Heart Coherence
Coping with stress, anxiety, hyperventilation and burn-out through heart and breath. Melinda Wezenaar through Kardiatma organises workshops and coaching in Heart Coherence - biofeedback in Brussels, Belgium. With a specific focus breathing, we induce the state of heart coherence. A simple, accessible, measurable and scientifically proven method. Widely adopted for stress & burn-out prevention/management, and resilience.
Heart Coherence
The power of Heart Coherence ?
Simple to apply
Evidence based
Very few time needed (3 x 6 min. per day)
Breathing applications
Measurable with biofeedback
Short learning process (coaching)
Easy to integrate in day-to-day life
“A state of physiological, physical, mental and emotional balance, causing a re-energisation, focus and strengthening in each of these areas”
Heart chaos
Our heart is constantly slowing down and speeding up. After all, it has to adapt to its environment. This is called heart rhythm variability. When you are stressed, your heart will have a chaotic heart rhythm curve. This condition causes a series of reactions in your body. This is normal because the body has to adapt to its environment in “real time”, you have to spring into action. Too often, we are in "action mode". Given the demands of today's life, we no longer take regular time to recuperate. Then it is as if our "head is overflowing", we have trouble concentrating, we are more easily irritable, tired, emotional, we have a swollen stomach, sleep badly, have palpitations, ... We have fallen into the vicious cycle from exhaustion to chronic stress and finally ... burnout.
Heart Coherence
Many studies have shown that the heart sends more signals to the brain than the brain to the heart. Breathing is one of the only functions in our body that we can influence. Scientists have found that with rhythmic breathing six times a minute, the heart enters a special state. Via the autonomic nervous system, which becomes balanced, the heart will now signal to our brain that everything is fine: we are in "safe mode". In this state, we feel calm and awake at the same time. Our heart speeds up and slows down at the same speed. You will also see this in the nice regular curve of heart variability. We can react to events with body and mind.
We are in heart coherence !
How can you learn to be Heart Coherent ?
With Kardiatma we take as basis the 4-step curriculum developed by Louis Van Nieuland and Katrien Geeraerts in their book “Blijven ademen” (Keep on breathing). These two therapists further developed the method and technique based on their years of experience.
The book is in its 10th edition and has become a bestseller in the Dutch speaking landscape!
The French edition, initiated and facilitated by Kardiatma, is published by the publishing house Satas - www.satas.com.
Dr David O’Hare has written a wonderful foreword.
Integrate Heart Coherence into your life in 4 steps
1 - Breathing
How does the autonomic nervous system work ? How does stress affect the organism ? What role does breathing play ? How can we "slow down/inhibit" ?
If you are aware of the harmful effect of prolonged stress on your body, then you have taken the first step towards recovery. In this session, you will learn in a simple and visible way to understand how we can become unbalanced due to everyday stress. And how our breathing can help restore balance.
2 - Heart
What role does our heart play and how does heart coherence work? How do I know that my autonomic nervous system is in balance? And how can I measure that with biofeedback ?
In this session, you will better understand how heart coherence works and experience its effects. The method was first proposed in French-speaking Europe by David Servan-Schreiber (“Healing without Freud or Prozac”).
3 - Hormones & Emotions
What is the role of hormones? What influence do our emotions have? How can I strengthen my emotional stability and resilience?
After several weeks of practice, you start to notice the positive effects more and more. Now it is time for deepening. When we are heart coherent, it affects our hormone regulation. We feel fitter and calmer, more stable. You also learn to deal better with emotions and can use them to strengthen your state of heart coherence.
4 - Daily application
How can you use heart coherence in your daily life?
You have now learnt how to breathe rhythmically and get into heart coherence. You also know how to do this with emotions and visualisations. To further strengthen your reflexes, you will learn how to use heart coherence in conflict or difficult situations. And of course we discuss useful tips so you can go further with heart coherence yourself and strengthen your resilience.
Heart Coherence is used for prevention, reduction of :
Stress
Burn-out (preventive and curative)
Anxiety
Palpitations
Hyperventilation
Inner agitation
Concentration problems
Sleep problems
High blood pressure
Benefits of Heart Coherence :
Effective 'coping' for stress, increased mental resilience
Increased awareness and self-management of stress reactions
Faster recovery after acute stress
Increased confidence, clarity and balance under acute stress
Fewer stress-related physical symptoms (muscles, stomach, intestines,..)
Blood pressure drop, stable heart rate, less anxious (regarding hyperventilation)
Improved concentration and learning ability
Better quality of sleep
Better ability to put negative emotions into perspective