About HeartMath
A company built on caring — and 35 years of research.
HeartMath was founded in 1991 out of a deep sense of caring for people and the planet. Since then we've built a system of scientifically grounded tools that help people steady their nervous system, think more clearly under pressure, and recover from stress — with the heart at the center of how it works.
Founded 1991 by Doc Childre | 80+ peer-reviewed studies | 12,000+ certified practitioners
Our story
It started with a simple observation.
In 1991, Doc Childre founded HeartMath on the idea that the heart does more than pump blood — that it communicates with the brain, and that this conversation shapes how we think, feel, and perform.
That was an unusual claim at the time. So the work began where it had to: with research. Decades of it, measuring what happens in the body when someone shifts out of stress and into a steadier state — and then figuring out how to teach people to do it on purpose.
What came out of that is the HeartMath system: a set of techniques and technologies that make an invisible physiological process visible, so people can learn to work with it rather than guess.
What We Do
Tools that turn research into daily practice.
Stress and anxiety dysregulate the nervous system. The HeartMath system helps people bring it back into balance — pairing real-time feedback from your own heart rhythm with techniques you can use in the moment.
That means people can self-regulate their emotions and behaviors, reduce stress, build resilience, and access clearer thinking and intuition when it matters. Not by force of will, but by learning what balance actually feels like and how to find it again.
The same system is used by individuals at home, by clinicians with patients, by coaches with clients, and by hospitals and organizations with their staff.
The HeartMath Family
Two organizations, one body of work.
Behind every tool we make is an independent nonprofit that spent decades on the science.
Nonprofit - The research
HeartMath Institute
The research arm, and an independent nonprofit research center since 1991. The Institute studies the heart-brain connection, heart rate variability, and coherence — mapping how the heart's rhythm shapes stress, emotion, and performance.
Their peer-reviewed work is the foundation of everything we make. When you see research cited across this site, it comes from them.
Business - the tools you use
HeartMath
We translate the Institute's findings into things you can actually use — the Inner Balance™ Coherence Plus sensor, the HeartMath App, emWave® technology, and the certification programs that train clinicians, coaches, and trainers worldwide.
Our job is the gap between a published finding and a few minutes of practice in someone's real day.
Our Purpose And Vision
To Help Awaken the Heart of Humanity
More people are sensing that what's missing is a deeper connection with their own heart — and following that instinct toward listening to it more closely.
Our team is here to help individuals, organizations, and communities bring the heart's intelligence into everyday life: to find better solutions to hard problems, cooperate more genuinely, and live healthier, more fulfilling lives. The more of us who connect from the heart, the more possible a genuinely caring world becomes.
Where We Are
Around the world, in homes, clinics, and boardrooms.
2 in 3
Founded — 35+ years of research
80+
Peer-reviewed studies
12,000+
Certified practitioners worldwide
Millions
Of people using HeartMath
In Our Own Words
Two organizations, one mission.
Start Where You Are
See what your heart is telling you.
The Inner Balance Coherence Plus makes your heart rhythm visible, then helps you steady it. A few minutes a day is enough to begin.