First and foremost, prioritize sleep. It’s like hitting the reset button for your nervous system every night. During sleep, especially in the deep, delta phase which correlates to your brain oscillating between .5 to 4 hz, your body enters a state of ultimate relaxation and recovery, known as the deepest parasympathetic state (Delta). This “delta brainwave” downtime is essential for maintaining a balanced nervous system and, consequently, a healthy HRV.
Second: apply hermetic stress as a “strengthening” workout regimen. Yes, that’s right, even your nervous system needs to go to the gym. Just as muscles grow stronger through the stress and recovery cycle, your nervous system can be trained to handle stress more effectively by putting yourself in a perceived stressful state, and then consciously turning on your agency, and breathing into a parasympathetic state BY CHOICE. That’s right, you’re training your heart to create its own sense of authority and autonomy at creating safety. This increases its malleability and resilience to handle more perceived stress.
A great example of this principle is cold plunging. When you first enter the water, your body goes into a state of shock. Yet by consciously focusing on your exhales and relaxing your body, you’re essentially training your nervous system to confidently handle ever greater levels of perceived stress, resulting in improving your HRV.
In essence, a combination of quality sleep and regular, controlled exposure to perceived stress can lead to a more resilient and regulated nervous system and an improved HRV. There are countless other ways to improve HRV, and there is no one size fits all, so I encourage you to follow me for more tips and strategies at @thatHRVguy.