Heartbeat: is there a maximum number of beats?

Many cultures and traditions speak of life as being measured in breaths. Science has also toyed with the idea that we may have a finite number of heartbeats.

An average human being will have approximately 2.5 billion heartbeats.

If this is true, then is living slower, breathing slower, beating slower a way of extending your life?

Look at nature. Small animals like mice have heart rates that race at 500 beats per minute and live only a couple of years.

Tortoises, on the other hand, with a heart that ticks just a few times a minute, live for a century or more.

While humans are not mice or tortoises, the principle holds.

A slower metabolism and slower heartbeat conserve energy, reduce wear and tear, and may help you live longer.

So how do you slow your heartbeat?

The simplest path is through your breath. Breathing deeply and slowly tells your nervous system that you are safe.

Your vagus nerve, which runs from the brain to the heart and gut, is activated. This nerve lowers your heart rate and shifts your body into parasympathetic mode. Your parasympathetic mode is the state of rest repair and recovery.

Meditation, yoga, and mindfulness practices all hinge on this. Sit quietly, close your eyes, and take a slow breath in for four counts.

Hold it for a moment, then exhale for six to eight counts. Repeat. Within minutes, your heart rate slows.

The more you practice, the more efficient your heart becomes, needing fewer beats to circulate blood.

Exercise too helps, though it sounds contradictory.

Training your heart with aerobic activity builds efficiency. My resting heart rate is in the 40's for example. Slowing your heartbeat is not just about longevity. It is about presence. In slowing down, you move away from a life of frantic urgency into one of calm and balance.

If we are indeed given a finite number of heartbeats, why waste them rushing? Better to spend them wisely, slowly, and fully alive.

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