Among the many things the pandemic has taught us is that teaching yoga or practicing mindfulness using technology is never easy. Virtual trainers are having a tough time when it comes to breathing-focused disciplines, such as yoga because in person, the trainer can hear one’s breath and understand breathing patterns, which is impossible over videoconferencing platforms.

This is where cutting-edge innovations come in. A combination of hardware that never fails with technologies like motion-tracking goes a long way. A couple of years ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook said he believes that among his company’s many contributions, the greatest will be about health. His exact words were: “If you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, ‘What was Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind?’ It will be about health.”

But how does the Cupertino HQ-ed company’s Health app and the Apple Watch help with yoga or mindfulness? Yoga expert Natasha Noel, who also enjoys a substantial following on social media, tells us: “On my Apple Watch, I use the Breathe app which guides you through a series of deep breaths, and it reminds you to take time to breathe every day for a minute, two, three, four or five; it focuses on deep inhalation and exhalation. We tend to get stuck and caught up in our daily hullabaloo that we forget to ‘consciously breathe’. So, from today, if finding 10 minutes is too intense for your life, take just a minute to start breathing consciously. And then build your way up.”

The Breathe app is getting expanded in the coming days and months with watchOS 8, which runs the Watch. It is becoming the Mindfulness app, featuring an enhanced Breathe experience, plus a new session type, Reflect, which offers a mindful intention to focus on something you enjoy for as little as one minute.

The pandemic has obviously taken a toll on everyone. And Noel says that yoga not only calms the central nervous system but also releases the happy hormone serotonin. “So if you feel like yoga is too complicated, just doing the 12 steps of Surya Namaskar 10 times will help all the movement of the spine and make you feel productive. One breathing exercise that I do to just ground myself is equal breathing or Sama Vritti. All you need to do is inhale four times and exhale four times. Don’t force, stop or try and regulate your breath. Let it be natural to you.”

On the App Store, there are several options that work particularly well on the Apple Watch. In fact, Garmin, Samsung and Apple have all the basics when it comes to fitness tracking but there’s a reason why Apple has the lion’s share of the smartwatch market. Performance, the amount of data and its visualisation, responsiveness, range of third-party apps, haptics… all these are superior on the Apple Watch. It makes you want to exercise.

“Often we find ourselves releasing a sigh of relief, when surrounded by stress, anxiety, pressure from work, home and family responsibilities. You exhale all the clogged up tension. Now, imagine if we took conscious breaths every day, we would be more in the present and not hold on to the havoc of life,” says Noel.

Working with a personal trainer helps but even when the pandemic subsides, which we hope will happen soon, the app-life we have been introduced to will remain as these are options that can send real-time data to the Apple Watch. It’s a device that can persuade you to stay off the couch.

Apps to make you relax

Sourced by the correspondent

Ultrahuman: It is more of a guide that helps you stay fit, with its unique workout series, meditation and mindfulness courses.

YogiFi: The app offers flexible and personalised programmes with daily motivation to integrate yoga into your daily lifestyle.

Aura: Aura is among the best, AI-driven mindfulness meditation app for anyone interested in reducing stress and anxiety.

Asana Rebel: From losing weight to building strength, from high-intensity workouts to moving meditations: each piece of Asana Rebel is meant to fit every goal into your lifestyle.