I recently stumbled upon something important that I’m excited to share with you. I can’t believe I didn’t know about this before. It feels like I discovered the elixir of life, beating right inside my chest. It’s something called Heart Rate Variability or HRV for short.

HRV is “simply a measure of the variation in time between each heartbeat. This variation is controlled by a primitive part of the nervous system called the autonomic nervous system (ANS). It works behind the scenes, automatically regulating our heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and digestion among other key tasks.”[1]

Heart Rate Variability is present in everyone all the time. It's a simple way to measure the activity of the autonomic nervous system which works to keep everything in balance so that we can function at our best. HRV is a measure of our energy, overall system flexibility and capacity to rapidly adapt to change. It predicts death and illness from all causes. It alters brain functioning, which impact all our organs. And it declines by 3% per year after your mid-twenties.

Declines? That doesn’t sound like good news. But you can actually increase heart rate variability by breathing. Yup, just breathing. Something we all do all the time. But the breathing needs to be rhythmic and steady.

You can achieve steady, rhythmic breathing lots of different ways. Some useful methods include:

Experiencing a positive emotion
Practicing yoga and meditation
Engaging in strenuous exercise
Prayer
Breathing regulation apps

I recently downloaded one such an app, HRV4Biofeedback and I’m starting to experiment with it.

The list of benefits of increasing heart rate variability is impressive. There’ve been over 15,000 published scientific studies[2] citing results such as:

Reduced blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, cortisol, and risk of sudden death
Reduced negative mood
Reduced physiological stress
Improved leadership skills - the most effective leaders have low cortisol levels
Improved focus, decision-making, clarity of organizational goals, team performance

Check out this article on HRV and health written by my colleague Grace Bullock.

You can also check out this article on HRV written by Marco Altini, founder of HRV4Biofeedback.

My first step is to establish a baseline by using HRV4Biofeedback first thing in the morning for a week. Then I’ll try to increase my HRV by using the app to establish steady rhythmic breathing. This will complement some of the other methods I’m using such as yoga and strenuous exercise.

Stay tuned for updates. Meanwhile, pick your favorite technique, practice it regularly, and look forward to a long and healthy life!

P.S. If you're already aware of HRV and have been working to increase it, what techniques have you’ve used and what results have you gotten? I’m excited to hear your stories.

[1] https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/heart-rate-variability-new-way-track-well-2017112212789

[2] Quoted in The Neuroscience School, Dr. Irena O’Brien based on Umetani, K., Singer, D.H., Mccarty, R., & Atkinson, M. (1998). Twenty-four time domain heart rate variability and heart rate: Relations to age and gender over nine decades. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 31, 593.