Are you interested in learning how to increase your HRV naturally? Increasing your HRV helps to reduce stress and anxiety, improve mood and sleep. Having a low HRV is classified as unhealthy, while a high HRV correlates with better health and resilience. Here are the best scientifically-backed methods for naturally increasing your HRV. Improve your heart rate variability and create a healthier lifestyle by following along with the journey below!
How Can I Improve My HRV?
Heart rate variability, or HRV, measures the amount of time that elapses between heartbeats. HRV is an important indicator of your overall health, as it demonstrates the ability of the body’s nervous system to respond to stress, such as chronic pain, or other outside stimuli. Your HRV can also be affected by cardiac vagal tone which is the measure of the control that the parasympathetic nervous system has over the heart rate.
By simply following a healthy lifestyle, such as eating a balanced diet, getting adequate sleep and exercise, and managing stress, one can improve their HRV and create a healthier life. The key ingredient to increasing your HRV is to make sure your body is functioning optimally by treating it with some love and care!
Get More Sleep
Maintaining a consistent sleep schedule will help you improve your HRV. When your body is in a state of rest, it has time to recover and repair itself more efficiently. Consistency in a sleep schedule helps your body recognize when it is supposed to be resting and allows your HRV levels to balance out. As we all know, getting quality sleep isn’t always the easiest. If you are struggling with your sleep schedule you should look into improving your sleep hygiene!
Breathing Exercise
It is possible to naturally increase HRV when you practice intentional breathing. Deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system and can help reduce stress and anxiety. Which can then help increase HRV by increasing the communication between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Practicing controlled breathing really can make all the difference!
Balancing Your Exercise Routine
You can also naturally increase your HRV through regular exercise. Balancing your exercise routine strengthens your heart’s ability to respond to physical and emotional stress. In addition, it helps to improve the efficiency of your cardiovascular system, allowing your body to better regulate blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration. When you reach an aerobic threshold your HRV increases, indicating that your heart and body are responding to the physical activity in a healthy way.
However, you do not want to confuse getting enough exercise with getting too much exercise. Too much exercise will cause you to feel fatigued and unmotivated. Your body functions better when you rest and recover in between, in other words, balancing your exercise routine. This is how you build the strength and endurance that is essential for maintaining overall health and an average HRV. Professionals recommend at least 2 hours of exercise per week to suffice for a healthy diet!
Staying Well-Hydrated
Researchers have found that dehydration is also associated with a lower HRV. This is because dehydration reduces the amount of blood flow to the heart which in turn reduces the variability of the heart rate. So keeping a bottle of water on hand will help you prevent a decrease in your HRV and help you stay in a better mood throughout the day!
No Alcohol
Scientific research shows that alcohol decreases the body’s natural ability to respond to stressors, which can lead to a decrease in HRV. Additionally, drinking alcohol can also interfere with the body’s natural sleep cycles, which can further decrease HRV as well! How this happens is alcohol decreases parasympathetic nervous system activity, which is responsible for the body’s relaxation response. This decrease in activity decreases HRV as the body is unable to respond effectively to stressors.
Leafy Greens
Leafy greens are always great to have in your diet, but did you know they actually help to increase your HRV? Leafy greens contain a variety of vitamins and minerals that help to support healthy heart function and even reduce inflammation. Eating them on a regular basis can help to increase your HRV and reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. Find what works best for your diet and make sure to add in those leafy greens for your heart health!
Improving Your Work-Life Balance
Work has been a well-known cause of high blood pressure and makes it difficult to manage mental stress. By taking breaks and creating a healthy work-life balance and practicing relaxation techniques such as deep breathing and mindfulness you will be better able to deal with stress management. All of these will contribute to a higher HRV and a healthier overall lifestyle.
How Journaling Is Beneficial
Journaling is always a great thing to do on a regular basis. It helps you to process and cope with stress which will help to naturally increase your HRV as well. Regular journaling can help to identify and address stressors more quickly and effectively, as well as provide insight into your emotional wellbeing. This leads to more effective problem solving and improved emotional maintenance. Which helps to reduce stress level and improve your overall HRV.
Spending Time Outside
Research shows that spending time outside and getting yourself back into nature will help to increase your HRV. This is because the natural environment is full of beneficial elements and fresh air, which help to reduce stress and increase your relaxation. This in turn helps to increase your heart rate variability. Getting outside helps both your body and mind to relax and take a break from the stressors of modern life.
Living Healthier Is The Best Way To Naturally Increase HRV
Overall, the best way to increase your heart rate variability naturally is to just live healthier. How? Eating a balanced diet with plenty of leafy greens, limiting caffeine and alcohol, getting enough sleep and taking cold showers. Also, managing stress through deep breathing or journaling can all help to increase HRV as a natural response. So don’t forget to take time out of your day to care for yourself and make it a priority because your heart health depends on it!