Biofeedback is a stress management technique that uses devices that give you information about your body’s physiologic response to stress.
The idea is to provide you with information that would ordinarily be outside of your conscious awareness, such as information about your body temperature, your blood pressure, your heart rate, etcetera.
Studies show that if we receive “feedback” about these so-called involuntary responses we can learn to control them.
Generally there are three stages of biofeedback:
- Developing increased awareness of the body function
- Learning how to control it
- Learning how to control the function without access to the feedback device
The goal of biofeedback is achieving a state of tranquility, and most people can achieve this state with just a few sessions.
Biofeedback can be done with or without someone to guide you through the process.
An interesting new application of this technology is a device that can give you information about Heart Rate Variability. Many folks we know have tried the emWave and found it very useful in reducing anxiety and helping to improve focus and even test scores. At it is a lot less expensive than doing biofeedback with a biofeedback therapist.