If in your old age you were congratulated for still being coherent, it might be a bit annoying. Relax! Relaxation with heart coherence not only has nothing to do with that, but it also turns out to be all good. In particular, it can provide you with a solution for pregnancy insomnia.
The virtues of this little breathing exercise have been proclaimed far and wide for the past ten years, and for good reason. First, it costs nothing: if your body has at least one working lung, a heart, and a brain, you are set. Then, the benefits are legendary — they last 4 to 6 hours after the exercise and are among the tips for falling asleep quickly.
This exercise influences the sympathetic balance, which alternates your body between its resting and alert states.
- Resting state (rest and digest)
It is the state you are in after lunch or before sleeping; unproductive, not very responsive, not very aware of your thoughts, and rather slow.
- Alert state (fight or flight)
It is the state you are in during intense activity, a stressful event, a difficult day, anxious thoughts like fear of not sleeping, or even a simple noise, etc.
Heart coherence is the balance point between these two states. Heart rate variability (that is, the regularity of your heartbeats) is the indicator of stress. By doing this exercise, you regularize your heartbeats to allow yourself to leave the alert state and leave stress behind.
A painkiller
If the sleep of your unborn child is disturbed (and thus contributes to your lack of sleep), if you have chronic pain that prevents you from sleeping well, you may not have the means (or desire) to take a barrel of drugs in your quest to cure your sleep disorder. In reality, your body produces enough drugs on its own — you just need to ask it in a way it can understand.
How does all this work? By controlling your breathing, you slow your heartbeats and activate your parasympathetic nervous system, the part of your nervous system that calms you down.
Your cortisol level, the stress hormone, drops as soon as you start exercising and gradually leads you to the resting state.
A source of relaxation
At rest, your body focuses its energy on digestion and spends less on feeling pain. Thanks to this technique, no more desperate position changes to sleep well all night, your pain can sometimes almost go unnoticed.
Sex to find sleep
Moreover, it promotes the growth of a whole bunch of particularly great hormones (oxytocin, dopamine...) that put you in a good mood and make you want to spend time with the people you love. Sex for better sleep is definitely a real solution.
Limits hunger
But it’s not over. Let’s say you finally found your soulmate. No need for a diet: better sleep to lose weight thanks to cardiac coherence is possible! Cortisol is also a hormone that promotes sugar storage, which explains why stressed people can suddenly pile on extra pounds.
First of all, if you have the opportunity, it is better to do this exercise lying down or without crossing anything.
Close your eyes and relax: if there is noise around you, don’t panic, let the sounds come and go without stressing yourself.
Take a 5-second inhale...
Then an exhale of 5 seconds...
Then start again. Gently.
Take 6 breaths per minute for 5 minutes. You normally and calmly move towards sleep...
To make it easier for you, the Dodow team made a video that gives you the right rhythm. You can do the exercise sitting, feet touching the floor, every morning upon waking, at work before lunch, in the evening to sleep well...
Cardiac coherence is also called the 365 breathing method, a mnemonic: 3 times a day, 6 breaths per minute for 5 minutes. It was invented by Dr. David O’Hare, a general practitioner in southern France, who worked jointly with David Servan-Schreiber, a doctor and psychiatry professor known for his books against cancer.
There you go! You look so coherent today! :D
On the same topic:
Make your pregnancy easier with beginner yoga poses!
Have the right diet for your pregnancy
Warning: dangerous foods for pregnant women
