Understanding HRV: The difference between heart rate and HRV
The implications of low HRV and its connection to age
Identifying a "good" HRV and personal baselines
Strategies for improving HRV: lifestyle changes and monitoring
HRV's role in understanding stress response physiology
Choosing accurate devices for measuring HRV
Balancing the Autonomic Nervous System for better health
Early illness detection through accurate HRV readings
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) has gained significant attention recently as a powerful tool for monitoring overall health and well-being. Understanding the nuances of HRV can help you unlock your body's full potential, improve your recovery, and manage stress more effectively.
When I first started teaching my clients about the importance of breathwork, it was a tough sell. While some immediately embraced the concept, others outright rejected it. After all, it's always there: whether awake or asleep, we take 20,000 per day, or 14 to 20 breaths every minute. Still, the pandemic has taught us that this is an opportune time to take every breath seriously.
“I am angry. It is illegal for me to be angry. Remember: Don't get angry. It is illegal to be a black man and be angry. Right. Got it. I will remember this next time.”
Kara Lee Corthron, “The Truth of Right Now”
On this day, the former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin was convicted by his peers of three charges: second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Today, a rare thing happened when a white police officer was held accountable and will be punished for murdering a black man while a small group of people - young and old, white and black, man and woman - watched, frustrated by the hopelessness of it all.
"When we are saying this cannot be accomplished, this cannot be done, then we are short-changing ourselves. My brain, it cannot process failure. It will not process failure. Because if I have to sit there and face myself and tell myself, 'You are a failure,' I think that is almost worse than dying."
Kobe Bryant
Tell me what it’s like. You mean being black?
Over the recent weeks, that direct question naturally keeps being respectfully asked of me from well-meaning friends. And I’m appreciative for the genuine interest.
I must candidly confess my immediate thought is firstly an internal question: Is that the first time you’ve had that burning curiosity? You don’t have to satisfy me with an answer to that. Allow me to respond to your question, though.
We’ve been masking for a long time. All people of color have had to wear masks to conceal our authentic voices, faces, emotions and thoughts for much of our lives. And, the clever woman of color, her mask is her foundation. She carefully applies makeup atop her mask.
“A pattern that had been familiar throughout history is that after a war is fought and won, the tendency is for society to relax, enjoy life, and exercise less. … It appears that as societies become too enamored with wealth, prosperity and self-entertainment, fitness levels drop. In addition, as technology has advanced with man, the levels of physical fitness have decreased.” –Lance C. Dalleck and Len Kravitz
Some of us enjoy breaking the rules or taking the shortcut, no matter how great the risk, regardless of the potential punishment, especially when for short term gains or self-gratification. After all, from an early age, we've learned that we can get away with it, without repercussions. My warning is this: Mother Nature has been at this for far longer than any of us, and she is a master serial killer, with no remorse for us and our ways. She will pursue balance, at all cost. This knowledge has caused me to begin looking at the teaching of movement and exercise from a different, more global perspective. My discovery is: Much of the pain, discomfort, illnesses and disease facing man, is of our own doing.
