A coherent heartbeat helps the brain to fight against stress, anxiety & depression.
Your heart is your best tool to reach that state of calm and stillness we all crave. Cardiac coherence is a very simple method, that can be used by everyone, in all circumstances. Based on breathing and visualization, it can have a ripple effect on your serenity.
To get in cardiac coherence, just begin by… breathing. Take several breaths, slow, deep breaths, in rythm with your heart beat, with a short pause after exhaling. This slow, deep breathing in harmony with our heart rate lowers the level of stress hormone (adrenaline) in our blood. In addition, it increases other hormones levels (DHEA: an anti-fatigue hormone, oxytocin: attachment hormone) and strengthens your immune system.
Then, after this stabilization phase, bring your attention to your heart, visualize its slow movements, imagine the inhale that carries oxygen and exhale that flushes waste out.
Finally, feel the heat that develops in your chest and enrich it with nice thoughts: faces of your loved ones, images of nature, prayer… Find your own suitable positive emotion.
"During this exercise, a smile sometimes slowly rises to the lips, as if it were born in the chest and brought about on the face. It is simply a signal that coherence is there,"says neuroscientist Dr David Servan-Schreiber. The appeasement, both psycological and physical, is occurring. Besides, when a person getting in cardiac coherence is connected to a computer via sensors like for an electrocardiogram (a technique known as “biofeedback”), the computer screen clearly shows the cardiac coherence in the form of regular and soft sine waves!
Cardiac coherence can be practiced at any time of the day, especially while you are active, at work or in emergency situations, to reduce stress. It can also be learned with traditional yoga classes (hatha yoga), a multi-millennium technique that has always relied on heart-brain coherence.