emWave PC Stress Relief System Product Description:
- Multiple views to watch your heart rhythms change as you move into the ?Zone? of high performance.
- Interactive games to build and sustain coherence.
- An Emotion Visualizer provides stunning colorful imagery as you increase coherence.
- Extensive library of information including a tutorial and quick start guide.
- Four challenge levels to help you raise your baseline coherence levels.
Product Description
emWave PC is an easy-to-use software program and patented heart rhythm monitor designed to prevent, manage and reverse the negative effects of stress, anxiety, fatigue, depression and more. The system is an innovative approach to stress relief based on learning to change the heart rhythm pattern and create physiological coherence in the body. 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. emWave PC collects pulse data through a finger or ear sensor which plugs into your computer. The program translates the information from your heart rhythms into user friendly graphics displayed on your computer screen.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
68 of 70 people found the following review helpful.
Review by former physiology teaching fellow and psychology professional
By Patrick D. Goonan
This latest version of Freeze-Framer is an excellent tool for the home user to practice relaxation and learn to synchronize the two branches of the autonomic nervous system. In HearthMath terms this state is called high coherence and represents a heart rate variability pattern where the sympathetic (excitatory) and parasympathetic (calming) parts of the autonomic nervous system are in balance. In more simple terms, it represents a state of less chaos in the nervous system which simply means we are in an optimum state that favors good health.With respect to the software itself, it has a nice user interface, is easy to use and you don't have to have a technical or medical background to get the full benefit from it. In fact, you don't have to understand the technology at enjoy the benefits! That's one of the things I most like.This software is particularly good for people who are working with stress management, pranayama, meditation or other relaxation techniques and want to see the affects on their nervous system and heart. How it does this is by exploiting monitoring heart rate variability from moment-to-moment. By practicing meditation, various breathing techniques or relaxation exercises one can see the affects on the nervous system as manifested in changes in heart rate variability (HRV). This data is shown graphically along with other useful information such as the percentage of time spent in the session in high, medium and low coherence. There is also graphical and audio feedback to let you know whether you are in high, medium or low coherence in a given moment. You can also measure pulse waves and see your pulse rate at any given time.This software also allows you to save past sessions, change many options and increase the thresholds for the various states of coherence. This allows you to keep things challenging as you get better at achieving a state of balance. There are also a variety of games available for you to practice your skills outside of the main program.This package also comes with some useful tutorials and good online help. It is very simple to use and doesn't have a busy or complicated user interface or instructions. I do a fair amount of biofeedback work on some very expensive equipment and I find that this program has most of the things I need for heart rate variability measurements at a low price. This makes it ideal for home users or people contemplating more in-depth biofeedback work.If you want to no more about the theory behind this product and how it could help you, you can look at HeartMath's website or do a search on the book "THE HEARTMATH SOLUTION" by Doc Childre and Howard Martin. You can also search on biofeedback, heart rate variability and respiratory sinus arrhythmia on the web. While I don't necessary agree with everything the HEARTHMATH SOLUTION says, I think it makes some excellent points that have been validated scientifically and that I've found to be true in my own experience and the experience of my clients.I think one of the most powerful uses of this software is to see how different emotional states affect coherence such as anger, compassion, love, anxiety, etc. For most people, it's a very visceral experience to see how states of love and compassion correlate to maximum coherence. It is also an eye opener to see how anger and other negative emotions cause these physiological states to deteriorate.I also teach various types of meditation including loving-kindness and forgiveness meditation. This software is an excellent accompaniment to this type of practice or pranayama work in yoga.In summary, I think this is a great investment for busy people trying to find a simple stress management practice, yoga practioners and meditators. It will help you to develop higher awareness of your anxiety levels and other emotional states. It could also be used in combination with therapy for anger management and other issues in a very effective manner. The tutorial also gives you beginning instruction on how to increase your coherence on your own and points you to other more in-depth resources.If you have depression or other serious difficulties in your life then I recommend checking in with a professional as to the suitability of this product. Some things just can't be treated on your solely on your own and I have found that deep relaxation practices without guidance when there are serious issues going on can evoke anxiety or strong emotions. For the average person, however, this shouldn't be an issue.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful.
Unbelivable difference right out of the gate...
By Denvas
I had my doubts about this product. Somebody recommended this to me to help with a sports-like activity. I didn't even want to spend my own money on it, so I asked my girlfriend to buy it for my birthday.Wow, that was one of the best decisions I ever made! On the very first session, I noticed such a difference in my game. It's not the 'placebo' effect either, since I wasn't expecting anything at all (and was beyond skeptical). I let my friend try it once - who had a game coming up, and had been struggling recently. One time using it, and he won by a landslide.I'm also a singer, and I've been having trouble lately because of a mountain of stress. After a few tries, I relaxed enough to really have that rich full sound again.Honestly, pretty freakin' cool item. Not what you would expect. Not the typical metaphysical junk you're always hearing about. This is a practical, real solution to problems dealing with stress, and activities requiring the 'zone'. I want to check out the portable version next, to take to the 'field' with me. But won't have the great software that comes with this, I'm sure.And Kudos to Mind Modulations. If you know electronics, they're like the NewEgg of Health Systems. Unparalleled customer service, and really fast shipping. They even throw in the Ear Sensor for free. And it's still less than the competition! Love this company.
79 of 96 people found the following review helpful.
Way over priced for what it is
By Autodidact
I was looking into a home biofeedback device to help teach me to control stress reactions. I looked at this system, and the "Journey to the Wild Divine" system. I just couldn't take the New Age spin that came with "Journey." I don't want a computer program to help me to imagine being one with the universe; I want a computer program that says, "Your heartrate is too high. Lower it." When I saw the reviews about how badly written the "Journey" software was, I went with Heartmath in the hope of finding a more professional product, despite its high cost.I was disappointed with what I got for the money. You get the USB finger sensor, and an installation disk for the software, and a quickstart guide. No further information is provided -- such as, what is heartrate variability? What is coherence? Why would you care? Is this the equivalent of "clearing Thetans" in Scientology, or is there some actual medical research behind this?Turns out there is some real science that shows a correlation between HRV levels and stress and anxiety. But correlation is not causation. I am not yet convinced that if I learn how to control my coherence, I will be able to retrain my body not to stress. I haven't had the time to go hunt up the science and read it carefully. If you are thinking of spending the money on this system, I would suggest you do that homework first.The software is . . . well, amateurish, to put it politely. It crashes and has other bugs, although it is usually simple enough to exit and restart the system. The graphics are incredibly crude, and the program does not manage multiple windows well.The only reason this package does not receive one star is because there isn't a whole lot of choice on the market for what this package does. And it does what it claims to do -- monitor and report HRV and coherence. Whether that is anything you should want or care about is a separate question.
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