Is your Heart talking to you?

What kinds of issues are you having?

Interrupted sleep, or insomnia?

Tired, ALL the TIME?

Weight gain you can’t seem to reduce?

Mood swings?

Do you know what HRV is?

Some people have constant fatigue and muscle tension, caused by low HRV.

You should not wake up tired and foggy.

You should not have afternoon crashes.

I’m going to talk a bit today about HRV, which is “Heart Rate Variability”.  My own HRV has been below par lately, according to my Oura ring, and I’m having some symptoms that make me believe my HRV is the culprit.

We need to experiment with our bodies… try healthy things… to see if our bodies improve.  If our bodies are trying to speak to us about what they need… we need to figure out what our bodies are saying to us.

My Oura ring talks to my phone, and tells me my HRV has decreased slightly in the past 90 days.  So since I’ve been more tired lately, and not sleeping as well, it gives me the opportunity to see if I can improve that.

Do you have chronic stress?  You may not even know it.

Chronic stress:

1.     Disrupts your gut health

2.     increases your risk of inflammation and metabolic dysfunction.

Even subtle stress can cause digestion issues, absorption issues, and gut permeability (leaky gut).

We may not “feel it” at the time, but our body keeps the score anyway. 

If you keep track of your HRV, you will be better able to see what your trends are.  Your HRV doesn’t focus on a single night’s reading, but focuses on your trend.  And the Heart Rate Variability number is very much personal for each person.

It’s good for your heart rate to be fairly low.  It’s good for your Heart Rate Variability number to be relatively high.  It rises when our nervous system feels safe, rested and nourished.

Your HRV measures the time between heartbeats.  It sheds light on your resilience and flexibility to stress (and emotions).  The more variability, the more you’re in sync with your life’s rhythm.

Be your own “health detective”.  A “wearable” is a great help to track your HRV and your stress levels.

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If you believe your HRV is low, and you’d like to think about increasing it, here are some ideas that may help:

1.     Calm your nervous system.  Slow, deep breathing helps.  Stimulating your vagus nerve helps.  Short walking pauses help.  These things directly activate your parasympathetic nerve, which increases your HRV.

2.     Improve your sleep quality.  Sleep hours are not enough.  You need restorative sleep.  Cool, dark room. Morning light exposure.  No late meals or alcohol.  Consistent sleep and wake up times.

3.     Balance your blood sugar.  When your blood sugar is not steady, going up high, then down low, it stresses your nervous system.  Eat protein at every meal.  Eat slow-burning carbohydrates and fiber.  Don’t skip meals—this can devastate your HRV.

4.     Reduce inflammation.  Support your energy factory—your mitochondria, by:  eating (or taking supplements) Omega-3’s.  Eat colorful vegetables. Get enough minerals (magnesium, K, zinc).  Eat antioxidants from berries, herbs and green tea. 

5.     Get “smart movement”— start small — not too much, and not too little.  Get light aerobics from walking or slow cycling.  Do strength training 2-3 times a week.  Do Not Overtrain—which lowers your HRV.

6.     Heal your Gut.  Your gut and vagus nerve communicate constantly, and gut irritation can lower your HRV.  So…Don’t eat foods that irritate your gut.  And…Practice “mindful eating” — enjoy and appreciate what you eat (no phone, tv, etc.)

7.     Feel Safe… emotionally and socially.  Your body wants healthy connections with others.  (We were designed for that).  Practice gratitude.  Have calm conversations.  Journal (this helps process small stressors).  Safe relationships cause a safer nervous system, which equals higher HRV.

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Does that seem like too much to bite off in one chew?  Try making one change.  Pick one category, and work on one suggestion.  Conquer that one thing.  Then work on a second suggestion, and conquer it.  Slowly move on to another category.

If you don’t know where to start, could you commit to specific changes for one week?  You could start with:

1.     5 minutes (or even less) a day of slow breathing.

2.     Two nights of consistent bedtime plus morning light.

3.     Consistent protein-rich meals, to steady your blood sugar.

If you keep this up for one week, you will probably see your HRV rise, and will notice an improvement in how you feel.

If you continue to make these positive changes, I think you will see that it totally changes your life.  It will not only increase your HRV, it will increase your health overall.  And that will change your life!

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1.     The most powerful and fastest way to raise your Heart Rate Variability (which again, measures your resilience to stress) is to calm your nervous system, the first thing I mentioned.

2.     The biggest long-term HRV mover is improving your sleep quality, the second thing I mentioned.

3.     Balancing your blood sugar involves what you eat, and when you eat it.

4.     To reduce inflammation, the question is, What’s burdening my system?  Inflammation dampens HRV.  Cells with more energy improve HRV.

5.     Smart Movement, if your HRV crashes after workouts regularly, your body is probably telling you it needs gentler sessions and/or better recovery.  This better recovery could mean better rest after your workout, or better fuel before/after your workout.

6.     Healing your gut… there are helpful things that you can keep in mind; eat bitter foods (greens, etc.); relax while you eat; keep regular bowel habits in mind as a priority.  And if you have any chronic infections, you need to attend to that.

7.     Emotional and Social Safety:  If you have safe relationships, your nervous system will be more relaxed, and your HRV will be higher.

With a higher HRV, your immune system will regulate inflammation more effectively.

Your fight-or-flight response can balance more easily with “rest”.

Continuous stress doesn’t just affect our emotions.  It affects our nerves, and our nervous system.  It can re-wire our brain over time and impact everything from how we perform day to day, to our total well-being.  It also makes us more susceptible to disease.

Will we ever be perfect at all this?  No!  But we sure will see some improvement if we work on it, and our Body and Mind will be SOOO grateful!

Of all these suggestions, if you did only one thing, I think the most important would be to work on getting more peace in your life.

If you need help with making any of these changes, talk to me.  Talk to me about your journey.

Thank you for reading!

Sharon

I Corinthians 6:19-20

…do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.