Whether it is a recurring thing in your daily life or an unexpected event, we all experience stress and anxiety. You may not have thought about it, but if you have an Apple Watch, there’s a handy tool on your wrist to help find some peace and quiet. Follow 4 ways to reduce stress and relax with your Apple Watch.
Much of the spotlight on the Apple Watch as a health-focused device includes features like the heart rate sensor, ECG app, heart rate notifications, and activity tracking. But the Apple Watch is a useful relaxation resource in many ways.
Let’s dive into some of the original options as well as some third-party apps for relaxing with your Apple Watch, even when you’re in the middle of a stressful situation.
4 ways to relax with your Apple Watch
vigilance application
Mindfulness is built into watchOS. The Mindfulness app, previously called the Breathe app, includes two options: Reflect and Breathe. It’s a simple yet well-made app that uses proven technology to reduce stress and help you relax.
The breathing sessions use gentle touches to indicate when to inhale and exhale, and they even record your heart rate. Reflect sessions use a question to help you focus your energy along with a cute visualizer.
Here’s the science behind Headspace Relaxing Focused Breathing:
By changing the rate and pattern of breathing, we can stimulate the body’s parasympathetic nervous system, inducing a calming response, which lowers heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension.
The Mindfulness app on Apple Watch contains a light blue overlapping circle icon. Click on it to start.
To customize the app, head to the Watch app on your iPhone to set up alerts, haptic feedback preferences, and more. You can also adjust the duration of the session by tapping the three-dot icon in the right corner of the Mindfulness app.
Meditate with your Apple Watch
Going further with mindfulness, there are some great meditation apps for the Apple Watch. Two of the most polished and powerful are Headspace and Calm.
Both feature some limited free content with subscriptions to unlock everything.
Headspace on watchOS
A really cool feature of the Headspace Apple Watch app is a three-minute “feeling tired” SOS meditation that you can quickly pause anytime you need to.
Headspace and Calm can be downloaded for free from the App Store.
Yoga or exercise
If you want to incorporate some full-body moves to find some calm (and don’t have anything saved), you can reach for yoga right on your wrist. Daily Yoga is a great option that offers both free and paid plans.
You can, of course, also use the original Exercise app on your Apple Watch to track yoga or mind-body exercises and do a series of self-stretching/asanas (or not track them at all).
Or you can do more vigorous exercise like running, cycling, HIIT or something else to help shift your focus away from stress and help you feel better with the endorphins flowing.
Music, background sounds, comedy
If none of the above seems appropriate at any given moment, don’t forget the power of music or background sounds.
Use your Apple Watch to play a song or album you love. It’s amazing how listening to an audio clip you associate with positive feelings can quickly connect you to them and take your stress away.
If music doesn’t feel right, maybe listen to one of your favorite comedians or a soundtrack in the background to change how you feel.
Do you have another way you like to deal with stress? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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