Heart Rate Variability

Have you ever been walking about through your day feeling so disconnected from yourself and not sure what to do to help? There has been a lot of research on the benefits of heart rate variability, and its impacts on not only our mental health but our overall physical well-being as well. You may have heard of heart rate variability if you have a watch or a ring that assesses different physiological measures. A lot of these devices have been programmed to measure heart rate variability in order to make suggestions for when you should get rest, or when you are in an optimal state and able to get more activity in with physical training. By measuring the time between heartbeats, heart rate variability assesses your own unique adaptability to stress and your ability to recover from it. One way to help increase the coherence of your heart rate variability without any of the fancy devices or training modalities is by connecting with heart-centered breathing. Try the following exercise when you are free and able to:

1. Bring your awareness to your heart center either by mentally tuning in with and sensing it or by placing a hand on the heart to connect with it through touch.

2. Connect with a moment or a visualization that brings you great peace, comfort, and/or joy. This can be an actual moment in your life, or a completely new creation from your imagination, such as a beautiful alcove of water overlooking the mountains while the sun is setting.

3. As you feel the positive sensations from your visualization, connect them with your breath. As you breathe, direct those positive sensations to flow in and out of your heart center.

4. Some find visualizing the energy of the breath as it wraps around the heart beneficial. Others find adding counts to their breath, such as box breathing, or having an extended exhale helpful - feel free to make this your own.

Heart-centered breathing can be used at any point in the day. It can be a shorter practice of just a couple minutes, or as lengthy as you want. Just this small practice helps bring your body more into a state of coherence and increases your heart rate variability in order to support your adaptability to stressors.

Yours in wellness and healing,

Angela

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