I Tried This Wearable Tool to Help Improve Stress & Sleep — & Now I'm Obsessed With It

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Do you ever wish you had unlimited access to a quiet, soothing friend to tell you “it’s okay” when you’re super stressed, wild or wired? Well a new high-tech wearable might be the closest thing you can get to that.

Meet Apollo! A wrist-watch looking device designed in a University of Pittsburgh lab, it uses touch to create those gentle, reassuring vibes to help you feel safe enough to wind down and even sleep significantly better.

The device, per Apollo Neuroscience, “actively intervenes to improve your health using novel touch therapy that signals safety to the brain. People who wear the Apollo wearable consistently through the day and night experience more energy, focus, relaxation and better sleep…Through soothing, gentle, waves of vibration, the Apollo wearable helps your body relax and reduces the feelings of stress putting you into a state that allows you to have more control over how you want to feel.”

How does it work exactly? Well, it connects back to your nervous system — which is part of our body that helps our brains and bodies connect with the input from our environment with our brains and bodies. So when you’re experiencing high stress of the 2023 nature (emails that need emailing, bills that need paying) that you could probably address better without the intense reaction like there’s a predator on your tail, Apollo uses the gentle touch to reassure your nervous system that you don’t need a super intense panic response for that stress. It gives you the “sh, sh, it’s okay” or the “hey, we can have some fun here” or “it’s time to get to sleep” messages that can help your body and mind get in the right zone.

I gave it a try over a particularly stressful week of work and found that, once I got used to the light tapping feeling on my wrist (though you can wear it on your ankle, shirt collar, bra strap or waistband too), that I did feel soothed and reassured by it. I found that I was grounded enough to accomplish tasks (when using the “clear and focused” and “energy and wake up” modes) as well as being able to chill out from said stressful tasks when I used the “relax and unwind” and “sleep and renew” modes.)

I’ve tried my share of wearables over the years, including the well-known rings and watches that you’re probably familiar with. But what I found about Apollo is that it is way more geared toward improving your health and mood rather than just giving you the data. It’s still something that you’ll want to sit with and use frequently to see the sleep and waking benefits, but I’ve found it’s another excellent tool in my “I am really stressed, someone please help me” toolkit for my mental and physical health.