I love technology, at least the logical side of my brain does.

I’ve been to conferences where the magical attributes of new technologies are beautifully demonstrated, with lots of smiling people, which will save lives… potentially. If the promotional hype won’t save your life, it most certainly will promise to significantly improve your ability to prevent poor health, in chronic disease management, in your future. Great I hear you say, the machine will do it for me I don’t have to change a thing!!

I’ve listened to very excited healthcare professionals about the wonders of this new gadget and how transformational it will be for me or the person in front of them. The irony is, it is hard not to get excited by the potentials and the possibilities, and anything that provides practical advantages and hope is a good thing, right?! I think yes and I also think no.

As a healthcare professional and on a personal level, I’ve seen and used technology on blood sugar testing, go from dipstick for glucose to glucometers the size of a brick! to a neater futuristic at the time glucometer, lots of different designs & colours, to a pen size to a 25mm continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to a €euro size CGM. Fantastic right? Well yes but also no.

As a holistic healthcare provider, I see clients arriving and wearing not only one wearable device but two, for all that extra up to the minute information about how your body is performing! ECGs, oxygen levels, steps, pulse rates, blood pressure. I’m just waiting for a wearable that tells me the length of my telomeres any day soon! Is this a good thing? Well yes and also no.

We are human, and behind all the hype and all the results, managing fear around all this information is key. Give a perfectionist a wearable, there is anguish or frustration ahead. Managing fear that your pace maker might give you a unexpected thump from the inside. Managing fear that your results aren’t as in range, as all those smiling promotional people obviously are! Managing fear around oxygen saturation levels in the middle of the night. Managing fear when life throws you curveballs and all your devices are reassuringly scaring the bejaysus out of you because stress impacts our physiology. Nothings in range.

A constant reminder that you are not ‘normal’, a constant questioning are you good enough? Are you doing enough? Enough? Enough? Enough? Who needs coffee when you have so many devices to speed up your heart rate.

We used to get news every few hours, then on the hour, then on the half hour and now there are channels 24/7 with news. At least you can switch that off. You cannot ignore your health, you cannot switch off a chronic health issue. It is important to get to a happy place, not the smiling people happy place, but the place where a wearable does not create anxiety, does not rule your quality of life and where you can trust yourself and listen to your own body cues. I’ve had a lifetime of training and I still have ‘flip out; moments. I’m just a lot faster at tuning back into my body.

The beauty of your body is that is that it is totally subjective. It is not a machine. It works in a very personal way. It is on your side even when it feels like it isn’t. It is consistently doing it’s best to rebalance your physiology. All you need to do, are the simple things, socialise, laugh lots, exercise (preferably with a dog although optional), healthy eating, keep your brain busy.

One of the reasons I love acupuncture is that it works on the body. Calm the body you calm the mind. Stress and inflammation are reduced and if done regularly, you will not only get an extension on your life but a guarantee of a better quality of life. In fact I’d hazard a guess those smiley happy people had a session before their photo shoot!