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Helping with Personal Stress

While HeartMath research has global applications, it can make an enormous difference to your own life, too. Asking yourself when you last felt genuine joy, love, hope or awe may seem self-indulgent. But, paying attention to the things that help you feel these positive feelings and making more time for them not only helps you get more done (and do it better) but will boost your heart and your brain.

Elite athletes and business executives are using HeartMath methods to enhance their performance, reduce stress and avoid burnout. HeartMath is the science behind the common sense; their research has been featured in publications from the American Journal of Cardiology and Stress Medicine and Harvard Business Review to the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

When we feel good, our whole bodies benefit. Of all the neural connections between the brain and the heart, 80% go in the direction from the heart towards the brain. This makes its even more obvious that the way we feel truly impacts all we do. Also, by creating emotional reserves of good feelings, we increase our resilience for those times when that wellbeing is really needed.

Actively helping ourselves feel good helps us create DHEA, a performance enhancer that’s banned as a supplement in sport which can be created naturally. As a bonus, creating DHEA inhibits the creation of the stress hormone cortisol. One positive feeling has benefits that can last in the system for hours.

Anna Hemmings and the HeartMath Connection

Two-time Olympian and six-time World Champion Anna Hemmings MBE is regarded as Britain’s most successful canoeist. No stranger to stress, Anna was told there was no cure for the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CI’S) that stuck her down in 2003, but she managed a full recovery and went on to win the last three of her six World Titles in marathon canoeing and competed in her second Olympics. Anna now applies what she’s learned in elite athletics to help other athletes and ordinary people improve their own resilience and handle stress better. Her company, Beyond the Barriers holds an official licence for the delivery of HeartMath programmes in the UK and is trained, regulated and approved by the HeartMat h LLC.

‘Our perceptions and outlook are so important when we are at work and making decisions,’ says Anna. A negative emotion sets off 1400 biochemical changes, overloading the nervous system with mental inconsistencies which deplete resilience and compromise performance’ I imagined this being quite an extreme negative emotion, but Anna says it could be as simple as seeing an unopened email, recognising the person it’s from and making a negative assumption about its content. ‘Stress impacts our ability to think and respond appropriately. It is almost always an emotional response to a situation. Stress directly impacts how you feel at the end of the day, your health and your relationships. In HeartMath terms, there is no such thing as good stress, but challenge is good. We all need a bit of challenge to improve our performance but too much reduces it HeartMath helps extend the period of maximum efficiency.’ There’ s a ‘fast track’ in our brain between the thalamus (known as the ‘messenger’) and amygdala, which stores emotional responses. ‘When the “fear response” is triggered, the amygdala hijacks the response,’ says Anna. ‘Our heart rate and blood pressure rise and adrenaline and cortisol are triggered. It’s a “Lion! Danger! Get me out of here” response, but the threats we generally face today are not life or death but more to do with expectation, ego, change, uncertainty and reputation.’ Fear activates the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, often known as ‘fight or flight’. The parasympathetic branch helps us calm down. ‘The parasympathetic branch stops us going into overdrive,’ says Anna. ‘The whole system works optimally when it’s in balance It’s when we’re always in the sympathetic system response that the problems occur. There are no bad hormones, just bad levels. Fortunately, it’s easy to bring the nervous system into balance, producing beneficial biochemical changes. This increases mental clarity, builds resilience and enhances performance.’ For example, we need the sympathetic system to produce ‘stress hormone’ cortisol to get us up in the mornings. Too much cortisol, though, means we produce less ‘feel good’ DHEA, which energises us. High levels of cortisol and low DHEA lead to accelerated ageing, brain cell death, impaired memory and learning, decreased bone density, reduced muscle mass, reduced skin growth, increased blood sugar, impaired immune system function and increased fat. On the other hand, DHEA acts as a performance enhancer, prevents osteoporosis, improves skin hydration and condition and boosts the immune system. Looked at like this, the Law of Attraction ideas popularised by The Secret and Lynn Grabhorn, where raising good feeling and vibrations attracts good things, makes biochemical sense. High cortisol levels create what Anna calls a ‘vicious circle of submission and despair while high DHEA creates a ‘virtuous circle of success and wellbeing. ‘

The emWave Gadget

HeartMat h measures Heart Rate Variability (HRV) rather than just the heart rate. ‘Coherence is the optimal state,’ says Anna. ‘Heart, mind and emotions are operating in sync and are balanced. Our ability to process information is much better when were in a coherent state.’ Telling us how HeartMath helps us interrupt and change the signals to the brain as we feel ourselves being hijacked. Anna hooked me up to one of their emWave2. machines, created by HeartMath founder Doc Chihire, so we could all see my HRV projected onto the screen. Were not looking to lower the heart rate,’ says Anna, but to move from incoherent to coherent.’ As she jolcingly toed to pressure me into singing in front of the group of strangers, we watched my HRV beat incoherently. Leading me through the HeartMath Neutral Tool, we saw coherence be restored, and I promised myself I would practice it regularly. There are a series of HeartMath tools that incorporate breathing techniques and emotional shift techniques that balance the ANS, reduce levels of cortisol and stimulate DHEA production.’ You can also buy an emWave® gadget to observe your own results and train yourself into better habits.

Easy ways to make positive feelings a bigger part of your everyday life.

When did you last feel genuine joy? Look at your schedule for the coming week. Do any of your current plans look likely to bring you more joy? Do some look likely to drain you of joy? How can you increase your likelihood of feeling joy on a more regular basis?

When did you last feel truly inspired? What were you doing? What were you thinking about’? How can you fit more inspiration into your life? it might be something as simple as watching a documentary or film about someone who has overcome impossible-seeming odds or scaled great heights in their field. Maybe it’s reading about them or going to a talk or somehow offering your services to work with them.

What makes you laugh? Whether it’s a matter of picking up the phone or meeting up with a hilarious friend more often or renting funny films and watching comedies, make time for laughing Out loud. When were you last awe struck? While this may seem an impossible quality to ‘schedule in’, by identifying the times you’ve felt awe most, you’ll be better able to put yourself in  situations where you feel it again.

When do you feel most serene? Make time to meditate or whatever else works for you) more often.

What gives you hope? It can feel fragile sometimes, so be mindful of this. Avoid harsh media and people if you’re struggling and seek out good news. Newspapers such as Metro include a ‘Good Deed Feed’, which is pretty heart-warming.

When do you feel proud of yourself? Whatever it is, do it more often. Build on your success.

When do you feel most loving? Identify these times, and arrange to see these people or do these things as often as possible.

Imagine feeling these qualities like physical exercises. Scheduling them in, while sounding contrived, will remind you that your body – and your spirit – will benefit. And during those times when you’re feeling far from loving, joyful, proud etc., you can imagine those feelings by thinking of a time you felt it strongly. While it will take practice, you can learn to recreate them and positively influence your body’s biochemistry while also feeling better.

Find out more

For information on Anna Hemmings’ HeartMath programmes, go to: www.beyondthebarriers.co.uk

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9am to 7pm, 23 April 2012

Hindhead Golf Club, Churt Road, Hindhead, Surrey GU26 6HX.

This ground-breaking, easy-to-use system is used by PGA Tour professionals to lower scores and give them the power over the “inner mechanics” of their heart, brain, nervous system, and emotions-even in the most challenging competitive situations. Elite athletes from many sports are using these techniques to access a high performance state on-demand and stay there for extended periods.

HeartMath is a simple set of practical tools that are based on cutting edge science. It is used in combination with award winning bio-feedback emWave® technology. It gives golfers the ability to identify when their heart is racing and do something about it. You can quickly train your system to maximise your emotional calm, concentration and mental focus while under pressure.

Research has identified a psycho-physiological state in which the interactions between the heart, brain and nervous systems become synchronised. This state can be observed, measured and trained using our award-winning bio-feedback technology. This measurable state provides players with increased coordination, improved motor skills and timing, improved decision-making, sensitivity and clarity on and off the golf course.

Using the emWave technology, you can get real-time physiological feedback on your internal state and take the guesswork out of your game.

In-Sync Golf Training is delivered by Beyond the Barriers, licensed providers of HeartMath in the UK.

Our team of elite golf coaches and world champion athletes are all qualified and experienced coaches in the HeartMath system.

This In-Sync training day is tailored for individuals and incorporates:

• Pre-course reading, exercises and personality assessment
• Latest science on emotional control for golfers
• Pre-learning short game golf skills assessment
• Learning the techniques to get into an optimum performance state
• Putting it all into practice – Short game skills practical and re-assessment
• Results analysis and development of your personal plan

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Places are strictly limited. For more information or to reserve your place on this training day, please contact:

Beyond the Barriers Ltd :

Tel: +44(0)208 5403603

email: enquiries@beyondthebarriers.co.uk

In this two day course we teach a set of highly effective, practical techniques that will help strengthen individuals to become more resilient, improve energy levels, build capacity, improve decision-making, creativity and overall performance, whilst at the same time reducing the impact of stress.

Next Course: 25-26 April 2012, BOA Offices, 60 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 2NU

Resilience is multidimensional. In this course we cover all aspects of resilience from Physical and Emotional to Mental and Spiritual.  The first session looks at how we can build and sustain our physical capacity to perform at a high level by maximising energy throughout the day. We then explore emotional capacity and discover how we can train ourselves to expand and manage emotional energy and get in an optimal performance state. We then go on to look at how to build self-belief and strengthen mental resilience with simple tools to focus attention and manage perspective. The final session explores spiritual resilience, our commitment to personal values and our tolerance of others beliefs.

• Enhance energy and vitality
• Increase performance
• Improve emotional clarity
• Prevent stress
• Perform under pressure

This course is designed to help develop high performing individuals who are more resilient, more productive and effective under pressure. It is delivered by Beyond the Barriers team of experts including former Olympic athletes and experienced business performance coaches.

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Course Dates:

21-22 May, 2012 Location: Studley Wood Golf Club, Oxford

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Click here to book