Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is one kind of biofeedback and is widely accepted as a good measurement of health and wellbeing.
What exactly is HRV? There is a natural change in rate from one beat of the heart to the next. This change in heart rate is called Heart Rate Variability. With the use of biofeedback, we can look at this beat to beat difference in heart rate, learn ways to improve and monitor progress.
Factors that influence HRV include:
. Stress
. Breathing
. Physical exercise
. Thoughts and emotions
. Age
The normal variation in heart rate is reflective of how the two sides of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) work together.
HRV demonstrates the movement, balance, or synchronicity between the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). See STRESS RESPONSE for more information.
To summarize:
. During deep relaxation, you move into the calming, healing, restorative Parasympathetic Nervous System.
. When you are in danger or stressed, the protective Sympathetic Nervous System takes over. The body is only meant to be in SNS activation for short periods of time.
. HRV reflects the level of balance or harmony between PNS and SNS.
We are now able to measure HRV at home or work. We can train ourselves to improve health and wellbeing by monitoring HRV and other physiologic markers (pulse, respiration, and oxygen levels).
See Tinké for information on purchasing your own personal device to measure health and wellbeing.