EmWave by Heartmath

1
EmWave by
Heartmath

• Presented by
• Ginny Nyhus

2
Uses of the emWave

• Use as a form of Science
• Increased Health Well-being
• Decreased Stress
• Increase self-regulation as an aid for learning
  and testing in education settings

3
Accelerating Learning

• Stress, anxiety and depression impact learning
  and the ability to perform well in the classroom.
• Learning how to self-regulate emotions through
  improving physiological coherence enhances
  cognitive ability, academic performance and
  social skills.

4
Who can benefit?

• Students needing greater management of stress,
  anxiety and anger
• Students experiencing performance anxiety in test
  taking, sports and social situations
• Administrators and teachers who are fatigued and
  stressed.

5
What is the emWave System?

• A bio-feedback computer system that helps to
  train coherence to gain better control of
  emotions.
• Coherence is defined as The logical, orderly and
  harmonious connectedness between parts.
• Incoherence occurs when we experience negative
  attitudes such as anger, fear or anxiety.

6
How does emWave work?

• Heart Rate Variability (HRV)
• Normal, naturally occurring variations or changes
  in the amount of time between heartbeats.
• Our measured level of coherence comes from the
  hearts rhythm over time. When HRV is normal, we
  are able to achieve coherence in our body
  systems.
• Heart Rhythms can affect how we feel!

7
How does emWave work?

• HRV is what happens between each heart beat
• HRV is an important indicator of both
  physiological resiliency behavioral
  flexibility, and an individuals ability to adapt
  to stress and environmental demands.

8
How does emWave work?

• Changing the Heart rhythm not only effect the
  heart, but also the brains ability to process
  information, including decision making, problem
  solving and creativity.
• Head to Heart Interactions
• Communication between the heart brain is an
  ongoing, two way dialogue, with each organ
  influencing the others function.
• Research shows the hearts communication with the
  brain in 4 major ways neurologically,
  biochemically, bio-physically energetically.

9
emWave in Education

• Where Heartmath has been incorporated in school,
  results indicate that when used students have
  increased their
• stress management skills
• independent thinking skills
• comfort in the classroom environment
• motivation
• work management skills
• knowledge of academic content areas
• academic Focus

10
emWave in Education

• Middle School Study
• Palm Springs Middle School, Dade County, FL
• Students participated in 16 hours of training
  delivered over 2 weeks.
• Results indicate improvements in 17 of 19 areas
  of psychosocial functioning including anger
  management, teacher comfort, self-reliance, work
  management and decreases in risky behavior.
• Children felt more comfortable with themselves,
  were more assertive and independent in their
  decision making and were better able to manage
  stress and negative internal self-talk.

11
emWave in Education

• High School Study
• Minneapolis Public Schools
• To help at-risk HS students pass the BST who
  noted test anxiety as a reason for not passing
  the test.
• Students participated in 25 hrs. of class over 3
  weeks after school 2 hrs and 2 4 hr block during
  SB.
• 1/3 of content was teaching of Heartmath tools
• 2/3 of content was academic instruction
• Outcomes
• 14 increase in reading scores
• 35 increase in math scores
• 20 students participated, 13 passed both tests

12
Fat Fact

• Cortosiol levels rise when we feel stress such as
  irritation, anger, anxiety and guilt
• Cortosiol levels decrease when we feel positive
  emotions such as joy, compassion and kindness
• To much cortisol impars immune function and
  triggers fat build-up.
• SO WHAT! by using the emWave you are decreasing
  cortosiol and increasing positive anti- aging
  hormones

13
Quick Coherence Technique

• Step 1 Heart Focus
• - Focus your attention on the area around your
  heart, the area in the center of your chest.
• Step 2 Heart Breath
• - Breath deeply but normally and feel as if your
  breath is coming in and out of your heart area
• Step 3 Heart Feeling
• - As you maintain your heart focus and heart
  breath activate a positive feeling

14
How to use the emWave

• Introduce the emWave PC. Explain what the emWave
  PC is, how people benefit and then ask the
  student to use the technology with you.
• Practice the Quick Coherence technique. Guide
  the student through the Quick Coherence Technique
  several times.

15

1. Have the student identify a positive memory or
   feeling. State that the goal of the emWave PC is
   to transfer the skills a student learns to
   real-life situations where there is stress and
   conflict, or a need to perform better in some
   area of life.
2. Begin Use of the emWave. First use the Heart
   Rhythm Display section. The initial session
   should be two min. at the most. Have the student
   record the results on a scoring sheet or on the
   computer.

16

1. Move onto the Software Games. When a student has
   improved to where the coherence score is 50 or
   less in the red bar (low coherence), the student
   is ready to play the games.
2. Check regularly on student progress. Check the
   students scores on the computer or log sheet.
   Students should use the software between 6 and 10
   times to best internalize the skill set learned.

17
Cut-through Technique

• Cut-through Techniques teaches you how to shift
  out of a negative emotional state into a positive
  one.
• First Choose a minor issue that you are
  currently facing

18
Cut-through Technique

• Step 1 Recognize how you feel about the issue
• Become more aware of your feelings so you can
  gain more information
• We cant direct our emotions until we become open
  to what are feeling and how our body is
  responding
• Step 2 Focus on your heart and breathe with an
  appreciation for 30 sec. or more to anchor your
  attention to your heart.

19
Cut-through Technique

• Step 3 Assume objectivity about the feeling or
  issue as if it were someone else's problem.
• When we become entwined in a feeling whether or
  -, we can no longer see clearly
• Disengage from the issue pretend you are
  watching another person dealing with your issue.
• Learn to Step back

20
Cut-through Technique

• Step 4 Surrender your thoughts and feelings to
  the heart. Become neutral.
• Ask yourself What if there are other motives
  than the ones I have been focusing on? or What
  if there is something I dont know?
• Step 5Relax any disturbed feelings to your
  heart. Dissolve the significance a little at a
  time.
• It is not the problem that takes your energy, it
  is the significance you assign to it.

21
Cut-through Technique

• Step 6 Le the significance of the issue go as
  you can. Be present to receive resolution.
• Find something to give appreciation to in your
  thoughts for 30-60 sec.

22
Heart Lock-in Technique

• One way to start your day in a coherent state.
• Step 1 Find a quiet place to relax for 10 min.
• Step2 Shift your attention away from your mind
  and focus on your heart area. Breathe slowly
  through the heart area.
• Step 3 Focus on creating a genuine feeling of
  appreciation and care for someone or something
  positive in your life.
• Step 4 While maintaining focus in your heart
  area, send positive feelings of appreciation care
  and love to yourself and others.
• Step 5 Try to sincerely sustain those feelings
  of appreciation as long as you can.

23
Benefit of Heart Lock-in

• Core heart feelings like love, care,
  appreciation, compassion and forgiveness give us
  power to live our core values.
• Low heart feelings can lead to doom and gloom and
  can bring about the fight or flight mentality.

24
Reminders!

• When in doubt press the green play button to
  record
• To open a user
• File, new user (never used machine before)
• File, open used (used same machine)
• Review sessions as you go and over time with
  students
• Keep noted and use the 5 point or other rating
  scale to document changes in each session.

25
Tips and Traps

• Students perform better on the program if they
  are given time beforehand to practice the steps
  of quick coherence. This includes practicing
  rhythmic heart breathing and clearly identifying
  an image that evokes a positive emotion.
• Request that students avoid excessive movement,
  otherwise red lines that show no pulse connection
  will appear on the screen.

26
Tips and Traps

• Some students will need extra reinforcement to
  breathe rhythmically and choose an image that
  evokes a positive emotion. (A Hoberman Sphere
  could be used as an aid.)
• Discourage score comparisons between students.
• Dont use the program for long periods of time
  while using the heart rhythm display. Students
  may get board or lose interest w/o structure, a
  goal or incentive.