Heart Math – A More Productive Way to Stare at Your iPhone

Heart Math was found in 1991 with the mission to enhance the heart-brain-body connection. HeartMath techniques and technology have been published in many peer reviewed journals including; The American Journal of Cardiology, Harvard Business Review and Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Additional studies are currently taking place in many institutions such as Mayo Clinic, Arizona State University, University of Northampton, Northampton, England and VA Palo Alto Health Care System. Basically, it is no bullshit.

Heart math uses Heart Rate Variability or beat to beat changes in your heart rate to assess the state of attention you are giving to the present moment – in other words are you able to shut this bad boy down and get into a restful or coherent state. Why is this so important?

“Stress directly causes or exacerbates 90% of all disease states in human beings.”

-Mark Hyman M.D.

“Cortisol dysregulation is more predictive of all cause mortality than smoking or obesity status.”

Alan Christianson N.M.D.

I’ll just let you marinate on that last one for a little bit…

We have talked at length on Train Adapt Evolve about the dangers of being trapped in a sympathetic or stress response state for extended periods of the day and I can’t tell you the number clients and people who have said to me “I should meditate” or “I need to start a yoga practice.” Yet, normally nothing happens. Going to a group Yoga class can be extremely helpful but also prohibitive. Not everyone can drive to a studio and dedicate 60-90 minutes of their day to stretching and breathing on a mat. On the meditation side, most industrialized humans laugh at the idea of sitting and doing nothing. Come on BRO – I have productive shit I need to do. The problem is that march of productive shit never stops and you never escape the rat race to reset and recharge your battery.

Heart Math fills those gaps. It is easy, can be done anywhere for any amount of time, and you feel as though you are doing something productive because there are achievement points and a point of focus.

Over the past few months I have kept the Heart Math sensor in my bag and shoot for 5 minutes three times a day, mostly before meals so I give my parasympathetic nervous system a little bump before eating to increase digestion and awareness. I also add one longer practice session 2-3 times a week of 10-20 minutes of concentrated practice. I still perform sitting and walking meditations, but have found the breathing pacer very helpful with concentration and even look forward to Heart Math sessions.

This may all seem woo woo and stupid to you but the thing is no one has to know. The sensor hooks to your ear lobe and looks very similar to a head phone. You put your phone on air plane mode and breathe with your heart beat which is represented by a pacer on the screen. There are changing colors, achievement points, and you even get to pick what mood you are in after the session. With all their research and pent up awareness it is not surprising that Heart Math has done an excellent job of making it complex yet simple enough so that it is not prohibitive.

Will Heart Math dramatically change your life on your first use? Probably Not

Could a regular Heart Math practice help you recover more quickly from workouts and digest food more efficiently? Yes.

Could Heart Math save your life? Probably.