Monitor your emotions with HeartMath

Andrea Roberts
Times Contributor

 

Langdon local Taylor Ferguson found comfort in a holistic approach to manage his stress, following a change in his relationship status last spring. Ferguson is a participant in the HeartMath program that helps its patients by teaching them to control their heart rates, and thus their emotions, while getting rid of stress.
Ferguson started the program after he went through a separation that left him feeling highly anxious and stressed out. The program has helped to keep him grounded.
“The best way I can describe it is like a eyes-wide-open meditation,” said Ferguson.
“It is a form of meditation in my eyes that helps to keep you grounded.”
A small monitoring device is attached to the ear of the participant, to help monitor the heart rate on a sensor. Depending on the heart rate, the sensor will light up in red, blue, or green. Ferguson explained the red light indicates a lot of cortisol, which is also known as the stress hormone. The blue light indicates that the mind is in a neutral state, and green light reflects the user in a calm state, which means there are hormones in the mind counteracting the cortisol. Once the person is connected to the device their eyes have to follow certain lights that move in an up-and-down sequence. The user has to inhale when the lights go up and exhale when the lights go down. This breathing exercise helps to regulate the heartbeat and calm the mind during a stressful situation.
When Ferguson first started with HeartMath he worked with Yvonne Harris, a certified instructor from Chestermere who’s also an Alberta Health Services (AHS) mental health outreach worker. They worked one-on-one for four 45-minute sessions as well as a two-day workshop. This also helped to teach him how to use the HeartMath machine.
The non-profit organization that features the HeartMath has intentions of getting participants to reconnect with their heart, deal with stress, and self-regulate emotions. The AHS was introduced to the program in 2008 and so far have trained 26 staff to be instructors.
Ferguson highly recommends the HeartMath program, and said: “I think it is a really wonderful program, that can really steer people in the right direction.”