Anxiety and stress can cause your body to go into Fight or Flight Mode. Your heart rate becomes elevated, breathing becomes constricted, digestion slows down and blood is sent to the muscles in preparation for fighting or fleeing. emWave Heart Rate Variability training helps you learn to breathe and get to an emotional state of calm, anxiety reduction and improved focus.

The purpose of my visit to Flower of Life Massage Therapy was to test my theory on how massage therapy could help lower my anxiety and stress. This was measured by the Heart Math emWave 1 – Minute HRV Deep Breathing Assessment.

 

I took the Heart Math emWave 1 – Minute HRV Deep Breathing Assessment before a 60 minute massage and again after the massage. This assessment measures the degree of coherence (degree of improvement) in the heart rhythm pattern. The more stable and regular the heart rhythm frequency, the higher the coherence score and therefore the more relaxed and calm you are.

 

While getting my massage, I had the benefit of very relaxed muscles and I was able to engage in slow, diaphragmatic breathing which produced a slow heart rate, a blood pressure drop and helped my body enter a state of mental and physical calm. I also experienced my body relaxing and my breathing became slower, deeper and more consistent. I was able to see a 15% increase on my coherence score after I finished my massage. Heart Rate Variability training, coupled with Massage is a great way to help lower you anxiety, stress, depression and improve your overall emotional well-being.

 

Thank you to Katey Eubanks of Flower of Life Massage Therapy