Heart–Brain Interactions, Psychophysiological Coherence, and the Emergence of System-Wide Order

…there are organism states in which the regulation of life processes becomes efficient, or even optimal, free-flowing and easy. This is a well established physiological fact. It is not a hypothesis. The feelings that usually accompany such physiologically conducive states are deemed " positive, " characterized not just by absence of pain but by varieties of pleasure. There also are organism states in which life processes struggle for balance and can even be chaotically out of control. The feelings that usually accompany such states are deemed " negative, " characterized not just by absence of pleasure but by varieties of pain. …The fact that we, sentient and sophisticated creatures, call certain feelings positive and other feelings negative is directly related to the fluidity or strain of the life process. for their careful review and helpful comments on the manuscript. Prologue i C hris, a 45-year-old business executive, had a family history of heart disease, and was feeling extremely stressed, fatigued, and generally in poor emotional health. A 24-hour heart rate variability analysis ii revealed abnormally depressed activity in both branches of his autonomic nervous system, suggesting autonomic exhaustion ensuing from maladaptation to high stress levels. His heart rate variability was far lower then would be expected for his age, and was below the clinical cutoff level for significantly increased risk of sudden cardiac death. In addition, Chris's average heart rate was abnormally high at 102 beats per minute, and his heart rate did not drop at night as it should. Upon reviewing these results, his physician concluded that it was imperative that Chris take measures to reduce his stress. He recommended that Chris begin practicing a system of emotional restructuring techniques that had been developed by the Institute of HeartMath. These positive emotion-focused techniques help individuals learn to self-generate and sustain a beneficial functional mode known as psychophysiologi-cal coherence, characterized by increased emotional stability and by increased synchronization and harmony in the functioning of physiological systems. Concerned about his deteriorating health, Chris complied with his physician's recommendation. Each morning during his daily train commute to work, he practiced the Heart Lock-In technique, and he would use the Freeze-Frame technique in situations when he felt his stress levels rise. iii At first Chris was not aware of the transformation that was occurring. His wife was the first to notice the change and to remark about how differently he was behaving and …