It’s no secret that millions of people have been dealing with tremendous amounts of stress lately. From global crises to the more mundane pressures of work and family life, millions suffer from burnout, leading to deteriorating mental and physical health. With this in mind, people have begun searching for natural and effective ways to counteract their bodies’ stress responses, including turning to wearable technology.
Many wearable devices have been shown to help with stress. These are wearable technologies that use sensors to monitor biometrics like heart rate and can even perform interventions to promote better health. A similar tool that has proven itself in scientific studies is the wearable Apollo™. However, instead of passively tracking your biometrics, it actively improves your health and well-being.
A finalist at the 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards, the wearable Apollo is a watch-sized stress reliever that delivers soothing vibrations to your nervous system and harnesses the power of touch therapy. Developed by neuroscientists and doctors, Apollo helps you recover from stress faster so you can sleep, relax, and focus better.
Due to its ability to relieve stress and promote feelings of safety, the wearable Apollo is also a helpful adjunct for patients undergoing psychedelics-assisted therapy. In fact, Apollo Neuro is the only wearable technology with an issued patent for reducing uncomfortable and unwanted experiences associated with medically assisted psychotherapy—including psychedelics and traditional medicine. One could easily imagine how such technology could be used to create a “good trip” and avoid a bad one.
This is not a surprise since Apollo’s founder, Dr. Dave Rabin is a trained psychedelic therapist who has organized studies for MAPS, the largest group investigating psychedelic research for mass mental health. In fact, Apollo Neuro is conducting a clinical study together with MAPS to understand the long-term effectiveness of the wearable Apollo in PTSD patients who have undergone MDMA psychotherapy.
But even without combining its use with psychedelics, some have compared the positive effects of portable Apollo to microdosing. For example, Paul Austin, founder of Third Wave, said, “I think Apollo can be like a microdose on the wrist, a wearable psychedelic. Of course you don’t embark on a journey or see visions, you let yourself fall into your body and the present moment. The vibrations remind me to be here now.”
The wearable Apollo Advantage
To explain how the portable Apollo works, we must first understand the science behind it.
Stress is an evolutionary necessity that our ancestors relied on. When a person experiences stress, the brain releases chemicals like cortisol that make our breathing shallow and rapid and our hearts race. In short, it activates what is commonly known as the fight-or-flight response. Apparently this was very useful when stress was caused by a pack of hungry hyenas. It’s a little less useful when the cause is an unopened email from your boss or a toddler who won’t stop yelling “MOM!” in the supermarket.
When you’re chronically stressed, it’s physiologically more difficult to concentrate, relax, sleep, exercise, or even get through the day. Modern life is constantly sending signals to your body that you are under threat, but the hungry carnivore is nowhere to be found.
The wearable Apollo is designed to counteract the body’s fight-or-flight stress response by simulating the sensation of a soothing touch. From an evolutionary perspective, touch is the primary way mammals convey security to one another. Think about your own life. What helps more when you’re stressed: a loved one telling you everything will be fine or keeping you quiet? Of course it’s the latter. Perhaps you can feel the rhythmic beating of your heart telling you that you are safe.
Coming to frequencies and vibrations, the first thing you need to understand is that your body’s systems already operate at certain frequencies. Your heart rate, pulse, and breathing rate vary based on your mood. For example, when you are about to fall asleep, these frequencies move slowly and gently. When you compete in a sport, you are fast and strong.
By understanding our body’s internal frequencies, the wearable Apollo can help induce a specific state through vibrations. When your body is exposed to a vibrational frequency, it will naturally synchronize to it. Therefore, the premise behind the wearable Apollo is that it vibrates at the frequency of a desired state, be it relaxed or hyper-focused. Then your body will naturally synchronize to that frequency, allowing you to feel the intended effects whenever you need them.
There are seven different frequencies, or modes, that the Apollo wearable offers. Clear and Focused mode can deepen your focus on any task at hand – whether you’re emptying your inbox, tackling a workout, or working hard. Social and open mode can lift mood and reduce stress in social situations. Rebuild and Recover modes can help ground you during psychedelic experiences. There are also frequencies that put your body in a meditative flow state, a relaxed state, and one that helps you unwind into deep sleep. The more you use it, the more naturally your body will learn to synchronize with the frequency you are using.
It is important that the effectiveness of the Apollo wearable is proven by extensive scientific studies. The University of Pittsburgh, for example, found that the wearable Apollo “increases the ability to focus and stay calm during times of stress, and these specific vibration patterns improve the body’s ability to recover and resist stress.” Similar studies have shown that it improves athletic recovery and aids in accessing meditative states. Impressively, in the meditation study, “within 12 minutes of using the Apollo handheld device, the EEG signatures of naïve meditators looked like those of experienced meditators.” Likewise, other studies have shown that it increases time spent in deep sleep by an average of 19% and increases focus and concentration by up to 25%.
Amazingly, a study of nurses who used the portable Apollo for just two weeks found their stress and anxiety levels dropped by an average of 40%! In addition, her sleep, energy, mood, and concentration also improved.
Therapists are already using the Apollo Wearable. For example, Divergence Neuro neurofeedback therapist Heather Hargraves swears by the device, saying, “I love my Apollo, I use it all day, every day, and so do my clients.”
To learn more about the portable Apollo, visit their website.
