by Karl W. Palachuk
 

Article 2006070003   See the related article on "the relaxation response."	HeartMath (www.heartmath.com) sells two products designed to help you learn to control these same physiological responses. They use different terminology, but the result is the same. The concept behind these two products is identical. In the old days we called it "bio-feedback" but didn't have cool tools at a reasonable price. These devices measure certain aspects of your heart rate and help you learn to control your stress levels by controlling your physiology. Most of us have never tried to control our heart rate or other autonomic functions. But learning to do this is surprisingly easy. You learn a few techniques and see the physical changes. Very quickly you are able to trigger these changes on demand. The first product is called Freeze Framer 2.0. Freeze Framer is a software package that comes with a a little gizmo to monitor your heart rate. You put your finger in the device and Velcro it in place. The software then measures heart rate and, more importantly, the variance between beats, the changes within beats, etc. A heart rate is a lot more than thump thump thump. The argument used to sell this technology is that increased "coherence" between certain aspects of the heart rhythm are associated with positive health of the heart, nervous system, and so forth. The "technique" needed to create this coherence is very simple. Sit quietly, relax, and bring a positive emotion to mind, such as love, caring, or appreciation. The basic software displays heart rate, heart rate variability, and time spent in the higher "coherence" range. You can simply run the software in this view and watch progress. But wait, there's more. The software also comes with three "games" you can play. In each, there's a scene on the screen and it changes based on your physiological response. For example, one game has a hot air balloon that rises and moves across a landscape as you elicit the relaxation response. My first impression was that this was unnerving. The scene has the feel of an old style video gave. I was afraid that I would crash the balloon into a tree or fence. And, of course, that fear made the balloon go down! Of course the balloon does not crash. Nothing blows up. You get used to it. The emWave is the second product. It works on the same principle as the software, but requires no computer. emWave is a handheld device with a finger pulse reader and lights to indicate heart rate, coherence level, and a few other variables. I like the portability, but the device has too many settings. It's nice that it can measure everything the software can measure, but it's more work to figure all this out than most people are willing to go through. For example, you can press the top or bottom of the one button with fast, medium, or long pressure. Various combinations of these results in various "programming." If you're a computer geek this programming process may remind you of an Altair. The displays are great. You get lots of light that change colors to indicate different things. The displays are surprisingly obvious given that they're just lights. I suspect most people will use the default settings and not figure out all the other stuff the device can do. As a result, it becomes essentially a one-function device. If you want that one function and use it regularly, then it will have met it's goals. Otherwise, the price is a little steep. Both products are great for people who want to learn "the relaxation response." If you've never meditated, or find meditation difficult, these are great aids. If you have meditated, you might find them more fun but perhaps less useful. I prefer to meditate with my eyes closed. It has taken some getting used to being aware of the monitor. It is not distracting, however, as your attention is totally focused on the screen. This is good because your attention is not on finances, errands that need to be run, the leaky roof, etc. The Freeze Framer software also has audible tones that tell you when you move from low to mid to high "coherence" levels. So you can meditate with your eyes closed and just hear the occasional sound. Both products come with excellent guides to the product and to the techniques needed to control this "relaxation response." The bottom line for me is that I prefer the software-based product and I intend to use it along with other forms of meditation. Freeze Framer sells for about $300. emWave sells for about $200. They're expensive "toys" but you'll easily save that much money on healthcare in the next year if you use one of these devices regularly.	Subscribe to our Free newsletter   See related articles on our web site: We Are All Many People (Me2) Overcoming Workaholism Relaxation Breathing