Anxiety and Stress Relief

The Ultimate Guide To Heart Coherence Breathing To Alleviate Stress and Anxiety

written by

Anthony V. Lombardo


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    Listen to your heart.

    No, I mean really listen to your heart. Pay attention to it.

    Beyond that statement just being a generic piece of advice, the human heart biologically is so sophisticated that it has its own intelligence system. More than just a pump for blood, the heart contains its own little brain composed of at least 40,000 neurons capable of learning, feeling, sensing, and remembering independent of the head brain itself.

    Research by the HeartMath Institute has shown the heart is an access point to a source of wisdom, intelligence, and creativity that we can call upon at any time. We all experienced that intuitive feeling or received a hunch of inspiration speaking to us, helping us solve problems, and find answers to questions.

    But one of the most powerful aspects of this little heart-brain is its ability to override the stress response and instantly trigger calm and relieve anxiety

    And best of all, we can actually tap into this power on demand.

    Our little command center for stress.

    Every time our heart beats, the heart-brain sends information to the brain in our heads about how we are feeling. This directly influences the two most important parts of our nervous system when it comes to stress: the sympathetic nervous system which is responsible for triggering the fight or flight response and the parasympathetic nervous system which produces natural relaxation in the body.

    When the brain in our heads perceives something “dangerous” or threatening whether real or imagined it sends a signal to the heart to produce stress hormones to increase the body’s ability to either fight or take cover. However, the heart-brain can override that stress signal.

    In short, this means the heart is quite literally the command center that determines whether to trigger stress and anxiety or calm and relaxation.

    How can we tap into this?

    The HeartMath Institute discovered that actively focusing on the heart physically can significantly reduce the presence of stress hormones in addition to other benefits like slowing down aging and aiding the body in peak performance.

    Through their extensive work, they created numerous programs and tools that tap into the heart’s natural ability to reduce stress and they are all built upon one basic principle:

    When you get out of your head and into your heart, you naturally become calm.

    Meaning, by shifting all of our attention to our heart instead of what’s going on in our head, our body, and our mind relax because our brain produces the chemical changes that trigger deep calm that relieves anxiety (less cortisol and adrenaline and more dopamine, oxytocin, etc.).

    Heart and Brain Coherence

    By paying attention to our heart, its rhythm patterns become restored and create physiologically what HeartMath researchers refer to as heart coherence. This is what’s happening “behind the scenes” that’s causing us to feel calm.

    When we experience stress, anxiety, or any unpleasant emotions, the rhythm pattern to our hearts becomes erratic and disorderly causing our brains and hearts to fall out of sync. Our immediate reaction in these situations is to try to solve the problem with our minds — to think our way out of the stress. But in the state we are in, this is a futile attempt because our cognitive abilities are extremely impaired by the disorganized signals between our heart and brain.

    Have you ever felt scattered-brained when you are stressed or overwhelmed — that your thoughts were all over the place and you couldn’t hold onto one coherent thought? This is heart and brain incoherence at work.

    This is why when we’re under stress, we are unable to think clearly and often act impulsively. By being “in our minds” and focusing on the problem, we are strengthening this incoherent state between our heart and brain which in turn reinforces our feelings of stress.

    Instead, when we actively pay attention to our hearts, we are literally becoming more coherent.

    Heart Breathing Technique For Anxiety Relief

    Here is a simple 1-minute technique developed by the HeartMath Institute that allows us to tap into the heart’s ability to alleviate anxiety.

    1. Place your hand on your heart and take a slow deep breath in and gently let it go.
    2. Put your awareness on the area of your heart and as you breathe imagine that your breath is flowing in and out of the area of your heart.
    3. Keeping the awareness on your heart, think about something good in your life. Make a sincere attempt to experience something that sparks joy, love, or gratitude. Maybe call to mind someone you love like a family member, your child, a pet, etc. Maybe recall an amazing vacation you went on or a past accomplishment.
    4. Allow yourself to become aware of the feelings of calm and ease (coherence) that are traveling through your body as you breathe in and out of your heart. Try to sense the beating of your heart against your hand. Notice a sense of rhythm that is created between the beating of your heart and your breath. Can you feel each breath going into the heart?

    Returning Balance to the Body

    Repeat these steps for as long as needed until you feel grounded and centered.

    This technique is ideal to use when you are experiencing in the moment overwhelm. Anytime you are starting to feel anxious or stressed, immediately connect with your heart: put your hand on it, breathe into it slowly while you think of something good.

    Listen. Pay attention to it.

    Through your heart, you will be led to calmness. And the more often you connect with it, the more you will be able to tap into that little heart-brain’s natural power to free you from stress at any time.

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