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Understanding Heart Rate Vulnerability: Tools for a More Regulated Nervous System
In this episode, Lauren dives into the importance of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and how it reflects the state of your nervous system. She explains why HRV matters, how it serves as a nervous system resilience score, and how a higher HRV indicates flexibility and adaptability, while a lower HRV suggests you're stuck in a stress response. Lauren shares seven practical ways to support and improve HRV—like cold water exposure, humming, singing, rhythm, eye movement, laughter, caring touch, and play-based activities. Her message is clear: if you're feeling tired or overwhelmed, your nervous system is asking for help. The good news? You now have some simple tools to support it. Don't worry about being perfect—just aim for progress.
If you haven't already, check out Five Ives to see how strategies like this can be applied to adults, especially in the workplace. Five Ives works with staff in high burnout jobs to help them incorporate regulation strategies into their daily routines.
Resources:
Other related resources from The Behavior Hub:
Blog Post:
- Polyvagal Theory
- Sympathetic Nervous System
- Fight or Flight: Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS)
- Rest & Digest: Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS)
Podcast:
- From Stuck to Safe: A Deeper Dive to Rewiring Your Nervous System After Freeze & Fawn
- Why Freeze State Happens in Two Different Ways (and Why it Matters)
- Cold Exposure: How the Cold Can Calm your Nervous System
- Beyond Deep Breaths: Surprising Ways to Reset your System
- Find Your Way Back to the Window of Tolerance
- I Can't Stop Talking about the Nervous System
- 5 Ives episode
Our Online Courses:
- Classroom Design with the Brain in Mind
- From Conflict to Calm: How to communicate with kids so they listen the FIRST time!
- 4 Simple Steps to Problem Solving
Do you have a question? I can answer it in a future episode!
- Email questions to podcast@thebehaviorhub.com or send via text to 717-693-7744.
- Subscribe to our mailing list and find out more about the Emotional Brain.
- Check out our Facebook Group – Raising and Teaching Respectful Children
- The Behavior Hub website
- The Behavior Hub blog
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