HeartMath, Heart Rhythm, Emotions, and Stress
In today’s complex and fast-paced world, many people experience physical and emotional stress that can negatively impact their well-being.
At Focus Chiropractic in Abingdon, we provide a holistic approach to health that includes innovative technologies like HeartMath.
This scientific, quantifiable system provides simple and powerful self-regulation techniques to help you manage stress and improve your overall health.
If you're looking for a chiropractor in Abingdon who integrates cutting-edge tools like HeartMath into their practice, you've come to the right place.
What is HeartMath?
HeartMath is a system designed to transform stress into resilience, helping you achieve higher levels of performance and live a healthier, happier life.
The technology involves a Heart Rate Variability (HRV) coherence biofeedback app and sensor, which provide real-time insights into your emotional, mental, and physical states.
This tool helps you become more self-aware and develop the ability to regulate your emotions, thoughts, behaviours, and breathing. By promoting better heart coherence, or heart rhythm, HeartMath can enhance your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
HeartMath sensor that measures heart rate variability.
Heart rate variability is a form of biofeedback therapy training that involves feeding back beat by beat heart rate data during slow breathing so that the breathing matches heart rate patterns. A biofeedback device shows the individual when they have maximized this interaction on a computer monitor.
What is heart rate variability?
Heart rate variability (HRV) is the change in the time intervals between adjacent heartbeats. Interactions between the autonomic nervous system activity, such as blood pressure and respiratory system regulate involuntary processes within the human body and produce short-term rhythms in heart rate variability measurements. Heart rate variability can therefore be considered a measure of nervous system and cardiovascular system function that reflects heart–brain interactions and autonomic nervous system function.
Why is heart rate variability important?
An optimal level of variability within a human is critical to the flexibility and adaptability or resilience that represents healthy function and well-being. While too much instability is detrimental to efficient physiological functioning and energy utilisation, too little variation indicates depletion, exhaustion or a predictor to future illness.
High heart rate variability is a marker for good health and adaptability!
Low heart rate variability has been confirmed as a strong, independent predictor of future health related illness and associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events and death. Several studies have shown that heart rate variability slowly decreases with aging in both sexes which is likely due to the normal aging process. Those with low heart rate variability also tend to have less mental resilience and adaptability to stress, and struggle to handle changing situations and increases in pressure (such as work demands or family life). Low heart rate variability has been observed in individuals with autonomic dysfunction (such as anxiety, depression, and migraines) and those with chronic pain (such as fibromyalgia). Fibromyalgia is associated with chronic widespread debilitating pain, fatigue, and a reduced heart rate variability, reflecting decreased emotional adaptability and resistance to stress, thus leading to exhaustion. Researchers have observed lower heart variability in Fibromyalgia patients compared to control persons without fibromyalgia, as well as increased sympathetic activity (activated fight or flight stress response).
The incoherent heart rhythm pattern shown to the left hand side is characterized by it’s irregular, jagged waveform, which is typical of stress and negative emotions such as anger, frustration, and anxiety. The right hand side shows an example of the coherent heart rhythm pattern that is typically observed when an individual is experiencing a sustained positive emotion, such as appreciation, compassion, or love.
This picture shows the vagus nerve connecting the heart and brain.
Heart-Brain communication
There is a coherent flow of information within and between the physiological systems (such as the heart and brain) and processes in the central, autonomic nervous system and body, that plays an important role in determining the quality of the feelings and emotions that an individual experiences. Heart rate variability analysis is an important tool that provides a window into the activity occurring between the heart and brain. Heart rate variability is generated largely by the interaction between the heart and brain via the signals flowing through pathways of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. Numerous studies have provided evidence that coherent heart rhythm training consisting of intentional activation of positive and calming emotions paired with heart rate variability coherence feedback facilitates significant improvements in wellness and well-being indicators.
Breathing and vagal nerve stimulation
The vagus nerve represents the main component of the parasympathetic nervous system (relaxation/healing), which oversees a vast array of crucial bodily functions, including control of mood, immune response, digestion, and heart rate. The vagus nerve activates the parasympathetic nervous system and is kind of like a button you can press to reduce stress. Slow diaphragmatic breathing techniques with long exhalation will signal a state of relaxation by vagus nerve, thus promoting an environment for healing. For example, an efficient way to manage anxiety is slow controlled abdominal breathing, which promotes an increase parasympathetic activity.
Coherence state
The Coherence state is marked by the development of a smooth, sine-wave like pattern in the heart-rate variability. This characteristic pattern is the primary indicator of the coherence state, and it is what the HeartMath biofeedback technology measures and quantifies. Several important physiological changes occur during Coherence. The two branches of the Autonomic Nervous System synchronise with one another, and there is an overall shift in autonomic balance towards increased parasympathetic activity and an increased synchronisation between the activity of the heart and brain.
Parasympathetic vs Sympathetic branches
Your brain and autonomic nervous system support your heart. Sight, sound, smell, taste and touch are your senses that feed information to your body about everything around you in your environment which relays information to the brain and heart to speed up and work harder or slow down and relax when required. The autonomic nervous system is divided into two main parts, your sympathetic nervous system and your parasympathetic nervous system and operates without you thinking about it (involuntary).
Sympathetic - This is where your “fight-or-flight” response arises from. It manages increases in heart rate and blood pressure in emergency situations.
Parasympathetic - This balances out the sympathetic nervous system response with a relaxation response, especially after you’ve been triggered in a fight or flight response.
Here are some examples that may trigger your fight or flight response;
• You think you’re in danger
• Have an argument at work
• Anxious about a new encounter
• Slamming on the brakes when the car in front of you suddenly stops
• Feeling unsafe while walking down a street
Once the fight or flight response is activated, your brain then quickly releases stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol and your body will then undergo physiological change such as;
• Heart rate increases
• Muscles will demand more blood and oxygen in preparation of physical activity
• You may look pale or have goosebumps
• Digestion slows or halts completely, affecting how quickly food moves through the bowels which can affect digestion and nutrient absorption in the intestines
• Experience cold hands and feet as blood flow increases to your major muscles
Once the situation is over, your parasympathetic nervous system takes the lead and slows down your heart rate and lowers your blood pressure. The problem lies when we are activated all day every day and live our life in our sympathetic nervous system. This is where we may experience chronic pain, migraines, muscle tightness, digestive issues, and heart palpitations. During the fight or flight response, your body is trying to prioritise, so anything it doesn't need for immediate survival is placed on the back burner. This means that digestion, reproductive and growth hormone production, and tissue repair are all temporarily halted.
The two branches of the Autonomic Nervous System.
Studies conducted with over 11,500 people have shown significant improvements in mental, emotional, and physical well-being in just 6-9 weeks using HeartMath training, with measurable improvements in focus, sleep, calmness, fatigue, depression, and anxiety!
Chiropractic Care and Autonomic Nervous System in Abingdon
At Focus Chiropractic in Abingdon, our chiropractic treatments focus on the holistic functioning of your nervous system.
Chiropractic adjustments, particularly in the cervical and lumbar regions, can enhance parasympathetic activity, leading to relaxation and improved health outcomes.
This approach differs from traditional chiropractic methods that focus solely on structural adjustments. We aim to facilitate your body's natural healing process by improving nervous system function.
Key points
• HeartMath has been recognised as a coherent, integral heart-based healthcare system and is excellent in transforming negativity into positivity and renewing the patterns of energy typically experienced in the forms of such feelings as peace and love.
• Slow controlled breathing has uncovered significant effects on the brain, respiratory, cardiovascular, cardiorespiratory, and gastrointestinal systems of the autonomic nervous system function that is associated with better health and longevity due to increased heart rate variability.
• During times of intense physical or mental stress, implement slow, deep diagrammatic (belly) breathing to help reset the autonomic nervous system and help’s you regain control.
• Chronic pain is usually associated with increased sympathetic activity.
• Heart and brain coherence training via heart rate variability coherence feedback may facilitate significant improvements in your wellness and wellbeing.
Experience Comprehensive Chiropractic Care in Abingdon
If you're interested in exploring how HeartMath and chiropractic care can benefit your health, our Abingdon chiropractic team is here to help.
We provide comprehensive assessments and personalised treatment plans to improve your HRV and overall well-being.
To learn more about your heart rate variability and how you can achieve a better heart-brain connection, contact Focus Chiropractic, your trusted chiropractor in Abingdon. You can drop a comment below or email karl@focuschiropractic.co.uk for a HeartMath assessment and begin your journey towards better health and resilience.