As Chief Science Officer of OptimalHRV, I’ve helped develop a new way for people to improve their health, wellbeing, and performance in as little as 20 minutes a day.

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Heart Rate Variability refers to the way in which your heart rate varies from one heartbeat to the next. If you feel your pulse on your wrist or your neck, you’ll feel your heartbeat. Each pulsation you feel is a single heartbeat – the contraction of the left ventricle of your heart pushing oxygenated blood out to the body. And if you were to count your heartbeats, you’ll probably count somewhere around 60-80 heartbeats in a minute. That is your heart rate.  But the space between heartbeats is changing all the time. Sometimes, the heartbeats are coming further apart from each other, and the heart rate is slowing down. Then, heartbeats start coming closer together, and the heart rate is speeding up. Your heart rate is doing that all the time – increasing and decreasing, speeding up and slowing down. These changes are heart rate variability.

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Heart rate variability is important because it is responsible for your mind and body’s ability to regulate your physical and emotional functions. HRV tells us how well you are able to respond to stress and challenges. Research shows that higher heart rate variability is strongly associated with better physical and emotional health, with greater resilience in the face of challenges, and with better mental and physical performance. We know from research that people who struggle with conditions like anxiety, depression, trauma, headaches, chronic pain, high blood pressure, gastrointestinal distress and others benefit from training to increase their heart rate variability. At the same time, heart rate variability training also helps us improve physical endurance and reaction speed, make better decisions and problem solve under pressure, respond quickly and appropriately when sudden changes come our way or life throws curveballs at us.

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This new app is now available to you on Android and IOS (download links for both are available here: optimalhrv.com)

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OptimalHRV works with various Bluetooth-enabled HRV readers, and offers Heart Rate Variability monitoring and training, as well as a unique HRV-guided mindfulness module.

 

HRV can be accurately measured using the Optimal HRV app, and when used in conjunction with Biofeedback training modules, you can learn to modify your physiological responses in beneficial ways.

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Bringing together two of the most powerful scientifically-based tools to improve your health, wellbeing, and performance, Optimal HRV includes all elements needed for the most effective HRV training:

• Daily HRV monitoring

• Resonance Frequency breathing rate determination

• HRV biofeedback at RF rate

• Progress reporting

In addition, Optimal HRV’s unique mindfulness and self-compassion module allows you to use HRV training together with mindfulness and self-compassion meditation practices, track physiological effects of mindfulness through its effects on HRV, and witness in real time your body’s response to meditation.

OptimalHRV also provides clinicians with access to a secure HIPAA-compliant clinician dashboard to monitor their client’s HRV and biofeedback practices and progress.