Heart Coherence , Stress and Emotions Heart Coherence or Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is one of the hottest areas of health and biofeedback research! Studies have found that a low Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is the single most important leading-indicator of heart disease. And, good news about this... Simple breathing techniques can increase your HRV, and Heart Rhythm Meditation is known to increase HRV. Coherence is a state of balance and cooperation between our heart, mind, and emotions. I'll show you how to create coherence and increase your HRV on this site. Simple breathing techniques will help you manage stress, and calm yourself. And if you'd like to go further and actually meditate, I'll show you how to do that too. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is a measure of the subtle changes in time between heartbeats. Your heart doesn't just beat at the same rate. The heart is actually speeding up and slowing down all the time. It's part of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic part speeds the heart rate and raises blood pressure, allowing us to take quick action when needed (fight or flight). The parasympathetic part of the nervous system slows the heartrate and blood pressure and relaxes the glands. Because these two systems are always at work in us, the heartrate is speeding up and slowing down all the time in a pattern that can be measured with biofeedback. HRV can be measured, recorded and displayed on instrumentation. Devices are affordable and available to anyone interested in having one. Anyone, from students to athletes can find benefits of practicing heart coherence. Coherence relieves stress, and puts you in an optimal state of being. Practice it before a big event or after you are feeling stressed. HRV is reflected in your heart rhythms. These rhythms can be either chaotic and irregular or harmonious and regular. See the two images below for examples. These graphs were created with a biofeedback device that measures HRV. Your heart rhythm pattern shows how stress and emotions affect your nervous system. In the graph with the chaotic pattern, we see heart rhythms that are not coherent. Stress is causing the graph to spike in various places and that is hard on the heart. That is what stress does to our hearts. Literally. This person is probably breathing either shallowly or rapidly or both. The graph with the smooth wave pattern shows heart coherence. Coherence is described by scientists as a highly efficient physiological state in which the nervous system, cardiovascular, hormonal and immune systems are working efficiently and harmoniously. Simply stated: More coherence = Less stress. This person is breathing fully, slowly, and rhythmically. Easy Meditation techniques can create coherence. Heart Rhythm Meditation can actually increase your HRV. This is done by synchronizing the breath rate to the heartrate, resulting in an entrainment (synchronization) of both rhythms. Thus, by controlling your breath rate you can control your heartrate. And there's the key to heart coherence. When you are practicing coherence, you have an increased sense of well-being. You feel less stress. Your mind slows down and your heartrate slows too. You feel present as you connect with your breath and breathe. A general sense of gratitude may occur. You feel nurtured. Global Coherence Initiative The Global Coherence Initiative is a science-based initiative to unite millions of people in heart-focused care and intention – to shift global consciousness from instability and discord to balance, cooperation and enduring peace.