The strange truth about a healthy heart

I do love a counterintuitive fact.

And I've got a good one about your heart today!

You may have seen the term HRV (heart rate variability) if you wear a smartwatch or a ring, or if you follow wellness influencers. It sounds technical, but the idea is simple, and it can change how you think about stress and rest.

You might assume that a steady heartbeat is the sign of a healthy heart. In French, we even say of a healthy heart that it ticks "comme une horloge" (like a clock).

But it turns out the opposite is true. A healthy heart speeds up slightly as you breathe in, and slows as you breathe out.

And that tiny shift is what we call HRV. And generally, more variation is the good sign.

This is because, as you know from me talking about it about it all the time, your nervous system has two modes: one that revs you up, and one that calms you down. When both are responsive, your heart rhythm flexes from beat to beat. This flexibility is the sign that your system can adapt to whatever is going on. When you are stressed, exhausted, or ill, the variation shrinks and the system stiffens.

One thing to always remember: your body LOVES fluidity, flexibility, adaptability. A healthy bodymind is not one that is always calm and relaxed, or one that is always active and productive. It's one that can flow freely from one state to the other, depending on the demands of the situation.

So a slightly noisy heart rate is a healthy one.

So what do you do if your watch tells you your HRV is too low?

Well, the good news is that you are not stuck with your number. And the most reliable way to increase your HRV is a simple breathing exercise.

It's called coherent breathing (or sometimes resonance breathing): slow breathing, at around six breaths a minute (5s inhale, 5s exhale).

There are timers online if you want to give it a try.

Ideally, this is a practice you should do "a little, very often", so you can get the full benefits of it. But as always, do what you can. Anything you can fit into your schedule is a bonus, and definitely more effective than doing nothing.

Much love,

Clem

Yoga with Clem

La Madeleine, France

For more info, resources and ways to work with me, please have a look at my website.