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About Stress and the Health Effects of Stress - Definition of stress?

Stress has become the number one malady of our time. The constant pressure associated with living in a fast-paced world has created an environment where nearly everyone feels the effects of stress.

Stress is a term used to describe the wear and tear the body experiences in reaction to everyday tensions and pressures. Change, illness, injury or career and lifestyle changes, are common causes of stress, however, it's the effects of stress, like pressure and tension, that we feel in response to the little everyday hassles—like rush hour traffic, waiting in line, and too many emails—that do the most damage.

Stress is the body and mind's response to any pressure that disrupts its normal balance. It occurs when our perception of events doesn't meet our expectations and we are unable to manage our reaction. As a response, stress expresses itself as resistance, tension, strain or frustration that throws off our physiological and psychological equilibrium, keeping us out of sync. If our equilibrium is disturbed for long, the stress can become disabling and create numerous health problems.

Stress and the effects of stress are often misunderstood. We look at outside events as the source of stress, but in fact stress is really caused by our emotional reactions to events. The stress we experience in today's world often goes unnoticed and unmanaged. Many people have simply adapted to stress in an unhealthy way, resigned to thinking it's “just the way it is”. Unfortunately, lack of stress management has created a pandemic of low-grade anxiety and depression.

Health Effects of Stress?

The effects of stress in people are seen physically, mentally and emotionally. According to the American Institute of Stress, up to 90% of all health problems are related to stress. Too much stress can contribute to and agitate many health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, depression and sleep disorders. Additional studies confirm the debilitating effects of stress on our health:

Three 10-year studies concluded that emotional stress was more predictive of death from cancer and cardiovascular disease than smoking. People who were ineffectively managing stress had a 40% higher death rate than non-stressed individuals.

A Harvard Medical School study of 1,623 heart attack survivors found that when subjects got angry during emotional conflicts, their risk of subsequent heart attacks was more than double that of those remained calm.

A 20-year study of over 1,700 older men conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health found that worry about social conditions, health and personal finances all significantly increased the risk of coronary disease.

Over one-half of heart disease cases are not explained by the standard risk facts, such as high cholesterol, smoking or sedentary lifestyle.

According to a Mayo Clinic study of individuals with heart disease, psychological stress was the strongest predictor of future cardiac events, such as cardiac death, cardiac arrest and heart attacks. How to relieve stress?

In order to effectively relieve stress it's important to understand it's not the external events or situations that do the harm; it's how you respond to those stressful events. More precisely, it's how you feel about them that determine whether you feel the negative effects of stress and ultimately relieve stress.

Emotions, or feelings, have a powerful impact on the human body. Emotions like frustration, insecurity and depressing feelings are stressful and inhibit optimal health and relief from stress. Positive emotions like appreciation, care, and love not only feel good, they promote health, performance and well-being.

HeartMath's research has shown when you learn how to intentionally shift to a positive emotion, heart rhythms immediately change. A shift in heart rhythms may not seem important but in fact it creates a favorable cascade of neural, hormonal and biochemical events that benefit the entire body. The stress relief effects are both immediate and long lasting.

Melatrol

emWave PC Stress Relief System (formerly known as Freeze-Framer®)

The emWave PC Stress Relief System with Patented Heart Rhythm Monitor will help you transform stress and anxiety into vibrant energy. Much more than a heart monitor this revolutionary technology guides you on how to achieve higher, more creative energy levels, less stress, and optimal health.

The Science Behind the emWave® PC

The emWave PC Stress Relief System and the tools and techniques of the HeartMath system are based on over 15 years of scientific research on the psychophysiology of stress, emotions, and the interactions between the heart and brain.

The Heart–Brain Connection

Most of us have been taught in school that the heart is constantly responding to “orders” sent by the brain in the form of neural signals. However, it is not as commonly known that the heart actually sends more signals to the brain than the brain sends to the heart! Moreover, these heart signals have a significant effect on brain function—influencing emotional processing as well as higher cognitive faculties such as attention, perception, memory, and problem-solving. In other words, not only does the heart respond to the brain, but the brain continuously responds to the heart.

The effect of heart activity on brain function has been researched extensively over about the past 40 years. Earlier research mainly examined the effects of heart activity occurring on a very short time scale—over several consecutive heartbeats at maximum. Scientists at the Institute of HeartMath have extended this body of scientific research by looking at how larger-scale patterns of heart activity affect the brain’s functioning.

HeartMath research has demonstrated that different patterns of heart activity (which accompany different emotional states) have distinct effects on cognitive and emotional function. During stress and negative emotions, when the heart rhythm pattern is erratic and disordered, the corresponding pattern of neural signals traveling from the heart to the brain inhibits higher cognitive functions. This limits our ability to think clearly, remember, learn, reason, and make effective decisions. (This helps explain why we may often act impulsively and unwisely when we’re under stress.) The heart’s input to the brain during stressful or negative emotions also has a profound effect on the brain’s emotional processes—actually serving to reinforce the emotional experience of stress.

In contrast, the more ordered and stable pattern of the heart’s input to the brain during positive emotional states has the opposite effect—it facilitates cognitive function and reinforces positive feelings and emotional stability. This means that learning to generate increased heart rhythm coherence, by sustaining positive emotions, not only benefits the entire body, but also profoundly affects how we perceive, think, feel, and perform.

Your Heart’s Changing Rhythm

The heart at rest was once thought to operate much like a metronome, faithfully beating out a regular, steady rhythm. Scientists and physicians now know, however, that this is far from the case. Rather than being monotonously regular, the rhythm of a healthy heart——even under resting conditions—is actually surprisingly irregular, with the time interval between consecutive heartbeats constantly changing. This naturally occurring beat-to-beat variation in heart rate is called heart rate variability (HRV).

The normal variability in heart rate is due to the synergistic action of the two branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS)—the part of the nervous system that regulates most of the body’s internal functions. The sympathetic nerves act to accelerate heart rate, while the parasympathetic (vagus) nerves slow it down. The sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the ANS are continually interacting to maintain cardiovascular activity in its optimal range and to permit appropriate reactions to changing external and internal conditions. The analysis of HRV therefore serves as a dynamic window into the function and balance of the autonomic nervous system.

The moment-to-moment variations in heart rate are generally overlooked when average heart rate is measured (for example, when your doctor takes your pulse over a certain period of time and calculates that your heart is beating at, say, 70 beats per minute). However, the emWave PC technology allows you to observe your heart’s changing rhythms in real time. Using your pulse data, it provides a picture of your HRV—plotting the natural increases and decreases in your heart rate occurring on a continual basis.

Why is HRV Important? Scientists and physicians consider HRV to be an important indicator of health and fitness. As a marker of physiological resilience and behavioral flexibility, it reflects our ability to adapt effectively to stress and environmental demands. A simple analogy helps to illustrate this point: just as the shifting stance of a tennis player about to receive a serve may facilitate swift adaptation, in healthy individuals the heart remains similarly responsive and resilient, primed and ready to react when needed.

HRV is also a marker of biological aging. Our heart rate variability is greatest when we are young, and as we age the range of variation in our resting heart rate becomes smaller. Although the age-related decline in HRV is a natural process, having abnormally low HRV for one’s age group is associated with increased risk of future health problems and premature mortality. Low HRV is also observed in individuals with a wide range of diseases and disorders. By reducing stress-induced wear and tear on the nervous system and facilitating the body’s natural regenerative processes, regular practice of HeartMath coherence-building techniques can help restore low HRV to healthy values.

Heart Rhythm Patterns and Emotions

Many factors affect the activity of the ANS, and therefore influence HRV. These include our breathing patterns, physical exercise, and even our thoughts. Research at the Institute of HeartMath has shown that one of the most powerful factors that affect our heart’s changing rhythm is our feelings and emotions. When our varying heart rate is plotted over time, the overall shape of the waveform produced is called the heart rhythm pattern. When you use the emWave PC, you are seeing your heart rhythm pattern in real time. HeartMath research has found that the emotions we experience directly affect our heart rhythm pattern—and this, in turn, tells us much about how our body is functioning.

In general, emotional stress—including emotions such as anger, frustration, and anxiety—gives rise to heart rhythm patterns that appear irregular and erratic: the HRV waveform looks like a series of uneven, jagged peaks (an example is shown in the figure below). Scientists call this an incoherent heart rhythm pattern. Physiologically, this pattern indicates that the signals produced by the two branches of the ANS are out of sync with each other. This can be likened to driving a car with one foot on the gas pedal (the sympathetic nervous system) and the other on the brake (the parasympathetic nervous system) at the same time—this creates a jerky ride, burns more gas, and isn’t great for your car, either! Likewise, the incoherent patterns of physiological activity associated with stressful emotions can cause our body to operate inefficiently, deplete our energy, and produce extra wear and tear on our whole system. This is especially true if stress and negative emotions are prolonged or experienced often.

In contrast, positive emotions send a very different signal throughout our body. When we experience uplifting emotions such as appreciation, joy, care, and love; our heart rhythm pattern becomes highly ordered, looking like a smooth, harmonious wave (an example is shown in the figure below). This is called a coherent heart rhythm pattern. When we are generating a coherent heart rhythm, the activity in the two branches of the ANS is synchronized and the body’s systems operate with increased efficiency and harmony. It’s no wonder that positive emotions feel so good—they actually help our body’s systems synchronize and work better.

Coherence: A State of Optimal Function

The Institute of HeartMath’s research has shown that generating sustained positive emotions facilitates a body-wide shift to a specific, scientifically measurable state. This state is termed psychophysiological coherence, because it is characterized by increased order and harmony in both our psychological (mental and emotional) and physiological (bodily) processes. Psychophysiological coherence is state of optimal function. Research shows that when we activate this state, our physiological systems function more efficiently, we experience greater emotional stability, and we also have increased mental clarity and improved cognitive function. Simply stated, our body and brain work better, we feel better, and we perform better.

Physiologically, the coherence state is marked by the development of a smooth, sine-wave-like pattern in the heart rate variability trace. This characteristic pattern, called heart rhythm coherence, is the primary indicator of the psychophysiological coherence state, and is what the emWave PC measures and quantifies. A number of important physiological changes occur during coherence. The two branches of the ANS synchronize with one another, and there is an overall shift in autonomic balance toward increased parasympathetic activity. There is also increased physiological entrainment—a number of different bodily systems synchronize to the rhythm generated by the heart (see figure below). Finally, there is increased synchronization between the activity of the heart and brain.

Coherence Is Not Relaxation

An important point is that the state of coherence is both psychologically and physiologically distinct from the state achieved through most techniques for relaxation. At the physiological level, relaxation is characterized by an overall reduction in autonomic outflow (resulting in lower HRV) and a shift in ANS balance towards increased parasympathetic activity. Coherence is also associated with a relative increase in parasympathetic activity, thus encompassing a key element of the relaxation response, but is physiologically distinct from relaxation in that the system oscillates at its natural resonant frequency and there is increased harmony and synchronization in nervous system and heart–brain dynamics. This important difference between the two states is reflected most clearly in their respective HRV power spectra (see figure and explanation below). Furthermore, unlike relaxation, the coherence state does not necessarily involve a lowering of heart rate, or a change in the amount of HRV, but rather is primarily marked by a change in the heart rhythm pattern.

Unlike relaxation, coherence does not necessarily involve a reduction in HRV, and may at times even produce an increase in HRV relative to a baseline state. As can be seen in the corresponding power spectrum, coherence is marked by an unusually large, narrow peak in the low frequency band, centered around 0.1 hertz (note the significant power scale difference between the spectra for coherence and relaxation). This large, characteristic spectral peak is indicative of the system-wide resonance and synchronization that occurs during the coherence state.

Not only are there fundamental physiological differences between relaxation and coherence, but the psychological characteristics of these states are also quite different. Relaxation is a low-energy state in which the individual rests both the body and mind, typically disengaging from cognitive and emotional processes. In contrast, coherence generally involves the active engagement of positive emotions. Psychologically, coherence is experienced as a calm, balanced, yet energized and responsive state that is conducive to everyday functioning and interaction, including the performance of tasks requiring mental acuity, focus, problem-solving, and decision-making, as well as physical activity and coordination.

The Role of Breathing

Another important distinction involves understanding the role of breathing in the generation of coherence and its relationship to the techniques of the HeartMath System. Because breathing patterns modulate the heart’s rhythm, it is possible to generate a coherent heart rhythm simply by breathing slowly and regularly at a 10-second rhythm (5 seconds on the in-breath and 5 seconds on the out-breath). Breathing rhythmically in this fashion can thus be a useful intervention to initiate a shift out of stressful emotional state and into increased coherence. However, this type of cognitively-directed paced breathing can require considerable mental effort and is difficult for some people to maintain.

While HeartMath techniques incorporate a breathing element, paced breathing is not their primary focus and they should therefore not be thought of simply as breathing exercises. The main difference between the HeartMath tools and most commonly practiced breathing techniques is the HeartMath tools’ focus on the intentional generation of a heartfelt positive emotional state. This emotional shift is a key element of the techniques’ effectiveness. Positive emotions appear to excite the system at its natural resonant frequency and thus enable coherence to emerge and to be maintained naturally, without conscious mental focus on one’s breathing rhythm.

This is because input generated by the heart’s rhythmic activity is actually one of the main factors that affect our breathing rate and patterns. When the heart’s rhythm shifts into coherence as a result of a positive emotional shift, our breathing rhythm automatically synchronizes with the heart, thereby reinforcing and stabilizing the shift to system-wide coherence.

Additionally, the positive emotional focus of the HeartMath techniques confers a much wider array of benefits than those typically achieved through breathing alone. These include deeper perceptual and emotional changes, increased access to intuition and creativity, cognitive and performance improvements, and favorable changes in hormonal balance.

To derive the full benefits of the HeartMath tools, it is therefore important to learn how to self-activate and eventually sustain a positive emotion. However, for users who initially have trouble achieving or maintaining coherence, practicing heart-focused breathing at a 10-second rhythm, as described above, can be useful training aid. Once individuals grow accustomed to generating coherence through rhythmic breathing and become familiar with how this state feels, they can then begin to practice breathing a positive feeling or attitude through the heart area in order to enhance their experience of the HeartMath tools and their benefits. Eventually, with continuity of practice, most people become able to shift into coherence by directly activating a positive emotion.

The Intelligent Heart

Many of the changes in bodily function that occur during the coherence state revolve around changes in the heart’s pattern of activity. While the heart is certainly a remarkable pump, interestingly, it is only relatively recently in the course of human history—around the past three centuries or so—that the heart’s function has been defined (by Western scientific thought) as only that of pumping blood. Historically, in almost every culture of the world, the heart was ascribed a far more multifaceted role in the human system, being regarded as a source of wisdom, spiritual insight, thought, and emotion. Intriguingly, scientific research over the past several decades has begun to provide evidence that many of these long-surviving associations may well be more than simply metaphorical. These developments have led science to once again to revise and expand its understanding of the heart and the role of this amazing organ.

In the new field of neurocardiology, for example, scientists have discovered that the heart possesses its own intrinsic nervous system—a network of nerves so functionally sophisticated as to earn the description of a “heart brain.” Containing over 40,000 neurons, this “little brain” gives the heart the ability to independently sense, process information, make decisions, and even to demonstrate a type of learning and memory. In essence, it appears that the heart is truly an intelligent system. Research has also revealed that the heart is a hormonal gland, manufacturing and secreting numerous hormones and neurotransmitters that profoundly affect brain and body function. Among the hormones the heart produces is oxytocin—well known as the “love” or “bonding hormone.” Science has only begun to understand the effects of the electromagnetic fields produced by the heart, but there is evidence that the information contained in the heart’s powerful field may play a vital synchronizing role in the human body—and that it may affect others around us as well.

Research has also shown that the heart is a key component of the emotional system. Scientists now understand that the heart not only responds to emotion, but that the signals generated by its rhythmic activity actually play a major part in determining the quality of our emotional experience from moment to moment. As described next, these heart signals also profoundly impact perception and cognitive function by virtue of the heart’s extensive communication network with the brain. Finally, rigorous electrophysiological studies conducted at the Institute of HeartMath have even indicated that the heart appears to play a key role in intuition. Although there is much yet to be understood, it appears that the age-old associations of the heart with thought, feeling, and insight may indeed have a basis in science.

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Stress-Relief Road-Test: emWave
Ben Marciano’s All-Natural Anxiety Antidote

To hear Benedetto (Ben) Marciano gloss over his high-profile client list is more than enough to catch your attention. For starters, it includes Sharon Stone, Kevin Spacey, Richard Meier and Sting. So, while the world of stress relief and holistic healing, for some, comes with substantial skepticism in tow, Marciano’s reputation remains solid.

While the masseuse/mental trainer has long helped clients relieve stress and tension through deep-massage techniques (often adding an inch or more to their height as a result of spinal readjustments), Marciano doesn’t solely rely on his hands and mind. Recently, he’s added another technique to his repertoire – one he’s termed a revolutionary tool in stress management. The wonder-working machine, otherwise known as HeartMath’s emWave Stress Relief System, is now part of Marciano’s everyday practice.

The machine, which allows users to view their own heart rate and subsequently control it via breathing techniques, “transforms stress and anxiety into vibrant energy.” Here, Marciano discusses his firsthand experience with the machine and why achieving enlightenment is easier than you think:

Where are you based, and how would you describe your work?

I live in Albuquerque, but most of my work is done in Beverly Hills with the rich and famous. I have a program I’ve been working on for 25 years. I’ll spend two to four hours working on somebody -- pressing into the muscle, trying to stretch and loosen it for increased ease of movement. I’ll do it somewhat deeply, which allows for better neuromuscular connections, going for an overall effect and better posture. Holding tension weakens the body, and the tension we hold is often deeply ingrained because of physical trauma, or general emotional stress.

How common is this deeply-held tension?

It’s very common; the effect is noticeable. Deep tension folds the body like an accordion. Deep muscles within the body, if too tight, can literally shorten your body.

How does the emWave work?

The emWave can use either a finger sensor, or, if you prefer, an optional ear-clip for hands-free operation, to monitor your heart rate. It looks at Heart Rate Variability (HRV), which is also known as heart dancing. Now we know that a healthy heart dances; it’s flexible; it can meet the changes of our environment. I just put emWave on my laptop. It’s very profound work. When you dial yourself in, you feel wonderful. The program runs for 20 minutes but even doing it for five can help. When you’re stressed out, your HRV looks jagged. When you settle down and breathe calmly it equals inhalation and exhalation, turning the HRV into a smooth, coherent wave. Essentially, there are two states: sympathetic, which is like the gas in a car, the fight-or-flight -- and then there is the parasympathetic, which is like the brakes. When the harmony of the two is achieved it equals coherence.

How does it feel?

It’s not exactly a state of relaxation; it’s an energized, calm state. You could go to sleep or do a complex task without difficulty. It’s very easy; it just takes a little concentration. I gave it to one woman who made it work for about one minute; her psychiatrist called me a week later asking where she could get it for her daughter.

What’s a typical reaction to one’s first emWave session?

The first session can be very profound. For some, they’ve had deep tension their whole lives. I just did a session with a man who was 87 years old and he called his wife immediately after and told her that he felt 25 pounds lighter. Now, he wants to see me every week for the rest of his life.

In your experience, how does the stress of a 20-something college student compare with that of a major Hollywood celebrity?

That’s a really good question... In the words of a friend of mine who’s a writer in Hollywood, ‘Celebrities are typically quite well-rewarded,’ whereas, for a student, they may not have that. I think that the most stressful time is from the ages of 12 to 25, which is of course the age of most students. They have much more stress than most people; it’s related to the control they have over their lives. They’re still not totally independent of their parents or, as my nephew likes to call them, pay-rents. You continuously have people telling you what to do, so you get drunk.

Have you found young people to be open to treatments like the emWave?

A lot of young people are looking to do biofeedback more and more. Some people aren’t particularly interested in going deeper, but most young people are interested in spirituality, even if it’s physiologically spiritual. When you’re not in a coherent state you’re not working efficiently. It’s emotional management for young people, who are often feeling stress, emotion they don’t have to. I’ve gotten people off their anti-depressants with this heart rhythm software.

Why do you think this kind of approach to stress management has been so successful?

It’s not the long way; we live in an age of shortcuts… good shortcuts, especially for young people. It’s a way for them to settle themselves down. At one point you had to live in a monastery, never have sex and be vegetarian. This is the fast-food approach; one of my sessions is the equivalent to three months of intensive yoga. Getting into the controls of the bio-computer, simple biofeedback, in many ways, is superior to meditation.

What is the one piece of advice you give all of your clients?

To put it in a nutshell, and though I hate to quote a cliché, simply: don’t worry, be happy. Try your best to have a good conversation with yourself. Monitor that conversation and begin cleaning up that conversation. If you do, your life will go better.

The emWave’s website emphasizes balancing the heart and brain. In your opinion, which is stronger?

That’s a very good question. One of the simplest Daoist exercises is to smile at the world. It’s one simple thing: the feeling of having compassion for everyone. For me, it’s the connection between the heart and the mind. The question is whether they are working together. The power of the two working in combination is the best.

~Alisa Gould-Simon Reprinted from Psychopedia: August 23, 2007

How emWave Reduces Stress and Creates Coherence

EmWave Personal Stress Reliever will help you reduce the negative effects of stress, allowing you to experience greater health, more energy, and improved emotional balance and mental clarity. The “em” in emWave stands for empowerment; emWave empowers you to shift your emotional state and experience stress relief.

The emWave is based on hard science and incorporates the same patented HRV measurement and coherence scoring process found in the Freeze-Framer® Interactive Learning System, HeartMath's award winning PC based product that is being used by ten's of thousands of people in over 50 countries.

Here's why it works. emWave shows the effects of stress on your body by measuring the subtle changes in your heart rhythms. This type of measurement is known as heart rate variability analysis or HRV. The analysis of HRV is recognized as a powerful, non-invasive measure that reflects heart-brain interactions and autonomic nervous system dynamics, which are particularly sensitive to changes in emotional state.

However, emWave does a lot more than just show the effects of stress on your body. It reduces stress by training you to create more “coherence.” Coherence is a term used by scientists to describe a highly efficient physiological state in which the nervous system, cardiovascular, hormonal and immune systems are working efficiently and harmoniously. Coherence is a state very similar to what athletes experience when they are in what is called “The Zone”.

Heart Rhythms and Coherence When you experience stressful emotions such as tension, anxiety, irritation, or anger, your heart rhythm pattern becomes irregular and incoherent, which negatively affects health, brain function, performance and your sense of well-being (see the graph below).

Figure 1: heart rhythms when stressed

When you are experiencing positive emotions such as appreciation, care, joy or love, your heart rhythm pattern becomes more ordered and coherent. (See graph below.)

Figure 2: heart rhythms when feeling a positive emotion

Ordered and harmonious heart rhythms are an indicator of your “coherence level”. High coherence is a state associated with positive emotional attitudes which send signals to the brain that reduce stress, improve brain function, hormonal balance, immune response, coordination and reaction times. emWave determines the degree of coherence found in your heart rhythm patterns and displays changes in real-time on a large tri-colored LED--the Coherence Level Indicator.

*A red light indicates low coherence which would be normal.

*A blue light indicates medium coherence which shows good improvement.

*A green light indicates high coherence the optimal high performance, stress-free state.

The goal in using emWave is to reduce stress by achieving and sustaining High Coherence (green). The Coherence Coach CD (included) provides instruction on how to do the Quick Coherence™ Technique to improve your coherence scores with emWave.

emWave is easy to use. Simply place your thumb on the sensor or attach the Ear Sensor. After your pulse is detected a breathing pacer which synchronizes to your heart rhythms begins. As you practice the Quick Coherence Technique, breathing with the pacer while at the same time activating a positive feeling like the care you have for someone or the appreciation you have for the good things in your life, your coherence level (indicated in a large colorful LED) will begin to change from red to blue to green.

emWave offers four challenge levels to help you sharpen your coherence building skills. You can change the brightness of the LED displays and the audio feedback level. Additionally, it incorporates an accumulated coherence scoring display so you can track your progress during a session and an advanced user mode.

For most people in today's high stress world, it is rare for sustained periods of coherence to occur. Now with emWave Personal Stress Reliever you have a convenient, practical way to help you reduce stress and shift into a higher state of coherence anytime, anywhere. Your stress will diminish and your feelings of well-being, balance and enhanced energy will increase.

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