That was the first time I had heard of this incredible resource that can bring down your stress by helping you align your breathing and heart rate. It's more in-depth than that, but that's my simple version of it.
Jan opened up the application for me, showed me what the tools looked like, I put the blue tooth attachment on my ear, and I started breathing with the breath pacer. In and out, to the rhythm. As I got into rhythm and coherence, the color would change. Red signifies out of coherence. Blue is getting there. Green is in coherence.
The achievement level of coherence depends on the challenge level (1-4), with the lowest level having an easier achievement scale.
There are a few options to choose from as you focus on your heart and your breathing: from an in and out disk, to an up and down wave, to a picture you upload, to watching the statistic page. I uploaded a picture of the waves at the beach from that board meeting and often use it, though I default to the disk bellowing in and out too.
After our board retreat, I ordered my Inner Balance from Jan and started using it. Though I don't always get in the recommended three sessions a day, I find that my time with it does help me focus and relax.
I have been using this resource since September now. I am almost to my 100th entry. I started out on level 1, switched to level 2, and promptly switched back to level 1. The recommendation is to go up a level when you reach 80-90 percent coherence. After a time period back on level 1, I switched back up to level 2 and have been here for a substantial amount of time, with no plans to move to level 3 in the near future. I can't seem to get as high of coherence levels yet, but I still have positive sessions.
Much like walking, centering prayer, journaling, or any other practice, for me it's the long term effect that matters most. It's a marathon; not a sprint.
My longest session sitting at home was a little over 23 minutes. In that time, my coherence averaged 3.8 and the achievement was 1014. My highest coherence average so far has been 4.2 I am not a trained person with Heart Math, so the numbers don't really mean a whole lot for me.
One thing I do notice is that when I'm in high coherence, I (at times) experience a tingling sensation in the frontal section on the left side of my brain. I don't really know what this means either, though I did research it a little bit.
If you've heard of Heart Math and/or have used Inner Balance or one of the other assessment tools (emWave Pro Plus, for example), share your experience.
As I get the opportunity and time, I read up on the Heart Math website about heart rate variability (HRV), coherence levels, and the benefit of breathing and focusing on the heart.
Here are a few screen shots:
Here are some links to check out for further information:
Heart Math (main page)
Heart Math Institute (not really sure what the difference here is between this .org and the .com above)
A review on Inner Balance from Tech Hive
Inner Balance Android App
Now that I've shared this with you, it's time for me to take some time and do a session.
It has become part of my journey.
Blessings on your journey,
Debra
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