Agora Journal Volume 11, 2020
Executive Summary: The Effects of HeartMath Emotion-Regulation on
Elementary Students
Sanne van Oostrom
Winner of an Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama’at Scholarship
Winner of the Student Writer Award Gold Medal, Research Essay Category (3rd-4th Year)

Executive Summary
Resilience and Heart Rate Variability
It is critical to cultivate resilient children at an early age, by equipping them to overcome
various adversities they encounter throughout life. Resiliency is characterized as an individual's
ability to prepare for, persevere through, and recover from stress, adversity, trauma, or difficult
situations (McCraty & Atkinson, 2012), with the capacity for positive adaptation to that which
may have otherwise been detrimental to one's well-being. Resiliency is a complex construct that
can be fostered and maintained through self-management of energy stores through four domains:
physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual (McCraty, 2015, p. 9). The emotional domain has the
most significant impact on internal reserves as it subtly depletes our stored energy.
Emotions are complex concepts involving experiential, behavioral, and physiological
elements that enrich human experiences daily and can determine how one attaches meaning to
life experiences that are encountered (American Psychological Association, n.d.). Self-generated
positive emotions are imperative for the development and maintenance of physical and
psychosocial well-being, such as purpose in life, social support, decreased illness symptoms, and
enriched social well-being (Fredrickson et al., 2001; 2008; Kok et al., 2010). Positive emotions
generally helped evoke positive behaviors such as being more generous, more likely to help, and
have empathy for others (Isen et al., 2011; 2009 as cited in Compton & Hoffman, 2019).
Furthermore, the act of self-inducing positive emotions innately increases coherence in heart
rhythms, which has various benefits on an individual's ability to facilitate emotional stability and
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induce a calm state of being, which can serve as a protective mechanism against unhealthy
emotional and behavioral patterns (McCraty & Zayas, 2014).
Heart coherence is a physiological measure of the harmonious synchronicity of the heart
and brain connection that can be “measured by heart rate variability (HRV) wherein a person’s
heart rhythm pattern becomes more ordered” (McCraty, 2015, p. 26). Heart Rate Variability
(HRV) is the naturally occurring beat to beat fluctuation in heart rate (McCraty, 2015), and
studies have found that HRV is one of the most effective ways to monitor the functioning of the
autonomic nervous system. It has also been a useful and valuable tool in studying emotions
physiologically and provides a more in-depth understanding of emotions in social and
psychopathological processes (McCraty et al., 2003; Appelhans & Luecken, 2006). Low HRV is
an indicator that there is an imbalance of the ANS and is a strong predictor of the development
and increasing severity of a wide range of pathologies (Rovere et al., 1998). A reduction in HRV
has also been a powerful indicator of various mental pathologies, such as anxiety and depression
(Gallagher et al.,1999; McCraty, 2015). Multiple studies have revealed that optimal levels of
HRV may contribute to the healthy functioning of self-regulatory capability and resilience (as
cited in McCraty, 2015, p. 13).
Each heartbeat generates a magnetic field that extends approximately three feet away
from the body and has been discovered to be the strongest electromagnetic field produced by the
body (McCraty et al., 1998). The coherence of the magnetic field that is generated by the heart
fluctuates as a result of a person's inner emotional state, such as thoughts, attitudes, and emotions
(McCraty et al., 1998). Interestingly, the internal emotional state and coherence within one's
electromagnetic field does not just directly affect the individual, but also has ability to extend out
and significantly impact individuals who are in close proximity. Individuals nearby detect the
signals in such a way that their heart rhythms and brainwaves synchronize with the heart pattern
radiated by the other person (McCraty et al., 1998). Such studies reveal the importance of
emotion-regulation amongst students, as students’ emotions may ripple out and impact others
nearby, influencing the learning environment of the classroom or even of the school.

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Social-Emotional Learning
Previously, the primary focus of the educational system has been to attain academic
success. However, in recent years, the school curriculum has evolved towards a shift that
encourages healthy social-emotional development in children. Semple and associates (2010)
illustrated the effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, explicitly focusing on socialemotional resilience, which revealed that a focus on mindfulness reduced attention problems, as
well as anxiety and behavioral problems. Research has indicated that it is essential to address
social and emotional concerns, as these may interfere with learning or hinder academic
performance (Zins et al., 2007). Early school efforts may be beneficial in fostering educational
success by developing socio-emotional skills that may, in turn, lead to increased academic
success (Zins et al., 2007).

Self-Efficacy
Student engagement is at the forefront of teacher concerns, and motivation to engage can
be influenced by self-efficacy. Three domains that are most relevant to the educational context
include social, academic, and emotional self-efficacy. Social self-efficacy is defined by Muris
(2001) as the ability to overcome social adversities, while the capabilities to overcome academic
challenges that lead to success are referred to as academic self-efficacy. Emotional self-efficacy
is one’s ability to effectively construct and exercise the desired emotions an individual is striving
to obtain (Muris, 2001). Self-efficacy may be essential in a student's competency to be able to
solve a math problem, complete reading a book, or any academic task. Linnenbrink and Pintrich
(2003) suggest that self-efficacy is often interconnected with classroom engagement and
learning, as the ability for students to perform a task is determined by one's ability to persist and
achieve rather than avoid the challenging academic task. Students who possess high academic
self-efficacy are more likely to ask for assistance from teachers and can facilitate behavior,
cognitive, and motivational engagement in the classroom (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2003). It
seems relevant to include social and emotional self-efficacy (not only academic self-efficacy)
while examining children's experience in the classroom.

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Emotion-Regulation in the Classroom
Emotion-regulation and socio-emotional skills have also been linked to enhancing overall
academic motivation and success, as well as improvements in academic and test performance,
given the alleviation of stress and test anxiety (Graziano et al., 2007; Bradley et al., 2007).
Emotion-regulation can lead to enhanced interpersonal and social relationships, improving the
positive classroom atmosphere, and thus creating an optimal space for learning (Bradley et al.,
2007). Emotion-regulation is efficacious in providing immediate and long-term benefits that
improve motivation, academic performance, enrich personal relationships, and enhance overall
well-being, all while reducing stress and preventing various pathologies. Therefore, it is
imperative to instill emotion-regulation into the school curriculum.

Present Study
The current research is in partnership with Red Deer Public Schools, and Alberta Health
Services (AHS). The overall purpose of the current study is to provide evaluation support for
community partners in their efforts to improve classroom learning and enhance social-emotional
skills for students through the implementation of HeartMath practices in classrooms. Therefore,
the present study evaluated the HeartMath Heart Lock-In practice to determine if the technique
has a meaningful impact on elementary students' HRV, self-efficacy (academic, social, and
emotional), emotion-regulation, and perceived school kindness compared to a relaxation
(coloring) control group.

Methods
Participants and Procedure
The four-week HeartMath (HM) pilot project involved obtaining pre-post measurements
from N = 24 grade five students (16 girls and 8 boys) ranging in age from 10 to 11 years, who
completed all three data collection sessions. There was some data excluded as a result of subject
attrition, as some students were not present all data collection days. Students were recruited
through a local Community Liaison Worker (CWL) from the Red Deer Public School System.
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Parental permission was granted through signed consent forms, and the grade five students
provided verbal assent throughout the study. A repeated-measures (within-subjects) design was
used to ensure all the students would receive the potential benefits of the HeartMath intervention.
The evaluation included three classroom visits; in the first two visits, the research team
administered pre-post measures for the first four weeks for a relaxation control (five minutes of
daily class time for the students to engage in coloring). Subsequently, pre-post measurements
were taken for the following four weeks of practicing HeartMath, utilizing the Heart Lock-In
method (led by the teachers and practiced collectively within the class for five minutes every
school day). Length of time for practice and the time of day was chosen to accommodate the
realistic nature of conducting activities with elementary school students.
The Heart Lock-In method is comprised of three stages. First, participants focus their
attention on the area of the heart and direct their breath in and out of the heart center while
slowing down and deepening their breathing rhythm (Heart Focused Breathing). After a few
moments, participants activate and sustain a regenerative feeling of their choosing, such as care,
gratitude, or compassion (Quick Coherence Technique). In the final stage, the students sustain
and radiate that renewing feeling(s) to themselves, and also extend it out to others (Heart LockIn). The participants consistently practiced the HeartMath Heart Lock-In method until our final
post-test measurements following the experimental intervention, in which the students were
verbally debriefed regarding the additional details of the study.

Measures
The HRV measurements were recorded using the HeartMath emWave Pro Plus
biofeedback software, which involved obtaining a five-minute HRV recording per child that is
transmitted through a sensor that was gently placed on the student’s earlobe. HRV readings are
recorded using a time-domain measure known as the root mean squares of successive difference
(RMSSD), and the metric was computed in milliseconds, which is used frequently as it is
competent in measuring HRV (Berntson et al., 2016, p. 196).
The second component was a brief online survey. Although the same questionnaire was
utilized for all three classroom visits, the questions were counterbalanced in various orders for
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each classroom visit. Additional questions were incorporated on the final survey, which included
open-ended questions to obtain student's experience with practicing HeartMath. The surveys
contained a few demographic questions, and the survey questions were derived from the
following validated self-report Likert-scales: Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children: includes
academic, social, and emotional self-efficacy measures (SEQ-C; Muris, 2001), Emotion
Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ; Gross & John, 2003), and School Kindness Scale (SKS; Binfet
et al., 2015).

Key Findings
1. Overall Student Responses Across All Testing Session

Session 1

Session 2

Session 3

Scale

M

SD

M

SD

M

SD

School Kindness

4.63

0.34

4.53

0.56

4.38

0.74

Academic Self-Efficacy

3.92

0.66

3.83

0.68

3.71

0.87

Social Self-Efficacy

3.73

0.71

3.80

0.59

3.77

0.79

Emotional Self-Efficacy

3.48

0.81

3.55

0.75

3.30

0.94

Emotion Regulation Questionnaire

4.94

1.10

4.86

1.07

4.84

1.06

Heart Rate Variability (RMSSD)

145.77

73.17

114.11

65.50

178.15

101.04

As anticipated, there was a significant difference between HRV measurements following
the HM intervention. A baseline correction on the HRV data was completed by subtracting the
initial baseline measurement (first testing session) from the HRV measure of interest (sessions
two and three) to take into account individual differences and to assess physiological HRV more
accurately. HRV was computed in the time domain measure of RMSSD and is expressed in a
metric of milliseconds. A repeated-measures t-test was conducted to compare the baseline
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corrected relaxation training HRV to the baseline-corrected HeartMath intervention HRV. The ttest detected a significant difference between the sessions, t(23)= -2.269, p = .033, revealing that
the HeartMath intervention group had considerably increased HRV values compared to the
relaxation group (Refer to Figure 1).
Figure 1
Student’s Heart Rate Variability Across All Data Sessions.

Student Experience with HeartMath
Students provided feedback regarding their experience with practicing HeartMath. Their
responses indicated that 75% enjoyed or really enjoyed practicing the HeartMath technique of
radiating positive feelings to themselves and others. Overall, 63% found it somewhat or very
helpful. Approximately 29% of the students took the practice home to share with their parents,
family, or friends. Over half (54%) of students indicated that they were likely or very likely to
continue practicing at home. Furthermore, the results showed that 37.5% mentioned that they
were likely or very likely to continue to practice HeartMath at school, and in overall, 37.5% also
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intended to continue to practice frequently or very frequently. Approximately 64% expressed
that practicing HeartMath was at least relatively to very helpful to them in managing their
feelings and emotions.
Along with significant HRV findings, there was promising experiential qualitative
feedback from students sharing their positive experiences with the HeartMath intervention. There
were five main recurring and overarching themes that emerged across all questions that
described how students were impacted and their experience with practicing HeartMath. These
themes are conveyed in an acronym termed as HEART.

Handling Emotions to Regain Composure
This theme comprises the student’s reflection in relation to their conscious ability to
effectively self-regulate their emotions, allowing them to regain composure. Students reported
that it “helps me control my feelings,” and one student excitedly shared, “wow, I can control my
feelings when I do HeartMath.” While only 29% explicitly stated that it assisted them in the
process of improving their emotion regulation, expressed by the following statement, “it helped
me with controlling my emotions.”

Eliciting Positive Feelings and Emotions
This theme reflects the shift towards more positive feelings and emotions after practicing
HM. The results indicated that 79% of the students noticed they felt more “happy, calm, or
content” after the practice. Moreover, there was a common feeling that 67% of students felt
while practicing the Heart Lock-In method, which was the feeling of calm. Indeed, the practice
of HM was beneficial as it allowed students to feel better, and a student articulated that the
techniques allowed them “to get some rest and let your brain have a break.” Furthermore, the
practice was portrayed by the students as having beneficial effects, illustrated by a student that
expressed, “it made me feel different because it made me feel very positive.” Students also
reported feeling “like I am a good kid,” making them “feel really happy for the rest of the day.”

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Awareness of Improvements in Interpersonal Connection
This theme represents the interpersonal improvements and effective conflict management
expressed by 29% of the students. Students had demonstrated that they were able to withhold
problematic reactions in the middle of interpersonal conflict, and prevent an escalation of the
conflict, by either walking away or regaining composure before attempting to resolve the
dispute. For example, one student reported, “I was in an argument with another kid, I took a deep
breath to calm down,” and continued to constructively resolve the conflict “when I get into an
argument at recess I walk away and take a deep breath and get ready to talk about it calmly.”
Another student indicated that they were experiencing “less arguments with friends,” as well as
other students expressed that the intervention allowed them to “be a better friend.” The overall
classroom atmosphere was also summed up nicely by one student “I feel that people are more
calm when stressful things happen in class,” demonstrating that the students sensed and
witnessed the positive transformation transpiring within their classroom environment.

Rising Performance and Personal Enhancement
This theme reflects the positive perceptions that the students embodied towards
themselves. The theme also encompasses the recognition of student’s improvements in their
performance that occurred on school-related tasks and emotional states. HeartMath made
students feel more confident within themselves and their capabilities related to school. These
perspectives were explicitly stated by relatively 37.5%. This viewpoint was represented in a
student statement that identified their improvement in the HM techniques, “I got better at taking
deep breaths.” In the school setting, students expressed that HM “helped me focus more at
school,” with another student stated, “during my math sheets I could focus better.” One student
reporting, “if I get off task and a little hyper I try to calm myself down by taking a deep breath.”
Another student reported feeling ultimately renewed, “I feel like a new kid and a younger kid.”
Increasing self-confidence was reported by a student, “it has made me feel more confident
talking to people I have never met or do not see often.” One student illustrated that they utilized

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the techniques while “a child is annoying me when I am trying to listen,” to divert their attention
back on school learning. It allowed students to be “ready to do work.”

To Practice in Various Settings
Approximately 67% of the students conveyed that they utilized the HM technique in a
variety of settings, situations, and scenarios. The various locations in which the students
practiced were at school, home, and recreational sports facilities. Students particularly
emphasized that they utilized the tools while completing school assignments and tasks and
“during a hard test.” Another student reported, “at school I got frustrated and went out to a quiet
room and did HeartMath.” Students also indicated that they practice at home in their bedrooms
prior to sleeping, “in my bed when I was trying to sleep.” Few students reported that they had
practiced the HM tools “at hockey,” and while “playing basketball.” Such feedback was
informative, as it illustrated that while the strategies were practiced at school, students were also
practicing it outside of the classroom within various contexts. A participant reported that they
“used breathing everywhere, if I am frustrated in some way,” reinforcing that the simple
techniques can be accessible at any place at any time. The qualitative feedback provided by the
students supported the beneficial impacts of practicing HM techniques.

Future Implications
In the current study, scores on self-efficacy, emotion-regulation, and school kindness
were relatively high at all three testing sessions, making it difficult to detect any significant shifts
in these variables over time. This study was in a high SES school and within a population of
students with no disabilities or known diagnoses. Future research is needed to assess the HM
intervention in lower SES neighborhoods. Previous studies conducted with children, found HRV
training to be effective amongst children who experience OCD, somatoform disorders, and
ADHD (Pop-Jordanova, 2009; Lloyd et al., 2010). Suggesting that children with a wide range of
psychopathologies can also reap the benefit from emotion-regulation interventions in the future.

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The current study did not directly assess the associations amongst academic performance
(grades) and the HM emotion-regulation technique. Future research is needed to examine the
impacts of an emotion-regulation program on school performance (grades) amongst elementary
school students. Future research may also want to include outside perspectives of the children’s
behavior, capabilities, and cognitive thought patterns from parents, teachers, or peers (including
classroom atmosphere). It may also be beneficial to obtain additional information from the
children or their parents regarding the children’s level and frequency of physical activity due to
the impact of exercise on HRV patterns. However, the current study did reveal that a simple
short practice using the Heart Lock-In method, 5 minutes per day for four weeks, does create
significant changes in HRV measurements and student experiences, which is promising evidence
that should be replicated.

Conclusions
The current study sought to provide support for our community partners and educators in
their efforts to improve classroom learning and enhance children’s social-emotional skills.
Importantly, the results from the present study support pre-existing literature specifically in the
classroom context on the benefits of emotion-regulation and the effects it has on improving
HRV. Impressively, the intervention increased HRV, and students also reported many perceived
benefits from the short practice and in a short time frame, providing compelling evidence that a
simple and short practice can be both practical and advantageous for children. Therefore, this
study provides an essential contribution to the growing body of emotion-regulation and HRV
literature by illustrating that a significant shift in HRV measures can be accomplished with a
shorter practice. The results of the study also provide value to the emerging research of HRV
amongst children. Notably, higher HRV is related to increases in resiliency to combat various
stressors (McCraty, 2015). This may act as a line of defense buffering against the development
or progression of various pathologies, including psychopathologies such as anxiety and
depression (Rovere et al., 1998; Gallagher et al.,1999; McCraty, 2015).
The current study highlights that a brief practice in a short period of time can produce
significant improvements in HRV. Such a simple and short practice can be easily implemented
within classrooms. School educators may want to consider implementing an emotion-regulation
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program such as the HeartMath Heart Lock-In practice within the school curriculum. If
prevention strategies are implemented in a school setting at an early age, it provides students
with an opportunity to build resiliency and enhance their capabilities to overcome challenging
demands sooner. Despite some potential limitations, these results do provide feedback for our
community partners and educational personnel regarding the importance of integrating emotionregulation education into the school curriculum for students to reap a multitude of benefits. The
students of today are the future of this world. Therefore, it is vital to foster a positive
environment to prime children to reach their fullest potential. This will help to provide children
with an opportunity to contribute to this world in a more meaningful and significant way.

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