HRV - HEART RATE VARIABILITY
Breathe to the rhythm of the heart image, breathing in as the heart expands, and breathing out as it gets smaller. At the end of the out breath there is a pause, where you hold your breath. Then you start again. Follow this pattern for 10 minutes. Breathe naturally and breathe smoothly.
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This Breathing Trainer, followed for 10 minutes a day, is one of the easiest ways to increase your heart rate variability (HRV).
Increasing HRV is good. Increased HRV is associated with many benefits for physical and emotional health. Some of them, such as managing and reducing anxiety, sleeping better and improving immune function, are particularly important to nurture during the current pandemic. The breathing pattern is characterised by being shorter on the in-breath than the out-breath. It should also be smooth and not forced. You don't need to breathe unduly deeply; it should be comfortable. We have been using bio-feedback software in the practice (The Wellness Response) for many years for people to see how changing their breathing pattern has an immediate effect on HRV. Fairly quickly, this change whilst you are just doing the exercise, becomes a long term change for the better in HRV. We can't offer this at the moment, but we hope that by using our specially commissioned HRV Breathing Trainer you can still benefit by following the breathing pattern and improving your HRV. |
We believe this is safe for everyone but if you have particular health concerns please check with your GP first.