Think of your body as a rechargeable battery. Most of the time when you are awake, your body is using energy in order for you to do the things you need to do each day. Conversely, when you are asleep, your body tends to switch off and recharge. However, there are things that you can do during the day that allow your body to switch off and recharge, and there are things that you do that prevent your body from switching off and recharging, even though you may be asleep.

 

We utilise the BodyGuard, a small, 2 piece monitoring device developed by FirstBeat (a Finnish technology company) to capture your heart beat data. Based on this data, we can determine when your body is switched on, and draining your battery, and when it is switched off, and recharging your battery.

We make these determinations by looking at your heart rate variability.

 

Heart rate variability is different from heart rate. Your heart rate is the number of beats per minute (also known as your pulse rate). Heart rate variability is the difference in time between the beat to beat (R-R interval of your ECG trace) frequency of heart beat. When your heart rate variability is low, this is an indication that your sympathetic nervous system is more active, and that your body is in a higher state of activity and your battery is being drained. When your heart rate variability is high, this is an indication that your parasympathetic nervous system is more active, and your body has switched into its recovery mode and your battery is being recharged.

 

An active sympathetic nervous system is a completely normal and healthy state of being, however when it is overactive, and doesn't get enough opportunities to rest, and let the parasympathetic nervous sytem kick in and allow the body to recharge, this is when problems can occur. By helping you identify what daily activities allow your parasympathetic nervous system to kick in, we can help maintain your body's batteries, and therefore your energy levels and ability to perform well in your daily life.