Address Stress by Changing your Internal Physiology
True or False: In healthy people, the heart rate should be stable and consistent, like a metronome.
True or False: In healthy people, the heart rate should be stable and consistent, like a metronome.
This couldn’t be further from the truth, actually. High variability between heart beats (known as Heart Rate Variability, or HRV), in which the heart rate speeds up and slows down in each breath, is a wonderful marker of good physical health and emotional resiliency.
Have you heard about the love hormone? It’s called oxytocin, and research correlates high levels with being in-love, mother-infant bonding, trust, and empathy. Most research focuses on your brain as the production site of this hormone, but your heart actually produces and stores a significant amount of it. Your heart also produces other critical hormones, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and Atrial Naturietic Peptide. The old idea that the heart is just a “pump”, has not served us well.