Phone-Free Sleep: Loftie Alarm Clock, £130
This next-gen alarm clock not only wakes you up gently with a two-phase alarm, mimicking your body’s own rhythm for a natural wake-up, but it can also help you drift off peacefully too. With 100+ science-backed sleep tracks, from campfire to tent rain (our favourite), it’s proven to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. If you are prioritising your sleep hygiene and want to get out the habit of using your phone as your alarm clock, this is your answer.
Meditation: The Healing Mind App, £10/mth
A beautifully designed, intuitive-to-navigate, daily app that will make adding guided meditation into your day a joy, rather than something that stays on your ‘will do one day’ list. Kept simple to remove overwhelm, browse the interface to choose from a wide range of meditations to start your day - from helping you set your intentions, to sharpen your focus or let go of anger. Most are under ten minutes, so it’s an easy habit to slip into your morning routine.
Vibration Therapy: Merach Vibration Plate, £100
Big in the Noughties, vibration plates are back for low-impact workouts that require little effort but can offer a multitude of benefits. The rapid vibrations make muscles contract and relax repeatedly, enhancing strength, toning, balance and circulation – great for rest days to aid recovery or rehabilitation.
Red Light: Bon Charge Max Red Light Device, £809
Red light devices aren’t just for face masks – larger red light units are also popular with those who want to benefit from the full-body glow. Emitting bioactive red and near-infrared wavelengths, the therapeutic benefits have been shown to stimulate cellular repair and reduce muscle soreness, as well as boost skin health, alleviate joint pain and inflammation. The best bit? All you have to do is sit in front of it for 15 to 20 minutes each day to reap the benefits (perhaps whilst meditating for a double wellness whammy?).
Habit Stacking: Structured App, £18/year
As with any new wellness habit you want to implement, simply buying the shiny, latest tech isn’t going to guarantee that it embeds into your daily routine. The Structured app allows you to build a ‘habit to-do list’, constructing your day around gentle reminders to ‘take your supplements’, or ‘get off social media’. We love its satisfying tick list to complete each day to keep us on track.
Percussive Therapy: Theragun Mini, £175
If your new year’s exercise regime is starting to take its toll, help relieve those DOMs (delayed onset muscle soreness – aka you can’t walk up the stairs the day after a workout) with some percussive therapy. The science shows that the repetitive pulses deliver deep vibrations into muscle tissue, which increases blood flow, reduces muscle tension and inflammation and breaks down knots. Meaning you can keep to your new year goals, pain free.
Vagus Nerve Stimulation: Pulsetto Lite, £239
There is a real buzz, literally, around the vagus nerve right now – and specifically how we can use non-invasive precise, electrical pulses to activate our parasympathetic nervous system, thus signalling to our body that ‘we are safe' and allowing it to fully relax and switch off. For those suffering from chronic stress and anxiety and in a constant state of ‘fight or flight’, it can really help tap into the body’s own calming mechanisms to help build resilience and improve sleep. It has even been shown to positively impact the gut-brain axis to boost gut function.
