Health Tip: What Is Heart-Rate Variability?

Wearable devices can measure the variability between the beats of your heart and indicate how relaxed you are — “an objective measure of how chill you are,” Mike Mallin, MD, says, noting the more variability the better.

Mallin and Julie Foucher, MD, provide their top five tips for increasing heart-rate variability (HRV):

1. Sleep – a regular bedtime and at least an eight-hour sleep opportunity every night

2. Exercise – a consistent amount over time while incorporating plenty of time for adequate recovery

3. Avoid alcohol – more than one drink can cause HRV to plummet

4. Meditation and mindfulness

5. Breath work – give this nasal breathing technique a try: a quick, three- to four-second inhale followed by a slow eight-second exhale

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