Sun, 12 May 2024 16:50:46 -0400WeeblyWed, 27 Sep 2023 18:40:47 GMThttp://csosolutions.net/blog/stress-monitor-week-2

I have been using the Stress Monitor for Watch app with my iPhone and my Apple Watch for about 2 weeks now. To the left is a screen shot of my weekly monitor analytics. The app aggregates information across Apple Health apps as well as any third party health apps to determine your stress levels and responses. Currently the app is tracking my activity, my heart rate variability, sleep & resting heart rate. It will also generate a PDF report that you can send to yourself, your health coach or your healthcare provider. I think that is a pretty cool feature!

My one gripe with the app is that it suggests that I "pay attention” to my stress levels when I sleep. I haven’t figured out how I am supposed to do that while I am sleeping, but I am sure it is good information about what my body may be doing while I sleep. I have not determined if my heart rate goes up when I get up to go to the bathroom, if I am dreaming, when I turn over in my sleep or if in fact my heart rate is just changing during sleep for some other health or stress related reason.  Admittedly I have been more stressed than usually lately. The app has been great so far to give me a good picture of my stress health. It has also been responsible for encouraging me to go to bed earlier. I see a lot of red and orange in this week’s analytics. It also says that Saturday was my most stressful day, and it certainly was! I wouldn’t consider it bad stress, but it was enough to send my body into a stress response.

The other thing I like about this app are the “Insights” which include articles and tips on managing stress using integrative health and wellness approaches. Among other things, the articles discuss morning light, meditation, essential oils for stress, healthy foods to fight stress and staying hydrated.  I am going to be recommending this app to my clients going forward and it was well worth paying for. 

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]]>Sun, 17 Sep 2023 18:20:57 GMThttp://csosolutions.net/blog/activate-your-healthStress Monitor for Watch App

For a week now, I have been using a new app to monitor a variety of aspects of my health. The app is simply called “Stress Monitor for Watch”. I downloaded it from the Apple store. After the 7 day free trial, the cost is $69.99 per year. ($5.83 per month). It is a little pricey, but so far worth the cost. 

​Through your smart watch, the app will monitor heart rate variability, resting heart rate, activity and sleep. I use an Apple Watch, so the app integrates with other health monitors such as Apple Health to draw data as well. It lets me know my stress levels and sends an alert when I need to take a break or do some deep breathing. It lets me know to “Pay Attention” when my heart rate goes up while I am inactive. It also aggregates data in charts over the course of a week and a. month to let you know the patterns. At the end of the day the app will give advice on health aspects you may need to pay attention to. The app also offers related articles, videos and links for ongoing health improvement. Although not as robust as having a real life health coach, it is almost like having a digital health coach at your fingertips. This app could be invaluable for working with a health coach so I would not recommend solely relying on the app for all of your health and wellness needs and monitoring.

The biggest advice I am receiving from the app after this first week is that my stress levels are higher than I thought they were and that my sleep hasn’t been great as a result.  I am using the articles provided to educate myself on ways I can improve my stress management and sleep. It’s great to see patterns, especially time of day that I am either more relaxed or more stressed so that I can adjust my behavior accordingly. 
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We are usually unaware of some of the subtle changes our bodies go through daily. This app helps bring awareness to these small but important changes we may be experiencing. Sometimes bodily changes are obvious, other times they aren’t, especially while we sleep. 

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