good vibrations❤️
the heart is the key🎶
I’m definitely one of those people who talk about “vibes” a lot😅. It’s become cliché, but for good reason! Even when we can’t put our finger on it, a large percentage of the population claims they can tell right away if a person or situation is “good vibes” or “bad vibes”.
Some researchers say this is because we’re subconsciously picking up on learned social cues from subtle micro-expressions and environmental patterns that we’re wired to detect patterns from. However, today I’m going to share something I recently learned that goes even deeper into the science of it all!
Did you know that our heart literally gives off vibes, AKA vibrations? (I’ve written the scientific sources at the end of this post!) And they can be detected up to 1-2 metres away from the body! This electromagnetic field is measured in an “electrocardiogram” (ECG) and is shown to change depending on our mood!
This itself was so mind-blowing to me, but there’s even more🤯😍!
So, we’ve all heard of or gotten our heart rate checked at some point or another, right? Well say you have a heart rate of 70 heartbeats per minute. Each beat is not completely even; the time always changes slightly between each beat.
For example, one gap between beat might be 0.45 seconds, the next might be 0.86 seconds, etc. This little difference of time between beats is called your heart rate variability (HRV). Stay with me here!
Studies show that…
When you’re stressed or anxious your HRV decreases (the heart beats more steadily aka with little variation):
this can result in more negative mental and physiological effects
paradoxically, it’s not good for it to beat more steadily because it makes it more rigid/less adaptable to change
When you’re calm, thoughtful, relaxed, and caring, your HRV increases (the heart beats with an irregular rhythm):
this means you’re more flexible for any environmental or emotional changes
which means your parasympathetic nervous system (via the vagus nerve) is healthy and responsive
a high HRV actually lowers your blood pressure and production of inflammatory proteins!
🌳This whole thing was confusing to me at first, but when you think of it like a tree it makes more sense: a flexible tree that can move easily (high HRV) can bend in the wind and survive, whereas a stiff tree (low HRV) can break in the wind.
🚙Or if you prefer a car analogy, two cars can be driving at 70km/h (like two people can have a heart rate of 70 beats per minute), however one can’t change its speed (low HRV), so it would crash into the car in front of it if that car slows down. Whereas another car that has the ability to speed up or slow down depending on the situation (high HRV) is more flexible and has a way lower chance of crashing!
Now that we understand the difference between low HRV and high HRV, studies have shown that when someone has low HRV we think of them as having “bad vibes” and when they have high HRV we think of them as having “good vibes.”
Well!!! We also subconsciously mirror people when we are around them, so if we spend a lot of time with people who have good vibes (high HRV) or bad vibes (low HRV), our own HRV will start to mimic or sync with theirs! This is so crazy to me! It totally makes sense now as to why we feel awful after hanging out with some people, and feel elated and energized after hanging out with others.
Note: A big way that you can instantly change your own HRV from low to high (and thus make you someone people aren’t running away from😂) is through breath work (aka learning how to control your breathing)!
The best example I can think of to when a large group of people are all emitting “good vibes” (high HRV) is when they are singing!
Singing not only controls the breath, but if you’re connected to the lyrics, it means the group is simultaneously feeling the same good, calm emotions at the same time too. This could be a choir or even just singing along with friends in the car to your favourite song!
Does any of this resonate with you? Anything still confusing? Leave a comment and let me know!
I’ll end this exciting discovery with a link to one of my favourite songs growing up: Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys🌞!