"If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable." -- Rainer Maria Rilke
Maybe Wearables provide us with the opportunity to get a step closer to nature-within ourselves and in the environment around us.
In that vein, I would like to share some of the thoughts around Wearables and our relationship with the IoT from the WearablesTech conference in Santa Clara, CA that I attended last week.
Further questions that came to mind were:
How can we use the latest innovations in Tech to improve our well being, sink into our bodies and revel at the insights that come through self awareness more. Can we use technological tools for this purpose? How can we link ourselves more clearly to the world in us and the world around us? How can we use Wearables for stress relief and increase our clarity of thinking and quality of life with them and maybe even through them?
What truly is the "quantified self"? And how useful is it really?
As we walk through our own journey of stress
Let us remember
the functions
of the body-
We know
that
the one thing
that we-
all humans-
have in common
is
A body
The one common denominator
which unites us all
A body
We all feel through it
We all experience through it
We all live in it
Stress
The buzzing thoughts
the whirls
of our minds
regularily
take us out of our bodies
we run
we forget
that we are even in one
We are in a body
A body we are
And
maybe sometimes it even is a nuisance
not efficient enough
not fast enough
not productive enough
SLOW
Sick
Painful
Edgy
We can adorn it
We can now measure it
We can dialog
with it
like we never have before
We can climb out of the box with it
and go beyond
what is expected of us
into the realm of the divine
By listening in
into our body
For that
we can nourish it
appreciate it
sink into it
Move it
Love it
and
Breathe it
or let it
breathe us
Move with it
let it move us
sink deeply into our needs
and
use it as
a springboard
to replenish
the body of the environment
Earth
We can communicate
through it-
Dance
We can use it to integrate-
Walk
We can communicate
to the outside environment-
Facial expression
We can communicate with others through it-
Team sports
We can use it to shake off nagging thoughts-
Sports
Or we can wage war with our body-
against others
and against ourselves
Or we can learn to understand ourselves
and our bodies
as well as our emotions
We have a choice
on how to do that-
Imagine
We can direct objects through focus
We can even make drones fly*
When we come back into the house of our bodies fully
We can stay there
peacefully
in acceptance
and growth
We can use motion as a healer
We can tap into wearables
as a thermometer
We can fall back into nature
to ground back into ourselves
at the deepest level
Shift to move
and change some of the patterns
Rewrite the brain paths
And with that change the chemistry of our bodies
Understand our chemistry
and-
because of that-
rewrite
our brain paths
Become one with the movement of what already is
Attune to the reality
without veils
In the midsts of stress thorns 
find the possibilities of light
Connect to our
information highway from the body
our lamina 1
in a peaceful way to our
somatosensory cortex
Heal
our ravaged
and stressed amygdala
Enjoy the
flow
of serotonin
coming to the prefrontal cortex
by walking
by moving
by expressing the rhythm of
our heart*
Maybe with the help of a wearable?
How do we connect with ourselves and others-
What are the tools that could make us more aware, less stressed.
Maybe more in synch with our own flow and that of the flow of the environment around us.
So that we know what we need, when, what the situation requires or, what the next successful action is. So that we manage to avoid stress loops and instead notice that where we are off balance. That we need to take care of ourselves and readjust adequately.
In an ideal world none of us would need these pointers, there would be no trauma, no chronic stress, no violence and no dis-ease. To fine tune ourselves to our bodies and our environment we may be better served to put on a wearable instead of swallowing a pill to numb us.
What wearables could help us help ourselves and each other in the most effective way?
The WearablesTech Conference opened up a whole world of possibilities of new wearables, and creative possibilities.
Wearables that can be swallowed(Motilis Pill), put into your eyes (Sensimed Triggerfish), listened to, and, of course, made. Technical workshops abounded as to the how of Wearables, the tech inside, the new designs the possibilities of bringing it all together. Hardware, software, app development and new materials were explained, shown and demonstrated. A heaven of circuits that can be thin as paper (by FlexibleCircuit Technologies), materials that can resist any weather changes (UICO technology that looks like a see through plastic), even a trip to the north pole. Older wearables such as HeartMath were also sharing some of their approaches with a presentation on Heart Rate Variability and how it is applied in, influenced and changed through a Wearable. The conference was a deep dive into the still evolving tech movement and a new maker movement on the rise.
So far, it seems clear to me that the quantified self is useful when it provides us with an insight into our own bodies and minds.
Other than the familiar iWatch, Sony wearables, Fitbit and more, there are specific wearables that target chronic stress symptoms in a different way.
Here is a short list of Wearables for stress relief through training of self awareness that I have found most interesting up to date. I have included their specific area of connection to the body.
The Muse-EEG brainwaves. Wearable to calm the mind.
HeartMath wearable- Heart Rate Variability. Slows the organism to a state of relaxation where the brain waves are in synch with the heart beat patterns.
Spire-the breath. A wearable that attaches to you and provides feedback on breathing patterns. Let's one know when it is time to catch one's breath.
Votsh Waves-Emotions. Light lamps that soothe your mood and can be placed on your desk or mounted on the wall. They are connectable to various wearables and music sources.
Mindspa-Brainwaves. A deep relaxation tool using glasses with light patterns, sound and guided meditations for various occasions.
There are of course others that are more complex but just as fun even though they are used more typically for Consciousness Hacking and research
Neurosky pro
or the Emotiv EPOC for research as well as hacking
Art
Woman climbing out of a box
Marck
Sensory Perception Chairs
by Alan Macy
Sturmtruppe-geht-unter-gas-vor
VR guided meditation snippet
Your house
Science
*It is scientifically proven that our connections in the brain ultimately function more effectively when lamina 1 and the somatosensori cortex are lined up with the pre frontal cortex rather than being caught in the side loop of the stressed out amygdala. What a beautiful flow results when all the circuits are connected through an ever fluid flow of seratonin rather than cortisol.
See Dr Daniel Siegel's work at the Mindsight Institute and Peter A. Levine PhD therapies to let go of trauma for more information.
Live demonstration at the WearableTech Conference-
*Live demonstration of how to command drones through focus in the presentation by Jim Mc Keeth of Embarcadero