This Vibration App Might Be the Greatest Natural Anxiety Relief Technique You’ve Been Looking For

In the hustle and bustle of modern life, it can be difficult to find moments to stop and reset. When you finally do get a moment to yourself, it's so tempting to just mindlessly scroll on your phone to numb any lingering stress or anxiety. But what if there was a way to use for phone for good—that is, as a tool to move through your stress, and then let it go? And it all starts with good vibes...literally.

Meet Apollo Neuro: a wearable technology company that specializes in the power of touch. The brand's award-winning wearable clips and bands give off therapeutic vibrations to help you stress less, sleep better, focus, and improve your overall mental wellness. Recently, Apollo Neuro launched a new feature on its app called Apollo Sessions, which allows you to access its scientist-developed vibrations right from your phone.

According to David Rabin, MD, PhD, a board-certified psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and co-founder of Apollo Neuro, Apollo Sessions utilizes your phone's built-in vibrating technology (think: the buzz when you get a call) to target and activate your vagus nerve—the major cranial nerve that runs through your spinal cord and helps control nervous system relaxation.¹ In other words, it's instant relaxation right at your fingertips.

Recently, there's been a lot of talk about vagus nerve stimulation to relieve anxiety, but most of the methods shared online are not necessarily research-backed. That's what makes Apollo Neuro stand out from the rest: its vibrations have been studied through clinical trials conducted by Dr. Rabin and his team of researchers, and have been successfully used with clients in his practice, particularly those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or some form of trauma.

"We started testing electrical stimulation, vibration, and sound" back in 2016, says Dr. Rabin, after clients in his practice weren't getting relief from standard treatments. "We thought, 'Can we use technology to deliver feelings of safety to people's bodies more easily?'" he adds.

Eventually, his team found that a combination of all three—sound, touch, and vibration—can create feelings of safety within the brain similar to the therapeutic doses of psychedelic drugs like MDMA, which Dr. Rabin has studied, too.

So, how exactly does this all translate to your phone? We spoke with Dr. Rabin to learn more about Apollo Sessions, plus his take on whether vibration therapy is the wave of the future.

How vibration technology works to relieve anxiety

"On a biological level, Apollo is like music for your body," says Dr. Rabin. That's because, just like music, vibrations also produce sound waves. Typically, we can hear sound waves between 20 and 20,000 Hertz, but Apollo's vibrations sit at the lower range: about 20 to 200 Hertz. These low vibrations are felt throughout the body and help "boost vagus nerve activity through touch," says Dr. Rabin.

Why so low? According to the app, "bass travels better through dense material, like bone. Your sternum is one of the best bones at transmitting bass to your body."² In the same way that bass reverberates through your body at a concert, these vibes move through your body to calm (or energize!) your nervous system, depending on their Hertz level. It can also produce the same warm, fuzzy feeling that other forms of physical touch can, "like getting a hug after a bad day," says Dr. Rabin.

Scientifically speaking, Dr. Rabin says these vibrations activate your vagus nerve, which sends signals to your parasympathetic nervous system (i.e., the part of the nervous system responsible for rest), to take over.³ This process can also slow the activity of your hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis), or a system of glands responsible for releasing hormones like cortisol during times of stress.⁴ It's almost like telling your body: "Hey fear center, calm down," he adds.

Dr. Rabin says that when you are feeling stressed, you want to turn up your vagus nerve activity as much as possible, to remind the body that it's safe, and so things like digestion, immunity, reproduction, creativity, and empathy can resume in full force.

There might be other health benefits, too

Beyond stress relief, "studies are showing that these specific vibration patterns are actually healing people's bodies," too, Dr. Rabin says. His clinical trials have found that regular use of vibration therapy can regulate heart rate variability (HRV, or time between each heartbeat), blood pressure, brain fog, PTSD, and depressive symptoms. In fact, one trial with veterans found that using Apollo consistently for 12 weeks improved PTSD symptoms as well as certain standard medications.⁵

While there is still much more research to be done on vibration therapy's effect on physical and mental health, Dr. Rabin and the developers at Apollo Neuro have witnessed the benefits of this therapy, even on themselves. "We started sleeping, feeling, and focusing better; we found ourselves using it every day and shared it with our colleagues, friends, and family,” he adds.

And ultimately, vibrations are a low-stakes, accessible way to try and soothe anxiety in the moment. There is no risk of side effects, and Apollo Sessions, specifically, is free at first download. “If anything in your life vibrates, it might as well vibrate at frequencies that make you feel good and heal you than at frequencies that don’t,” Dr. Rabin adds.

How to use Apollo Sessions

Using the Sessions feature on the Apollo Neuro app is fairly straightforward. All you have to do is sign in with your account information (or create an account if you're not already an Apollo user) and scroll through a variety of preset vibrations to find one that matches your need. Once you hit play, place your phone anywhere on your body that you'll feel the sensation: on your chest while lying down, on your lap while sitting up, or even on your arm while typing at your desk.

Each session should kind of feel and sound like how your phone vibrates when getting a call, though it will increase and decrease in intensity based on the type of vibration session you choose. An energizing session will feel more lively and upbeat, while a calming session will feel low and slow.

You can use these sessions at any time, though Dr. Rabin has found that consistent use is key to reaping the stress-relieving benefits. That could look like using it every night before bed as part of your meditation practice, or first thing in the morning as you're waking up. (There are no set rules!) You could even use it as-needed for anxious moments that pop up throughout the day—before a big presentation, social event, or hard conversation.

To gain access to even more personalized vibes, you can opt for Apollo Premium (which will cost a monthly or annual fee) that's attached to an Apollo wearable device like a band or clip. This allows you to hook up your device to the app and keep track of your favorite vibration presets, schedule daily sessions, track your sleep, and even utilize AI to help personalize your experience.

Other app features we love

There are a few other notable features of Apollo Sessions and the app that we love. Apart from being convenient—it's quite literally at your fingertips—there are some other specifics about the sessions' design, navigation, and offerings that make it unique. This includes:

• Six vibration presets: Choose from calming sessions like "Relax" or "Hug," or energizing sessions like "Refresh," "Espresso Shot," "Let's Go," and "Good Vibes."
• Customizable vibration intensity and length: Each session comes in a two-minute, five-minute, or 10-minute version of each session, so you can adjust based on how much time you have. You can also adjust the intensity of the vibration from zero to 100 percent. "So, if you want to feel calm with more energy, we can tune the 'songs for your body' to be a little faster, a little louder, or a little more intense, just like music," says Dr. Rabin. "And if you want to feel more relaxed, more meditative, more internal...we can turn them down," he adds.
• "How to use" tab: Learn how to get the most out of your experience, plus the science behind vibration therapy, straight from the source.
• Ability to log your favorites: Keep track of the sessions you turn to the most for easy access.
• Subscription levels: It's free to download, but you can purchase a Premium subscription for $89.99 per year, a SmartVibes subscription for $99.99 per year, or Apollo Pro for $159.99 per year.
• Bluetooth connection: You don't need a wearable to use Sessions, but if you already have one (like an Apollo clip, band, or Oura Ring), you can connect it to the app for more personalized vibes.

Could this be the future of mental health treatment?

Vibration therapy is fairly new, but Dr. Rabin does believe it's a crucial part of the future of mental health care. "Even though Apollo today is very much a consumer wellness technology, the future is full integration into mental healthcare, and ideally giving people a first-line thing they don’t require a doctor for," he says.

While traditional mental health treatments—talk therapy and psychiatric medication—are still the gold standard of care for easing symptoms of certain mental health conditions, we know that sometimes, these methods don't work for everyone. That's when alternative therapies, like somatic therapy, acupuncture, meditation, yoga, and yes, sound and vibration therapy, can be used alongside standard methods, with guidance from a healthcare professional, to see if it helps.

“While we can still use pharmaceuticals in the extreme cases, we don’t need them for everyone,” Dr. Rabin says, noting that many people who fit the diagnostic criteria for PTSD do not respond well to medications. There's also cost to consider: vibration therapy is much cheaper than most psychedelic-assisted therapies like ketamine, for example, which can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $14,000 for a full course, Dr. Rabin notes. Plus, your insurance may cover vibration app subscription—Apollo is HSA/FSA eligible—in addition to standard psychiatric medications and therapy.

"This is a really exciting time for mental health because now we just made it free—anyone in the world with an iPhone, which is like billions of people, can just download this app, and their phone can be a source of healing and calm for free,” he adds.

Are there any drawbacks to this technology?

In general, vibration therapy is a safe and effective way to ease stress and anxiety, even if it's from your phone. Over the years, the medical community has raised concerns about cell phones emitting radiation and contributing to negative health outcomes. But studies to date have no evidence that cell phone vibration or exposure increases risks of things like cancer. And let's be honest, you're already near your phone all the time anyway (hello, nighttime scrolling), so using a vibration for 10 minutes each day isn't likely to cause you any extra harm.

One possible drawback to Sessions in particular? There are fewer vibrations to choose from compared to Apollo's wearable devices. That's because the wearable devices run off their own custom motor, whereas the app runs off the phone's limited motor. So, "the phone can only do the relaxation and calm to high, wakeful energy; it can't do sleep or the deeply relaxing states because they require much lower frequencies that the phone can't do," Dr. Rabin says.

The bottom line

Whether you're winding down after a long day, getting energized for the day ahead, or looking for moments of calm in your busy schedule, vibration therapy with Apollo Sessions might be just what you need. Just keep in mind that if you are living with a mental health condition like depression, PTSD, or anxiety, it's advised to seek support from a mental health professional before treating symptoms on your own. You may need a higher level of care in addition to alternative therapies.

That said, using vibration along with other treatment modalities is safe, effective, and accessible. "We did not want this to just be a medical device that sits behind a prescription pay wall. We need people to be able to access this anywhere, because it’s universally safe,” says Dr. Rabin.

"Feeling good and health should be a human right and should be accessible to everyone—and we’re making that a reality," he adds.

To try out the Apollo Neuro app yourself, download it on iOS for free or subscribe starting at $89.99 per year.