LEARN
Heart Rate Variability (HRV): What It Is, and What It Doesn't Tell You
Heart rate variability, or HRV, is the natural variation in the time between your heartbeats. If you wear a watch or ring that reports an HRV number, you're seeing an estimate of that variation — a rough window onto how your body is balancing rest and stress, not a verdict on your health.
Dr. Mark Halpern, a certified HeartMath practitioner, uses HRV as one signal among many — a way to observe whether the body is settling — while being clear about its limits. This page explains what HRV can suggest, what it can't, and how it fits a broader stress-management practice.
Browse our vetted teachers and book your first lesson.
What you'll learn
- What HRV is, in plain terms
- Why a higher or lower number isn't simply "good" or "bad" health
- How much daily HRV readings can swing for ordinary reasons
- How slow breathing tends to affect HRV in the moment
- How to use HRV as a gentle signal, not a scoreboard
- When to ignore the number entirely
Who it's for
People who track HRV on a watch or ring and want to understand it honestly, anyone tempted to read too much into a daily score, and those curious how HRV connects to breathing and stress. No device required to follow along.
What the number can and can't tell you
HRV reflects the balance between the parts of your nervous system that speed you up and slow you down, so it can loosely track how rested or stressed your body is. That's genuinely interesting — but it's easy to over-read.
An HRV figure is an estimate, it varies a lot between people, and it swings day to day for ordinary reasons: sleep, alcohol, a late meal, an illness coming on, even the position you were in when it measured. A single number is not a measure of your health or your worth, and a "low" morning doesn't mean something is wrong. It's a rough signal, best read as a trend over time rather than a daily verdict.
How breathing shows up in HRV
One thing HRV does reflect fairly directly is breathing. Slow, steady breathing — the coherence-style rhythm Dr. Mark teaches — tends to make the beat-to-beat pattern smoother in the moment, which is part of why some people enjoy watching HRV respond as they breathe.
The point isn't to chase a higher score. It's that HRV can be a small, real-time piece of feedback while you practise settling your system. If watching the number makes you anxious, it's completely fine to put the device away and just breathe.
Your instructor
Dr. Mark Halpern
Workplace Wellness, Stress Physiology & Resilience
Dr. Mark Halpern is a chiropractor, author and lecturer who graduated from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto in 1996 and has spent 30 years working with people of all ages — from children and exhausted parents to athletes, lawyers and retired teachers. He is a certified HeartMath practitioner and is also certified in PSYCH-K and Hoʻoponopono. Across his career, he has focused on one question: how stress shapes the way we feel, think and live, and what we can do about it. For over 30 years, Dr. Mark lived with anxiety himself. During the first COVID lockdown, he decided to face it head on. He went back through every book, method and practice he had tried, kept the tools that genuinely worked, and let go of the habits that didn't. That process became his book, **The Coherence Revolution: Finding Flow on Your Journey to the Present Moment**, a practical guide to self-regulation and self-inquiry. On Eduvek, Dr. Mark teaches how stress affects the body and mind — from posture and physical strain to burnout and anxiety — and gives students practical tools and a guided process to build resilience and learn to self-regulate their emotions. His approach is inspired by authors and mentors including Dr. Joe Dispenza, Dr. Bruce Lipton and Gregg Braden. Outside of teaching, he loves hiking, skiing, scuba diving, golf and cycling — especially challenges that keep him fully in the moment — and he's a guitar-playing music lover with a soft spot for Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead. *These courses support general wellbeing and stress management. They are not medical or psychological treatment and do not replace care from a doctor, psychologist or licensed therapist.*
View Mark's full profile →Frequently asked questions
Does a higher HRV mean I'm healthier?
Not on its own. Higher HRV is often associated with being rested and relaxed, but it varies hugely between individuals and day to day, and it isn't a measure of health. It's a rough signal, most useful as a personal trend rather than a score to compare or chase.
Why is my HRV so different each morning?
That's normal. HRV moves with sleep, alcohol, food, stress, illness and even how you were lying when it measured. Big daily swings are expected — which is why a single reading doesn't mean much.
Can I improve my HRV?
Slow breathing tends to raise HRV in the moment, and habits like decent sleep can help over time. But the goal here is a steadier nervous system, not a bigger number — the number is just occasional feedback.
Should I worry about a low reading?
A single low reading usually isn't worth worrying about. If you have ongoing health concerns, take them to a doctor rather than to a wearable — HRV from a consumer device isn't a diagnostic tool.
Related topics
These pages are for general education and wellbeing. They are not medical or psychological treatment and do not replace care from a doctor, psychologist or licensed therapist.