November 13, 2004 The Freeze-Framer software and hardware package from Heartmath is an interactive program that measures stress levels and their effect on your physiology to help better manage your emotional and physical performance and facilitate heart-brain synchronisation.
Stress is the body and mind's response to any pressure that disrupts its normal balance. It occurs when our perception of events doesn't meet our expectations and we are unable to manage our reaction. As a response, stress expresses itself as resistance, tension, strain or frustration that throws off our physiological and psychological equilibrium, keeping us out of sync. If our equilibrium is disturbed for long, the stress can become disabling. According to the American Institute of Stress, up to 90% of all health problems are related to stress. Too much stress can contribute to and agitate many health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, depression and sleep disorders.
Using Freeze-Framer's fingertip or ear pulse sensor that plugs into the USB Port on your computer, you can watch in real time how thoughts and emotions affect your heart and autonomic nervous system. With the Freeze-Framer you can objectively monitor your heart rhythms and confirm when you have achieved an autonomic nervous system balance, just like a one-on-one personal coach that helps you reach your own goals. It's like a mirror of your emotional state - the real-time feedback enables you to more effectively manage your levels of stress and negative emotions and see the changes in your heart rhythms immediately on your computer screen. These shifts in your heart rhythms create a favourable cascade of neural, hormonal and biochemical events that benefit the entire body and mind. Blood pressure drops. Stress hormones plummet. The immune system pumps up. Anti-aging hormones increase. You gain clarity, calmness and control. The effects are both immediate and long lasting.
The Freeze Framer software is a natural health alternative to getting in tune with your own physiology based on over 13 years of research in fields such as physics and neuro-cardiology. "This change in heart beat produces chemical and electrical changes in the body which were this a pill would be called the most important medical discovery," says Bill Thompson, Executive Editor of Natural Health magazine.
Designed for both home and work environments, the Freeze-Framer benefits could help business training, management and consultancy fields, corporate executives, hospital workers, athletes, educators, students and other individuals to manage workloads and their own health for increased 'coherence' - the optimal performance state for maximum productivity.
How it works
HeartMath research has shown that emotions are reflected in our heart rhythm patterns. The analysis of Heart Rate Variability (HRV), or heart rhythms, is recognized as a powerful, non-invasive measure that reflects heart-brain interactions and autonomic nervous system dynamics, which are particularly sensitive to changes in the emotional state. New clinical research identifies HRV as a key indicator of preventable stress and shows correlation with a broad range of related health problems.
This complete system consists of an easy-to-use finger sensor and software that displays your heart rhythms (HRV), offers games, a tutorial and much more. The Freeze-Framer has been specially designed to teach you how to bring your emotions, mind and body into greater coherence. With your Freeze-Framer you can see your heart rhythm patterns in real time on the computer screen. When you apply the Quick Coherence tool you can see the changes in your heart rhythm (HRV) patterns. By correlating the patterns on the screen with a calm internal feeling, you learn to find and maintain physiological coherence. You learn self-control of emotions, which helps reduce the symptoms of stress. Seeing your heart rhythms and a coherence score in real time can accelerate your progress. You learn how to quickly change your reactions to stress, increase your energy and improve your overall health and wellbeing.
Regular use of the general HeartMath System has resulted in significant stress reduction benefits by people with ADD/ADHD, anger, anxiety and panic disorders, arrhythmias, asthma, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, depression, diabetes, digestive disorders, hypertension, and sleep disorders. The flow through effects of optimising physiology is that people are able to improve several health indicators that may have suffered due to stress, like high blood pressure.
Features include: Fingertip pulse sensor; real-time pulse wave recording; real-time heart rate variability monitoring; entrainment scoring and ratios; real-time entrainment score feedback; frequency spectrum summaries; three easy, fun, self-reinforcing games; on-demand session review; session to session progress review; in-depth, on-line reference menus, and free technical support.
All claims are backed by research and related papers published in peer reviewed journals. The current Australian retail price is $400 and it is available now from www.macquarieinstitute.com.au/store_frame.htm. You can also view a short Flash presentation of the Freeze-Frame package in action at the above link.
