Tag: stress relief

From Mental Health To Mental Fitness with AI and Wearable Data: Your Path to Resilience

Reading time: 2 min

In the pursuit of a happier, healthier life, the journey from mental health to mental fitness is a transformational shift. Mental health is about managing and addressing issues, while mental fitness represents a proactive approach to building resilience, emotional strength, and overall well-being. It’s a path that passes through self-awareness, empowerment, and personalized strategies, and it can be greatly aided by the integration of AI and wearable data.

Understanding the journey

The journey from mental health to mental fitness begins with understanding the fundamental difference between the two. Mental health often focuses on addressing challenges such as stress, anxiety, or depression when they arise. While this is essential and valuable, mental fitness takes a broader approach. It involves actively cultivating a mindset and lifestyle that promote emotional and psychological well-being, making it easier to navigate life’s challenges.

How AI and wearable data play a proactive role in mental fitness

The role of AI fueled by biometric analysis can act as a guide, helping individuals recognize their mental health challenges and encouraging self-awareness. AI can analyze vast amounts of health data collected from wearable devices, such as the Biostrap Kairos, providing insights into emotional triggers and patterns of distress. Armed with this knowledge, individuals can develop a deeper understanding of themselves and their mental well-being.

Building Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the cornerstone of mental fitness. It’s the ability to recognize one’s emotions, thoughts, and behavioral patterns. AI-powered wearable technology can assist in building self-awareness by continuously monitoring physiological responses to emotional fluctuations. Over time, users gain a clearer picture of their triggers and reactions, empowering them to make more informed decisions.

Tracking Progress

As individuals embark on their journey toward mental fitness, it’s crucial to track progress. Wearable technology plays an important role here, offering real-time data on various aspects of well-being. The Biostrap Kairos device and the Vital Science app for example, offers a Spot Check feature that provides insight into a user’s autonomic nervous system balance. This data allows users to understand to what extent their body is in the mode of parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) or sympathetic (fight-or-flight).

Additionally, monitoring biometrics such as heart rate, sleep patterns, and activity levels, users can visualize their improvements, set achievable goals, and celebrate milestones along the way.

Cultivating mindfulness

The Vital Science app offers guided mindfulness practices as part of the Meditation Plus feature. It doesn’t only helps users incorporate a mindfulness into their lifestyle routine, but each mindfulness session can be tracked using the Biostrap Kairos.

With that, users can gain insights into how their heart rate, heart rate variability, and respiratory rate shift during meditation. These practices teach individuals to stay present, manage stress, and respond to triggers with composure. Mindfulness is a cornerstone of mental fitness.

How Biostrap can help

At Biostrap, we are committed to empowering individuals on their journey from mental health to mental fitness. Our cutting-edge digital health technology combines the precision of AI with the convenience of a wearable to provide you with the tools and insights you need to build resilience, foster emotional strength, and proactively manage your mental well-being.

Our technology continuously monitors your physiological data and offers real-time feedback. It helps you understand your triggers, manage stress, optimize your sleep, and build mindfulness practices into your daily life.

Your well-being matters, and we are here to empower you every step of the way. Start your journey today, and let’s build mental fitness together.

Tags ai, anxiety, artificial infelligence, better mental health, fitness, hear rate, heart rate variability, hrv, mental fitness, mental health, nervous system, overcoming anxiety, stress management, stress relief, trending, well-being

Academy > article > Personal Performance

Navigating Stress in the Modern Age: A Paradigm Shift with Wearables

Reading time: 3 min

In today’s fast-paced world, stress has become a pervasive problem that affects our physical and mental well-being. Chronic stress can have detrimental effects on our health, leading to various disorders and increasing the risk of cardiovascular problems and mental health issues. For effective stress monitoring and management, it is crucial to accurately measure its impact on our bodies.

Traditional methods of stress assessment, such as physical tests and questionnaires, have limitations in terms of subjectivity and accuracy.

However, advancements in wearable biosensors have paved the way for real-time, continuous monitoring of stress biomarkers, providing valuable insights for clinical diagnoses and personal stress management.

Unraveling the complexities of stress: a holistic approach

Stress, as an intricate and multifaceted physiological response to external demands, triggers the orchestrated release of cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline – molecular protagonists underpinning the “fight-or-flight” reaction.

However, prolonged exposure to stress ushers in a cascade of physiological changes, resulting in disruptions to the harmonious equilibrium orchestrated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the sympathetic adrenal medullary (SAM) axis. These disruptions contribute substantively to the pathogenesis of anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular morbidity.

Beyond traditional metrics: the futility of conventional stress assessment

Traditionally, stress has been measured through physical tests and questionnaires. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is a commonly used test that assesses acute stress levels by subjecting individuals to public speaking and arithmetic tasks. Saliva, blood, psychophysiological, and cognitive measures are then analyzed to evaluate stress levels.

While these tests provide valuable information, they are not without limitations. Variability in test conditions and the subjective nature of self-reporting can impact the reliability and reproducibility of results.

Another widely used method is the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), a survey that assesses an individual’s overall stress levels based on their perceived life experiences. Similarly, the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) measures mental distress levels. These tools provide insights into an individual’s subjective experience of stress but do not offer objective measures of physiological responses.

Wearable biosensors: a panacea for stress monitoring

Recent advancements in stress monitoring focus on the quantification of stress biomarkers, which are molecules or biometrics, or physiological indicators, that provide insight into an individual’s nervous system state. Biomarkers can be detected in various bodily fluids, such as blood, saliva, urine, and sweat. Sweat biomarkers, in particular, have gained attention due to the non-invasiveness and ease of collection.

Sweat contains a wide range of metabolites, electrolytes, and minerals that can serve as indicators of stress levels. Cortisol, a glucocorticoid hormone, is considered the gold standard for evaluating the activity of the HPA axis. Other stress biomarkers include epinephrine, norepinephrine, alpha-amylase, and interleukin-6. Electrochemical and colorimetric transduction methods have been developed to detect and quantify these biomarkers in sweat.

Additionally, the Biostrap Kairos, introduces a novel way to assessing autonomic nervous system balance including sympathetic and parasympathetic branch quantifications. Utilizing raw PPG, Kairos captures relevant biometrics including beat-to-beat heart rate data, heart rate variability (HRV) and respiratory rate to allow for in-depth objective data analysis.

Such real-time, seamless, and unobtrusive collection of stress data is highly valuable for simultaneously prioritizing user comfort and feasibility during diverse physiological parameters.

Challenges of sweat measurements

While sweat analysis have shown great potential in stress monitoring, there are still challenges to overcome. The correlation between sweat analyte (or chemical undergoing analysis) concentrations and blood concentrations is complex, and factors such as sweat rate and analyte distribution can affect the accuracy of measurements. Extracting interstitial fluid (ISF) analytes in a non-invasive manner also presents challenges, as extraction efficiency and skin surface contamination can impact accuracy.

Further research is needed to validate the clinical utility of sweat as a diagnostic biofluid for stress monitoring. Improvements in sampling methods and analyte monitoring techniques are necessary to enhance the reliability and accuracy of wearable stress sensors. Integration of multiple sensing arrays and the development of multiplexed wearable sensing platforms hold promise for comprehensive stress assessment.

Innovations toward a new trajectory

Advancements in wearable biosensors have revolutionized the field of stress monitoring. These devices provide real-time, continuous data on stress biomarkers, allowing for personalized stress management and clinical diagnoses. While sweat sensors offer a non-invasive and convenient method for stress assessment, there are challenges that are yet to be overcome.

By harnessing the power of wearable biosensors, like Biostrap Kairos, we can gain valuable insights into our stress levels in real time and any given time of the day and take proactive steps to improve the state of our nervous system.

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Academy > article > Personal Performance

Managing Stress With HRV, Resting Heart rate, & SPO2

Reading time: 4 min

Elite athletes use Heart Rate Variability (HRV), resting heart rate and other metrics to manage their training regimens and recovery time. Intense training stresses the muscles, hormones, heart and lungs. By tracking these biometrics, athletes optimize their mix of recovery time and training. They train smarter, not just harder. Exercise is a form of physical stress. Mental and emotional stress also affect your body.

Both mental and physical stress may disrupt homeostasis. This can lead to metabolism issues, insomnia, heart problems, hormonal imbalances, and chronic illness. Stress management and stress reduction improve both quality and quantity of life. You can use HRV and other key biometrics to track the success of your stress management program and to plan for “recovery” just like an elite athlete.

Before we discuss applications, it helps if you understand what these biometrics measure and how stress may alter these readings in the short and long term.

How Stress Affects Your Heart and Your Oxygen Levels

Heart Rate and Stress

Most health-conscious people recognize that stress impacts well-known metrics like heart rate and blood pressure. Have you ever found that your pulse and blood pressure were higher than normal at the dentist’s office? If so, you experienced this phenomenon.

Resting heart rate measures how fast your heart beats while you rest. Many people take a resting heart rate in the morning as a quick barometer to their cardiovascular health. Your heart rate varies day to day, and moment to moment. The following factors may alter day-to-day resting heart rate:

Caffeine consumption
The previous day’s workout
Quality of sleep
Hydration levels
Hormone cycle fluctuations
A large meal or alcohol the night before
Stress levels

If you consistently follow a well-designed training plan you may find that your average resting heart rate decreases along with improvements in your physical fitness.

However, as a measure resting heart rate is limited. Due to genetics, some people just have faster resting heart rates than other people. Some hormone imbalances like low thyroid levels may decrease your average resting heart rate. Due to these reasons, you may benefit even more from tracking more sophisticated data points.

SPO2 and Stress

SpO2 stands for peripheral capillary oxygen saturation. It estimates how saturated your blood is with oxygen. A healthy, fit person usually sees a SpO2 between 95% – 100%. Illness, altitude, heart disease, smoke inhalation all affect SpO2.

Your SpO2 measure may not vary quite as much as your resting heart rate and HRV, but a sudden drop often indicates stress to your body. Traditionally athletes who train in higher elevations track SPO2 to help ensure they are getting enough oxygen. With the right device this is an easy metric to track along with resting pulse.

HRV and Stress

HRV measures time between your heart beats. When you are at an optimal state of rest and wellness, your heart is ready to respond to life’s demands. The space between heartbeats varies a little depending on your needs. When your system is “stressed,” your resting heart rate may appear the same, but there may be less variation between the heartbeats.

Tracking HRV informs you of subtle changes. For example, people sometimes find their HRV decreases a couple days before they notice cold or flu symptoms.

Factors that influence HRV include:

Quantity and quality of sleep
The previous day’s workout
Caffeine or alcohol consumption
Emotional and mental stress
Nutritional habits
Hormonal fluctuations
Illness or injury

To learn more about these metrics, download our free white paper “The Definitive Guide To A Healthy Heart.” In the meantime, the following tips and techniques help you manage your stress.

Five Techniques To Use Biometrics in Your Stress Management Program

Take Baseline Readings

Take regular, ideally daily, readings since many factors affect biomarkers like HRV and resting heart rate. Try to take the measurements at a consistent time under similar conditions. For example, you may take your baseline reading shortly after you wake up, before you eat or drink anything, and while relaxing. A higher HRV reflects a more optimal state than a lower HRV reading. A lower resting heart rate or pulse also reflects a more relaxed state.

If you notice your HRV and SPO2 trending upwards, this is a sign that your wellness and stress management efforts are working. If your resting heart rate and blood pressure trend downward, this is also a sign of success.

Look at the Big Picture

Have you ever heard the phrase “fighting fit”? In general, maintaining a high fitness level prepares your body to better deal with stress. However, the combination of acute emotional stress *and* physical stress from a vigorous workout may weaken your body and mind. Factor your stress levels with your workouts. Take it easy if you are dealing with major stress like a family emergency or a big deadline.

Light-to-moderate exercise like walking, yoga, dancing, or recreational sports may give you an outlet to recover from stress. Alternately, in some cases you may actually benefit more from a power nap or practicing relaxation techniques than a workout if your stress levels are very high.

Consider Yoga, Tai Chi, or Meditation

Since deep breathing and relaxation temporarily elevate HRV (and lower pulse) these markers may also help guide your practice. Emerging research indicates mindful practices like yoga and tai chi may increase HRV, SPO2 and decrease blood pressure and resting pulse. Some tech-friendly yogis even take an HRV reading during relaxation post at the end of their practice.

Reduce or Manage Your Life Stress

Athletes don’t want to overtrain as they prepare for either a marathon or a sprinting race. The same applies to you while working on big projects, moving, or experiencing another major life change. If possible, simplify your life. Learn to say no and avoid taking on too much.

Take Care of Yourself

Generally when you take good care of yourself, your HRV, SPO2, and resting heart rate tend to improve. Even better, your body and mind are ready to face life’s challenges. The following healthy choices may improve your HRV in both the short and long term:

Get enough sleep
Eat a healthy, balanced diet
Drink enough fluids
Enjoy moderate activity most days and improve or maintain your physical fitness
Avoid smoking
Spend a few minutes relaxing each day whether you prefer to meditate, pray, do yoga, or practice breathing exercises.

Take control of your stress levels and your fitness. You can customize your lifestyle and measure results by tracking key metrics like HRV, SPO2, and resting heart rate. In the past, only elite athletes had this opportunity, but now these tools are available to you. Thanks to fitness wearables like Biostrap you can easily take these metrics at home.

Sources and Resources:

Tracking Heart Rate Variability To Help Manage Client Stress, National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
Yoga and heart rate variability: A comprehensive review of the literature by Anupama Tyagi and Marc Cohen, International Journal of Yoga
The Definitive Guide To A Healthy Heart, Biostrap

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