Product Description

Portable biofeedback device for relaxation training, activates the body's natural relaxation response by synchronizing breathing with heart rate.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2859 in Health and Beauty
• Size: SMALL ABOUT THE SIZE OF A PDA
• Color: GREY COLOR
• Brand: StressEraser
• Model: SE-1
• Released on: 2008-06-12
• Dimensions: 2.56" h x .73" w x 3.82" l, 10.00 pounds

Features

• StressEraser Breathwave shows impact of breathing on heart rate
• Daily Points help you establish performance benchmarks
• Timer allows you to set session limits
• Sound option enables you to use with eyes closed
• Screen light enables you to use the StressEraser in the dark

Manufacturer Product Description

The StressEraser is an award-winning, FDA-regulated, portable biofeedback device that helps you learn to activate your body's natural relaxation response in minutes — without the use of medication.

Is there stress in your life? Now more than ever, you need the StressEraser^®

The premise behind StressEraser stress relief is simple and has been used in practice by physicians, psychologists and meditation experts for more than three decades. This state-of-the art medical technology fits in your pocket and is drug-free and non-invasive. It uses a finger sensor to convert your pulse into a wave form. This wave guides you to synchronize your breathing with your heart rate cycle.

We all know that slowing down your breathing can slow down your heart rate and help you relax. The StressEraser cues you to not only slow your breathing but, just as importantly, to synchronize your inhales and exhales with the natural cycle of your heart rate.

Using an infrared sensor, the StressEraser measures HRV from the pulse in your fingertip and displays it as a wave.

Bad Waves. When you're stressed, your wave is jagged and spiky.

Good Waves. When you're relaxed, your wave becomes smooth and consistent, like a sine wave.

How It Works
From beat to beat, your heart rate naturally increases and decreases in a cycle, known as HRV, or Heart Rate Variability. Using an infrared sensor, the StressEraser measures HRV from the pulse in your fingertip and displays it as a wave. HRV is considered to be the most accurate, non-invasive measurement of your nervous system activity. HRV biofeedback is clinically proven over decades of peer-reviewed research to promote stress relief and relaxation training.

The wave is like a window into your nervous system. When you're stressed, your wave is jagged and spiky; when you're relaxed, your wave becomes smooth and consistent, like a sine wave.

How You Use It
The StressEraser uses simple biofeedback symbols — squares and triangles — to cue your breathing. Triangles indicate the "peak" of the wave — that is, the fastest point of your heart rate in your HRV cycle. Squares provide a scoring system for your waves, so you know when you are focused and breathing properly.

Your goal is to time your inhale/exhale rate so that you begin your exhale at the moment that the triangle appears at the wave peak. It may take several triangles for you to completely sync up, so be patient. There's no hurry! Remember your goal is to relax.

Studies show that HRV biofeedback shows more benefits over time. After a few days and weeks, you'll be able to relax in just minutes. The more you use it, the better you'll feel!

What's in the Box
StressEraser personal biofeedback device, Owner's Manual, Quick-Start card, Warranty registration card, two AAA batteries, protective case

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Customer Reviews

Fantastic device, probably not for "hardcore" meditators
I have a long time, twice-a-day meditation practice which includes breathing techniques, but was curious about this device anyway. So, I bought it on impulse. It is impressive, but simple and easy to use. I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't have some sort of regular (2-3 times daily) stress-relief practice in place. It's function is simple - you simply breath in, then exhale when the device prompts you to. The tool sort of "teaches" you how to breath based on feedback on the screen, and as you learn to focus on the breath...poof, you stop worrying about other stuff.

After you learn the "how to" part and get regular with your breathing sessions, the additional personal benefit may be more limited. Since I'm already very familiar with using the breath to center myself, this item could become a glorified "breath counter": The ancillary good stuff is that it records a history of how many sessions of breathing I've done and details about same, and the device will always give me feedback on my current state of mind (am I taking slow, well spaced breaths or short jerky ones, etc.)...I'm just not sure that those functions are quite worth the asking price.

Back to YOU, however. I'd absolutely recommend this device for anyone who doesn't do meditation and/or Pranayama regularly. For those folk who want a scientific approach to stress relief and might feel uncomfortable with the spirtual trappings of Yoga / meditation / etc, this thing is also perfect.

The device itself is very solid feeling, and I'm sure would survive multiple..."drop tests" (although I haven't been clumsy enough to try it yet!). You'll also be able to get started with it very quickly without spending tons of time with the instructions.

A little expensive, but it works great for me
I bought this thing because I was curious about it, thought I'd try it out and intended on sending it back once I convinced myself that it was a glorified breathing machine. Well, the thing works for me so I won't be sending it back.
You can read about the theory behind it at their website, but basically it measures your heart rate variability which in turn is supposed to reflect your emotional state. The device prompts you to breath out at a certain time to bring your HRV to an optimum level, which it measures by giving you a rating of 1-3 cubes at the bottom of the screen, 1 being bad and 3 being good.
The first thing that I wanted to know was whether it accurately reflected my mental state, which I doubted it would. So I've tried thinking about something stressful at random times during periods when I was otherwise relaxed (3 cubes) and it gives me 1 cube pretty much every time. 1 cube definitely feels worse than 3 cubes. I've repeated this many times over and I don't doubt now that it can tell if I've gone from a relaxing state of mind to a stressful one. I can also tell now, based on how I feel, when I will get 1 cube vs. 3. This has turned out to be useful information because I can make myself feel relaxed without having to use the device, so I think the biofeedback component is really useful - it has helped me train myself to relax. It's a bit like a relaxation coach. I still can't get as relaxed on my own as I can using it, but maybe in time I'll be able to.
The next thing I was interested in is whether this thing is any better than just sitting there and breathing calmly. Having convinced myself that it accurately predicts whether I'm stressed, I've tried to test this by ignoring the breathing prompts and just breathing in a nice calm manner and recording how many 3 cubes vs. 1 cubes I got in 15 minutes and comparing that number with the one obtained from breathing based on prompts for 15 minutes. Generally I get about 30-40% more using the prompts. The difference seems to be decreasing, but I think that's because I have learned to breath the way it wants me to w/out the prompts. Basically I'm getting better at using breathing to decrease stress so I don't need to rely on the device as much. At the beginning though, I wasn't too good at using breathing to calm myself.
Obviously I can't tell if this works for everyone, and I bet some people are good at using deep breathing to calm themselves so that they wouldn't benefit so much from this, but I've been pleasantly surprised in that it's not a scam and it has helped me to de-stress without drinking a bottle of wine every night like I used to do (kidding). I'd like to see the price come down though.

Proceed With Insight
I do own this machine and I think it is a cool tool to have, but I would not necessarily recommend this for someone on a budget who is looking for bona fide relaxation solution.

Some meditation traditions focus on almost exclusively attending to your breath. This means focusing on your breath without really trying change it. Other traditions focus on changing your breathing. Either way, these methods are free and can be more rewarding in my opinion.

Yes, this is a biofeedback machine, but it works under the loosely woven premise that it will stimulate your vagus nerve and make you more relaxed. Another way to stimulate this nerve is by exercising. Try spending 30 minutes a day walking. If you do buy this machine, try a few sessions with the machine. After that, try some cardio and then using the machine to see where you are. You will be astonished that simply exercising may produce the same effects your just paid >$250 for.

Good luck.