Heart Rate Variability
Each February, I offer current and prospective practice members an opportunity to measure how well their autonomic nervous system is currently adapting to stress (Click here to request more info or to schedule an HRV study). I use Heart Rate Variability (HRV) as an assessment tool to determine what their resting baseline state is. This allows us to see how they index sympathetic (fight/flight, defensive physiology) with parasympathetic (rest/digest, recuperative physiology) tone. It also allows us to get a read on how resilient their physiology is, which is a measure of the ability to withstand and recover from difficult conditions. This information is important both clinically, as it helps me to better understand and guide care, and personally, as it provides a quantitive measure of an important physiological marker.
HRV looks at the interval between successive heart beats to determine how much variation is being expressed. Like any other biometric, too much or too little variation indicates the body is working harder since it has moved outside the range of baseline normal to highly adaptive. There are several devices that offer HRV tracking as wearable tech, which are used by folks to determine when to train (or rest). Most recently, information from these wearables has been analyzed to see if HRV changes can predict immune system outcomes related to the pandemic. By contrast, the instrument and system I use in my office employs a 3 minute resting capture that collects heart rate data as well as skin temperature and galvanic skin response. These additional measurements help build a more complete assessment of autonomic regulation and ensure accuracy of collection. To be clear - the HRV used in my chiropractic office is an assessment of autonomic nervous system function used to teach people about their bodies and guide practice members in their health and wellness journey. It is not used to diagnose or treat viral or other pathogenic diseases.
“If the first two decades of the 21st century have taught us anything, it is that uncertainty is chronic, instability is permanent, disruption is common, and we can neither predict nor govern events. There will be no new normal. There will only be a continuous series of not normal episodes defying prediction and unforeseen by most of us until they happen.” Jim Collins
The past year has been a tremendously trying time and has highlighted and underscored the need to reframe how we relate to uncertainty. When I consider the above quote, the word that comes to mind for me is adaptability. Adaptability is defined as the quality of being able to adjust to new conditions. If we agree with Jim Collins (and I do), then the ask here is clear: how do we learn to accept the nature of reality as being in constant flux while we learn to improve our ability to adjust to new and changing conditions?
Once you have some HRV data to work with, here are 6 ways that you can support your body and your nervous system, which have been shown to improve HRV:
Sleep - The body heals, the brain detoxes, mind rests. This is the primary way you communicate self-respect to your body and your spirit. Physiologically speaking, 8 hours is the minimum to allow your systems to refresh during a 24 hour period. The book and podcasts featuring Matthew Walker are great resources for more information.
Water - The many fluid tasks your body performs to cultivate health require adequate hydration. From blood pressure to lymphatic flow, liver, kidney, and skin detoxification to general digestion, we all need more water than we typically consume. The 2 guidelines that help me are 1) to have a designated bottle (or bottles) that I know is my minimum target to finish by day’s end and 2) to use either the dryness of my lips and/or the color of my urine to gauge hydration (clear to straw color is a good indicator).
Movement - The natural state of the human body is to be in motion. The casts we lock ourselves into in the form of desk chairs, car seats, couches, and the like are antithetical to providing the quantity and quality of movement our joints, muscles, fascia, circulation, and neurology need to be healthy. See my earlier post about the importance of a Movement Practice here.
Reduce Alcohol - Simply stated, alcohol depresses the function of the central nervous system. As with ANY chemical introduced into the body, set, setting, and dose determine experience and the relative benefit or detriment of consumption. Although it is easy (and likely true) to say that blanket abstinence is the best policy for physiological health, this misses the nuance of being able to intentionally and responsibly enjoy a beverage either for its craft or on the occasion to celebrate company. To wit, the measured benefit of alcohol seems to max out at the equivalent of 1 drink per day.
Nutrition - The quantity, quality, and relationship we have to what we consume directly impacts our health. A diet that is based on whole foods, organic products, a (colorful) diversity of offerings, and is locally sourced when possible will facilitate nutritional health. Other helpful notes are to try to eat at regular times each day, minimize refined sugar, and use high quality oils when cooking/preparing food. See my previous post about Consuming Consciously here.
Chiropractic - Last but certainly not least, chiropractic care has been shown to positively influence HRV. By working directly with the tone and tension of the nervous system, chiropractic adjustments help the body to up-regulate parasympathetic activity, move more effectively, and clear the central channel of the spine, which prompts the innate intelligence of the body to reboot and reorganize the patterns of stress held in the system. For more information see here, here, and here.
We use HRV as part of our objective measurements to track the progress of our practice members who receive care at Mutter Chiropractic. It is a valuable tool and a great way to open a conversation about ways to positively influence health, wellness, and adaptability.
Cultivating Inner Space
At a time when so much emphasis is placed on social distancing, how often do we consider how much space we give to our thoughts and emotions? Space is the universal complement to form. It is what allows forms (bodies, thoughts, emotions, objects) to move. The natural expression of form is movement, for we see in all things that when there is not enough space to move or enough space between moves, things get compressed, tense, and are not able to express with ease or health.
Observe, for example, your breath. Physiologically, breath happens when your body creates space within. As the main breathing muscle (the diaphragm) activates, it pushes down on the contents of your abdomen. This lowers the relative pressure within your rib cage. So long as your are open air naturally flows from the relatively higher pressure outside your body through the respiratory channels to the lungs, which fill and expand within the rib cage. With effortless effort normal exhalation is simply the process of the pressures reversing. Consider the moment of transition between the inhale and exhale of your breath. This transition can be an intentional pause as a way to create space within your mind and body. The yogic practice of pranayama offers many techniques to intentionally move your breath as a way to cultivate a stillness of mind.
With regard to the heart, we can measure how the time between beats reflects the balance and adaptability of the nervous system. The heart does not beat consistently like a metronome, but has a unique cadence in each of us. In many respects our relationship to space physically, mentally, emotionally, and environmentally is reflected in the state of our heart rate variability. For instance, we can measure whether someone is physiologically in fight/flight (sympathetic) mode, whether their body regulates well and balances between fight/flight and rest/recuperate (parasympathetic), and how well someone uses the energy they have available to maintain health and function.
There is a profound and intimate relationship between the breath, the heart, and the nervous system. They are reflections of each other as well as reflections of our state of being. To connect with them, to feel what they are communicating, and to support their ability to function are the space-honoring goals of my chiropractic practice. Life depends on the balance of movement and stillness. Stillness is derived from space and the quiet formless peace therein. It is the silence between the notes, the space within the synapse, and the room we choose to give to our thoughts and emotions that makes all the difference. The space we give others and ourselves is different than distance. Space is the medium through which connection is made, whereas distance implies a forced separation. They may look similar, but the feeling and the intention behind the feeling are quite distinct. At a time when so much emphasis is placed on how distant and separated we seem to be, make space your ally, allow yourself to slow down and calm down, and remember to find and celebrate the connections that are (everywhere).
Love in Uncertain Times
My daughter, Violet, was born a few nights ago in our home on Oregon’s north coast. Supported by the practiced and competent hands of three midwives, as well as our doula, Mack, my wife, Adria, naturally and brilliantly birthed Violet into this world and the two of us into parenthood. I am deeply grateful for our midwives, inspired by my wife’s strength and resilience, and absolutely in love with our baby.
Bearing witness to the birth process was a gift that has only expanded my awe of the innate intelligence of the human body, and confirmed how integral chiropractic care is for pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum. I supported my wife’s spine and pelvis as she communicated with her body, with me and our midwives, and birthed our daughter into our world. We have this extraordinary vehicle - one that allows consciousness to emerge, to sense and explore the living world, and to communicate and share love with others. With our bodies and minds, we have been conditioned to look to the future - to plan and to plot - often under the illusion that just a little more “doing” will get us to the place where we can find meaning and certainty. Now more than ever we need to look to the present, to find the space between the stimulus and the response and pause there. The entire world has been asked to take this pregnant - sometimes uncomfortable - pause. It is a fertile opportunity to reflect on our values and habits and make fundamental inquiries: Is it more important to be right, or to connect?
I can say now from first-hand experience that the way to change the diaper of a fiery newborn goddess at 3:00 a.m. is not to shush her, or explain the inconvenience of her developing bowel’s timing to my sleep pattern, or that she needs to learn to modulate the volume and intensity of the wailing (8.5 is excessive, especially this early). It is not to get frustrated at the effective jiu-jitsu she is employing to avoid the diaper grapple. It is not to allow my own notions of how this should be going, or convince myself that she is already scheming ways to test my patience. It is not to prove my experience is right or more real. The truth, as it often is, is so simple and literally right in front of me. “You need to connect with her,” I hear Adria offer sleepily from the bedroom, “she wants you to sing”. And now I do, and it makes all the difference in the world - to her and to me.
In these uncertain times, some things remain true and shine even brighter amidst the tumultuous landscape. I recognize these truths being born from the darkness into my expanding awareness: Love is the light by which we all see. Mothers have superpowers. Choosing connection instead of righteousness makes babies laugh and the world a kinder place to live.
