Heart rate variability (HRV) is one of the most reliable indicators of your autonomic nervous system. A healthy heart doesn't beat like a metronome: the interval between beats varies constantly. The higher this variability, the more flexible your nervous system and the better it switches between effort and recovery.
HRV: a window on the autonomic nervous system
The autonomic nervous system has two sides: the sympathetic (acceleration, 'fight or flight') and the parasympathetic (recovery, return to calm). HRV reflects their dynamic balance. Chronic stress tends to lock the body in sympathetic mode, with low HRV.
HRV biofeedback training is associated with reduced stress and anxiety with a large effect (Hedges g ≈ 0.83) — one of the most reproducible findings in the mind-body literature.
Key data
How it is trained in practice
We measure your heart rhythm in real time and a visual guide paces your breathing at about six cycles per minute — the cardiovascular 'resonance frequency'. At that rhythm, HRV amplitude increases and the baroreflex is engaged. Session after session, the nervous system relearns to return to calm faster.
- What it targets: better everyday stress management, faster nervous recovery, easier sleep onset.
- What it is not: a medical treatment — it is training, complementary to health care if needed.
- Its strength: it is objective (measured before/after) and reproducible at home.
We measure your HRV at the start to set a baseline, then calibrate the training (biofeedback and cardiac coherence) to your individual resonance frequency.