Mindfulness & HRV
Beyond breathing, mind-settling habits such as mindfulness and meditation have also been studied in relation to HRV. This page explains that relationship, with sources — and carefully.
What the research looks at
How mindfulness meditation affects stress-related physiological markers has been examined in systematic reviews and meta-analyses. Mindfulness/meditation interventions have been reported to lower some physiological markers of stress, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol (Pascoe et al., 2017). Note that this study looks at heart rate, which is a different metric from HRV (the "fluctuation" of the heartbeat).
A review focused on HRV itself reported an increase in HRV reactivity following mindfulness practice, while noting that how HRV is measured and analyzed varies widely between studies (Christodoulou et al., 2020).
Figure: an illustration of HRV rising gently with regular practice. It is a conceptual figure, not actual measurements, and effects vary greatly between individuals.
But we do not overstate it
The research points in a positive direction, but because measurement methods vary widely, it must be read with care (Christodoulou et al., 2020).
- The size of the effect differs by person and situation — we cannot promise that "meditating will always raise your HRV."
- Practices involving slow breathing are known to transiently raise HRV (Lehrer & Gevirtz, 2014). How much of mindfulness's effect comes from the breathing is still being researched.
What Feelmo can do
Feelmo does not declare that something "works." When you try breathing or meditation, it simply returns, gently, how your regulation moved before and after. Whether to continue is always yours to decide.
But note
The research introduced here is population-level knowledge and does not guarantee the effect of the Feelmo app or any particular meditation method. Nothing on this page is a basis for medical decisions.
How Feelmo handles it
Feelmo's breathing sessions make the change in HRV before and after a session visible. How metrics are integrated into the score is the core of Lumo Core and is not disclosed, as a trade secret.
References
- Pascoe MC, Thompson DR, Jenkins ZM, Ski CF. Mindfulness mediates the physiological markers of stress: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 2017;95:156–178.
- Christodoulou G, Salami N, Black DS. The Utility of Heart Rate Variability in Mindfulness Research. Mindfulness. 2020;11(3):554–570.
- Lehrer PM, Gevirtz R. Heart rate variability biofeedback: how and why does it work? Frontiers in Psychology. 2014;5:756.
About these references
The works above provide general scientific background on mindfulness and HRV; they do not prove the effect of the Feelmo app itself. Nothing on this page is a basis for medical decisions.