Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

What is is? Why is it important?
How do you increase it?


What Is HRV?

Most of us were never taught how our nervous system really works—let alone how to measure or increase its resilience. That’s where Heart Rate Variability (HRV) comes in.

HRV is one of the strongest, research-supported indicators of how your body is handling stress and emotional demand in real time. It reflects autonomic nervous system flexibility—the capacity to shift between activation and recovery and maintain physiological balance.

A higher HRV is associated with greater emotional stability, clearer thinking, and a more resilient response to everyday challenges.

Your heart rate is just an average.

A heart rate of 70 beats per minute doesn’t mean your heart beats once every 0.86 seconds, perfectly evenly.

In reality, there is a tiny variation between each heartbeat. One interval might be 0.86 seconds, the next 0.94 seconds.

HRV is a measure of this variation.

These micro-differences are not errors—they’re signs of a healthy, responsive autonomic nervous system, the part of you that regulates heart rate, breathing, digestion, emotional responses, and more.

HRV offers a window into how adaptable your body is—not just mentally but physiologically.


Why HRV Matters

A higher HRV has been associated with:

  • Better ability to manage stress and anxiety

  • Improved emotional regulation

  • Better ability to notice and shift emotional states in real time

  • Sharper focus and clearer decision-making

  • Deeper, more restorative sleep

  • Increased energy and cognitive clarity

  • Healthier digestion and gut function

A higher HRV can help you to handle life’s curveballs without getting flooded and to recover more quickly after a challenge. It also helps you to think more clearly under pressure and stay connected to yourself and others instead of snapping, shutting down, or spiraling

HRV doesn’t just tell you whether you’re stressed—it shows you how your system is responding and how well it can come back to balance.


What Is Heart Coherence?

 Many people focus only on “increasing HRV numbers.” Numbers tell part of the story, but the pattern of your heart rhythm matters just as much.

Coherence is a smooth, harmonized pattern in your heart rhythm. It is our natural state of well-being, but stress, fear, and overwhelm can pull us out of it.

When we feel overwhelmed, frustrated or stressed, the heart rhythm becomes chaotic and irregular.

When we breathe slowly and rhythmically or feel appreciation, gratitude, or love, the pattern becomes organized, even, and harmonious.

In a state of coherence, the heart, brain, and nervous system move into a synchronized state. People often describe feeling:
calm, centered, clear, present, open, and less reactive.

The HeartMath® Inner Balance™ sensor measures this heart rhythm pattern in real time, giving you immediate feedback so you can learn to shift into coherence intentionally—moment by moment.


Who HRV Training Is For

HRV and coherence training can support you if you:

  • Feel like you’re “always on” and can’t fully unwind

  • Have tried meditation but struggle to quiet your mind

  • Feel emotionally drained by work, caregiving, or the world around you

  • Want science-backed tools that are gentle, practical, and empowering

  • Are curious about the connection between heart, brain, resilience, and intuition

  • Want to feel more grounded, present, clear, and connected

We’re working with your biology, not your willpower—it’s like taking your nervous system to the gym.


Questions? Ready to get started? 

👉 Use the Contact Judy button above to schedule a free 20-minute HRV and Coherence conversation to explore your goals and discuss next steps  OR 

👉 Visit Work with Judy to learn more about coaching with me.



How We Work with HRV in Our Sessions

HRV and coherence training are practical, learnable skills you can use anywhere. These tools synchronize heart, brain, breath, and emotions—no special equipment required (though the Inner Balance sensor enhances the process).


Coherence-Building With the Inner Balance Sensor

The optional Inner Balance is a personal HRV training device that displays your heart rhythm in real time. As you adjust your breathing and emotional focus, you can watch your heart rhythm shift from stress to greater coherence.

This makes your inner experience visible—and gives you the ability to change it intentionally.

You’ll practice using coherence in real life, including:

  • Before difficult conversations

  • During work stress or emotional upsets

  • When you wake at 3am with your mind racing

  • Before meals, to support digestion and calm

  • Anytime you feel overwhelmed or disconnected


Build Real-World Resilience

Over time, these practices can help you return to center more quickly after stress, recognize early signs of dysregulation, and intervene before a pattern spirals.

The result? Spending more time in states that feel like ease, clarity, and possibility. 

The technology is optional. You already have everything you need to train your nervous system to return to coherence more quickly and more often, but if you like data, the Inner Balance sensor and app can provide it.

The goal isn’t perfection, it's a more flexible nervous system—and a kinder, more compassionate relationship with yourself.



What Working with Me Looks Like

As a certified Integrative Wellness Coach and HeartMath® trainer and practitioner, I blend practical neurobiology and compassionate, grounded coaching that support emotional awareness and physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

You’ll come away with:

  • Simple practices you can use in everyday life

  • Tools to shift emotional states in real time

  • A clearer understanding of your nervous system

  • Support for integrating these techniques into your existing wellness, therapeutic, or spiritual practices


Ready for a More Flexible and Less Reactive Nervous System?

If you’re curious about how your nervous system is really doing—and how to reliably increase your resilience, clarity, and capacity for ease—HRV training is a powerful place to begin.


 Questions? Ready to get started? 

👉 Use the Contact Judy button above to schedule a free 20-minute HRV and Coherence conversation to explore your goals and discuss next steps  OR 

👉 Visit Work with Judy to learn more about coaching with me.