Thread by @bensmithlive

In 1991, scientists discovered something extraordinary:

Your heart possesses its own independent brain—a neural network that "thinks, remembers, and feels."

This discovery is transforming how we deal with (and understand) chronic stress: 🧵

Your heart isn't just a pump.

It's a “little brain” with 40,000 neurons, running its own nervous system.

When it achieves coherence, it creates a state of perfect harmony—aligning your physical, mental, and emotional systems into one powerful force.

But...

When the heart is beating incoherently, we feel:

• Anxious
• On edge
• Unfocused
• Out of balance

Because the body is operating in survival, we act from primitive perspective rather than from higher heart-centred emotions.

This INCOHERENCE is brought up by STRESS.

The stress we experience when we feel unsafe is not about the event itself.

It’s the result of unmanaged emotional reactions to the event.

In a state of chronic stress, the body struggles to maintain homeostasis.

And we begin to suffer from myriad stress-related symptoms ↓

Due to our large brains—we can think about problems—therefore turning on the cascade of stress chemicals by THOUGHT alone.

We can knock our brain and body out of normal physiology just by thinking about past or trying to control an unpredictable future.

This constant stress takes serious toll on your body—draining your energy and resilience.

According to studies—psychological stress was the strongest predictor of future cardiac events, including cardiac death, arrest, and heart attack.

Let’s zoom back on the heart.

When your heart becomes coherent, your nervous system responds by increasing the brain’s energy, creativity, and intuition.

This has a positive effect on every organ in the body.

When the heart and brain are working together, you feel more whole.

Your heart is intricately connected to both branches of the ANS.

This direct link means parasympathetic and sympathetic fluctuations instantly affect your heart's beat-to-beat function, i.e. EVERY EMOTION SHAPES YOUR HEART RHYTHM.

So, how can you develop resilience to handle “bad” emotions?

Start by increasing your HRV (heart rate variability) which is the global biomarker of resilience to stress.

Moderate level of variability makes us better to adapt to life’s challenges.

Low HRV does the opposite.

Stress disrupts the ANS, which controls automatic processes like breathing, heart rate, and digestion.

Constantly living in “survival mode” (financial pressure, uncertainty, etc.) over-activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), causing imbalance.

To restore balance…

Train the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) to boost heart rate variability (HRV).

Higher HRV builds resilience, improving clarity, decision-making, and composure under pressure.

My top methods for increasing HRV ↓

There are three major areas you should focus on to increase your HRV:

• Improve cardiovascular function
• Breathwork and breath training
• The four states of the nervous system

Let’s dive into them:

1) Exercise, including both cardio and strength training, increases HRV.

I’m boosting mine with Muay Thai:

2) Breathwork and breath training

As a breathwork facilitator, I can confidently say that breath is your best friend here.

Really, there 4 ways to master the breath:

• Gain a greater breath-awareness
• Centering: Slow cadence of speech, applying pauses
• Daily breath practice
• Longer guided breath journeys

Take deep, slow breaths daily to stimulate the vagus nerve and promote your parasympathetic nervous system.

Two of my favorite exercises are:

• Forced exhales
• Double inhales (corporate breathwork)

Use the breath to shift your state:

• Exhales/slow breaths to down-regulate
• Inhales/sharp breaths to energise

This means nothing if you are congested, so clear your nasal passage or use nose strips to open your airways.

Master the 4-states of the nervous system:

1.⁠ ⁠Sympathetic activation | Think: caffeine, environmental stress, an argument with your partner, heavy music (stressful stimuli)

2.⁠ ⁠⁠Sympathetic strengthening | This is stress that you adapt positively from: Exercise, fasting, getting out of your comfort zone (also known as Eustress)

3.⁠ ⁠⁠Parasympathetic activation | Think: Time in nature, meditation, sauna, lying in bed with someone you love (relaxing stimulus)

4.⁠ ⁠Parasympathetic strengthening | Training yourself to be calm in stressful situations: Breathwork, or most commonly; remaining calm during a cold plunge

Mastering all 4 elements makes it simple and easy to look after your nervous system.

The goal is to balance sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

Train yourself to remain calm in stressful situations (ice bath), but balance this with relaxing stimuli (sauna).

Our world is designed to keep us in a sympathetic state.

Therefore, focus on the more neglected part: parasympathetic state ↓

My preferred, battle-tested methods for parasympathetic activation:

• Sauna
• Breathwork
• Epsom salt bath
• The Doubling Method
• Physical touch from a partner
• Time in nature (especially in the sun)

The goal is to chill the fu*k out.

When you're in a coherent state, HRV increases, showing your body's systems are in harmony.

Stress lowers coherence, but you can't always control external stressors.

So, the key is resilience—building it by increasing HRV, so you can handle whatever life throws your way.

Thanks for reading!

If you like this thread, you’ll love my Telegram where I share more personal insights:

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