivosport Garmin Vivosport is another fitness tracker that has evolved to provide stress management to the users. It achieves this by calculating a stress score using the heart rate variability (HRV) and then suggests breathing exercises for a brief period when it feels the score has gone too high. The stress scores or levels across a longer timeline can be viewed through the smartphone app. The Vivosport also has the advantage of offering the ability to track strength training that involves things such as sets, reps and the rest time in between.