We live in a world of metrics. Heart rate, sleep quality, activity levels - all valuable data that can help us understand ourselves better. But, while sensors can show what’s happening in your body, they can’t always explain why.

One thing that’s become clear, is that looking after our mental health is just as important as our physical health, and in fact - the two are more intertwined than people realise. So as much as checking for a raised heart rate is important, so is asking yourself why.

That’s where NOWATCH’s Check-Ins come in.

What Is a Check-In?

A Check-In is a simple practice of pausing to notice how you feel: emotionally and physically. In the NOWATCH app, you can set up two kinds of gently watch vibrations, one that prompts you four random times a day, and another when the watch detects you've been in a stress response for a while.

The app offers a range of emotions to choose from, plus an option to log where you are and what you're doing. These snapshots create a picture of your inner world throughout the day and let you see how you’re feeling emotionally alongside how your watch says your reacting physically. Increased heart rate could mean nerves, but it could also mean excitement. By logging your emotion alongside your data, it helps you understand the link between the two.

How to Do It Properly

The most important thing to remember: this is a moment for you, not just for the app. The benefit is in the pause itself. Notice what's going on inside your mind and physically in your body: is your jaw clenched? Are your thoughts still or racing? Are there any aches anywhere? We're so used to just going about our day that we rarely stop to notice, and the more you notice, the more you start to see.

Why It Matters

Building interoceptive awareness

Check-Ins strengthen what's called interoceptive awareness, that’s your ability to sense what's happening inside your body. To give you an example, one signal most of us are well versed in decoding is a rumble in your stomach - that means you’re hungry. But can you decode a tight chest or energy dips? Being able to notice these signals and spot patterns, will help you give your body what it needs, exactly when it needs it.

It prompts you to notice valence (whether a feeling is positive or negative) and reactivity (how strongly you feel it).

A more intentional you

A Check-In is more than data collection; it’s an intervention. In the moment, it interrupts your stress response by bringing attention to how you’re feeling, helping you recover and respond more calmly. Over time, it strengthens your emotional regulation, giving you greater control over how you react to challenging moments. By creating this pause, a Check-In gives you the choice to act intentionally, to be who you want to be, rather than letting your emotions control you.

Read more: The Power of Mindset: How You Can Learn to Control Your Nervous System

Developing emotional granularity

When you log how you feel, you're developing emotional granularity: the skill of identifying emotions with greater precision. Research shows that people who regularly notice and name their emotions are actually better at controlling them too. Instead of simply feeling ‘bad’, you can pinpoint exactly why you're feeling the way you’re feeling. A racing heart might not mean panic; it could just mean you care. Understanding exactly how your feeling helps you better decide what your body and mind needs in the moment, responding with choice rather than habit.

Awareness changes everything

Over time, your Check-In history becomes a valuable reflection tool, it’s almost like a diary you can look back at to spot how you were feeling each day. Looking at this alongside your stress, sleep and activity data, you can begin to spot patterns in which habits affect your mood in both a positive and negative way. This not only helps you recognise triggers but also improves how you communicate patterns to a doctor, therapist, or coach.

At NOWATCH we’re on a mission to reveal how mental and physical health are deeply linked and Check-In’s are a great way to visualise that. Seeing your mood alongside your metrics is the key to spotting what habits helps you to feel your best.

New to NOWATCH? Discover how the science behind our wearable works here.