Do you remember the most stressful day you had this year? Your Oura ring does. <\/p>\n
The health tracker company also knows which days were collectively the most stressful for Americans as a whole \u2014 and the results are surprising.<\/p>\n
Sharing anonymous aggregated data exclusively with The Post, Oura has revealed the top 20 most stressful days from from July 1 last year to June 20 for both US users and New Yorkers.<\/p>\n
And while some of the dates may seem random at first glance, a few key events may have had a noticeable impact.<\/p>\n
Over 5 million people pay for an Oura ring membership. Bloomberg via Getty Images<\/p>\n
More than five million people<\/a> pay for an Oura membership, enlisting the smart ring for insights into their sleep, fitness and, yes, stress.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s important to note that Oura is no mood ring: It measures physiological stress through metrics like heart rate, heart rate variability (variation in time between heart beats) and body temperature.<\/p>\n So when it\u2019s showing a day as stressful, that means your body is stressed \u2014 which is why both upsetting and exciting things can register.<\/p>\n \u201cOura is measuring activation in the body, not whether an experience feels good or bad,\u201d Shyamal Patel, Oura\u2019s SVP of science, said. \u201cIn other words, excitement and stress are not opposites from the body\u2019s perspective; they can overlap.\u201d<\/p>\n So\u2026 which was the most stressful day of the year?<\/p>\n Over the last 12 months, the most stressful day for both New Yorkers and the country as a whole was May 16.<\/p>\n At least in New York, this might be explained in part by the Long Island Rail Road strike, which started that day.<\/p>\n Without the LIRR, some New Yorkers had to shell out hundreds<\/a> to pay for taxis, while others had to deal with hours added<\/a> onto their commute. As many as 300,000 <\/a>people were affected.<\/p>\n But something else was happening. It was gorgeous out<\/a> \u2014 comfortably warm with a breeze and sun \u2014 a perfect late spring day. It\u2019s possible people wearing Oura rings were out and about, socializing, drinking and staying out late, which can all register in the ring as stress.<\/p>\n \u201cPhysiological stress can come from many different sources,\u201d Patel said. \u201cIt can also show up from things like poor sleep, illness, alcohol, dehydration, hormonal changes, caffeine, social interactions, travel or other disruptions that push the body away from its usual baseline.\u201d<\/p>\n High stress numbers may have been driven up the classic way we put physical stress on our bodies, at least in New York. May 16 was the RBC Brooklyn Half, a half marathon organized by New York Road Runners (NYRR).<\/p>\n The most stressful day of the year coincided with the start of the LIRR strike. Lone Pine Press for NY Post<\/p>\n But why would the same day register across the US? Major headlines<\/a> from that day include an ice cream recall<\/a> and a new moth species<\/a> named after the Pope \u2014 not exactly the stuff that might drive up the national heart rate.<\/p>\n Patel notes that it\u2019s possible New Yorkers (over 8.5 million of us in the city) may be tipping the scale.<\/p>\n \u201cNew York\u2019s reading that day was noticeably higher than the national figure \u2014 about 8 more stressed minutes, 3+ points higher on the \u2018percent of day\u2019 metric,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s consistent with a real local spike that then also shows up in the national number.\u201d<\/p>\n The second most stressful day for New Yorkers was June 13 \u2014 which also happened to be Game 5 of the NBA finals. Aristide Economopoulos for NY Post<\/p>\n New York\u2019s other peak stress days<\/p>\n The LIRR strike might have been so stressful for New Yorkers, the second day of the strike (May 17) also registered in the top five most stressful days. The strike ended by the 18th.<\/p>\n Two of the the top 10 most stressful days this year for New Yorkers aligned with NBA Finals games. The second most stressful day was Game 5, when the Knicks beat the Spurs and took their first championship in 53 years.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen something is emotionally positive but physically intense, stimulating, or sleep-disrupting, it can absolutely show up as stress,\u201d Patel said.<\/p>\n New Year\u2019s Eve was No. 3 on the list. An estimated 1 million people were in Times Square alone to watch the ball drop.<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani was also sworn in just after midnight.<\/p>\n The most stressful days for all Americans this year<\/p>\n Patel says \u201cit\u2019s interesting\u201d so many holidays and celebration days are at the very top of the list for most stressful. Three of the top five most stressful days for American Oura ring users were major holidays. <\/p>\n \u201cThat reinforces the idea that high-stimulation days can be physiologically stressful even when they are positive or social.\u201d<\/p>\n An example of a \u201cbalanced\u201d day of Oura ring readings. NY Post<\/p>\n An example of a \u201cstressful\u201d day of Oura ring readings. NY Post<\/p>\n