Mental wellness is one of the most important aspects of everyone’s lives, and Apple has a couple of useful features to help one keep track of one’s mental wellbeing. Coincidentally, 10 October (tomorrow) is Mental Health Day. Here are some tips to boost your mental wellness with Apple (including an activity you can win a limited edition award for).
Source: Apple
1. Mindfulness Limited-Edition Award
Apple Watch users, listen up. You can record 10 mindful minutes with any app that adds to the Health app on iPhone to win a brand-new limited-edition award on Mental Health Day (10 Oct). If you have been using the Mindfulness app on Apple Watch, log in 10 mindful minutes on the app to earn this award.
Source: Apple
2. Keep Track of Your Moods
Keeping a log of your own mental state can help build emotional resilience and all-around awareness. By identifying your feelings such as negative emotions such as sadness and anger can positively impact your body by slowing down your heart rate.
Source: Apple
The State of Mind feature available on Apple Watch, iPhone and iPad helps you quickly log your momentary moods and emotions. You can also attribute these emotions to multiple lifestyle factors such as sleep or exercise. I have been using this diligently, and I found that it helped me make positive changes to my lifestyle as well.
Source: Apple
3. Mental Health Assessments
Available on iPhone and iPad, you can access depression and anxiety assessments that are often used in clinics to understand your risk level. Please note that these are not meant to diagnose you in any way – you should be sharing these results with your healthcare provider to make informed decisions.
4. Track Time Spent in Daylight
Did you know that spending a minimum of 15 – 30 minutes outdoors can help to reduce anxiety and stress levels, and increase positive feelings? On your Apple Watch, you can track the time that you spend in daylight with the built in ambient light sensor. You can simply access this information in the Health app.
Source: Apple
5. Journal app
Journalling has been proven to be a healthy activity that helps people reflect and practice introspective thinking. If you have not been using it, the Journal app allows you to capture specific moments and milestones in your life with photos, videos, audio recordings, locations, and more. Apple’s on-device machine learning prompts personalized suggestions to inspire journal entries as well.
Source: Apple
6. Focus
This is one of the most useful features Apple has introduced to the ecosystem – and if you have not been using this, you really should. Focus allows you to actively reduce distractions and set appropriate boundaries. You can schedule a Focus to be turned on at certain times or locations, or even when you open a specific app. Find out more here.
