We worked with this software off and on for three weeks, then spoke to Jerry Kaiser, Director of Health Services, Euphrasia Carroll, Sales Manager, and Gabriella Boehmer, Communications, to better understand the software and the companies supporting it. We have extracted much of this article from their copyrighted websites and collateral materials. The purchase price is $395 which includes the software, instruction and background manual, a finger pulse sensor, and two adjunct publications

The Freeze-Framer is an educational tool specifically designed to support you in applying Freeze-Frame™ and Heart Lock-In™ – two fast, simple, powerful techniques that quickly bring the emotions, body and mind into balance.

The HeartMath™ organization is a unique combination of leading edge science, practical information, and easy to use techniques and skills for achieving health, high performance and personal effectiveness while reducing the negative impact of stress. HeartMath programs are designed to help organizations, families and individuals explore and benefit from the role of the heart in boosting human performance, health and intelligence.

They offer consulting, coaching, training, books, music, learning programs and software – all of which provide easy-to-learn tools that have been proven highly effective in improving productivity, enhancing creativity, boosting emotional management and physiological well-being through the instant reduction of stress and negative moods.

Heart Research

The Freeze-Framer was developed based on scientific research conducted by Doc Childre and the Institute of HeartMath (IHM) in Boulder Creek, California. IHM's research explores the physiological mechanisms by which the heart communicates with the brain, thereby influencing our perceptions, emotions and health. When the brain's rhythms and other biological systems synchronize with the heart's rhythmic beating patterns, we enter a physiological state called entrainment.

Entrainment reflects a harmonious balance between the two branches of the autonomic nervous system. This internal state of heightened physiological efficiency enhances health and promotes optimal performance. Dramatic positive mental and emotional shifts can also occur during entrainment. Often, personal perception of a difficult situation shifts to a more decided outlook, which reduces stress levels and restores the body to a state of balance and well-being.

In the new book, The HeartMath Solution (HarperSanFrancisco 1999), Doc Childre takes a provocative, in-depth look at the heart and it's alliance with the mind, body and spirit. Doc and co-author Howard Martin, depict engaging information on how every beat of our heart carries intricate messages that affect our emotions, our physical health and the quality of life we experience.

In recent years, neuroscientist Dr Armour made the exciting discovery that the heart has its own intrinsic brain and nervous system. This helped to explain what physiologists at the Fels Research Institute found in the 1970's – the brain (in the head) was dutifully obeying messages being sent from "the brain in the heart." Doc Childre and colleagues at the Institute of HeartMath take these discoveries even further. HeartMath researchers have established the heart's capacity to "think for itself." Their aim was to determine how the heart formulates logic and influences behavior. HeartMath researchers believe that the heart communicates with the brain and the rest of the body through four biological communication systems. Through these systems, the heart has a significant influence on the function of our brains and all our bodily systems. IHM's extensive research led to a number of published studies in medical journals such as The American Journal of Cardiology, Stress Medicine and Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science.

IHM studies found a critical link between the heart and emotions. The studies explain how the heart responds to emotional and mental reactions. As we experience emotional reactions like anger, frustration, anxiety and insecurity, heart rhythms become incoherent or more jagged (see the graphic), which interfere with the communication between the heart and brain. These emotions create a chain reaction in the body – blood vessels constrict, blood pressure rises, and the immune system is weakened. This kind of a consistent imbalance can put a strain on the heart and other organs, and eventually lead to serious health problems.

When we experience heart-felt emotions like love, care, appreciation and compassion the heart produces coherent or smooth rhythms (see the graphic), that enhance communication between the heart and brain. Positive heart qualities produce harmonious rhythms that are considered to be indicators of cardiovascular efficiency and nervous system balance. They've also been shown to produce beneficial effects that include enhanced immunity and hormonal balance.

For more information on this very interesting research, see the detailed and downloadable, Research Overview.

The Package

A new technology, the Freeze-Framer,™ displays your physiological entrainment levels by recording your heart rhythm through a fingertip pulse sensor that plugs in to the serial port on your computer.

The recorded heart rhythm is continuously processed through a mathematical algorithm to provide an accurate, constant representation of your physiological state. The Freeze-Framer calculates your heart rate, entrainment levels, accumulated entrainment score and heart rate variability power spectrum so you see an actual account of your progress. The data recorded in each session is plotted and can be saved for later review and analysis.

The Freeze-Framer Emotional Management Enhancer (FFEME) software is easy to install and use both at home and in the work place. Applied daily – as you would meditation – the Freeze-Framer reinforces your entrainment practice, and helps you make emotional, mental and physiological balance an integral part of your life.

The software features:

Each FFEME package includes:

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