Korean Wellness and Samsung: Rediscovering the Healthy Value of Sleep for Holistic Well-being

Sleep is one of the essential aspects for overall well-being and a healthy life. It is during these hours that our body performs a series of crucial functions, from cell regeneration to memory consolidation. However, many of us suffer from sleep disorders or a poor quality of it. These problems can lead to decreased performance during the day, disrupting our circadian rhythms and negatively affecting physical and mental health. There is a light at the end of the tunnel: thanks to technological advances, we can now monitor and improve sleep with the help of Samsung Watch6 smartwatches and Korean Wellness.

The ability to monitor sleep through smartwatches offers tangible benefits for daily life. They allow users to identify any irregular sleep patterns, such as sleepwalking, frequent awakenings during the night, deep sleep, and REM sleep. These information enable users to make targeted changes to their sleep habits and follow a path towards better quality rest. Additionally, sleep monitoring provides objective data that can be shared with healthcare professionals, helping them to identify any underlying issues. The ability to accurately assess sleep quality makes smartwatches, particularly Samsung’s Galaxy Watch6 models, an invaluable tool for improving overall well-being.

How to monitor and improve sleep with Samsung devices

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch6 smartwatches, combined with the Galaxy Fold5 or Flip5 and the Galaxy Buds2 Pro, are changing the way we approach sleep. These smart devices can not only accurately monitor sleep and sleep quality, but also provide detailed and valuable data and make recommendations based on these information. Users, thus, can track their sleep cycles, their duration and depth. These devices also manage to monitor nighttime heart rate, body temperature, and stress level. We can also use Galaxy Flip5, or Fold5, as a recorder of our snoring.

All of this makes it possible to identify possible sleep problems and to adopt targeted strategies to improve them. High-quality sleep not only leads to more productive and less stressful days, but also has a positive impact on long-term health. In this article, we will explore how to use Samsung smartwatches to optimize sleep and how these improvements can transform daily life into a healthier and more fulfilling experience.

Samsung recently organized a special event in Portugal at the Praia do Canal Nature Resort, conducted with the support of clinical psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Julie Smith. The main goal of this meeting was to explore the possibilities offered by the Samsung ecosystem, and Korean Wellness, for improving well-being, focusing in particular on sleep and how to monitor it. This often-overlooked aspect is, in fact, closely related to our productivity and ability to think clearly. The key question sought to be answered during the event was: are we really getting a quality night’s rest?

Research, Data, and Goals. Summary of the Global Sleep Health Report produced by Samsung

Recent research, including a study conducted by Samsung that examined 716 million nights of sleep from Samsung users worldwide, highlights the complexity of maintaining adequate sleep hygiene to achieve satisfactory sleep quality. Globally, the average sleep duration has decreased from 7 hours and 3 minutes to 6 hours and 59 minutes, falling below the National Sleep Foundation’s recommended minimum threshold of 7 hours, while wake time during sleep has increased by 1.3 minutes per night. This change has caused a decrease in sleep efficiency, with a significant impact on everyone, but with a more pronounced decline among women and older generations. This trend is global, and among European countries, Italy ranks at the top of the list for the shortest sleep duration.

Quality sleep is not only an ambitious goal but also the foundation of a healthier and more fulfilling daily life. When we sleep well, we feel more energetic, focused, and less prone to stress. This translates into greater productivity at work, a better ability to handle daily challenges, and better overall health. Additionally, sleep is a key component in weight management and the prevention of chronic health problems such as diabetes and heart disorders. The accurate data provided by Samsung Watch6 smartwatches helps users understand the importance of a good night’s sleep and make informed choices to improve their physical and mental health. Let’s take a closer look at how to optimize sleep with Watch6 smartwatches for a more fulfilling daily life, focusing on practical tips and strategies to achieve this goal.

However, monitoring sleep alone is not enough: establishing positive habits is equally crucial, and thanks to research and support from Samsung devices, this is simplified through its “Sleep Coaching” service. This personalized program, lasting one month, observes the sleep pattern for seven days and associates the user with one of eight animals that best represents them. The goal of “Sleep Coaching” is to assist the user in changing their habits towards healthy routines that consistently promote quality sleep. This service tracks daily activities and offers valuable advice on how to manage them best, covering a wide range of aspects from exercises to nutrition, mindfulness to health awareness.

Is the quality of our nighttime rest adequate? Dr. Julie Smith answers.

Dr. Julie Smith has collaborated with Samsung to educate the public on the importance of health and wellness. One of the key areas that Dr. Julie Smith and Samsung are focusing on is sleep and its importance for overall health.

From a mental and physical health perspective, Samsung technologies are designed to help users create better sleep habits by leveraging its wide range of devices, from Galaxy smartphones and Galaxy Watch6 to Samsung TVs and home appliances. Samsung is committed to enabling as many people as possible to access useful tools for better managing their health, which is why it continues to improve the Samsung Health app by adding increasingly advanced and comprehensive features including sleep, fitness, mindfulness, and health tracking functionalities.

An example of this is the Mindfulness service available on the Samsung Health app. Thanks to a partnership with Calm, Samsung users can directly access mindfulness programs on their Samsung Health app, with additional features such as stress management and a sleep coaching program. Dr. Julie Smith has collaborated with Calm on a session called “Overcome Stress and Anxiety,” which you can find here.

We asked Dr. Julie Smith some questions about how music can influence us and our relaxation.

How does listening to music affect sleep quality?
There is increasing interest and popularity in using music to aid sleep. So far, the research evidence on this is mixed, so there is more research to be done in this area to understand it more fully. Of the studies that show effects, those tend to be measures of how quickly people fell asleep or subjective reports on how people felt they slept. But there is more investigation to be done around the effects of music on the objective quality of sleep. Within the studies that show a positive effect in helping people fall asleep, the main suggestions about how, center around helping to relax the body and mind, offering distraction from worries and shifting emotion state. I personally like to browse the meditation sounds and music, helping to de-stress throughout the day.  

Which music genres are most suitable for relaxing before sleep?
One of the major factors for difficulties getting to sleep is anxiety and the subsequent problems calming the mind and switching off from those stressors. For anyone listening to music with the aim of helping them get to sleep, it makes sense to play music that promotes calm and relaxation. The genre that helps you to feel calm will be individual to you.

Can music help improve sleep disorders like insomnia?
As stated above, the research data on this appears to be mixed at present. Some studies have found positive effects and others have not. The data on meditation and insomnia is powerful, so this is a great option to try. A common factor for insomnia is anxiety and stress. The key is to settle down your nervous system at the end of the day to help you fall asleep. Mindfulness is a skill that can help you to deal with your anxiety during the day, and you can also use those meditation skills to engage in relaxation closer to bedtime.

What devices or tools are used to create music specifically designed for sleep?
If I can shift this question from ‘music’ to ‘sounds’, then Calm is a great app that offers high quality soundscapes or guided meditations designed to help with sleep. Through their partnership with Calm, Samsung users can access Calm directly through their Samsung Health app. And at nighttime, when you don’t want to be looking at your phone, Galaxy Watch users are also able to participate in Calm’s mindfulness programs directly on their wrist without using their smartphone and Samsung Health features can also help by minimizing light from your devices. I find using Calm directly through the Samsung Health app is perfect for eliminating distractions.

I bet that the quality of your sleep will have a strong impact on everything that matters most in your life, for better or for worse. Sleep tracking is a great way to better understand and ultimately improve the overall health of your sleep.

Dr. Julie Smith

What advice can you offer for creating an ideal music playlist to help sleep better? 
For anyone who wants to try using music in the evening to help them unwind and promote sleep, it makes sense to use music that helps you to relax and calm the nervous system. It is heightened arousal of the nervous system that can keep so many of us awake. The brain is incredibly associative so any music you associate with feeling restful, safe and relaxed is a good place to start. But be sure to incorporate that music into the wider context of your evening. For example, relaxing music while checking emails and taking work calls is less likely to help you to de-stress ready for bed than listening to the same music while having a bath or reading in low light. The Active Noise Cancelling feature on the Galaxy Buds are also great when you want to really avoid distractions and immerse yourself in the sounds and help to de-stress.

Korean Wellness: balance between mind, body, and spirit.

The second protagonist of this interesting event held in Portugal was Korean Wellness, a holistic approach to wellness based on Korean culture and its rich millennia-old tradition. The philosophy of Korean Wellness promotes balance between the mind, body, and spirit through a series of practices aimed at improving overall health and well-being. These practices include meditation, yoga, skin and hair care, a balanced diet, and regular physical activity. Each practice has a positive impact on individual health, but when combined they create a holistic approach that aims to improve quality of life in a complete way.

The same philosophy of Korean Wellness is also at the core of Samsung Galaxy Watch6, Flip5, and Fold5 devices, which leverage the Samsung Health application and connected ecosystem to provide a comprehensive view of health. With a wide range of features, this application, available on devices such as Galaxy Watch6 and Galaxy Z series smartphones, allows users to monitor physical activity, diet, sleep, stress, and mental health, helping them maintain a healthy and active lifestyle.