Q: What is biofeedback? (And how does it work?)
A: A tool to learn how to regulate your nervous system!
By taking physiologic readings while practicing breathwork and postural changes, we teach your body how to get out of fight-or-flight and form new neural pathways that stop reinforcing chronic pain and anxiety.
When we use biofeedback as a tool, we are:
Learning awareness. Biofeedback allows us to be aware of small changes in our physiology that indicate stress responses, so we can learn the early signs of what this feels like in our bodies.
Learning to communicate with our bodies. Learn to use your breath, posture and thoughts to communicate safety to your body, so you can move out of “fight or flight” and get back to engaging with the world.
Strengthening new neural pathways. Practicing paced breathing along with other physical and mental components allows this new pattern to become physically stronger and easier to access no matter where you are.
Causing wide reaching effects. As the autonomic nervous system becomes more consistently regulated, it affects our digestion, immune system, and cardiovascular health as well as our responses to stress or anxiety.
Q: What is it good for?
Research Shows…
Effective for migraines and headaches. The US Headache Consortium recommends biofeedback as a Grade A treatment for migraine, while other meta-analyses show biofeedback to be efficacious treatment for tension-type and other non-migraine headaches. (Nestiriuc et al. 2008, Nestoriuc & Martin 2007)
Improves IBS and other functional digestive issues. Your gut is innervated by the enteric nervous system, which integrates both sympathetic and parasympathetic inputs to control the motility, secretions and function of your digestive tract. HRV biofeedback can help to balance the vagal inputs and regulate the autonomic control of the gut. (Sowder et al. 2010, Stern et al. 2014)
Relief for chronic pain, anxiety and panic. Due to the high sympathetic activation that coexists with these conditions, many patients are able to find relief by reestablishing vagal tone with HRV biofeedback. The AAPB gives biofeedback a Level 4 rating of “efficacious” for these conditions. (Goessl et al. 2017, Kapitza et al. 2010)
Reduces elevated blood pressure and increases resting HRV. Another AAPB level 4 recommendation, heart rate variability biofeedback has been shown to help reduce elevated blood pressure and maintain improved cardiovascular function at rest. (Lin et al. 2012, Chen et al. 2015, Borneman et al. 2019)