Protocol for Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Training
This paper describes a five-visit heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback protocol we have used both clinically and in research. This protocol was refined in a study of biofeedback therapy for treating asthma. Similar, longer methods have been used for treating various conditions involving pain, anxiety, depression, and other psychophysiological disorders.
Recording sheet for determining resonance frequency.
Spectral distribution of HRV when breathing at resonance frequency.
Spectral charts of HRV when individual is doing paced breathing at frequencies close to resonance frequency, but not at the resonance frequency.
Complex screen showing resonance frequency breathing. There is an in-phase relationship between heart rate and breathing in upper right box. A Fourier transformation (upper left) shows a stable recording over time, with a single peak in the LF range, overshadowing all other sources of variation. The amplitude of the LF peak (in ms2/Hz) and the dominant oscillation frequency (here shown as 0.09 Hz) are presented digitally above the frequency graph. The bottom right graph shows changes in peak-trough amplitude of oscillations, with digital representation to the left. The bottom left graph shows percent of HRV variance in the high frequency, low frequency, and very low frequency ranges. Almost all of the variance is in the LF range, which contains the respiratory frequency.
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