Sensate Review: The Future of Music Resonates With Your Heart & Head Like Never Before

In this blog post, I'll talk about my extensive experience with the Sensate vagus nerve stimulator.

Here's a general outline of all the sections of this blog post - feel free to skip ahead to a specific section or to read my very extensive 24,000-word blog post in its entirety:

• What Is The Sensate & Vagus Nerve Stimulation?
• How The Sensate Works
• How The Sensate Fights Stress
• Who Should Use The Sensate?
• What Hinders Vagus Nerve Performance?
• Vagus Nerve Advanced Explanation & Examples
• Conductive Resonance's Impact On Your Vagus Nerve
• My Restoration Of Vagus Nerve Function
• Sensate Technical Issues: Brainstorming Solutions
• Using The Sensate: Easy-peasy Lemon Squeezy 
• Defective Sensate & Xen Devices: Hassles and Headaches
• Lasting Health Improvements: Life After Sensate
• Sensate App: An App a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
  
• Conclusion: My Take-Away Message
• Tracking My Sensate Pebble Experience Over The Course Of Months (Long Chronological Listing)

What Is The Sensate & Vagus Nerve Stimulation?

Please note—you can save $25 on a Sensate by using discount code FERGUS when you order directly through the Sensate website by clicking HERE.

Sensate is a non-invasive device that stimulates the vagus nerves and manages the functioning of multiple organ systems. Due to the far-reaching influence and multi-tasking nature of the vagus nerve, by supporting their optimal functioning, a variety of improvements are experienced.

Here's a definition of "vagus nerve stimulation":

Mayo Clinic Article: "Vagus Nerve Stimulation"

"New, noninvasive vagus nerve stimulation devices, which don't require surgical implantation, have been approved in Europe to treat epilepsy, depression and pain. A noninvasive device that stimulates the vagus nerve was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of cluster headaches in the United States."

While testing Sensate, I experienced rapid, increasing, sustained improvements across the board with the only common denominator being the plausible upregulation of my vagus nerve in direct correlation with using this device.

How does a palm-sized, feather-light, bilaterally-asymmetric, brushed-texture, polymer-shell laying on your chest influence your vagus nerve?

I can only imagine that inside this pendant shell are multiple crystal oscillators generating precise individual frequencies as well as layers of harmonic frequencies. 

Sensate's sound-wave frequencies penetrate deep into your core to stimulate your vagus nerves. 

Composers have arranged these frequencies, which are felt as vibrations with smooth crescendos and decrescendos of amplitude or pulsing intensities.

Their 10, 20, or 30-minute arrangements are selected through the phone app and set to accompany various coordinating ambient spa or meditation musical tracks often layered with elements of nature sounds such as water or birds. 

If you crave variety and customization as much as I do, you will appreciate as much as I did the discovery that the arrangements of these tactile vibrations at specific frequencies can be layered with your favorite relaxation music despite the website's statement to the contrary.

My favorite music didn't need to be a perfect match for the high-tech vibes to be powerfully effective at making me feel good.

As a music lover who soaks up the buttery tones of songs like "Sound of Invisible Waters" by Deuter in an effort to settle my heart down when it's in a funky rhythm, let me tell you, music as I knew it was merely dabbling in restoration compared to the transformative powers of Sensate's sensory vibes.

Settling for 2D music after the 3D Sensate experience of palpable resonance is like watching a show filmed in black-and-white.

The game-changer is not the music streaming in through your ears. Naturally, you know best what music helps you chill. The Sensate app has got you covered on that front if you want, but to me, that's like the complimentary beverage and snack on a flight.

The break-through, earth-shattering technology is their vibes that support your vagus nerve to better manage your organs and inflammation levels.

Just like the kinetic energy of using a rebounder circulates a stagnant lymphatic system, using Sensate is a fun and relaxing way to empower your vagus to be at its best to support your overall mental and physical wellbeing.

Here at AlexFergus.com, we love to help you leverage the power of specific frequencies of energy to boost your physiology. 

You have most likely read an article by Alex explaining how red-light therapy uses precise frequencies at a calculated dosage to benefit body parts near the surface.

What frequencies can penetrate deep enough to reach your vagus cranial nerves winding from your brain down to control your organs?

Sound-wave therapy penetrates deep into your body's core to tone your vagus with its harmonic vibes through bone conduction to transfer the energy waves.

As you know, red-light therapy typically uses wavelengths in the range between 600nm to 900nm to benefit areas of your body within a few centimeters of the surface of your skin. Here's an equivalent for the Sensate's efffects:

How The Sensate Works

By laying Sensate on your breastbone, the vibrations radiate through your ribs, and ripple through the air in your lungs, and tickle your vagus nerve in interesting ways to make them more responsive and toned.

Picture your favorite musical instrument for a moment. Sensate turns your chest into a reservoir of resonance like the body of your favorite instrument.

Why would you want to make your body an instrument for the transfer of sound-wave energy? 

Your ribcage and lungs amplify the energy much like air inside the body of a cello.

It's the same amplification at work in your favorite instrument as well. All musical instruments have a part that vibrates to wiggle the air and also a chamber of air that makes the sound louder.

Sensate is a battery-powered device that creates sound-energy waves. It's like the strings on a guitar or the buzzing of your lips into a trumpet.

Your chest cavity is like the body of the guitar or the brass tubes of the trumpet.

Imagine taking the little mouthpiece off the body of a tuba, the reed mouthpiece off an oboe, or removing a drum's batter head membrane still stretched on its shell.

You could make any of those components vibrate, but it would make a weak sound. You wouldn't go to a symphony to listen to just the vibration components of all the instruments.

It's when you add the resonance of the air inside the instrument's container that the vibrations take on the beautiful qualities of that chamber: be it the tiny silver tube of a piccolo or the 1100 pounds, 9-foot wooden box of a concert grand piano.

Sensate generates the vibrations. Your chest is the chamber of air that creates the resonance to amplify those vibrations.

Does that mean people in your environment will hear loud vibrations reverberating inside your chest?

Great question! They won't because we don't have a hole in our chest to let the sound out, like an acoustic guitar. We don't have an electronic amplifier like an electric guitar. 

Our ribcage is covered by noise-dampening muscles, adipose, and skin, unlike the brass bell of a French horn or the bare reverberations of the copper bowls of kettle drums.

When we sing, we use our vocal cords to create vibrations. The air in our windpipe, mouth and nasal passages create the resonant cavity of air. Our mouth opens to let the sound out like the bell at the bottom of a saxophone.

Hum out loud to feel the vibrations inside your neck, mouth, and nose. Sensate feels like that inside your body, deeper down in your lungs. 

The smaller columns of air in your neck and head make higher-pitched sounds for talking and singing than your much larger chest cavity.

We can project our voice powerfully and sing deep notes with the air in our trachea, nasal passages, and mouth. The sound-limiting factor for most of us is the strain on our vocal cords and size of the air chamber.

Imagine, Sensate generating the vibrations instead to save our voice box and vibrating the air in our lungs which our voice box cannot reach.

Envision how much larger, deeper and more resonant the sound of air in our chest compared with the much smaller column of air in our mouth, nose and throat used in singing.

You will experience deep sound-energy waves reverberating throughout the depth and breadth of your chest.

These inner sound waves will be felt by you, yet not heard by others. I often used my Sensate device while working in a customer communication role. Here's how the Sensate helped:

How The Sensate Fights Stress

Why would you want to wear Sensate on the job? It provides potent stress relief more effective than slowing your breathing rate, positive visualizations, and positive affirmations... combined.

Slowing our breathing and thinking uplifting thoughts already have measurable effects on improving your vagus nerve functioning.

Your cranial nerves are like internet cables. When they work well, so do the body systems they control. 

These twin endings of the vagus nerve can be left shell-shocked after overwhelming stress. 

Fight or flight are powerful nervous system reactions triggering you to be proactive in the face of stress. 

The freeze reaction happens when your body becomes numb and paralyzed like a hermit hibernating to survive the winter. It can take days, years, or decades for your body to recover from a hard freeze.

Our last winter storm cracked the casing on the internet cables in my neighborhood. Water seeped in, which made my computer systems lag and glitch.

Unbearable stress at any point in your past may have sapped your strength, drained the color out of your life, and forced you to play small to stay afloat. 

Sensate would be remarkably effective for you if you're still reeling from the stress of all you have survived.

If you are pushing hard to reach a goal that demands you sacrifice healthy habits on the altar of a higher calling, and your only option is to endure to the end, then Sensate will help you recover better during those challenging times.

Like all new inventions, there are still durability issues needing resolution.

Who Should Use The Sensate?

I don't recommend Sensate if your vagus nerves have been basking in sunshine and rainbows, everything's coming up roses in your life, and now you're living the dream with blue skies, smooth sailing, and the wind at your back. 

For those of you already enjoying a charmed life sporting champion cranial nerves of steel with reserves to spare, then Sensate cannot further improve upon perfection. 

If you or a loved one are struggling to bounce back from adversity or mend a heart that's been torn asunder or recover from the nightmare of an earth-shattering ordeal, I believe Sensate will be instrumental in your healing journey.

Stress happens a spectrum unique to each individual. On the positive side, there's the hormesis effect of stress being a positive motivator. At manageable levels, it can be a catalyst for growth along with strength training, cold exposure, breath control, and fasting.

On the flip side to each of those, stressors that are too intense for a person would cause more harm than good: a torn Achilles heel, frostbite, asthma, and scurvy. 

Your symptoms of undue stress may show up in unexpected ways according to how you're wired.

As an introverted, intuitive, feeling, perceiver, others comment that my vibe always comes across as patient, soothing, calm, kind, cheerful, and optimistic.

The way symptoms of stress show up for me is usually insomnia and/or irregular heartbeats. 

Vagus nerve functioning controls many of our organ systems including our heartbeats.

What Hinders Vagus Nerve Performance?

Unhealthy stressors, are anything that exceeds the hormesis effect without full recovery. What gets on your vagus nerves is unique to how you're wired. 

I often get comments from coworkers and managers wondering how I can remain totally unfazed by significant technical and logistical setbacks even in high-stakes situations. Problems related to impersonal circumstances such as the weather, politics, shortages, finances, deadlines, outages, delays, and physical possessions don't phase me in the least. An old oak limb punctured a gaping hole in our roof recently, and to me it was no biggie.

On the other hand, I am often overthinking interpersonal dynamics, pining away for every single person I have ever loved and lost all the way from the miscarriage I had in 1999 to even my great-grandparents and everyone else who has ever touched my heart, and tirelessly, fervently, yearning for idyllic harmony with others to the point of losing sleep daydreaming about how to foster better relationships. To each his own, right?

We are all doing our level best to play the cards we've been dealt with the nervous system we're endowed with. Whatever your stressors and style of stress symptoms, you have my empathy and my hope that Sensate will help you.

If you're unsure how well your body's handling your specific stressors, past or present, test don't guess. Measure your heart rate variability. 

Biostrap is the best tech to check HRV because it takes multiple readings throughout the night to give you fresh insights in the morning. 

Better yet, Biostrap has pulse reports that give you astounding data analysis of five-minute intervals to understand your heart's functioning on a level that far surpasses any other consumer tech bar none.

Biostrap's detailed analysis of my HRV as an indicator of vagus nerve resilience has been priceless to see what variables move the needle.

Spoiler alert: Sensate had the most profoundly positive effect on my vagus nerve, as evidenced by my Biostrap data and my feelings of physical and emotional wellbeing, of all the strategies I've ever tried.

Experiencing Sensate's deep, penetrating kinetic energy in specially designed patterns and alternating frequencies is an enjoyable experience for the vagus stuck in freeze mode, akin to basking in the radiant warmth of a crackling fireplace. 

If you're under 70, the most accurate indicator of the impact of stress on your vagus is your heart rate variability (HRV.) 

For those over 70, or any of us prone to having irregular heart beats, it gets more complicated to tease out the irregular heart beats affecting generalized HRV, so I would highly recommend relying on the detailed analysis from Biostrap's pulse reports for a far more accurate perspective.

In general for most people, high HRV is like a flexible martial artist who can kick high overhead or do a low sweeping kick with equal ease. 

Low HRV is like your most elderly loved one who takes short, slow steps and struggles to get up from a chair. 

They are so happy to have the grandkids visiting, but now they can only watch instead of getting down on the floor to play with toddlers or doing basketball jump shots with the teens.

Hopefully, your vagus nerve has the range of motion of a professional ballet artist turned pole-vaulter. Here's a more in-depth explanation:

"The Vagus Nerve in the Neuro-Immune Axis: Implications in the Pathology of the Gastrointestinal Tract"

"The risk for developing a chronic disease is associated to a dysregulated ANS with a decreased vagal tone. In the context of brain-viscera interaction, HRV monitoring is an important tool which allows the sensing of vagal tone and its impairment and, hence, the CAP [cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway] deficiency. HRV monitoring is a biomarker which predicts the prognosis of several chronic inflammatory diseases (151). As we know that a decrease in vagal tone induces a reduction in HRV." 

When we are on an extended vacation in a tropical paradise floating in the lagoon and lounging in a hammock under palm trees, our vagus nerve might have the reserves to keep every bodily system operating like a well-oiled machine.

Meanwhile, back in the real world of your daily grind, the insidious stressors can build like a frog in hot water. Eventually, you hit the wall at the end of a harrowing battle to stay afloat against the raging storms of life. You simply can't go on that way.

Vagus Nerve Advanced Explanation & Examples

Don't let your once-buoyant vagus get inflexible like the elastic in your favorite underwear that got inadvertently damaged from bleach and dryer heat and can no longer meet performance expectations.

To save your weakened vagus from ending up in the rubbish with your worn-out undies, you can track your HRV flexibility and do things to boost the spring in its step.

Here's where it gets exponentially interesting as the analogy breaks down. These twin nerves within you far more complex than elastic bands. 

Your vagus nerve is living and pulsing with chemical energy. They're transducing it into electrical energy to relay a staggering amount of complex information back and forth between your bodily systems and your brain. 

The ascending information flow telling your brain what your body is up to accounts for roughly 80% of the traffic on this neural network. 

PubMed Article: Information travels between 1–5 metres per second (approximately: 1–5 yds/s) for other body organs to reach out through the vagus to let your brain know how things are going. (Walking=1 m/s and fast running speed=5 m/s for comparison) The brain messages the rest of the body through the vagus at 6 meters/sec.

Your vagus nerve controls your vocal cords for humming, singing, and the tones of your speaking voice, which turn parts of your anatomy in your neck, nasal passages, and mouth into an instrument of kinetic energy that lands on your eardrums and is perceived and interpreted by your brain and the kinetic energy transfer involved in singing and speaking turns around and tones your vagus nerve.

Are you a music lover?

The closest thing I've ever experienced to Sensate has been the neurological effects of having a visceral response like a tingling sensation, or butterflies in my stomach or a yearning ache in my chest from the emotion of singing along with music playing at home, or being part of the chorus in musicals, being in band and choir concerts in school, worshiping in a sanctuary, and even the feeling of a loved one whispering in my ear.

Just like I feel the music vibrations physically in my head and neck when singing, in my ear when being whispered to, and in the palpable sensation of tugging on my heartstrings over songs that deeply resonate with me, Sensate creates a resonance that reverberates in my chest like the body of a cello. 

Are you a gamer?

Sensate vibrations are to music what gaming-controller vibrations are to your enjoyment of gaming. Would you want to play this year's hot new release game using a controller from the last millennium? Feeling the vibrations in your hands adds impact and immersion that enhances your gaming experience.

Up until now, my ears were the only avenue for music to touch my mind. Sensate does more than immerse me in the music like the haptic feedback of a controller's rumble pack because those sensory stimuli augment the game through your peripheral appendages of fingers, hands, and arms. 

I'm not sure how the physics of Sensate's frequencies play out in the sphere of my biology, but I envision Sensate's penetrating vibrations making my vagus nerve reverberate like two long strings on a harp. 

Check out the video of this musician at Burning Man playing the Earth Harp. It's an excellent visualization of the physics of sound waves creating beautiful-sounding vibrations. 

Amazingly, there are multiple modalities of influencing the vagus nerve.

"The Cholinergic Anti-inflammatory Pathway: A Missing Link in Neuroimmunomodulation"

Likewise, the cardiac anti-arrhythmic drug amiodarone, as well as aspirin, indomethacin, and ibuprofen substantially increase vagus nerve activity (reviewed in 18). The precise identification of the brain receptor(s) that mediate these effects will facilitate the development of effective, specific receptor agonists to pharmacologically activate the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway.

It also is interesting to reconsider alternative therapeutic approaches in light of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. For instance, hypnosis, meditation, prayer, biofeedback, acupuncture, and even Pavlovian conditioning of immunological responses are believed to involve central mechanisms that modulate experimental systemic or peripheral inflammatory responses. Moreover, autonomic dysfunction occurs not only in association with lethal critical illness and sepsis but also is considered a complication of diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and other autoimmune diseases (reviewed in 18). 

Listen to the vibrato in this singer's voice. Even though his vagus nerve isn't visible to us, it is real. His vagus is controlling his voice and in an upward spiral, it's also being toned by his singing. 

Your vagus nerve is as real as his. Does your vagus have that level of control over your voice or is it a bit shaky and sporadic? 

If you look in the mirror and say "Aaaaaaaaah..." does your epiglottis rise high and straight in the back of your throat? Or does it pull unevenly to one side, quiver and drop prematurely? Any imbalance may be a simple sign of diminished vagal tone.

What are the implications of weak and shaky vagus nerve for the rest of the major organs systems being controlled by your twin parts of the vagus nerve such as your heart, pancreas, and intestines?  Akin to how improving internet packet loss and latency reduces system instability and lag, VNS improves systems issues within your body.  

"Chronic vagus nerve stimulation is associated with multi-year improvement in intrinsic heart rate recovery and left ventricular ejection fraction in ANTHEM-HF"

"In patients with high-intensity VNS (≥ 2 mA), intrinsic HRR was improved at the 12-, 24-, and 36-month determinations by 8.9%, 11.4%, and 16.3%, respectively (all p < 0.0001 compared to screening) (Table ​(Table2),2), consistent with increased parasympathetic nerve activity." 

For the past year, I have aspired to progressively improve the tone of my vagus nerve and the steady progress I've witnessed has blown me away.

I started with simple strategies such as ending my showers with cold water (simple, but not fun), singing opera style at the top of my lungs, gargling like an erupting volcano, humming hard, and exhaling slow enough through my nose to portray Juliet Capulet after drinking a sleeping potion were I cast in the role.

Earlier this year, my vagus nerves had the privilege and pleasure of testing Xen by Neuvana: a device that emits frequencies via an earbud to stimulate the aural branch of the left vagus nerve.

A few months later, I began my quest of testing Sensate.

Sensate has an app that plays surround-sound ambient music through your earphones which they say is 20% of the effect. 

The other 80% of the benefit comes from turning your body into an instrument that vibrates with kinetic energy to support your vagus nerve.

Conductive Resonance's Impact On Your Vagus Nerve

It's one of those things that make you go, hmmmm.... Scientists are testing various frequencies and other variables one condition at a time. For example, when treating epilepsy, 10–30 Hz is best.

How does supporting your vagus nerve have a positive influence on all your organ systems?

We are each have different weak links in the chain where symptoms first appear. Consider a well-designed metal bridge in an area such as Minnesota where the state puts salt on the roads to melt slick ice and reduce traffic accidents.

The bridge will gradually begin to rust from the corrosion hastened by the saltwater. The most rust-ravaged spots will be the first to give out.

What can be done to preserve the structural integrity against the cumulative wear and tear of corrosion that is analogous to VNS? 

Wikipedia Article: "Cathodic Protection"

"Cathodic protection was first described by Sir Humphry Davy in a series of papers presented to the Royal Society^[2] in London in 1824. The first application was to HMS Samarang^[3] in 1824. 

"Davy was assisted in his experiments by his pupil Michael Faraday, who... discovered the quantitative connection between corrosion... and electric current...

"Thomas Edison experimented with impressed current cathodic protection [ICCP] on ships in 1890, but was unsuccessful due to the lack of a suitable current source and anode materials. 

"In some cases, impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) systems are used. These consist of anodes connected to a DC power source, often a transformer-rectifier connected to AC power."

The electric current would help spare the steel structure from reacting with the salt water and prolong its functionality. This is the best metaphor I can think of to help wrap my mind around VNS helping my vagus nerve and the systems under their control.

Yet, it still does not do justice to VNS in my opinion. Why? Because cathodic protection is all about preventing damage. It could be integrated into a new structure to maintain the integrity of the steel and greatly increase its usefulness, but it can't fill in the holes on the body of an old rust-bucket car that has been eroded by the salt spray of these northern roads.

My Restoration Of Vagus Nerve Function & Health Results

In my personal experience with VNS, first with Xen, and now again with Sensate, I experienced improvements in my heart rate, heart-rate variability, heart-rate range, sleep, and feelings of wellbeing.

Furthermore, I had a dramatic reduction of inflammation in the bursa of my left shoulder. For three years, my left shoulder was frozen and now it is not.

Now, I no longer have any pain in it and my mobility is almost back to what it was. I still can't hold a barbell across the back of my shoulder, but I can now get my fingers partially under the bar.

I also attribute my shoulder restoration to taking one capsule of this inexpensive $8.88-a-bottle Spring Valley turmeric every couple of waking hours and this $5.44 essential oils in Vicks VapoRub that I massaged into it every 60 minutes.

P&G Article: "From A-choo to A-ha! Unlikely Innovations."

"Originally named “Vicks Family Remedies” in 1894... It was created by Lunsford Richardson out of love and concern for his sick son.
"Years later, the very boy who inspired the salve would change its name to Vicks VapoRub and sell it in the familiar blue jar. "

I had used both, on occasion over the years, but I believe the increased frequency was instrumental in healing my frozen shoulder along with the inflammation-reduction action of VNS.

Additionally, VNS has helped the constant ringing in both my ears to resolve as well. I also attribute this to a reduction in noise levels on the job many months prior. I am positive VNS helped stop the ringing, yet I believe it would have continued had I not been able to modify my exposure to loud sounds on the job.

On top of all that, the daily twitching in my upper trapezius, fingers, and side of my ribs resolved. I did have a single one-off day for my side which I think is also related to my thiamine vitamin B₁ levels since I am allergic to most food sources of thiamine and thus need to supplement but had not done so.

Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing?

Unlike the fine print and fast-talking at the end of most medical-treatment commercials, any possible side-effects of occasional over-use were my own doing, easily avoidable, and well worth it in the big picture perspective of all I gained through experimenting with using Sensate.

Those isolated events could best be characterized by the law of diminishing returns in which an excessive dose negated the benefits of an ideal amount. I describe all my experiences testing Sensate in detail with objective data from Biostrap and Fitbit below. 

Sensate Technical Issues: Brainstorming Solutions

I have recommended Sensate to my coworkers, friends, family, and of course my Alex Fergus teammates because it has been so beneficial to me.

Here in the States, I received packages from Sensate faster than from any other company I've worked with. They process orders in 1-2 days then units are delivered in 7-10 days. In my 4 experiences waiting on delivery, they under promise and over deliver, which I always admire.

Plus, Sensate has free shipping on returns and replacements. Their customer service is has been consistently classy.

My only concern is for those living where there are longer shipping times, such as Alex in New Zealand. Even with unlimited replacements the first year, he may spend a significant portion of that year waiting on shipping if there were technical problems, especially if the defective unit needed to be received before a new one was mailed out.

At this time, one unit costs around $249 plus shipping ($10 shipping to me in Texas) plus any duty fees unique to your country (code FERGUS saves you $25 if you use THIS link).

Over the course of the one-year warranty on technical problems, and assuming free shipping on returns and replacements, that works out to $21.58 monthly. 

Except that it would take time to ship returns and receive replacements. Assuming a continuation of my experiences at a rate of 4 units every 4 months would be 12 units a year and allowing for the shipping of returns and replacements, that would be half the time waiting on delivery. Hence, waiting on the mail would be the lion's share of the time for my friends in more remote areas around the world.

The ideal solution, for me at least, would be to buy two units to try to keep a fully-functional unit always at the ready. That way if one needed to be sent back, I would be able to use the other one in the meanwhile.

Costs are all relative.

If you're curious to know how Sensate compares to the cost of a surgically implanted VNS device. Here are a couple of hyperlinks imbedded in these quotes to take you to the source.

"VNS therapy currently costs approximately $20,000, which includes the implant and surgical procedure." 

 "The price of the generator pulse (model 102) plus the electrode (model 302) is ~9,300 €."

Furthermore, the FDA has only approved it for a handful of diagnoses here in the States, so it's a moot point. 

How I'd use VNS in an ideal world...

Let's imagine the sky is the limit given enough time to invent solutions. If I were to invent the ideal device to help myself, it would operate for hours without my involvement as the VNS implants do.

My dream device would be scheduled to activate automatically an hour before bedtime and for an 8.5-hour sleep window. I would make it operate 15 seconds out of 60 the first 15 minutes, 30 seconds on and 30 off the next 15 minutes, full on the following 15 minutes, and then half and half again the final 15 minutes before bed.

Throughout the night, it would have low-intensity VNS for 5 seconds every 30 seconds. I would need to have some sort of crisscrossed elastic band to secure it for side sleepers.

I don't know what the EMF exposure is, but I would like it to be very safe. 

Most of all, I just want it to keep working for months and years.

Sensate technicals: The Here and Now

Back to the practical, current reality. I haven't yet mentioned the battery life. It exceeded expectations and allowed me to take it for granted. The same goes for speed of charging the unit.

I remember using these devices a few times a day most days. I don't even have any recollection of charging it in hindsight. Obviously, I did. It was just fairly effortless and unmemorable. It lasted considerably longer than the battery in Xen.

Using The Sensate: Easy-peasy Lemon Squeezy

Its power button has a blue-ring light when fully charged that turns yellow when its battery is getting low. I appreciate how user-friendly all those little details were, so I could just keep it charged as needed on auto-pilot.

I always kept it in the drawer of my nightstand so that it was always within arm's reach if I woke up in the middle of the night and needed help falling back asleep.

Instead of using Sensate's included lanyards, I just removed the pendant from one of my own chains to make it look more like a necklace. I left the chain always attached to it which was the perfect length for the mid-point of my sternum bone. If I wasn't using it laying in bed, it was always securely around my neck and usually inside my shirt.

Comfort is king and Sensate is ultra light-weight, smooth, compact, handy, quiet, and soothing. You can wear it nearly anytime and anywhere. One size fits all.

Convenience is everything. There is no spray to squirt and no password to enter. It works to start it and them put your phone in airplane mode while enjoying the track. It even lets you use it across the room from your phone.

Most of the time, I was using Xen and Sensate laying in bed in the dark before falling asleep. It was a piece of cake to operate Sensate in absolute darkness. There is only one button that is easy to feel for and has a narrow ring of light around it when pressed.

My husband is a good sleeper, and he easily fell asleep while I was using this to help me fall asleep almost every night. It has an audible yet subtle white-noise sound that is easy to get used to. I have an air purifier tower that I keep in my home office during the day and in our bedroom at night, because I like a gentle white noise to lull me to sleep.

It gives you a choice of 10, 20, or 30-minute sessions. The instructions were user-friendly and the app always worked flawlessly. I downloaded all the tracks to the app.

If you follow the order of operations in the simple and straightforward directions, it consistently plays the track within about 3 seconds. If not, it was always my mistake in getting the steps out of order.

Well-designed software is one of life's simple pleasures. I used the app hundreds of times during the experiment and it performed perfectly, quickly and hassle-free each time.

The intensity settings were very intuitive and corresponded well with the feel of the vibrations. That was an area where Xen had room for improvement. 

Defective Sensate & Xen Devices: Hassles and Headaches

With both Xen and Sensate, I handled these devices with kid gloves. I almost knit a protective pouch lanyard thingamajig for Xen. I didn't contemplate it for Sensate since yarn would hinder the bone conduction.

All I can say is this, you know how newborns must be transported down the hall of the hospital's labor and delivery suites in a rolling bassinette? Well, my level of caution was approaching that especially with my first Xen device. 

Thus I can safely say, the technical malfunctions I experienced with both Xen and Sensate were not due to any bumps. I honestly think these VNS devices are simply so cutting edge that they are still working some of the kinks out. 

What is so remarkable to me is that even when these devices were only partly working, they still helped my vagus neve function better and my symptoms improve. 

Reading customer reviews, a few others experienced units that stopped working either completely like my first two or partially as my last two did. Therefore, I am not the only one.

My husband said on more than one occasion during this 4-month experiment, "I would be so upset if my TV remote control stopped working that often. A new remote is only ten bucks plus I could get a replacement from the store within half an hour. Still, I expect remotes to last for years not weeks and Sensate costs far more."

Compared to What?

Remotes are nothing new. Sensate is the only device of its kind and hasn't been around that long. It's par for the course with new inventions.

You know it's revolutionary when you have nothing to compare it to. That first device, I was listening to all the tracks on full intensity hoping to feel something, anything, but I didn't know what exactly.

When I felt the vibes for the first time with the second device, it was like nothing I've ever experienced before.

In a way, using Sensate could be compared to kissing that makes me weak in the knees and gives me butterflies. Did you know that sensation of butterflies inside you is a sensation of your vagus nerve?

Compared to a professional massage, you may be able to enjoy two to five massage appointments for the same cost as Sensate. Plus, unless you are independently wealthy, it wouldn't work to schedule an impromptu massage to help with insomnia in the middle of the night the way Sensate is always available.

My Reverse Engineering Fail

Sensate is in a league of its own. I tried to brainstorm ideas for other related devices to cobble together such as bone-conduction earbuds and a frequency generator app to jerry-rig it. I wasted $50 on that wild-goose chase. I didn't receive even a fraction of the VNS benefits because those vibrations are impotent and inadequate stimulation to impact my vagus nerve the way Sensate does.

Thus, que sera, sera. It's a gamble with a one-of-a-kind value proposition. Maybe you'll get lucky and have a unit that works good-as-new until the cows come home or maybe not.

As Luck Would Have It

People kept saying I was just unlucky to have four units fail in four months. I never said that though.

Quite the contrary, I feel extremely lucky to have the opportunity to test such innovative VNS products as Xen and Sensate that are both a match made in Heaven for my particular needs.

Sensate didn't charge me a dime to test their VNS devices in exchange for writing an honest review detailing my experiences. Sensate has been a tremendous blessing in my life. I love VNS and am so grateful for the improvements I have experienced!

Lasting Health Improvements: Life After Sensate

I have been working overtime five days a week since early in this experiment. On the weekends, I am working on side projects like writing for Alex. 

My sleep has struggled. Some nights, I only get an hour or so. I just take my work very seriously and tend to keep thinking about it. Sensate used to helped me switch gears from work mode to sleep.

My frozen shoulder is still thawed and pain-free. I don't have ringing in my ears or muscle twitches any more.

I don't have any Biostrap data from recent months because the post broke on the strap. You would think I was a rugby player or trapeze artist, but alas, I just have a desk job. I really baby all these amazing devices because I highly value them.

The clear pattern with my heart is that when I don't sleep well, it doesn't perform up to snuff. The question I keep wrestling with is, "Does my heart have less trouble now?"

Yes and no. 

Long work days and short nights are pretty much my norm. Hopefully, this is temporary, and I'm working towards a better work/life balance.

I think that my heart is able to tolerate more before it jumps the track and goes out of whack. Without Biostrap data, that is purely subjective and anecdotal. I do give it some credence though because it is such a big factor in my quality of life that I pay attention to the trends.

If you would like to see the before and after Biostrap reports of how Sensate helped my heartbeats get back on track after going astray, check out my screenshots in the experiment notes section below.

Sensate App: An App a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

The app was user-friendly, fast, and its performance was always perfect.

Downloading Sensate's app is a breeze. The icon is a delicate spirograph waveform in white with fine aqua lines. Download each track to the app once and enjoy it happily ever after.

Whenever you want to use Sensate, it's fast and easy to dive right in since there's no login username or password. 

Again, if I ever had to wait more than a few seconds, I knew it was that I had inadvertently done the couple of steps out of order.

You can choose a new track or replay the last track again immediately. The following are all the current categories and titles of the tracks with descriptions.

Category: Nature
The entrance to the deepest, darkest rainforest graced by a veil of feathery palms easily brushed aside to explore the mysteries that await.

Avian 10 mins
A flock of birds soaring above the clouds in a mint-green surreal sky.

Audio track: Layers of diverse birdcalls in continuous succession with attention-pulling intricate changes in their volume, rhythm and tones. Below the birdsongs sounds like an ultra-slow, deep ensemble of cellos, French horns or bassoons playing 3 to 5 adjacent whole notes ascending and descending note by note very predictably in the background.

Vibes in multiples of three: smooth, rumble, buzz, rumble, flutter, buzz, pulses, flutter, rumble, smooth, rumble, flutter, buzz, pulse, flutter, rumble, buzz, smooth... and so on and so forth.

Forest 20 mins
Endless layers of woodlands stretching into an open meadow beneath a soft sky with fluffy floating clouds skimming the treetops.

Audio track: Layers of diverse birdcalls in continuous succession with attention-pulling intricate changes in their volume, rhythm and tones. Layers of running water and crickets chirping. There's a solo pan flute playing slow deep melodic predictable notes. Alternatively, a violin ensemble plays a slow, soaring tones. 

Below is my short-hand notes in keeping with the descriptions above. For the life of me, I can't remember what w and h stand for now, but you get the idea about how some tracks have a high degree of predictability and others have such a variety of sensations that you can't anticipate what's coming next.

Wide variety of vibes: b3, r3, p6, s1, r1, s1, r1, s1, r1, s1, r1, w3, f9, b3, r1s1 x4, w3, r3, b3, p6, b1, r1, b1, r1, b1, r1, s1, r1, w3, f1, r1, f1, r1, f1, r1,f1, r1, f1, r1, f1, b6, h1, r1, h1, r1, h1, b1...

Category: Space & Time
A close-up of the moon framed by a clock face against a midnight black sky dotted with distant stars and edged in scalloped layers of clouds parting to reveal a closer-than-life Mars.

Somnolence 20 mins
Storybook-style illustrations like paper cut-outs of a boy sitting in a crescent moon with clouds and stars drifting by.

Audio track: Sounds like a Sci-Fi electronic composition (reminiscent of the Stranger Things show intro theme) which gradually blends into slow, soaring sounds alternating predictably between a few notes. Background layers that sound like a rain stick.

Unit #3 vibes should not have any of these pauses of several seconds: b3, s2, r3, pause, h2, pause, r3, b3, pause, h, pause, r3, b3, pause, h2, pause, r3, b3, h2, pause, f, b, pause, h2, r2, b3, pause, h2, pause, f3, b3, pause, h2, pause, f3, b3, pause, h, pause, f3, b3, pause, h2, f3, b3, pause, h2, pause, f3, b3, pause, h2, pause, f3, b3, pause, h2, pause, f3, b3... 

Unit #4 vibes working properly without pauses of several seconds: b3, s2, r3, s2, h2, s2, r3, b3, s2, h2, s2, r3, b3, s2, h2, s2, r3...

Be Sensate 10 & 20 mins
A glowing pink person's silhouette inside a nearly invisible force-field aura with a brilliant light in their heart and a purple light pineal gland.

Audio track: Layers chanting monks, female vocalist, slow high-key piano scales, singing birds, soaring slow symphony of mid-tone instruments and vocals, ocean waves, a soft chime every couple minutes, and a possible Australian digeridoo occasionally in the distance.

Nebula 30 mins
Gorgeous glowing clouds floating deep in space bejeweled by a sea of twinkling stars.

Audio track: Orchestra slow descending minor-key tones, monk chanting "ohm," bell chime, wooden flute. Hypnotic.

Southpaw Ballet 10 mins
Silhouetted dancer leaping gracefully against a peaceful backdrop of flowing ribbons and soft pastel spotlights.

Audio track: Harp, flute, reminiscent of a music box, chanting monk, vocal chorus, medium-slow rhythm. More variety to the melody while still being relaxing. Repetitive rhythm echoing among the singers and instruments.

Category: Sacred Spaces
A mysterious silhouette of an Eastern temple and trees against a glowing sky.

Note Echo 10 mins
Bright notes dance on a ribbon of sheet music floating on a warm background

Audio track: Echoing sitar or kalimba, layers that sound like soaring mid-tone electronic synthesizers are added to the harp's descending scale of a few notes repeating with a few ascending notes at the end of the phrase which is repeated throughout the track.

Temple 20 mins
Silhouettes of trees lead the way to an illuminated temple against the sky at twilight.

Audio track: The perfect blend of incredibly-slow layers fading in and out of attention with chanting monks, wooden pan flute, steady low-tone French horn, either a trombone or Australian digeridoo at the end of a phrase which is interspersed with a periodic chime or gong here and there to keep things interesting yet relatively predictable as the song plays in a continual loop.

Big Sleep 30 mins
Looking down on the moon surrounded by sparkling stars while floating in outer space.

Audio track: Sounds like harp or kalimba, layered with chanting and soaring background violins and cellos alternating with French horn reminiscent of a soaring movie soundtrack. Medium slow, mid-tones, moderate variety. The song is repeated in a seamless loop.

Little Sleep 10 mins
Fantasy fuchsia sky with a full moon high overhead and a sprinkling of stardust. 

Audio track: Same as Big Sleep

Category: Breathe
The morning sky reflected in a peaceful lake banked by mountain slopes on all sides.

H20hm 10 mins
Rays of sunlight pierce the water's surface and penetrate the still, dark depths of the sea

Audio track: My favorite peaceful nature track. Incredibly slow soaring high tones in an uplifting scale of a few notes, running water, occasional strumming individual strings of a sitar, a bird chirping occasionally in the distance.

Sunrise 10 mins
Larger-than-life sun casting a warm glow on the water below and sky above.

Audio track: Electronic music combining a bouncing vibration in the foreground with a steady low tone in the background. Chanting monks join the song. Delicate medium-fast xylophone notes solo. Vibrating warble akin to a digeridoo. Soaring slow high notes. Uplifting, gradually energizing, and brightening. The song smoothly repeats the main stanza. 

Sound of Silence 30 mins
Guiding star rising above the clouds illuminating a clear night sky above.

Audio track: Peaceful, pink-noise, steady static or pouring rain, reminiscent of submarine sonic-tone sounds passing through the ocean in an up and down scale of tones, or alternatively a duet of wooden pan flutes in the distance, deep chime accent at the end of each phrase. Hypnotic and relaxing.

Conclusion: My Take-Away Message

Ultimately, Sensate is the most effective form of VNS I have experienced. My eardrums are not being the best fit for Xen, but that was also highly effective for me.

I would wholeheartedly recommend Sensate to everyone from young children to senior citizens because it is truly one-size-fits-all.

Unlike health practices such as yoga, Sensate does not require any mental or physical ability. 

Not to be morbid, but if I were in a coma, I would want someone to put this on my chest for ten minutes every two hours around the clock until I woke up. That's how effortless it is.

Defects: Parting Is Such Sweet Sorrow

Sensate had a 100% failure rate of the four units I tested. I don't think it was a coincidence. I trust the engineers are examining the four units I tested to find the root cause and make ongoing improvements.

When a unit failed, instead of being annoyed, I experienced feelings of loss and longing. VNS devices like Xen and Sensate make me wonder, "Where have these been all my life!?"

It was emotionally and physically rewarding to experiment with VNS. My Biostrap data reports below show Sensate's rapid effectiveness and progressive improvements.

No doubt, some may criticize my review for including my personal data since it is personal N=1 before and after measurements from my unique circumstances and health challenges.

My hope is that by being thorough and transparent about my unique experiences, you will have enough data points to evaluate the risks and rewards of trying it out.

We all have a spirit of adventure and experimentation that motivates each of us to better understand our challenges and test possible solutions to see what moves the needle in the right direction.

Ideally, all experiments would adhere to the following best practices:

1. Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over studies with a large number of participants is the gold standard.
2. All variables such as health conditions and unhealthy lifestyles would be excluded.
3. All participants would comply with the directions perfectly and complete the study.
4. There would be no technical difficulties.
5. No one would have to start working overtime daily halfway through the study.
6. No participant's partner would buy a bed fan mid-study nor have an epic job interview.
7. No participants would interview for a promotion.
8. No major policies would change about how they do their job.
9. No customers would be permitted to be difficult at their respective jobs.
10. Loved ones would not keep participants up late or wake them up early.
11. No changes in the participants' nutrition or supplements.
12. All study participants would own a pair of earphones from day one.
13. No participants would be permitted to experiment with alternative music tracks, nor alternative placements of the device on their body, nor alternative intensities.
14. If the device was not operating at 100% a participant could not keep using it to reap the benefits while waiting for a replacement.

In summary: all participants would have been living such a predictable and stress-free lifetimes that maybe they would be in perfect health and not even need vagus nerve stimulation to begin with and the study would show that Sensate couldn't improve upon their already perfect lives.

I don't live in an ideal world and and I am not a research scientist no matter how much I wish I could be. I'm just a middle-age woman who set out to answer one burning question: Will Sensate help meet my most pressing needs?

The answer was a clear, resounding: YES!

If you want to explore all the daily details of my experiment and the accompanying images of reports demonstrating the objective physical improvements to my heart and sleep, I'll include the whole nine yards and everything but the kitchen sink below for you to browse at your leisure.

May your vagus nerve reverberate with optimal wellness that echoes on for life! Keep reading my second blog post here:

Part II: Tracking My Sensate Pebble Experience Over The Course Of Months (Long Chronological Listing):

Day One: My email to Sensate's Customer Happiness Team:

March 17th

March 23rd: Just finished my first Sensate session. 30 minutes of soothing conductive resonance. Wonderful first impression!

March 24th: This is my first Sensate 5-minute Biostrap recording. I'm really pleased with these results!

March 25th: Sensate 20min Southpaw Ballet track worked so well. I almost fell asleep halfway through. Biostrap recording was really good. My heart just started acting up now. Biostrap says it's my ideal bedtime. I better listen!

March 26th: Felt this track for the first time, twice, since it's one of my favorites now. Perfect for bedtime.  Hypnotic, soothing, slow, repetitive music. The greatest variety of rhythms and widest range of frequencies of all tracks experienced so far.

March 26th: Played 2 4min games of mahjong on CogniFit then enjoyed 2 sessions of H2Ohm 10min vibes minimal intensity to prevent overdoing it. This track is perfect for sleep!

Just finished feeling the Little Sleep track through my frozen shoulder.  Trust me to use a therapeutic device off-label to see what happens. It worked!

Sensate definitely has a positive effect on me. I love it! I'm still trying to gather enough data to draw conclusions and compare it to Xen. 

For my tiny eardrums, I could only use Xen laying still in bed. So for me, Xen and Sensate are both used right before falling asleep. 

March 27th: Best yet for meditation. Perfectly well-controlled variability. So far, so great!

March 27th: Great Biostrap recording during the last 5 minutes of the 20-minute vibe session.

March 27th: 30 min session on my forehead.  Loved it!

This composition of vibrations is perfect for insomnia. The high magnitude fluttering was putting me to sleep in under a minute. Wishing there was far more of that on this track.

My understanding of the melodic vibes is on a whole new level now.  

This is incredibly convenient to use since there is no app password and no spray like with Xen. 

I'm really enjoying the musical fusion arrangements. So soothing like a slow, deep, peaceful lullaby. Echoes in the mind long after the session ends.

I applied for a new position as a trainer for our department. After reading the job description when my shift ended, my brain has been going 60mph imagining it. Alarm goes off in 90 minutes...

March 27th: Enjoyed 20 minutes of forest vibes while walking through the forest today. 

March 27th: Enjoying Spring in a Texas State Park enjoying Sensate's Forest track and vibes.

March 28th: I did 20m of vibes getting ready this morning, 20m while forest bathing as the Japanese call walking in the forest, 10m min on my sternum of Be Sensate track followed by 10 m of it conducted into my brain through my forehead. 

Biostrap Pulse Report shows well-controlled heart rates even when very low on sleep with high HRV (heart rate variability) after using Sensate.

Deeply immersed in sound waves before drifting off to sleep.

Used sternum Sunrise 10 min vibes twice at 5am then shoulder Sunrise twice. Now, for the first time ever, I believe, I'm doing VNS (vagus nerve stimulation) on my 15-minute work break, "Sunrise" track vibes.

 March 29th:  Recording the second half of my H2Ohm 10-mim vibes. Isn't this remarkable? It's especially great considering I had significant insomnia the last 2 nights. 

Oh and I put a gel beads eye pillow in the freezer and put that cold compress over the Sensate on my forehead with my other heated millet-filled pillow under my lower legs. I feel so blessed and relaxed and happy.

March 29th: Check out this consistent well-controlled variability despite running on fumes. 

I let myself have half a bottle of Qualia Energy to help me cope for the first time since the Qualia Night experiment. Qualia Energy works so fast and effectively to help me function on all 8 cylinders after just 15 minutes from drinking it. 

I had a customer insist on speaking to my supervisor to compliment my customer service. I'm hoping to be chosen for the promotion so it felt like such perfect timing. 

Biostrap says it's 3 min past my bedtime. G'night y'all.

3:36 am March 29th: 10m forehead and 10m shoulder H2Ohm

9:55 am March 29th Biostrap showed a favorable boost in my biometrics across the board!

11:46 pm March 29th: 30m Sound of Silence vibes (10 forehead, 20 sternum)

9:51 am April 2nd: Sensate is not working, but my circadian rhythm is still on a roll. I slept through the night!

11:51pm April 2nd

12:22 am April 3rd: My heart is still doing pretty good even after a couple days without being able to use Sensate.  

Yet, I can also tell by the feel of my heart as well as the wider range of heart rates that it's gradually worsening each day without Sensate. I hope to be able to use it again soon. I really miss it. What a remarkable invention!

9:55 am April 3rd: Fitbit shows that my resting heart rate hasn't been this low, 65, since December of 2019!



Thanks to a combination of Sensate, 1 capsule of Qualia Night, 1 taurine, 1 PS, 1 benfotamine, and going on a 4K steps walk around the neighborhood while eating a breakfast of kale, salmon, and coconut cream.

I'm sleeping soundly, quickly falling asleep at about the same time each night, waking up without an alarm clock at the same time each morning, and getting 7 to 8 hours of solid sleep during that 9hr window in bed from 12:30am to 9:30am.



I think this is why my heart rate is the best it has been in 16 months! This is my sleep with a combination of Sensate plus one Qualia Night capsule and other supplements that are all working in synergy to help me get my best sleep yet!

For comparison, these were my sleep scores during the Xen vagus nerve stimulation device experiment. However, I wasn't using any Qualia Night or other supplements at the time because I was trying to test only that one variable.

However, I finally decided to just do everything in my power to help myself sleep even if it meant compromising on creating the most well-controlled comparison of each thing being tested.

10:16 am  Essentially, I think Sensate got the ball rolling on my consistently amazing sleep. Even after it stopped working, these other new April habits of the additional supplements and breakfast walks have been enough to maintain my gains.

12:01 am April 4th

2:20 pm April 4th: Mark gave me earbuds for Easter! Now, I can hear the Sensate sound tracks in surround sound for the first time. It's like being surrounded by different birds.

I will start using it this way while waiting for a replacement unit.

2:42 pm April 4th: The forest soundscape is very similar to the "Avian" one. It just adds a bubbling brook and pan flute. Listening to it now.

I'm not even able to use the Sensate unit since it is not vibrating at all right now. I wish I could because I've been in a lot of chronic pain with my frozen shoulder the past two days. 

12:57 am April 10th: I'm so happy with how my wild heartbeats have been tamed.

I listened to the Senate with my new earphones, the "Note Echo" and "Southpaw Ballet" music tracks even without the vibrating Pebble.

11:37 pm April 10th: My third Sensate Pebble arrived today. There was no packaging padding.

The inside decorative box was open, as seen here and the Sensate Pebble is loose inside the big cardboard box.

The first two units arrived perfectly packaged in an outer box that was just the right size for the inner one with packaging material to keep the green box cushioned.

This third Sensate Pebble has been unprotected in the box during shipping. Not off to a great start with this third unit, but hopefully it will work for the remainder of the experiment.

 2:13 am April 11th: The third Sensate works! I took this Biostrap recording during the 10-min "Be Sensate" track. It's 2am so the Biostrap recording shows my heart's worn out.

11:41 April 11th: Since last night, I have been able to experience Sensate with the binaural beats and surround sound combined for the first time ever with the wireless earphones Mark gave me for Easter. 

This morning I vibed with "Forrest," "Sunrise," and now "Temple." 

Not only am I enjoying Sensate "Temple" track music and vibes right now, but I have it layered with the 528Hz frequency with inspirational music layered over that happiness frequency. 

I'm enthralled and immersed in the wonder and enjoyment of beautiful, erethreal wavelengths of peace, harmony, and joy. Consider this my happiness journal.
 

12:24 am April 12th: So many Sensate sessions today that I lost count. At one point I was using Senate's H2Ohm, 528Hz with layered inspirational instrumental music, and Biostrap's "Floating" meditation composition simultaneously! 

Just finished "Somalesence" waves reverberating through my skull and dancing with my brainwaves with earphones for the first ever combination binaural cranial conduction session. 

I enjoy Sensate so much. I feel really relaxed and happy. Going to sleep right on time tonight. Biostrap will be pleased with me for sticking to their suggestions.

9:56 am April 12th: I feel a difference now that I am sleeping normally most of the time. For example, yesterday, I carried the little wooden folding table 4K steps around the hilly neighborhood streets taking photos of my Biostrap and Fitbit trackers for the upcoming articles. 

I didn't have any heartbeats trouble, zero sleepiness, and I had sustained energy to keep working on evaluating and uploading photos long after getting home, no carb cravings, and I'm feeling fairly on top of things.

I'm savoring all the beautiful moments like getting great pictures of a bumblebee enjoying the azaleas, and my frozen left shoulder is feeling significantly better. 

Essentially, I was able to focus on living life rather than being distracted by my symptoms of low sleep countless times a day which is what happens while sleep-deprived. I think the next step for me is to start making a consistent Biostrap-suggested bedtime mandatory. 

Mandatory bedtimes don't solve insomnia. However, now that I no longer have insomnia, the only limitation on my sleep is my times of prioritizing something else above sleep, just this one time, which mucks up my sleep for the next couple of days. 

Insomnia is disempowering. Successfully sleeping makes everything else feel doable. It's a powerful feeling to live this way!

12:02 am April 13th: I just finished 20 minutes of forehead vibes "Somalesence" and "Nebula" for 30 minutes. I prefer it on my forehead even more than on my sternum and also like to mix it up by placing it on my nearly-thawed shoulder.

 

9:45 am April 13th: Working for eye doctors, I got so little REM that it often didn't even calculate a percentage, but when it did, it was around 12%. 

Around 20-25% is the norm across all age groups. I am exceeding that now that my stress is low and my vagus is getting toned with Sensate.

10:36 am April 13th: Between sleep supplements like Qualia Night, VNS from Sensate, and circadian suggestions from Biostrap, I am sleeping like a sleep coach! Happy dance!

9:42 pm April 13th: I used Sensate while working for the first time today. I started the session wearing it on a chain around my neck, music volume on zero, then put my phone in airplane mode and turned off my phone's screen. 

The vibration track still continued for 30 minutes. This is my 5th time doing this 30-min "Sound of Silence" track today. 

I also did the 20-min forest tracks on my morning walk. The neighborhood songbirds love it. They try to sing even more beautifully to impress the songbirds singing on the recording. 

I will have done 2-hrs and 50-min today, after this track. I'm going to try to go to bed an hour early since I have to get up 2 hours earlier for an appointment in the morning. I ate all the flowers and herbs in one of the sleepy time tea bags Alex gave me. Delicious!

I've been eating the contents of all the tea bags. Sometimes I eat two different halves one day and finish enjoying them the next day. 

I have had the sweetest customers yesterday and today. My cortisol should be nice and low to drift off to sleep easily, especially with all the VNS today.

9:06 am April 15th: Another ideal monophonic sleep night thanks to my routine: 1 capsule each Qualia Night, spore-based probiotics, taurine, PS, benfotamine, L-theanine, L-tryptophan, and turmeric followed by mouth taping and 20-min of cranial Sensate vibes with surround-sound relaxation music, and 4K-steps morning walks.

12:53 am April 16th: Two 10-min H2Ohm tracks tonight.

9:43 am April 17th: I've had some serious sleep improvement since starting this Sensate experiment!


9:46 am April 17th: I've had less tossing and turning in recent weeks as seen in the turquoise and orange graph.

9:55 am April 17th: March 23rd was the day I started Sensate. Now my average HRV is 70!

12:43 am April 18th: 10m cranial H2Ohm

12:29 am April 23rd: Just finished the 30m Silence track before bed in addition to others earlier today. Since using Sensate, my heart rate seems to be lower on average, but it vacillates.

11:45 April 23rd: Short night's sleep between working overtime last night and then being woken up at 7:15 from a dream and also my family being up and about.

I didn't have any insomnia though. I went for an early morning walk while eating my salmon and kale with coconut cream for breakfast. 

I went back to lay in bed and did a 20m thorax session to Forest followed by a 30m left shoulder session to Sound of Silence. 

8:23 am April 24th: I enjoyed 30m "Sound of Silence" while giving Mark a massage last evening and another 30m of it when I first got up for the day.

12:18 pm April 24th: When I first discovered Xen and Sensate on the same day and also when I researched the science behind auricular VNS, my assumption was that Xen would be most effective. 

Even after Bart shared with our team that he had a very positive first impression of Sensate after getting the opportunity to try a session at the Biohacker Summit in Helsinki, Finland, I still thought it was simply the peaceful sound track.

Especially, when Xen dramatically improved my rogue heart beats, I thought Xen was going to be the most effective because it had done something nothing else had ever been able to do for me. 

The appearance of Xen, its electric currents through an earbud modus operandi all put Xen in a class by itself, far beyond anything I had ever experienced before.

I'm delighted to report that Sensate is having a healing effect that is equally effective as Xen! 

Due to my eardrums being a standard deviation smaller than the smallest-size earbuds, I could only use Xen laying down. I like peaceful music before bed, but that doesn't have enough of a beat to trigger as much vagus nerve stimulation, so I used Xen without music.

I can benefit from Sensate's vibrations more frequently throughout the day on a chain around my neck or at night in bed. It has a variety of soundtracks from an energizing "Sunrise" to soothing "Sound of Silence."

Furthermore, the wavelength frequency of stimulation feels more pleasant and soothing. I enjoy using Sensate immensely.

12:06 am April 25th: I'm just laying here peacefully. My heart rate spiked for no apparent reason. I love this Somalesence track and especially the vibes. 

I've had some brief episodes of rogue heart beats throughout the day. I haven't used any sleep supplements in a few days as an experiment.  Not tonight either. No insomnia though, just short nights. 

We've had beautiful weather. I worked on the Biostrap & Fitbit articles from noon to 7:30. I worked noon to 10 weekdays all last week and will again this whole week ahead. 


4:09 am April 25th

10:00 pm April 25th: My heart is holding steady even though I didn't sleep well last night. 

10:52 pm April 25th: My resting heart rate is elevated even while laying down because I didn't sleep well last night.


12:19 am April 26th: My heart is struggling today even while laying down. It makes me feel ill. This is the challenge I've had since my teens. The range of my heart rate feels too wide from 42 to 149 during the 5-minute pulse report while laying down.

Thankfully, these days are much less frequent now than before Xen and Sensate, and especially compared to how often it was like this in my 20s.

12:23 am April 26th: You can tell my HRV is low because the line is mostly flat other than those four random spikes up to 149 beats a minute while laying down.

12:56 am April 26th: I made myself get out of bed to go get Sensate from my office. It's helping me feel a bit better. You can see the bottom graph has dramatically better variability within a significantly narrower range. Sensate starts helping my heartbeats feel better within minutes.

12:08 am April 27th: My heart is beating peacefully again today.

I'm in bed with Sensate's "H2Ohm", Luonkos' forest probiotics, aroma therapy, Qualia Night plus my other sleep supplements the last 2 nights.

I took a shower after work, wore blue blocker glasses in the hours before bed. I have a heated millet pillow to keep me cozy warm, the soft noise machine playing, and have my mouth taped.

I'm going to sleep when Biostrap recommends tonight while feeling so supported and grateful. I'm all prepared to sleep soundly and be at the top of my game for tomorrow's 10hr shift.

11:12pm April 27th: My baseline HRV is up to 74 ms.

11:21 pm April 27th: I worked a 10-hrs and 20-min shift. It was a long day.

11:24 pm April 27th: My heart is run down. I have had insomnia the last two nights. I just finished the 10-min "H2Ohm" vibes and am now starting the "Be Sensate" track for 10-min.

11:43 pm April 27th: Look how much 20 minutes of Sensate helps my heart cope better with the stress! I'm a huge fan! Both were cranial sessions by the way of resting it on my forehead.

2:59 pm April 28th: Biostrap shows a good recovery score of 92% from last night's sleep, thankfully! I always feel like celebrating when I sleep soundly.

12:13 am April 29th: This is the first five minutes of my cranial vibes Ballet 10m session.

12:28 am April 29th: These aren't even before and after improvements from Sensate, it's first half of first 10m session vs first half of second 10m session.  Remarkable improvement from the starting range of 42 to 116 bpm and ending with a more comfortable range of 48 to 69!

Just finished Be Sensate. Earlier today, I used just vibes without music 30m Silence track for the start of my shift and again for the start of the second half of my shift, which were both chest sessions.

10:03 am April 29th: My 30-day baseline of 75 is better than my yearly average of 69 HRV.

 

11:25 pm April 29th: Enjoying dark cello music on YouTube layered with Sound of Silence 30m on my chest and sitting. My heart is doing well—considering I worked until 11pm. There are some irregular heartbeats going on, but I feel good because of the high ratio of high frequency wavelengths.

11:47 pm April 29th: Now I'm listening to YouTube Binaural beats with a 3.2Hz differential and 65 bpm rhythm layered with more Sounds of Silence Sensate vibes. 

I don't like the way my low-frequency heart beats in the red on Biostrap's bar graph feel physically, but I feel peaceful, relaxed and grateful.

10:37am May 1st: April had the best recovery score thanks to Sensate!

10:47 am May 1st: My circadian score of only 7% is the weakest link in the chain and my biggest growth opportunity for improving my sleep.



10:56 am May 1st: Past 5-month average HRV: 69. It was 61 the day I started the Sensate experiment on March 23rd. Past 30-day average HRV: 78. Past 7-day average HRV: 95.

5:20 pm May 1st: Finished 30m Nebula vibes. Now enjoying 20m Forest vibes along with this Biostrap meditation session while working on writing the Biostrap article today.

5:55 pm May 1st: 30m Sound of Silence vibes layered with Biostrap's 30m Ohm meditation while writing the blog article.

7:44 pm May 1st: Biostrap's meditation track, Ecstasy of Being, compliments Sound of Silence beautifully and both are set for 30 minutes.

1:31 am May 2nd: Wrapping up writing for the night. I'm going to skip my usual bedtime recording and fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow. I didn't take any sleep supplements tonight since I'm alternating every other night.

 

2:06 pm May 2nd: I hit 200 HRV! I don't know if it was a good thing or too much of a good thing from irregular heartbeats, but it's a first!



10:10 pm May 2nd: I did four 30 minutes of Sound of Silence vibes earlier today. Now, I'm combining it with the soothing music of this YouTube vocalist I just discovered, Mei-lan Maurits.

Makes me want to sing with her, but I don't want to disturb Mark's sleep, so another time. It harmonizes perfectly with 30m Sound of Silence.

12:16 am May 4th: New record-high baseline HRV!

10:56 am May 4th: I had a perfect score on 3 out of 4 recovery metrics, all except heart rate. On my sleep score metrics, 3 out of 3 were 100%!

11:33 am May 4th: My average HRV since December 2020 is 70 and my 30-day baseline is 80! Today's is 95.9 ms!

For the record, I'm alternating days taking my sleep stack with Qualia Night, phosphatidyl serine, taurine, and spore-based probiotics, so I took them last night.

I wasn't able to use Sensate for the first day yesterday May 3rd because I had used it so much the day before, that the battery was dead when I went to use it before bed.

12:25 am May 4th: Oh no! The unit just started rattling instead of vibrating on some of the frequencies. That's what the second unit did the day before it died.

Hopefully, it's not a pattern, but right now, it's not working for 20% of the frequencies, just rattling for those.



12:36 am May 5th: Narrowest heart rate range ever! I'm so grateful! Did a 20m chest session with Senate's Temple music followed by a 20m forehead session of Sensate Temple vibes only with healing vocals by YouTube artist Mei-lan Maurits.

 


12:39 am May 5th: Feeling grateful for Sensate since it seems to be helping improve my heart rate range and my HRV both.

7:51 am May 5th: 7-day average of 98 is much higher than my 30-day baseline of 81!

7:53 am May 5th: I'm thankful for all the improvements this week. RHR 54 this week compared to 57 baseline.

7:56 am May 5th: Top 8% HRV makes me happy as a new record!

8:54 May 5th: Morning walk, Sensate Temple track 20m and humming along with Mei-lan Maurits.

12:22pm May 5th: Sensate is still rattling on 10% of the frequencies today. Third thoracic 20m Temple session.

10:42 pm May 5th: Sensate is working for 90% of the frequencies but is also 10% rattling. Yesterday was 80% working, but it was rattling for 20% of the frequencies.

I'm still using it though. I'll contact their support team if it doesn't spontaneously resolve soon.

12:37 am May 6th: New bedtime HRV record of 100 ms! I had a short 90 seconds or so episode when my heart slipped into a painful rhythm but it snapped out of it quickly compared to when it would last for hours or all day in the past. 

I think it was from a difficult customer earlier today since that negatively affected my heart for hours. I tried so hard to shake it off on the inside, but it seems to have still affected my vagus nerve regulating my heart rhythm for a while.

12:39 am May 6th: The pulse report graph on page one above doesn't look so hot, but the one on page three doesn't look too shabby.

1:40 am May 6th: That's a high range, an elevated HR average, and that bottom graph is a sign that something's not functioning as it should. When I have a rough customer on the phone, I take it to heart too much.

10:51 am May 6th: I used Sensate before bed, but not any supplement the second night in a row. I think my vagus nerve hadn't bounced back from that caller who was mad before I could even get their name.

I kept telling myself not to take it personally at the time, but the stress it caused my vagus nerve had a lingering affect on my heart beats.

11:34 am May 6th: Also, I didn't have time to eat lunch or dinner or even a mid-afternoon snack, so I was getting by on diluted chocolate almond milk most of yesterday.

12:13 pm May 6th: My vagus nerve still hasn't recovered and my heart is still messed up going into this shift. Time to find some helpful nutritional supplements to help it calm down, and I'll use Sensate, of course.

12:14 am May 7th: Sensate seems to only be working 50/50. Didn't finish work until 11:20 pm tonight.

12:37 am May 7th: About to fall fast asleep in a second. 10m H2Ohm & 20m Temple cranial sessions.

9:41 am May 7th: I feel such gratitude when I sleep soundly!

10:33 am May 7th: Last night's HRV decreased as the night went on. 

The excellent sleep last night was from using Sensate. It's only halfway working now, like a song missing roughly half its notes. 

I didn't take my sleep stack again last night because I'm intentionally trying to only take it every few days now.

It's so awesome to have these supplements to help me when I need them, and it's amazing that I have reached this point of being able to sleep soundly even without them.

11:43 pm May 7th: Finished my overtime shift at 11:00 pm. I'm using 30m Sound of Silence vibes on sternum. I also did the same 30m track at the start of my shift.

2:22 am May 8th: Trouble falling back asleep. Somalesence 20m forehead with 75% working vibes but 25% of frequencies not vibrating.


2:34 am May 8th:  Sensate is helping. Southpaw Ballet 10m. Vibes 25% working and 75% missing frequencies.

3:57 am May 8th: I'm still waiting to fall back asleep. Thoracic session H2Ohm 10m partially working. If I rest my hand on top of the unit that helps somewhat. My insomnia correlates with my irregular heartbeats.

4:12 am May 8th: I wish I could see all the patterns at play around the clock. I'm grateful for the information Biostrap provides. This is just a typical night of insomnia. This isn't even like when my heart slips into a bad rhythm.

4:31 am May 8th: H2Ohm 10m sternum. Sensate helps my heart even when it's only half-way working. It sometimes makes me want a VNS surgical implant device—not that I would ever even be given the option. 

12:40 pm May 8th: High HRV during sleep. I didn't take any sleep supplements last night. 

I closed down my work at 11pm and went straight to bed. I was so confident in my newfound ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat, and I did! 

I think the excitement of being told about the upcoming interview for a promotion next week just had me too keyed up to fall back asleep.

Plus, I hadn't exercised at all yesterday or the day before. I'm sure I'd have slept longer if I had. I still feel like an A+ sleeper now who just has a few off nights.

12:52 pm May 8th: Even when it's not up to snuff, Sensate is still powerful support for my heart.


1:09 pm May 8th: The April Biostrap report is very similar to March. It shows that I am sleeping great the vast majority of the time now.

1:03 am May 9th: Sensate is struggling, but I have used it twice tonight on my sternum H2Ohm 10m each, plus 3 different 20-minute sessions while writing the Biostrap blog article today.

1:19 am May 9th: Ending the night on a high note. I'm thankful for all the help Sensate has given me. I hate to have to tell Sandy at Sensate that the third one is only working on 20-40% of the frequencies today.

12:46 pm May 9th: I hardly have any red nights any more! It's mostly blue good nights!

9:29 pm May 9th: I'm loving these isochronic tones layered with Sensate's Temple vibes while writing the Biostrap article for the blog post.

This is the best fusion for this track. It's awesome that these vibes can mix and match with other music and it still feels like they were made for each other. I'm hitting repeat on this session.

12:21 am May 10th: I'm happy with my Biostrap pulse report tonight. Lots of Sensate thoracic vibes throughout the day.

8:49 am May 10th: I tried to fall asleep too early last night at 12:30 am, instead of following Biostrap's 1:30 am bedtime recommendation, so I laid awake for an hour. I'll learn to heed its advice.



11:15 am May 10th: I'm hoping, for their sake, our teams' sake, and our readers' sake, that they send me a fourth unit because I don't want to end the experiment on a broken note like what happened with Xen.

12:18 am May 11th: Before using the 10-minute Little Sleep track by Sensate with it partially-working.

12:34 am May 11th: Sensate is sensational! Going to try falling asleep an hour earlier than Biostrap recommends.

I took the sleep stack supplements tonight for the first time in a week I believe. Feeling at peace and relaxed. Sensate still helps even operating at half its potential. My heart feels good.

9:59 am May 11th: Looking at all my sleep stats, only 4 nights of insomnia in the past 30 days with 26 good nights! Also, my one-year sleep graph shows steady improvement. I think May is on track to surpass April.


4:30 pm May 11th: Sensate's customer service response times and shipping times are the fastest for sure!

12:05 am May 12th: So happy with the results of tonight's Biostrap pulse report. I'm going to sleep soundly since tomorrow is a special day with the interview for the new position.

12:25 am May 13th: Cranial Temple 20m fantastic pulse report despite being overtired from not sleeping much last night before today's important interview.

I took 2 Qualia Night capsules to really help me sleep well tonight. I repeated the vibe session a second time.

10:03 am May 13th: 98% sleep score! One of these days, I'm going to score 100% on sleep for the first time. Better yet, the week is coming when every night will have a score in the 90% range.

My sleep this month is going to be such a marked improvement from even last month's sleep in Biostrap's monthly report.


10:26 am May 13th: 82% circadian score with a sleep surplus now!

May 14th: Enjoyed the 20-minute thoracic Temple track with layered YouTube music by Mei-lan. My heart thrives on Sensate even when it's only partially working. 

10:54 am May 14th: I didn't take any sleep supplements last night. I took 2 Qualia Night capsules the night before.

Combined with Sensate, it helped me score a 98% on my sleep. However, I was struggling my entire shift yesterday to stay awake as if I had only slept 2 hours instead of 8.

It's really shocking how potent Qualia Night is for me! One is my limit from now on to prevent that next-day drowsiness side-effect.

Prediction: My baseline HRV is holding steady at 83 in the top 8%, but I think my HRV will keep improving and gradually climbing even higher, thanks to Sensate.


12:18 am May 15th


12:19 am May 15th: You can see the high red bar, 26ms HRV and 3.3 stress index at the very beginning of Sensate's Temple track vibes.

12:36 am May 15th: During the last 5 minutes of the 20-minute Temple cranial session, my heart's stress level dropped from 3.3 to 0.5! My HRV nearly doubled to 51!

The ratio of uncomfortable-frequency beats in the red bar dropped, and the heart beats in the range of the comfortable frequencies of the yellow and blue bars increased.


6:48 am May 15th

12:44 am May 16th: I did about a dozen Sensate sessions while writing today, so I'm not using it now at bedtime and no sleep supplements either.

10:40 am May 16th:  I think those dozen Sensate sessions helped me write the article all day because it calms my change-of-scenery craving.

Not that I don't still get up and take a 5 minute break every 90 minutes, but Sensate helps when I have restlessness related to performance anxiety/self-critical thoughts/vulnerability doubts that make me want to procrastinate by taking more frequent and longer breaks.

Every time the stir-crazy desire to switch gears hits before it's break time, I use Sensate and it helps me feel more settled, grounded, and anchored. Then, when the track stops, I don't even realize it because I'm listening to the focus music on YouTube and the words are flowing again.

Unfortunately, the pattern seems to be that on days I overdo it using Sensate, I have a rebound drop in HRV from too much of a good thing.

One solution is to select 10m tracks instead of the 20m ones I was listening to yesterday which was a (240m) 4-hour dose. Surely, that would be an easy way to half my dose and keep most of the focusing benefits.

8:09 am May 16th: The last two weeks have had consistently high blue bars in May. If I can keep the ball rolling in the right direction, the May monthly sleep report will be much better than April's, but my step count will be much worse with working overtime every day. 

10:02 am May 17th: Last night's HRV was only 60 due to the interview request Mark received and maybe the hard work removing dirt from the backyard drainage trench. My current baseline is still high.


10:05 am May 17th: Zero minutes of REM and only a little deep sleep. That was way too much stress yesterday.

11:13 am May 19th: The fourth Sensate unit is taking longer than the first three to arrive.


7:07 am May 20th:  I haven't slept much since the news Sunday evening.

This is even after 2 H2Ohm 10m sessions while listening to Mei-lan. My heart is heavy. I'm going to get up and eat breakfast.

Either Biostrap is broken or my heart is. Sensate is still a blessing even with only a fraction of the vibes.


12:23 am May 21st: I said no to overtime today. Sensate #3 is on its last leg, but it helped my heart during this session.


12:36 am May 21st: I feel so much better too now at the end of the track. It kind of makes me want VNS-device implant surgery. No sleep supplements tonight, just Mei-lan's soothing lullabies.

10:50 am May 21st: I feel better this morning than I have all week.

12:16 am May 22nd: This week has been really hard on my heart. Nebula track on my thorax 20m twice. Things could always be worse. I'm sure Sensate is helping me hang in there.

4:32 am May 22nd: Nebula track on thorax 20m with Mei-lan's music is helping my heart.

10:46 am May 22nd: Feeling better again like yesterday morning. I was just physically and emotionally exhausted last night from this long week.

11:10 am May 22nd: I have only exercised two days in May: doing the trenches for the 9-day flood warning we are in and bouncing on the trampoline one night after work before bed. 

I haven't been on a walk in 30 days. Working 12 to 10:00 pm all next week and declined my supervisor's request to work additional overtime early in the morning since I don't finish my work tasks until 10:30 and may not be able to sleep at night and might need to lay in bed all morning to rest.

Low-sleep nights make for low-functioning mornings. I had such brain fog and sleepiness during my shift by Thursday and Friday, that I had to resort to drinking an 1/8 cup of coffee at 7pm last night to finish the final hours of my shift. 

It worked and helped me cope with a long call with a challenging customer and also comply with multiple new policies enacted in the last couple days that feel like a really big deal.

 5:31 pm May 22nd: Unboxing #4—Great packaging on units #1, #2, & #4. Only #3 was carelessly packaged.

5:32 pm May 22nd: I think #4 is a factory-sealed new unit (instead of a test unit like the first three were) because of these security seals on the bottom of the box.

5:32 pm May 22nd: It's a brand new device in pristine condition!

1:33 am May 23rd: It so wonderful to have Sensate working well again!

1:43 am May 23rd:  I'm a happy camper!  I'm so thankful for the opportunity to test Sensate! My eyes are filled with tears of joyful appreciation. I love this device.

I'm using the 100% working one on my sternum and holding the 50% unit #3 in my hand even though that one's off. It's just comforting. It's really silly and just a positive association because it's my backup-plan device. 

Woah my heart is in VLF beats! Okay, it's normal again. More tears of joy... 

I'm relishing all the good vibrations and sweet sensations of Sensate #4. I forgot to charge up my earphones, so I just have the music playing at a whisper.

6:54 am May 23rd: Having intense dreams waking me up this week. Plus staying up late to unwind after work.


7:05 am May 23rd: As predicted, my HRV continues to climb. What a range on HRV! My previous highest score was 200, now it's 206! Sensate vibes helped. I'm sure.

2:32 pm May 23rd: Perhaps, I don't have insomnia any more. I just have a time management weakness affecting my circadian rhythm. 

I will keep striving to sync my schedule to Biostrap's sleep recommendations instead of doing my own thing willy-nilly and losing touch with time-bound reality. I have to concede that I am a free spirit inside a time-bound body. 

I commit to change day by day to give my body a longer health span and lifetime here on this time-bound Earth.

I'm feeling better prepared now for my 12pm to 10pm shifts M-F this week.

3:01 pm May 23rd: Sensate is calling it "unlucky" that the first three units failed. That explanation flies in the face of my pattern-seeking personality. I like to understand the ins and outs of things for the purpose of understanding the why. 

I've been itching to use my frequency detection phone app to map the differences between the devices. Then I tell myself that my curiosity would only get me off track spending time on a detour about which frequencies failed due to a common mechanical generator within the unit. 

I know the frequencies well enough to conclude that's what happened at different times and to varying degrees. 

I have been so careful and protective of all my Xen and Sensate units because I want them to work like my life depends on them! 

With all the overtime money I am earning, I am wanting to buy myself a Sensate soon. Mark worries I will end up investing a lot into a product that has a track record of only lasting between 0 days and... I'm not sure how long because I haven't yet added up the number of days unit 3 worked at 100% capacity plus the remaining days of it working at 50%. 

Before buying it, I will look at their warranty then divide the cost by the duration of the warranty to see what my ongoing lifetime budget needs to be to afford to invest in this every year if need be. 

Sensate works better than just about anything else. I can even tell it is perhaps twice as beneficial operating at 100% capacity, yet it's still beneficial at 50% operational.

11:32 am May 24th: Well, today's 7% sleep score is better than yesterday's 5% sleep score.

11:08 am May 25th: I feel so much better this morning! If those Qualia Energy shots were twice as small, I would have opened one yesterday because my eyelids felt so heavy during yesterday's shift. 

For me only a quarter to a half of a bottle of Qualia Energy (code FERGUS  saves you money) is enough to clear my brain fog and sleepiness. I knew I would be able to sleep again last night, so that's why I didn't want to open a bottle. 

In the future, I think I will open a QE, drink what I need to help me work on hardly any sleep, then freeze the other 3/4 or 2/3 of the bottle for another day. After many hours of a heavy, struggling heart from a customer cussing me out, my heartbeats couldn't bounce back. 

We were in "all hands on deck," so I was not able to take my scheduled 15-minute break. Anyway, when I got to go to lunch, I made myself a tall glass of vegetable juice and added a lot of potassium powder, magnesium, and a generous amount of the sea salt Alex gave me. 

That did wonders for my heart so fast. In about 5 minutes, I felt like I had a new lease on life. My body must expend so much potassium, magnesium, and sodium in enduring hostile callers. I am going to have to have a tall glass of that at my desk at the start of every shift.

Normally, I have a whole fresh lemon squeezed into it too, I just didn't have time at lunch yesterday. I'm learning to plan ahead.

11:42 am May 25th: My heart had a long day yesterday getting raked over the coals by a caller and working long hours on little sleep.

10:38 am May 26th: Somelescence track vibes two thoracic sessions sitting at the computer this past hour.  I'm so happy with the results of this pulse report.  I attribute it to Sensate.

10:56 am May 26th: My batteries are recharged. Yesterday, even though I had gotten a good night's sleep, the previous day's sleep score of only 7% was still affecting me. 

I decided to open a bottle of Qualia Energy. I had one swallow (1/4 to 1/3 of the bottle) and put the rest in the freezer to save for some future date when needed. QE works so fast. I could tell the improvement after 5 minutes. After 10 minutes, I felt alert, clear, light, and sharp. I always call it liquid gold. 

I ration those bottles of QE carefully and still have 6 and 2/3 left.  It's going to carry me through until I'm sleeping well every single night. I have room for growth in my circadian rhythm management. I'll get the hang of it. My best sleep stats are coming soon.

10:56 am May 26th: New record on HRV! I have a 97 average HRV this week since getting the new Sensate!

11:00 am May 27th: I used Sensate 3 times during work today—30 minutes each time on Sound of Silence.

10:12 am May 28th: Sound of Silence 30m 4 times while working today.


12:28 am May 28th: Best circadian score by a landslide! I'm so glad!

10:34 am May 28th: 99% sleep score! This is without any sleep stack. I'm saving my Qualia Night to only use when I can predict I'm going to have trouble sleeping due to temporary circumstances.

2:55 am May 29th: I couldn't be happier with this pulse report's data! I'm using Sensate Sound of Silence 30m for the fourth or fifth time today.

12:04 am May 30th: Biostrap has further reduced my total recommended sleep time. I just got my best oxygen score yet of 100% average saturation. Biostrap accurately reads my stress level influencing my heart's physiology that matches what I feel.

12:46 am May 30th: These pulse report results are nothing compared to the rest of this afternoon and evening before using Sensate.  It's helping me. I have the 20m Temple music track on very low with Mei-lan's healing vocals layered over that.

11:10 am June 1st: It's strange that sometimes my heart is worse off as the night goes on. I stayed up too late last night.

I will do Sensate before work now to help me recover hopefully. I have overtime all week. I'm thankful for the 3-day weekend we had off work for Memorial Day.

11:12 am June 1st: I did one session of Sensate before bed, but that was the only session I did yesterday compared to 4 normally.

I got ten times my usual steps yesterday. I think those two factors made my HRV really low. Good thing I didn't sleep and longer or my HRV might have kept trending towards zero.

12:05 pm June 2nd: I took my sleep stack last night but didn't use Sensate at all yesterday.

1:30 am June 3rd: Before Sensate, the Biostrap recording just gave an error message because of the crazy beats. This is a big improvement using Sound of Silence 30m for the third time today, and this end of the 30m session is even better than the midpoint report.

10:13 am June 3rd: It's very satisfying to see 100% sleep efficiently and duration.

10:20 am June 3rd: My heart rate was too high due to lack of sleep the previous night. I'm going to learn to respect my bedtime ASAP.

12:54 am June 4th: Beginning of 20m Temple vibes. It's amazing how the improvement can be seen within a 5-minute pulse report.

11:02 June 4th: I used Sensate and Qualia Night before bed but only got an 18% sleep score because I was up too late and then up too early due to my loved ones. I've got an 11h 45m sleep net debt the past 3 nights according to Biostrap.

11:37 pm June 4th: I'm so grateful for Sensate helping my heart so that it can be relaxed and fall asleep. I'm going to bed early without supplements, just 20m Temple track vibes layered with Mei-lan's improvisational vocals.

10:12 am June 5th: I'll learn to respect my bedtime if it's the last thing I do. I choose to follow a nighttime routine and go to sleep when Biostrap says so. No exceptions. 

I'm ready for rapid results from acting in alignment with my priorities because it's dangerous for my heart to be short on sleep and struggling with irregular heartbeats on the job and working overtime every day. My life depends on being able to safeguard my sleep.

10:44 am June 5th: 30-day averages 70% sleep score. 55% circadian score. 6h 7m average time asleep. 58 bpm RHR.


12:30 am June 6th: The first 5 minutes of Sensate.

12:53 am June 6th: The last 5 minutes of Sensate's Temple track 20m. Big improvement within those 20 minutes! Going to sleep a little early by 15 min according to Biostrap's recommendation.

10:20 am June 6th: I think the past two weeks of overtime and other stressors such as two nights last week with less than three hours of sleep pulls my heart functioning down for the next couple of days.

On the flip side, a restful day away from my computer desk yesterday while doing household chores and going for a neighborhood walk seems correlated with a better recovery score the next day. 

I'm not sure how long I'll be needing to work overtime but this coming week for sure.

1:07 pm June 6th: I got another average oxygen saturation reading of 100%.

12:01 am June 7th: I'm going to bed a bit early after the H2Ohm track for 10m. I'm not sure of the rationale for why Sensate helps my heart, but I'm grateful for all the help I can get.

7:19 am June 7th: 71.8% below baseline, yikes!

12:10 am June 8th: 55 to 78 bpm range with a 61 average.


2:01 am June 9th: Before Sensate.


2:15 am June 9th: After Mei-lan's music layered with the Sound of Silence track two 30-min sessions tonight. It's not ideal, but it's an improvement. I'm feeling deeply thankful for all the support and kindness from the wonderful people who grace my life.

12:17 am June 10th: My adrenaline is still high even though my shift ended at 8:30, and I finished work at 9:15. Three hours later my heart rate is still elevated.

12:51 am June 10th: This is after the 20m Temple track vibes. Earlier this evening, I did the Somalesence track 20m. My heart is in a good rhythm though, so I'm thankful.

10:30 am June 10th: A new policy at work made my shift from 11am to 9pm more stressful. 

12:50 am June 11th: I only had 2h 20m of sleep last night. At least I'm not experiencing any heart discomfort, perhaps because it is a narrow heart rate range from 55 to 81. I've done three Sensate sessions of the Temple 20-min track on repeat for an hour. I'm going to sleep at 1am sharp now as Biostrap advised today.

10:10 am June 12th: Biostrap shows I have a 9h 32m sleep deficit over the past 3 days which I think is related to working overtime daily and policy changes.

1:13 am June 13th: Tonight: no sleep supplements and no Sensate.

12:55 am June 14th: Biostrap bedtime 1am tonight. I'm relaxing with 20m Temple Sensate volume off and listening to Mei-lan on YouTube.

12:57 am June 15th: I just finished 10m H2Ohm layered with Pandora's Box relaxation music on YouTube. I'm happy with how well my heart held up today. I made it through my shift without using any of my Qualia Energy.

10:30 am June 15th: I'm up too soon. My batteries didn't get recharged, and my heart's struggling. Biostrap gave me a 15% circadian score and a 9h 19m sleep net debt over the past three days.

8:22 am June 16th: Enjoying Mei-lan singing with Sensate's H2Ohm track vibrations. I haven't gotten much sleep since the bed fan arrived.

Also, a door-to-door salesperson for my internet service provider keeps ringing my front doorbell between 7:30 to 8am for several days in a row trying to get me to sign a longer contract after talking with Mark the other day. 

8:43 am June 16th: Last night, I tried using a weighted blanket. It was hard to fall asleep under that weight. I woke up overheated. Then I slept with just the sheet and froze because the bed fan was still running. A solution will arise after enough experimentation.

Biostrap says my baseline deep sleep is declining, my circadian score is 36 and my 3-day sleep debt is 10h 58m. I think it is partly because of all the required overtime I'm having to work. 

2:32 am June 17th: Normal adult HRV is 20 to 200 and mine is 13 right now. No wonder I feel ten sheets under the wind. I used the H2Ohm track 3 times before bed and my sleep supplements.

11:23 am June 18th: No Sensate last night just Qualia Night. I was having irregular heart rhythms plus a muscle twitching in my ribs before bed, in the middle of the night, and now. Thankfully it hasn't happened in weeks or months prior to this. I'm just worn out.

12:28 am June 19th: It's amazing that my heart is doing so well despite being run down. I only had a few times of bad rhythms today, but it was mostly normal despite not sleeping well lately.

Enjoying 2 sessions of Ballet 10m with Mei-lan's vocals on YouTube.

7:39 am June 19th: This is harder than I anticipated trying to figure out how to handle the new sleep environment created by the bFan blowing cold air under the sheets all night.

8:10 pm June 19th: 3 Sensate sessions of 10m each: Southpaw Ballet, Be Sensate, & Little Sleep

2:07 am June 20th: I took Qualia Night. I went to bed way too early because my heart was weak. Sensate and laying down helped it. 

I think my blood sugar is just a little low since I haven't eaten during these 8 hours of laying in bed. I'm going to go have some potassium, sodium, magnesium supplements added to vegetable juice then try again. 

I'm also going back to my normal sleep situation without socks and just teaching myself to not be sensitive to the cool air from the bFan. It has disturbed my sleep every night since we got it. It helps my husband not wake up too early from getting overheated.

10:58 am June20th: I was trying to sleep during those nap attempts yesterday, but mostly just resting my heart by laying in bed in the dark which gets interpreted as sleep by the trackers.

2:16 am June 20th: Sensate's H2Ohm track + mineral-rich vegetable juice + turning the thermostat a degree warmer + socks = feeling relaxed enough to sleep now.

12:05 pm June 20th: I'm sure my glucose levels this week are not helping anything. Mark made me a romantic candle-light dinner of Thai stir-fry served in half a pineapple with gluten-free apple crisp for dessert one night which was amazing, and I enjoyed the leftovers the next day.

12:34 am June 21st: Enjoyed Sensate's Nebula track 30m, and I'm going to sleep right on time tonight.

1:30 am June 22nd: Enjoyed H2Ohm 10-min track. One recurring frequency rattled instead of vibrated for the first time with this fourth unit.

12:31 am June 23rd: I'm delightfully happy and sleepy. Sensate Temple 20m with no missing frequencies on this track.

10:53 am June 23rd: I was awake tossing and turning until 5:39am, the only time I looked at a clock. 


12:03 am June 24th: I'm so low on sleep.

12:03 am June 24th: Amazing improvement from the beginning to the ending of Sensate's 20m Somnolence session!

10:58 am June 24th: I was just laying awake in bed from 1:35am until 6:31am tossing and turning.


10:56 am June 25th: My heart, mind and body let me sleep soundly.

1:05 am June 26th: Sound of Silence 30m. I'm so happy with the end-of-session pulse report results. Biostrap says 1:02 is my bedtime tonight and Biostrap knows best. Good night.

4:39 am June 26th: I haven't noticed any missing vibes from the other tracks I've been enjoying the past few days. 

I played H2Ohm in the living room just now, and it is worse than before with a few more frequencies on the fritz.

11:25 am June 26th: My HRV has been optimal these past few days.

11:53 am June 26th: I'm still having an elevated blood sugar of 102. I'm hardly having any carbs. My one treat is an eighth cup of diluted chocolate almond milk three times a day when I take my supplements. I'm going to cut that out of my diet starting now. No more sweets for me. I'm going for a long walk now before breaking my overnight fast.

12:48 am June 27th: Sadly, the second track to have failed frequencies is Temple tonight. 

I'm thinking about mailing all 4 units back in the same package on Monday. I'm torn because they still help me even when it's only partially working. 

I would like to leave it in their hands again like last time. If they want me to end the experiment now, I will.  If they want to send me a 5th unit, I will continue the experiment with that one. 

I'm so disappointed because I think this device is pure magic when it works.

2:25 am June 27th: Using Be Sensate track now. All frequencies are fine. I don't want to return this unit yet.  

I have been so cautious that I have kept the intensity to only 50% or less on every unit. This time I cranked up the intensity to max for the first time since there was nothing left to loose if it's time to return them now. 

I love the intense intensity! I often ran Xen very strong, and just barely tolerated it on Xen's 25 max setting.

With Sensate, it feels so good, maybe even better on full throttle. 

Mark bought me PJs today. As a last attempt to sleep unencumbered, I tried putting a wooden karate staff down the center of the bed tonight on top of the sheet to keep the breeze on Mark's side. I just couldn't sleep with a wooden staff. 

So as a last resort, I'm wearing socks, and soft, stretchy PJ pants and matching tee. Having a bit of an adjustment to this now, but I keep telling myself it's better than the staff or the bed fan breeze on my skin. I'm such a dyed-in-the-wool princess and the pea!

2:30 am June 27th: It's amazing how fast VNS works even during the span of a single 5-minute pulse report! I want an implant device to do this to me non-stop around the clock.

2:29 pm June 27th: In light of the 4th unit 20% failing/80% working last night, I have decided to end the Sensate experiment now.

It's been highly beneficial, but it would be selfish of me to ask Sensate to test a 5th unit since I believe it too would eventually fail.

2:44 pm June 27th: I've been so torn between offering to continue the experiment with a fifth unit or deciding to end it on this low note. 

I am such a strong proponent of their product. I don't mind that it keeps failing if they will keep replacing it repeatedly under warranty. 

Yet, I am trying to consider how other people would feel about dealing with a product that keeps failing. 

I know Mark is much more concerned with physical things like the large tree limb falling through our roof recently. Other than the loud noise startling me for a few seconds, seeing the limb through the roof had zero impact on my stress levels. 

By the same token, Mark doesn't think Sensate is a sustainable investment for us after it failing a fourth time. I imagine many readers would see it that way too. 

For me, Sensate struggling or stopping is more stressful than the roof because it impacts my heart to go without it, yet they have always been quick to send replacements, so I'm not complaining. 

The biggest question is, "Would Sensate offer a warranty that includes unlimited hassle-free returns?"

I need to measure the partial failings of these last two units because I'm not sure if the same frequencies failed on both. I'm going to install a frequency meter on Mark's phone today to quantify how much more is the 3rd unit not working compared to the failings of the 4th unit. 

I'm torn because I want to buy and use their units for life, yet I'm also hesitant if this keeps happening where they stop working in full or in part. I don't think it's just bad luck.

12:47 am June 30th: I know the experiment is technically over, but I gave into temptation and used "Be Sensate" 10m, H2Ohm 10m, and Temple 20m at bedtime tonight all 3 on 100% intensity and loved every minute!

11:44 pm June 30th: I've had heart struggles today. Worked 2 hours of overtime plus 40m doing work forms and emails. So, I laid down in bed and used Sensate on 100% intensity 20m Temple, 10m H2Ohm, 10m Be Sensate, and 10m Little Sleep. 

Sensate helps my heart even when it's not working 100%. I wish I never had to turn it off. I would use this 24/7 if I could. I better fall asleep now.

On nights that I didn't use Sensate a few days ago, I used various vibration devices (like my ultrasonic teeth cleaner handle) on my breastbone to try to recreate the benefits. I think that helps in a way, but it just isn't talking to my vagus nerves the same way Sensate does.

12:40 am July 2nd: 30m Nebula 100% strength. 5h of sleep. 12h shifts.

2:34 pm July 3rd: H2Ohm 10m

8:15 am July 4th: H2Ohm 10m 100%

12:22 am July 6th: Technically, the experiment is over, but take a look at these unusually high PPG numbers on the top graph!

I feel good enough. That final graph is pretty flat. This heart rate range may be the narrowest yet. I'm not quite sure what think of this before data

12:34 am July 6th: Scan after 20m Temple. Sensate helps.

12:59 am July 8th: Beginning of Sound of Silence 30m. (Technically, the experiment is over since the 4th unit is only partially working.)

12:59 am July 8th: After a 30-minute session, the red bar of uncomfortable low-frequency beats dropped.

10:08 am July 9th: My circadian score is 90%! I'm going to keep trying to stay consistent and gradually shift it 3 hours earlier for when training for my new role begins.

11:28 pm  July 9th: Pulse report before Sensate (Technically, the experiment has ended, but it still helps me even when only partially working.)

12:00 am July 10th: Improvements across the board after the 20-minute Temple track.

12:16 am July 10th: Same as the before data above just in graph form. Look at that fairly flat graph at the bottom of page 3.

12:16 am July 10th: Same after data as above, just in graph form. Check out the terrific improvement in that graph at the bottom of page 3!

Even with some missing frequencies, Sensate has a strong, positive effect. I've been promising myself I was going to buy one with all my overtime pay.

I started having serious hesitations when this 4th unit began to falter, but it works for me even when it isn't working properly.

Not to mention, I enjoy it deeply. I've tried using other vibration devices from around my home, but those just don't resonate with my vagus nerves on the same level. 


12:04 pm July 10th: I installed the app on my husband's phone to see what is going on and take pictures with my phone. This is what the rattling looks like.

12:06 pm July 10th: Example of Sensate #3 not doing anything during some moments. These are just ambient frequencies from my PC terminal beside my desk.



12:07 pm July 10th: More ambient frequencies from my PC beside my desk but silence from the Sensate unit.


 12:13 pm July 10th: Here's an example of what some good vibrations look like.

12:35 pm July 10th: Here's a good example of what one of the good single frequencies looks like. When I saw this on the screen, it felt like seeing a picture of an online friend for the first time. I am so fond of these frequencies, I just didn't know what they were until now.



12:37 pm July 10th: This is one of the examples of the frequencies not sounding like they should.

1:00 pm July 10th: This is consistently what the rattling looks like. It is so different from the type of frequencies that rumble. That deep rumbling frequency is fantastic, and I feel it deep in my chest.

The rattling, on the other hand, sounds like something is loose inside the unit. It's an unmistakable difference. In the beginning, none of the last three units ever rattled. (The first unit never vibrated at all.)

I love the rumbling frequencies though and wish there were even more of those because they are so powerful and soothing.



1:45 pm July 10th: Well, now it is obvious that other vibration-emitting devices, like my electric toothbrush shown above, don't have the same frequencies, not even remotely.

1:54 pm July 10th: Shown above are the frequencies of my electric dental pick teeth cleaner. Closer, but still not the same effect, partly because these are all constant.

When I tried using it on my sternum, I would lift it up every few seconds to make it intermittent like Sensate. Still, it doesn't quite have the varying intensity from low amplitude to high in a smooth crescendos and decrescendos throughout the session. It doesn't have the pulsing either.

It doesn't have the variety of single and multi frequencies, of course. It's a not at all the same and it's obvious. Yet, I still think this dental pick is the most similar to Sensate among all my possessions, but it doesn't really cut the mustard for my vagus nerve. 

6:42 pm July 10th: I started researching how to build my own frequency generator on a budget. 

7:13 pm July 10th: I played around with an online tone generator. 

7:25 pm July 10th: Feeling queasy after too much experimentation with different frequencies and waveforms using the online tone generator.

7:31 pm July 10th: I installed an app that can generate a 140 Hz frequency but it was just the tone without any vibrations. It can't penetrate my chest to reach my vagus nerves.

7:42 pm July 10th: I started researching bone conductor transducers. 

7:51 pm July 10th: I found a bone conduction speaker to combine with the 140 Hz frequency generator app.

10:11 pm July 10th: I'm now considering earphones for bone conduction vibrations paired with the frequency generator app at 140Hz since I always found using Sensate on my forehead so beneficial.

10:16 am July 15th: I got up at 4am, but I had just been laying in bed attempting to sleep for 30 to 60 minutes before that since 3 or 3:30am but it gave me false credit for light sleep. It's been long work days with months of daily overtime.

I laid down again for 90 minutes before work but couldn't fall asleep. My HRV has been low the past few days. I have not been using the Sensate units at all in a few days either. 

Mark doesn't want me to use my overtime money to get one since the four I've had all failed to function properly after a few weeks. 

So I bought the bone-conduction wireless earphones for $50 which will arrive Saturday. Then I can use my frequency generator app to play it directly into my cranium like I enjoyed doing with Sensate unit 3. 

I have work in a few minutes, and I will need some Qualia Energy. That is hands down the most effective oral supplement I've ever tried by a landslide. Maybe I will use the Alex Fergus discount code to buy that with my overtime money. 

P.S. The bone-conduction earphones were a complete waste of money because they are too small and weak to be effective for my heartbeat-help purposes.

Items Mentioned:

• Qualia Energy (code FERGUS  saves you money)
• Biostrap - use code 10FERGUS to save 10%
• Neuvanalife Xen (code ALEX saves 15% on the Xen Box set!)
• Sensate relaxation pebble (code FERGUS saves $25)

If you found this interesting, you might also like:

NeuvanaLife Xen Review: Cutting-Edge Ear Tech For Removing Stress?

The Best Red Light Therapy Body Panel For 2021 & 2022

My Lifelong Insomnia Symptoms And Qualia Night As A Sleep-Saver

Biostrap Biometrics Deep Dive: Eye-Opening Measurement For Stellar Health Improvements

Neurohacker Qualia Nootropic Energy Review: Next-Generation Energy Drink?