This post is a collaboration with O2, but all thoughts and experiences are my own.
This post is a collaboration with O2, but all thoughts and experiences are my own.
In today’s world more than ever before, we all have our wellbeing at the forefront of our minds. We’re much more aware as a nation about how important it is to be looking after ourselves, nurturing our minds and taking care of our mental health.
Of course, there are the more ‘expected’ methods of self-care which are said to boost our wellbeing journeys, that we hear about often through life, other people, and the media. Exercise, a good diet, and a health work/life balance advice is presented to us daily, and it’s up to us what we do with it. However, we’re not often told much about how our smartphones, in my case the iPhone 12, can help us on our journey, which is what I would love to highlight today.
One thing I have noticed is that the use of technology is often kept away from these pieces of advice, however, we’re a nation who run our daily lives through smartphones, so it’s worth being aware of how our devices can actually help us! The first stereotypical thought would be that our iPhones are not the obvious way of supporting our wellness. But this is where I actually felt quite passionate about putting this article together, because I have found that the iPhone 12 gives me a huge array of apps and features which support my mental health, and have also helped with things like productivity, organisation and fitness.
Here, I’ve put a list together of some of the ways I regularly use my iPhone 12 to support my wellness journey:
Relaxing and Mindfulness
I have always struggled to switch off when it comes to the end of the day. I use my phone for pretty much everything – talking to friends, catching up with family, sharing photos and videos of my little one to loved ones, emails, shopping, work. It is constantly in my hand and constantly in use! So, when people say they don’t go on their phone from 8pm at night, I know I find that extremely hard.
Instead, of not using it all together, I have been utilising apps and features that work with my iPhone 12 to help me relax and unwind. Meditation apps are a new one for me, in which I’ve been training myself to use Breethe and Headspace the hour before bed, because these are guided meditation apps. I have found that I benefit from guided meditation apps the most, as I need that guidance to keep me focused. Meditation has never come easy to me, but I find that by using Headspace in particular, it gives me new meditations for sleep which span across music, nature soundscapes, or storytelling sleepcasts.
Exercise and fitness
I used to be such a gym go-er before I had kids! Now, I have to squeeze in being aware of exercise and movement during my busy, multi-tasking days. It’s easier now to track my fitness via my iPhone, seeing as I use it so often! The ones I personally use include Couch to 5K and Nike Training Club, they are so straightforward and simple to use on my iPhone.
When it comes to working out, I’m much more of a runner, which is why the Couch to 5K app has been great for me to have on my phone. Whether you’re returning to running after a few years off, or you have literally only ever jogged for a bus before, the infamous Couch to 5K app is going to help you! It aims to get you from walking to jogging for at least half an hour in approx. two months.
With the Nike Training Club app, I was attracted to this one first because it’s free and had heard many others raving about it. Its focus is short HIIT workouts, in which you great beautifully produced videos and top trainers, and even lifestyle coaching thrown in. The beauty of this app is some of their workouts are made for when you’re at the gym, and others when you’re at home, so it covers both.
Health and Body
Of all the external apps and features you can download onto your iPhone 12, let’s not forget the iPhones own Health app! This app works by gathering up information from your iPhone, Apple Watch, and other apps you may user to create a personalised health profile for yourself.
It’s free and a great place to monitor your own health! The concept behind the iPhone’s Health app is to act as a centralised place for all data, which a lot of us want. It’s ideal for people who like to keep their data organised, covering sleep trackers, step trackers, food diaries, mental health, and any other form of health data. If you do a search online, you’ll find an extensive list of apps which sync nicely with the iPhones Health app!
You’ll find that the Health app functions as four main categories: activity, mindfulness, sleep, and nutrition. I started off by adding to each category with extra apps, and then once Health was set up in the right way I wanted it to, I found it a lot more personal, and it has made meeting my health goals easier than ever!
Food and diet
I am such a foodie, so I must admit I don’t use the food apps for dieting and calorie control. Instead, I use them for meal ideas and inspiration, which result in a wider variety of meals for me and the family, and improved mood (because I love food!). Having a healthy diet is a very big part of wellbeing but enjoying food and having treat meals every now and again is what I say contributes to an overall happier, balanced lifestyle.
I have the Hello Fresh app on my iPhone 12 as I regularly use Hello Fresh for just two meals a week, so encourage me to try new recipe ideas and to ultimately cook from scratch! For my own ideas and cooking, SuperCook is a brilliant app, in which you can enter the items you have to cook with (great if you have random items in your store cupboard and want to try and make a meal!) and it gives you potential recipe ideas using what you have.
Yummly is the best free one I have found, which is more like a cookery search engine disguised as an app. You can use it to search for recipes, and it searches across food blogs and the more official cookery websites too. You can filter by cuisine, cooking time, allergies and other queries making it a fabulous food app!
Overall wellness journey
For me, my iPhone continues to help me with my wellness journey as it gives me help and advice literally at the touch of my fingertips. I would be lost without it – it plays such an important part in my life. I would also be lost without the iPhone reminders app that is built in, as anything that comes up, I set a reminder alarm because I am officially the most forgetful person out there. I also love the camera and video quality too, which is possibly why I have never turned away from the iPhone in over 15 years!
If you have one too, which are your favourite apps that have helped you with your own wellness journey? Do let me know in the comments.
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