Tools & Tips
Your Thoughts DO Affect Your Life!

For all you analytical types out there, you can now learn the science and physiology behind feeling good and what gets in the way of feeling good (ie. stress) from the comfort of your pajamas and bunny slippers. AND you can actually see (with a handy little device) how your thoughts and emotions effect your heart and nervous system! The Institute of HeartMath has researched heart/brain communication, stress and emotional management for over a decade and applied its findings to practical, easy-to-use tools that have been scientifically developed and tested. HeartMath's products use the intelligence of the heart in concert with the mind to improve health, performance, relationships and well-being at home and in the workplace. Cool stuff.

HeartMath has a variety of products that range from $20 to $300 - (they also have a series of free online surveys that will help assess your stress level). The PC Stress Relief System is particularly interesting: it is designed to prevent, manage and reverse the negative effects of stress, and to enable users to operate their mind-body-heart as a unified system, achieving new levels of health and well-being. It uses a software program in connection with a heart rhythm monitor that allows you to see how your thoughts and emotions affect your heart and nervous system. When stressed, your heart rhythms have an irregular, jagged, incoherent pattern. When you shift to a more positive emotional state, the heart rhythm pattern changes to a smoother, wave-like coherent pattern. By seeing the visual change on the screen and associating it with a more peaceful, calm internal state, you learn to manage stress and maintain a state of physiological balance.