There’s no quick fix or suited-to-everyone wellness solution, but the growing world of wellness technology holds promise for a range of important benefits.
While most people are familiar with basic fitness-tracking apps and the like, there’s a new range of more advanced technologies on the market — from elegant rings that track menstrual periods to AI tech aimed at spicing up your sex life. DailyOM spoke with some experts about the latest trends in wellness tech that may be worth exploring, benefits to anticipate, and tips for making the most of your experience.
The Rising Popularity of Wellness Tech
Long gone are the days when you had to head to the library, take an in-person class, or visit a health professional’s office in order to stay on top of your health and well-being. While humans have always been interested in personal wellness, technology has put incredibly powerful tools and solutions in the palms of users’ hands — through apps, handheld and wearable devices, and more. Along with the increasingly abundant options, our enthusiasm for wellness tech shows no signs of slowing down.
Interested in learning more? Check out The Binaural Beat Method for Better Sleep
How Can Technology Be Beneficial to Wellness?
There are some major potential benefits to merging technology and wellness — if you go about it conscientiously (and watch for signs you’re becoming too data-obsessed). When the tech works for you and it’s the right fit for your needs and goals, the increased focus on and insights about your health data can bring important things to mind that you might not otherwise consider, making way for a more holistic approach to nurturing your wellness.
According to a study published in The Lancet Digital Health in August 2022, digital fitness trackers help keep users of various ages motivated to stay committed to their fitness aspirations — and more physically active, compared to their non-tracker-using counterparts. Wellness technology can help you focus on your specific community and health risks, too. A study published in Circulation in July 2022 showed that an app designed to improve cardiovascular health in African American adults who carry heightened risks for heart disease made way for significant heart-health improvements after 10 weeks. The app, which provided modules focused on areas like diet, exercise, smoking prevalence, and glucose levels, prompted users to self-monitor their lifestyle habits and engage with their community on message boards.
There can be benefits to combining technology with a more traditional approach. Research summarized by mHealth in 2018, for example, showed that mental health apps were the most helpful for reducing users’ anxiety symptoms when they were paired with in-person or virtual face-to-face therapy.
Given the increased stress and mental health challenges many people are facing in today’s fast-paced, complicated world, wellness technology — such as apps and virtual providers that cater to your specific mental health needs, from helping you find a culturally competent physician to managing the effects of postpartum depression — can make a significantly positive difference, says psychotherapist Robert Common, founder and CEO of The Beekeeper House.
“Wellness tech offers accessible stress management techniques that cater to individuals not necessarily experiencing severe mental illness, but still struggling with distressing issues affecting their relationships, work, and overall mental well-being,” Common tells DailyOM, noting that beyond the convenience of exploring wellness tech on your schedule and in the privacy of your own home, you also don’t have to feel put off by lingering stigmas or judgments about seeking support, which is actually a great thing.
When you find a good fit, says Common, wellness tech “allows people to access help without feeling labeled or misunderstood, thus improving their overall experience and reducing distress … and empowers individuals to manage stress and cultivate better mental well-being proactively.”
9 Wellness Tech Tools to Consider for Boosting Your Well-Being
Your ideal wellness technology will depend on numerous factors, say the experts, from your specific goals, budget, and overall health to your preferences, interests, and lifestyle.
Keeping in mind that it’s always wise to check with a trusted healthcare provider before trying a new practice, here’s a look at just some of the popular apps and devices you may want to consider, based on current trends and several expert recommendations.
1. Sensory Wellness/Integration Therapy
Apps and devices that focus on sensory wellness provide what’s known as sensory integration (SI) therapy. Conceptualized in the 1970s, SI therapy aims to help you use all of your senses together to better regulate your emotions and nervous system.
Common points to the BrainWorks app, designed for children, as a good example. Once the app is open, a child chooses a location, such as home or school, and then how they’re feeling, such as “Slow and Sluggish” or “Fast and Hyper.” The app then shows activities that would help with regulation for a specific amount of time. While improvements might unfold within one session, routine rounds — such as daily or at least once a week — have more benefits. One small study published in the January/February 2011 issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy showed that SI therapy improved social and emotional responsiveness in children with autism.
Research is limited on the effectiveness of SI therapy technology, Common says — and the studies so far have generally focused on children — but there is interest in exploring how these tools might be helpful for adults with ADHD, autism, and other sensory processing disorders. There are also plenty of well-designed apps that offer mental health support for managing panic attacks, learning dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)-based skills, getting help with substance abuse, tracking moods for bipolar users, and more.
2. Binaural Beats
Binaural beat therapy is based on the fact that your right and left ears each receive slightly different tone frequencies that the brain perceives as one. Proponents of this type of therapy recommend engaging in binaural beats with audio recordings or apps while wearing headphones for peace of mind.
“Binaural beats are a form of auditory illusion created when two slightly different frequencies are played separately into each ear,” explains Common, who’s also a Tibetan Sound Bowl instructor. “They can have positive effects on pain alleviation, anxiety reduction, and memory.”
A small study published in PLoS One in March 2022 found that sound therapies like binaural beats can effectively reduce anxiety and invite a sense of relaxation. Those benefits are believed to stem from strengthened brain waves linked with restfulness (known as theta and delta waves), according to the study, especially when paired with the proven mood benefits of soothing music.
Use caution when exploring this technology, as some binaural beats have been marketed as “digital drugs,” Common advises. A study published in March 2022 in Drug and Alcohol Review showed that while over 72 percent of binaural beats users leaned on the technology for relaxation and better sleep, close to 12 percent reported trying to get an effect similar to drugs, such as psychedelics. While more research is needed, there is concern that using them might increase drug use, posing risks for people with substance dependencies, Common says.
3. Virtual Reality Meditation
There are many ways to meditate, including using new technology to do so. With virtual reality (VR) meditation, you can engage in an absorbing meditative experience that guides you through relaxation prompts or takes your imagination to soothing places, like the seaside.
“VR meditation offers a fully immersive experience, serving as a bridge to those who may not typically try meditation, like teenagers,” says Common. “It's beneficial for people who struggle with traditional meditation techniques, as the VR headset facilitates the right mindset.” He points to the Tripp app as a popular VR meditation tool.
VR meditation apps and devices are suitable for most anyone without a serious psychiatric condition, such as schizophrenia, notes Common, given that the visual effects of VR might exacerbate delusions. If you simply find traditional meditation “boring” or difficult to ease into, on the other hand, VR meditation may be just what the mindfulness doctor ordered.
4. Handheld Vagus Nerve Toners
A calmer nervous system and better sleep may be in the palm of your hand. Many wellness tech devices promise peace of mind through things like guided meditation and soundscapes — and some devices take those sounds further, drawing on the strengths of your vagus nerve.
“The vagus nerve oversees crucial body functions, immune response, control of mood, digestion, and heart rate,” says Jasmina Vico, a tech-forward holistic skin-health clinician based in London. “The nerve plays important roles in the relationship between the gut, the brain, and inflammation — by reducing stress and calming, allowing the body to work in synergy.”
A soothed vagus nerve is linked with reduced inflammation throughout the body, “and that’s the effect that can show on our skin,” says Vico, “[inviting] a more radiant and healthy complexion.”
Vico recommends the Sensate device, which connects with an audio app and aims to help you tone your vagus nerve for heightened peacefulness using infrasonic sound waves. These waves, while undetectable to the human ear (whether mixed into soothing nature or music sounds or not), are believed to support the nerve.
To make the most of your vagus nerve stimulator, as far as “stress resilience and better sleep” go, Vico suggests using it in the morning as you prepare for your day and again before (or as) you fall asleep. It also makes a great addition to your travel bag, she says.
5. EFT (Tapping) Apps
Emotional freedom technique (EFT), also known as “tapping,” aims to help you regulate your emotions and manage troubling thoughts. You literally tap, rub, or apply pressure to acupressure points on your face, head, or body while thinking or verbalizing particular statements, such as “Even though I have this [fear or problem], I deeply love and accept myself.”
EFT combines the somatic (your body) with the cognitive (your thoughts), according to Emily Andrew, a UK-based certified advanced EFT practitioner who specializes in working with patients with eating disorders and disordered eating.
“It works with the stress centers in the brain and has capabilities to work biochemically in the body to reduce stress and anxiety as well as working deeply with the subconscious mind,” she tells DailyOM.
A quality EFT app like The Tapping Solution, which Andrew highlighted as popular, provides guided EFT meditations. Such apps are “really great for people who are looking to work on cultivating a more positive mindset,” says Andrew. “They are accessible and encourage consistency, often offering a range of different subjects to choose from.”
Once you’ve established a practice, EFT “helps you to emotionally regulate, lower your stress and anxiety levels, and reduce inflammation, all of which can improve your outlook and raise your mood,” Andrew says, pointing to research published in 2019 that linked EFT with reduced stress and anxiety, and a 31 percent boost in happiness. While the study involved in-person workshops, an app may bring similar perks.
6. Pelvic Health Apps and Trainers
A weak pelvic floor is linked with a multitude of issues, from urinary incontinence to painful sex. And yes, there are apps for that. Some of the apps, such as the Elvie Trainer, link up with a device you insert about one centimeter above your vagina. Once in place, Elvie monitors your performance of exercises called kegels, which strengthen your pelvic muscles. The site boasts benefits of better bladder control, faster childbirth recovery, and enhanced intimacy (presumably from improved physical arousal or lubrication) within a matter of weeks.
“Apps that can provide you real-time feedback to your performance are a great idea in theory,” says Heather Jeffcoat, doctor of physical therapy, owner of Femina Physical Therapy in Los Angeles, and current president of the Academy of Pelvic Health Physical Therapy. “Some, like the Elvie, can tell you if you are doing a pelvic floor muscle contraction correctly or not, but it cannot provide an accurate picture of your strength or whether it's appropriate for you to even be doing kegels in the first place.”
Handheld devices also can’t detect if your pelvic floor muscles are overactive or hypertonic, she says, which is “a classic finding in those with pelvic pain, painful intercourse, urinary urgency, or frequency and urge urinary incontinence.”
And in those cases, kegel exercises could make your symptoms worse. In other words, these technologies may bolster pelvic health, but you should work with a pelvic floor therapist if you’re dealing with a chronic condition.
7. Sexual Pleasure Tech
Wellness technology from audio erotica apps to an AI sex coach might help rev up the heat in your bedroom (or wherever you get busy). The subscription platform OMGYes aims to help women, people with a vulva, and their partners cultivate more sexual pleasure. Developed in collaboration with Indiana University and the Kinsey Institute, OMGYes features education derived from thousands of interviews and peer-reviewed studies on female intimacy.
Sex and relationship therapist Megan Fleming, PhD, appreciates that OMGYes is science-based and opens users’ minds to self-pleasure moves they might not have tried.
“Typically when someone masturbates, they use the same tried-and-true technique every time,” Dr. Fleming tells DailyOM. “And I’m all for adding to your repertoire of pleasure possibilities.” The platform offers touchscreen tutorials to help you practice as you learn.
For better sex in general, The Beducated AI Sex Coach holds promise. “The biggest perk of Beducated’s AI sex coach is that it’s free and available to everyone, everywhere, with the internet, 24/7,” says Fleming. And that content is expert-curated from thousands of lessons and educational materials.
Beyond accessibility, Fleming loves that sexual pleasure-based wellness tech allows for “shame-free exploration.” At the same time, these techonologies “aren’t a replacement for the services of qualified health professionals and are not a substitute for the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment they can provide,” she adds. She also thinks educational sex technology can make a great adjunct to sex therapy.
8. Fitness Tracking Rings
This fall, Evie is releasing “the first medical grade health wearable designed for women,” according to the company’s website. Unlike other wearable trackers, Evie’s trackers exceed the FDA’s requirements for accuracy, boasting a 2 percent margin of error versus the FDA’s guidance of 3.5 percent, according to a clinical trial conducted by Evie. The elegant jewelry, worn as you would any ring, tracks things like menstrual cycles, sleep quality, and exercise as it sits on your finger.
Trackers such as Evie are ideal for anyone who’s interested in nurturing their health journey, whether newbie or seasoned athlete, according to Jeanette Ortega-Hewitt, owner and creator of the fitness company Bootoga. Such trackers provide “daily goals to aspire to with reminders and fun sounds that help us celebrate when we achieve them,” she tells DailyOM. “These devices have become our accountability partners.”
Many fitness trackers do have limitations, however. A study published in Biomedical Optics Express in December 2021 showed that Apple Watch Series 5, Fitbit Versa 2, and Polar M600 trackers inaccurately assess health data for people with darker skin tones and those considered obese, for example.
And while many fitness trackers have a margin of error of 20 percent or higher for all users, they may be helpful tools for establishing an overall healthy lifestyle — as long as you remain conscious of your body’s needs beyond the tech, Ortega-Hewitt explains. In other words, “we still need to listen and pay attention to our body and not always rely on our devices,” she says.
Wear your fitness tracker regularly for three to six months for a clear picture of your health habits, she suggests, so you can observe shifts or improvements along the way.
9. Smart Fitness Equipment
For an AI-powered workout, you may want to consider a smart yoga mat or dumbbells — both of which adjust to your body and guide your moves via connected apps. YogiFi yoga mats provide more than 60 posture tutorials along with real-time posture feedback as you move. Kabatha dumbbells work similarly, and even auto-adjust to a weight that’s suitable for you.
While Ortega-Hewitt hasn’t used these smart tools herself, she considers them valuable for home workouts or if you prefer exercising solo, or without a class or personal trainer.
“These devices would also be a great source for beginners,” she adds. “For someone who is new to yoga, [a smart mat] would help them understand placement and alignment of the body, which is crucial.” Smart dumbbells may also save you space by negating the need for heavier weights as your abilities and weight tolerances increase.
Making the Most of Wellness Technology
When incorporating wellness technology into your lifestyle, consider your health goals, budget, and lifestyle. Then, ease into new technology and pace yourself, Common suggests. “As with all things in life, moderation and balance are essential when using wellness tech,” he says. “With abundant apps and resources available, test a few at a time to see what suits your lifestyle, but don't overwhelm yourself. Try each for a bit, then reflect and be self-aware. If a tool becomes draining, it may not be the right fit.”
Meanwhile, steer clear of apps and other technology that make grandiose promises, such as a guarantee of a stress-free life or the “only way” to accomplish a particular goal. “All of the best wellness tech has been informed by science and clinicians… and these credentials should be easy to find with a little research,” Common adds. “Each app or resource has limitations and drawbacks, which are important to understand.”
At the same time, one tech option’s drawbacks are a perk for someone else. If you’re prone to weight obsession or disordered eating, for example, the “numbers” focus of a fitness tracker that tabulates things like calories and steps may fuel self-criticism and distress, leading you down a troubling path. But that same tabulation focus “can be beneficial for improving physical and mental well-being for many others,” says Common.
And if a wellness challenge seems insurmountable or beyond your control, seek professional support. Your app or device might even prompt you to do so!
“Many wellness tech tools include clinical screening tools for common mental health issues or provide check-ins with users,” Common adds. “Some wellness techs even offer therapy from clinicians within an app or digital service, which can be used at your discretion, but you can always take your search offline to find the best professionals or resources that meet your needs.”
When it comes to fitness devices, Ortega-Hewitt suggests determining your two most important priorities — such as support around a specific wellness goal or a type of data tracking you prefer — and going from there. For her, that means finding technology that provides detailed information about her heart zones and tracks her month-to-month progress. Then, once you’ve selected your ideal wellness tech, remember that routine use is key.
“Stay consistent in wearing your device for monitoring so you can make adjustments to your health and fitness plan as needed,” she says. “Most of all, have fun in the process knowing that each step you take is a closer step to meeting your goals.”
