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How often to do you stop to listen, to really listen to what your body, mind, and spirit needs? And what if you could literally ‘peek’ at what is happening inside your body?

I’ll be the first to admit, this is a practice I am still learning and striving to improve. A week ago, however, the voice within became very loud, screaming at me to not have that cup of coffee that I usually look so forward to enjoying. Believe me, I LOVE my coffee! So, instead of taking my body’s advice, I did what most people usually do out of pure habit. I had my cup of coffee, and that entire day, I felt more anxious than ever. At one point I even felt my heart beat do something out of the ordinary. My nervous system was so activated, my mind, my thoughts naturally followed suit! Before long, I was a crying mess and I wasn’t really sure why.

The next thing I did was hook myself up to a biofeedback device designed to measure heart rate variability (HRV) and Coherence. As I predicted, my nervous system was completely dysregulated. My HRV graph was all over the place and my coherence was in the red zone. My score was about 20% out of 100 which is low by any standard. So, what is HRV and Coherence?

In short, while the heart generates rhythmic patterns, the beat-to-beat interval varies. For example, as you inhale, your heart rate increases, and as you exhale your heart rate decreases. Thus, your breath is one of several major factors that influences your HRV. Other major factors are the central and peripheral nervous system states. In fact, you can see with your own eyes how your thoughts affect your heart rate patterns. This is what I love about this device the most, you can experiment with your breathing, your thoughts, and in my case, what you put into your body, to see how these factors affect not only your HRV but more importantly, your state of Coherence.

Coherence is a term described by scientists as a highly efficient physiological state in which the nervous system, cardiovascular, hormonal and immune systems are working efficiently and harmoniously. Basically, increased coherence is correlated with increased well-being. As stated by Heartmath, a leading company dedicated to health and wellness, high coherence is a state associated with positive emotional attitudes which send signals to the brain that reduce stress and improve brain function.

I highly encourage anyone and everyone to practice with biofeedback either on their own or with a coach. Utilizing the emWave device not only for myself but also with my clients has provided the only concrete way to measure empirical data to track progress and effect of lifestyle changes ranging from how you breathe or eat to how to think.

Click here to learn more about the science behind emWave and Heart Rhythms.

I’ve always believed in the power of this tool, but it wasn’t until this morning that I got to experience first-hand, how powerful it is.

The morning after my anxiety meltdown, as usual I thought about my morning coffee, but this time, my body cringed and I listened, “No coffee, please! No alcohol, no toxins! Please!” That day I started an experimental cleanse replacing my morning coffee with detox tea. Less than a week later, after monitoring my HRV every day, my heart rhythm is painting beautiful, smooth, sin waves in my HRV graph and my coherence is up to 100% (admittedly, after morning yoga & meditation). Though previously, what I found was that yoga & meditation alone did not bring me to full coherence. Another example to show that balance is key!

I’d like to end this entry with a question. Last night, in a conversation with a yoga teacher, I heard her ask someone in the room, “What would you have to give up to be someone that you look up to?

Not only do I invite you to ask this of yourself, I embrace the challenge of asking this of myself. When I know that the activity of my heart and my thoughts create an electromagnetic field that extends up to several feet around me, it makes me want to do everything and anything that I can to create a field that has a beneficial impact on not only myself, but the lives that surround me.

If you or anyone you know is interested or have any questions about utilizing HRV to make a difference in your life, please don’t hesitate to comment or email me directly.

The following is a great video of Dr. Rollin McCraty explaining the “Science of Heart.” I couldn’t explain it better:

The universe is constantly moving toward a state of chaos. Indeed, incredible amounts of energy and work are required to keep matter organized. This natural tendency for disorder is known as entropy. Entropy is evident in everything that we do, in every space that exists. There is constant flow seeping through the cracks of every structure set in place. Perhaps we are most vulnerable in the realm of the nonphysical, for very few have mastered the art of creating structure out of something as evasive as a cloud or even more intangible, like a thought. The written language is arguably the closest humans have come to pulling scattered thoughts together into a form that is comprehensible. At the other end of that same spectrum is the absence of language as can be found in silent meditations.

It is so easy to get caught up in the chaos of our own and other people’s thoughts. Our experience of every moment in life is subject to responses to every internal and external stimulus in the universe. How often have you woken peacefully to have your entire day shaken up by one little phone call or email carrying the ripples of someone else’s sadness, anger, or confusion? I dare to say distraction is more often than not our normal state of existence. So how do we learn to ride that powerful wave of chaos and not wipe out in the wash? And then, once we learn to ride, how do we master the ride with the kind of stealth and grace that others can look upon with complete and utter awe? Isn’t this the skill to strive for? It matters not what wave we choose to take on in life. What matters is how we ride it.

This ultimate challenge must be taken on at the level of the mental, the physical, and the emotional. Each of these realms is like a circle, or a sphere, ever so persistently contracting and expanding. Each is a boundless entity, breathing in, out, and all around the source which is center.

Bring it back to center. Bring all back to center. Whatever the moment and experience is, always be able to bring yourself to center. The instructions are simple yet the knowing is never enough. A certain shift must first occur. Transformation of the knowing into the Being is how we access what we call Center. Being breath, being silence, and being acceptance. The body manifests in the realm of the physical where our breath serves as source. Thoughts manifest in the realm of the mental where silence serves as source. Feelings manifest in the realm of the emotional where acceptance and peace serve as source.

In source is center and from center, there is choice. Where there is choice there is a sacred freedom, the freedom required to gracefully master the art of creating form from chaos. Here, we no longer wait for the perfect wave to arrive. Here, we simply create the perfect wave of our lives.

Always remember…bring it back to center.