Seeing Inside - An Almost Effortless Blogpost

Almost Effortless is an Azoki blog series offering up simple ways to improve your health without significantly altering your lifestyle and habits.   Our recommendations should leave you feeling clean, lean, a tad more energetic, and perhaps a bit happier.  We think they’re worth a try.  

Every time we look around, we are reminded that the digital era is upon us.  Over the past quarter century, digital technologies have touched and transformed virtually every aspect of our lives.  In our workplaces, at school, in the car, at home, when we’re socialising, when we’re not, even when we’re sleeping, the digital world is wide awake impacting our world, for good or for bad. 

In just the past few years, however, digital technologies have entered what most of us would think of as the ‘very personal’ domain.   Now, they not only surround us, they’re inside us.    Or, rather, they’re monitoring the activities inside us, allowing us all to take a closer look at our inner workings.  The steps we’re taking, our heart rate, our sleep cycles, how frequently we breathe, and how noisily:   the gadgets we’re strapping on to ourselves are taking our measure and letting us understand what is resilient and what maybe needs a bit of a fix up.  In a world grappling with chronic illnesses and fascinated by the potential of  longevity, digital health wearables have quietly emerged as pragmatic companions in our quest for well-being.

The Potential and the Pitfalls

No longer relegated to the realm of trendy gadgets, digital health wearables have assumed a role of strategic significance in personal health management. With over 1.1 billion wearables currently in use, there’s no question that these devices - the watches, the rings, the straps and the patches - herald a significant shift in our health care.    Our potential to know and ‘see’ our inner workings has never been so great. With these new tools, we should be able to personalise - and optimise -  our diet, our exercise routines, and our lifestyle habits.  Importantly, over time, as our ability to manage our lifestyle improves, the likelihood of chronic illness should also fall, transforming and reducing the demands made of doctors and our national healthcare systems.  Healthcare costs should fall, and, as the load on our systems falls, availability and accessibility should increase.   All in all, this change is a good thing.  

Indeed, over the long-term, life should improve.  However, it’s unlikely that we manage such a dramatic shift in our healthcare industry without experiencing a few hiccups.   The rise in wearables and digital tech doesn’t signal just an increase in data and insight.  It also signals a significant shift in responsibility from the healthcare ‘system’ to the individual.  Rather than awaiting the ‘expert’ diagnosis at the annual physical, we consumers of healthcare now have the opportunity to observe our health and well-being in the moment - or at least much of it.  Using the insights of our trackers, we can spot the aberrations, or unveil new patterns ourselves.  It is we who should inform the physician now.  

It is also we, the consumers, who can act in response to the signals.  Indeed, the real contribution of these wearables lies in their ability to transform the body’s data into actionable insights, insights that we can use to offset our susceptibility to chronic illness, for example.   Chronic illnesses are now responsible for three-quarters of global deaths annually,  an epidemic placing immense pressure on healthcare systems worldwide. Digital health wearables offer a glimmer of hope that we might mitigate this statistic by facilitating early detection and risk management. An alert about an irregular heart rate or an impending hypertension issue can prompt timely intervention, reducing the burden of chronic diseases on both the individuals and our healthcare infrastructure.

These wearables can also help us seize control of our lifespan.   Longevity, once a distant goal, has now come into sharp focus as individuals strive for not just extended but also healthier lives.  We’re all working to extend our ‘healthspan,’ not just our lifespan.  In this pursuit, digital health wearables serve as practical guides, supporting us as we develop new awareness and skill in self-care.    These wearables are effectively decoding the art of aging gracefully. By offering insights into lifestyle, nutrition, and exercise choices, these devices empower individuals to make well-informed decisions that can radically increase our vitality.   And, truly, it doesn’t matter who or how old we are.  A defining characteristic of these wearables is their adaptability to individual profiles. A 40-year-old may receive recommendations centered on stress management and fitness, while a septuagenarian's device may emphasise medication adherence and balance maintenance. These wearables are just what the doctor ordered. 

But with all of the promise associated with these devices, I wonder if we are ready for them.  Are we ready to accept the responsibility this new era of healthcare affords?  Are we ready to adapt, to change, to alter our way of living to ensure that we truly live well?  I’m not so sure.  Some of us might prefer a bit of ignorance.  

The role of digital health wearables is more than skin-deep; it is a pragmatic investment in personal well-being and a rational response to global health challenges. These wearables serve as bridges between data and actionable insights, offering a measured path toward healthier, more fulfilling lives.  But we individuals must each accept the invitation to walk on this path.   Informed choices about nutrition, exercise, and stress management are no longer elusive goals but attainable milestones in the journey toward personal health optimisation.  But again, we must accept them.  Some of us may not be ready.  Or perhaps we are just too tired to take on the responsibility.   

Our Promise

Yes, exactly:  we might be  too tired or too sick to take on this challenge.  But that’s exactly why Azoki exists.  The potential for enormous change and improvement in our health, our energy levels, and our longevity exists.  To me, there is nothing more exciting than the thought of seizing that potential.  Azoki exists to help the world heal.  All of us want to feel our best:  healthy, happy, and energetic.   It might take a little work but slowly . . . it happens.    We’ll start by charting our options, by looking at the myriad possibilities for adjustment and modification in our lives:  kicking off a new walking campaign, starting a new tradition of Meatless Mondays, getting to bed 30 minutes earlier, doing a bit of walking meditation.  All of these are good options and they are all activities that Azoki applauds.  And we can build on them.  

Azoki is your advisor, your coach, and your cheerleader.  We’re celebrating  small steps.  Remember,  it’s not what we do.  It’s that we do something:   we become stewards of our own health.  And, we invest in that health.  . . because change begets positive change.   

So, are we ready for the digital health revolution?   Maybe not . . . but it’s coming and it’s offering you the chance to live and feel better than you ever have before.  So get yourself a wearable and start learning.  And then, start doing.  Azoki will be with you every step of the way. 

Yours in Health & Happiness, 

Sarah