According to Rabin, a soothing touch can help you fall asleep faster, whether you apply it yourself or cuddle up next to a loved one or even a pet. Essentially, it provides a sense of safety and security. "That's why it's harder to sleep without blankets," he notes. "Because the blankets give you a sense of comfort that allows you to feel soothed."
Research backs up the science of touch, too: Rabin studied how touch impacts the emotional brain at the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Psychiatry and found that "when you are touched in a loving way, when you are experiencing soothing vibration, or a massage, or holding a pet, there's something actually happening [to your brain]1," he recounts. "It's telling you, 'I'm safe right now.' And it's actually the same thing that happens when you take a deep breath, and it's the same thing that happens when you do biofeedback [therapy]."
That's exactly what led him to create Apollo Neuro, a science-backed touch therapy device that has been clinically shown to increase HRV and cognitive performance and even provide an easier access to meditation. "We realized that there are ways to potentially replicate the benefits of soothing touch and deep breathing on the go by figuring out what the touch receptors in our skin like to feel when we feel safe and sending it to them with vibration," he adds. "[It's] almost like a song for your skin that the body feels and sends to the brain."
