Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Training

Heart Rate Variability Training

What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)?

Heart rate variability (HRV) is the variation in time interval between successive heart beats and is measured using a sensor that fits over your fingertip and is displayed in real time on a computer screen. HRV is an indicator of susceptibility to disease and a marker of health. Poor HRV has been associated with development of anxiety, depression, inflammation, cardiovascular disease and a predictor of mortality.

Higher heart rate variability (HRV) indicates a nervous system that is adaptable and able to keep up with the demands placed on it (adaptability and resilience). Demands such as daily life stress, nutritional deficits, environmental toxicity, diseases, a sedentary lifestyle, poor sleep, toxic relationships all place extra demands on our nervous system whose basic function is to maintain our survival. If we cannot adapt and keep up with demands, dise-ease occurs.

How can Heart Rate Variability Training help me?

Through HRV assessment and training we help identify a nervous system imbalance and bring it back into balance to minimize disease development. Think about improving adaptability and resilience to stress. HRV training is excellent for individuals who live in their heads a lot and struggle with feeling in their body. Being able to see real time changes in HRV as one thinks about a stressful event or when one changes the way they breathe, helps individuals connect more to their physical body. Preventing the onset of chronic disease and learning how your nervous system responds to life’s demands while being able to train yourself to become more adaptable and resilient is key to living an optimal and functional life.

HRV is not the same as a heart rate measurement and should not be confused with arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms).

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