Customer Reviews

emWave Personal Stress Reliever

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I bought a stress eraser last year and liked it a lot, so I gave it to my son who was stressed out in law school. Instead of replacing it I decided to give EM Wave a try. I think many people have trouble choosing between these two similar items. Maybe I can help. First, I can tell you that both are useful. You probably won't go wrong with either. However, they are quite different and you may prefer one.

Stress Eraser- strengths
Stress Eraser provides true biofeedback in the form of a continuous graph that you can influence by changing your breathing or even thinking. If you follow their instructions you can learn to control the graph and doing so you learn to relax. The unit is solid. It is scientifically valid and it seems like it due to the accurate feedback.

Stress Eraser- weaknesses
To use the stress eraser you must look at the graph that forms on the unit. I can't see it without my glasses. You must also have your finger in the correct position on the unit. That makes it hard to position the unit so that you can see the graph while lying down. Thus, if you want to use it to help go to sleep it is difficult. Another thing which may be a weakness or a strenght is that it is more or less a one trick pony. No bells and whistles. But it does what it does very well.

EM Wave- strengths
EM wave is more complicated, but not hard to use once you read the instructions. The unit is light weight and has colored lights, which you may like or feel is too much like a toy. I prefer the graph of Stress Eraser if I am using the unit during the day (it is more rapidly responsive and just seems more scientific), but at night trying to go to sleep the EM Wave is better because you don't need to see it very accurately...just follow the blinking lights. Another advantage of EM Wave is that you either put your finger on the unit (like Stress Eraser) or you can attach an ear monitor. The ear unit is great because you don't need to keep your hand on the unit. To use EM Wave thre are three different modes. In the basic mode the unit has a panel of lights that indicates a breathing pattern for you to follow. This pattern is not actual feedback, just a suggested breathing rate (you don't need to spend this much money for that). In the Heart Rate mode (HR)it follows your heart activity similarly to Stress Eraser- so this is actual feedback. In either mode there is another light that changes color depending on whether or not you are in "coherence". Essentially I take it to mean that you are relaxed, though they talk about it in New Age speak, so it is unclear to me what exactly it signifies. In the third mode you only see the "coherence" light, which saves batteries and removes all of the distractions. Actually the unit is even more complicated than this, but those are the essentials.

EM Wave Weaknesses
The unit seems flimsy compared to the Stress Eraser. It is unclear exactly what the "coherence" indictor actually indicates. The coherence coach CD is hardly worth watching. The website and other information is a bit non-scientific with all the talk about "heart breathing". All of that new age stuff will work, but depending on your personality you might find it a bit much.

Final comments
OK so it sounds like I like the Stress Eraser more...but actually I find the EM Wave more useful due to my intended use of falling asleep with it. If you use the HR mode on the EM Wave it is more similar to Stress Eraser..real feedback. If you don't wear glasses or don't expect to use the unit while lying down, Stress Eraser is probably better. EM Wave is more interesting, with colored and blinking lights and multiple modes, but it doesn't have the same degree of biofeedback. Nevertheless, EM Wave does give enough biofeedback and if you use it you will learn to relax. Again, both are good...just different.

This device didn't work the first time it was sent and I had to get it replaced (which was done VERY efficiently, I might add). The new device works, but it is complicated to do anything but the basic breathing exercise. Also, I have difficulty getting the ear piece working. However, even the basic breathing exercise has been very helpful. In fact, I am now able to simulate usage of the device while on the golf course (and other times of stress) by breathing and imagining the read-out on the device. It calms me down and is definitely a stress reducer. I just need to take the time now to figure out all the other things I can do with the device. NOTE: It could use better instructions. That could help quite a bit.

I'm a Reiki practitoner who meditates, and also deals with anxiety and depression.

I have so far been able to use this to effectively and successfully control anxiety, stress, and anger at home or when I'm out. Before I work with Reiki, I can make sure I'm in the proper "zone" to get the most out of it. When I meditate, I can make sure I'm in the proper zone there too. It helps me get to sleep faster, and stay there. I know there's more uses; I'm experimenting as much as possible.

I purchased this to help me work through quitting some nasty anti-depressants. I give it two thumbs up for how much it's helped with that, and 2 big toes up for everything else it's helping me with.

It seemed pricey, but not after I calculated the annual cost of meds and doctor visits, and then thought about the lack of side effects associated with this biofeedback method.

Oh, and it's insanely easy to use, especially if you take the time to read the user's manual and work through the 30-minute (free!) online tutorial. If you're still confused, you can join a free teleclass.

So if I need to use it to, say, control an impending panic attack, I can fire it up and use it immediately - no flipping through the manual looking for that set of instructions I thought was "right there, dammit!"

I'm so glad I can finally move on with my life, drug-free.

I have purchsed (and returned) Stress Eraser. I found it annoying. It prompts you to exhale at a beep. As best I could tell, that's all it does. If this is what you want -- to moduate breathing for enhanced calm -- count to 4 as you breathe in, count to 8 as you breathe out, and -- at the end of the exhalation - hold for two. Count consistently as fast or as slow as you need to. This will produce better results for you than the Stress Eraser (and it's free).

The EmWave is a different technology altogether. It is a biofeedback device, but that is not what makes the technology different. It has an infrared sensor which measures the smoothness of your heart beat (systolic and diastolic). When there is a smooth rhythm, this is called "coherence." When you are in a state of coherence, a huge array of biological benefits kick in. To use the hand-held (a little bigger than a credit card and not as thick as a pack of cards), you use a thumb sensor pad or an earclip.

In an EmWave session, you regulate your breathing and then learn to "breathe through you heart." Once you have done this, you hook onto a positive emotion, and this creates coherence. As you move through differnet levels of coherence, different colored lights are displayed, and different soothing beeps are played.

EmWave is useful for depression, stress, anxiety, pain management, and -- most subtly -- for learning how to choose what you want to feel in the face of any life circumstance. It gets easier and easier to do with time, and more and more gratifying. This is a world-class device, and the training offered by HeartMath is superb. Their books are the best I've read on depression, anxiety, etc. and I have read dozens on both subjects. This is a powerful and deceptively simple aid. Do take the free training; it'll guide you through the bells and whistles. [...]

To be totally honest, I bought the EmWave because it was so much cheaper than the hand-held biofeedback products that I was actually wanting. I was disappointed when I received it because all it does is measure your pulse and breathing rate. What would this prove? The machine has three zones that it tracks. From what I can tell, despite what the instruction booklet says, if your breathing is shallow, the emwave will put you in the lowest zone. If you breathe deeply, the emwave will rate you in one of the two higher zones. The deeper and steadier your breath, the higher your zone. I was really irritated when I found out that's all it was doing. The problem is, I can't keep my irritation - because it works. If you do the deep breathing for at least 5 minutes, you will find that your stress level decreases dramatically. I have actually come to work and found voice mails or e-mails waiting for me that have put me at the highest stress levels. If I use the Emwave, I calm back down. Now, the trick is to learn to use it immediately upon receiving the stressful news rather than reacting and then using the machine. ;) Bottom line, I recommend it. It works.

I can hardly believe it, but thanks to the emWave my struggles with eating and high anxiety ended OVERNIGHT! Once I got the lights to turn green, I found that "zone" inside of true peace of mind for the first time ever. But even better than that, I can get back to it again and again. I cannot believe how different I feel. I use it before I eat meals (which has kept me from overeating!) and at night before I go to sleep (I don't remember sleeping so deeply!) and whenever I start to feel anxiety coming on. It helps me calm down almost right away. I am a health care provider and I have started reccomending it to my patients- who are getting similarly great results. Who invented this thing? Whoever you are- THANK YOU! And if you do not have one, this product is a must!

As other reviewers have mentioned, Heart Math's emWave comes with lots of new-agey jargon and inducements to use computer programs along with buying some of the books produced by Heart Math (it's practically a little industry if not a way of life). Nevertheless, if you're trying to decide between Stress Eraser and emWave, the latter is the better-built, better-finished, more reliable product. The Stress Eraser looks almost "plain" by comparison, but can be equally effective. The basic tenet of all Eastern, or Eastern-influenced, approaches to better health is to tap into a cosmic energy source the manifestation of which is the human breath stream. In layman's terms, you gotta breathe to live; moreover, breathing must be regular, coordinated with the cardio-vascular and neurological operations of the macrocosm (the individual who's breathing), and it must be deep (shallow breathing isn't breathing: it's gasping, or drowning).

Before proceeding to a consideration of either pricey gadget, it would be best to acknowledge what they can and can't do: 1. If you're unable to "locate" your consciousness in a secure and positive place (i.e. think relaxing thoughts, reflect upon your good fortunes and the things you have to be grateful for), you'll do well with either of these little machines. They'll register a pulse that's harmoniously synchronized with your breath in a regular, unstressed pattern, and you'll be doubly gratified to have visibly, quantitatively confirmed what it is you already know and feel. 2. If, on the other hand, you're under unusual or exceptional physical and/or emotional-mental stress, you're not going to be able to "force" your pulse and breath stream into a regular pattern that will register reassuringly on either of the devices' read-outs. In other words, these are potentially useful devices for ordinary people experiencing ordinary stress and likely to be helped to relax with a little bit of extra external motivation and encouragement. But they don't tell me what I don't know, and they don't serve as cause-effect stress reducers. All stress--let me repeat, all stress--is in the last analysis a construction, or creation, of the individual. An external device can't "cure" stress any more than it can "cause" it.

Now for a few pros and cons of each: The Stress Eraser, though larger, is less conspicuous to use in a public place (especially a dimly lit place). However, the batteries are consumed at a rapid, voracious rate (unless you choose not to use the light), the device can be extremely slow to find a pulse (especially if your hands tend to run cold), and the long-term settings usually wind up being short term. The emWave resembles a mini-slot machine with its bright psychedelic lights. But's it's more compact, more stable, and it's a bit more "fun" to use (but no faster or more effective in producing a desired effect). In fact, the Stress Eraser put me to sleep faster than its rival (by contrast, my wife kept complaining about the lights of the emWave as keeping her awake!). When I'm feeling exceptional stress, I have better success "forcing" a positive reading with Stress Eraser than with emWave. That's because Stress Eraser produces wave patterns that I can control, to a certain extent, by the manner in which I breathe (or hold my breath). As a result, I'm able to achieve the recommended 30 points and take at least some small measure of satisfaction in my accomplishment. With emWave, on the other hand, if stress is in "high mode," or close to "panic," all bets are off. You can huff and puff, hold your breath, think about cuddly warm puppies for dear life, but the gadget continually goes back to a red color, undoing any small accomplishment you might have claimed by raising the row of lights while in a blue or (most desirable) green color.

Both of these gadgets will work, and do so more efficiently and effectively than Herbert Benson's by-now-famous "relaxation response." For the reasons stated above, I would be wary of the emWave's hyperbolic claims (eliminates depression, improves health, provides energy, etc.). Also, neither device will enable the user to avert an all-out panic attack because both require a conscious effort of will, or control, before their benefits can be realized. The emWave comes with a CD which, after a few initially promising moments, proves to be mostly a pitch for Heart Math's books and associated products. The program is basically: 1. breathe, following the movement of the ball; 2. concentrate on that organ in the center of your chest, the heart; 3. think of a positive feeling (no more specific than that, and consequently a bit reminiscent of "Don't worry. Be happy"). The Stress Eraser, though eschewing the term "math" anywhere in its literature, is actually the more analytic of the two, providing numerical targets for individual sessions and for the entire day. mWave is colorful, and includes innocuous (but non-objectionable) ambience music to accompany its felicitously focused aerobics; Stress Eraser is black and white, with numbers and no music.

In sum, I'd recommend the emWave over the Stress Eraser for most individuals because of the superior build quality, the production values, and higher motivational component for most users. But the Stress Eraser is also worth a look (it's going for half the price of a year ago). There's no color, no flashing and streaming neon-like lights, no support groups and computer soft-ware, but sometimes less is more, especially when it comes to gadgets--themselves the source of more stress than we sometimes care to admit. The Stress Eraser makes it possible, even under adverse conditions, to accumulate 30 points and achieve some small degree of satisfaction; the emWave practically ensures a strike-out during those tense moments--say, after news of a death or bad health prognosis--when you walk up to the plate so frazzled you'd rather not look the pitcher in the eye let alone swing at fast balls.

[Contrary to the emWave's recommendation, the ear lobe clip was not easier to use--in fact, it failed to pick up any pulse whatsoever (but then I rarely wear a cap during Wisconsin's wintry weather, which may be the explanation for bloodless ear lobes). The Stress Eraser, as indicated, can also be non-responsive, especially if your fingers are cold. (Put your hand under hot water in these instances.]

There's a lot of hype about these products. This one works. Here's a simple definition of what this and the (much) more expensive 'stresseraser' do:
They detect your heartbeat.
Specifically, they measure the beat-to-beat timing, and show you how this (ideally) increases and decreases as you breathe in and out.
If you're angry or stressed or winded, your heart's just going to pump madly away and ignore the available oxygen in your lungs. If you can clear your mind, let go, and just breathe, you can get your heart working in synch with your lungs. It'll pump a little faster when there's more air available, a bit slower when there isn't. You can try this on your own. The product helps you learn to feel that and detect it. Within a month or two you'll just have this trained as a reflex and you'll be able to do it on your own, and know when you're doing it right.
Once you've got it 'tuned' you can do fun things like imagine irritating coworkers and watch your bpm go up, and see what sorts of relaxy things make it go back down.
Little details: the ear clip is _very_ comfortable, surprisingly so.
The thing's _very_ light, easy to hold.
The way the LED red/blue/green feedback readout fades slowly between colors is FANTASTIC - it avoids making you heart rate spike when you're doing it wrong.

This unit is simpler and more satisfying to use than the StressEraser. In basic mode, it helps you enter a reduced stress state almost immediately. I'm just now learning to use adbanced mode and higher challenge modes, so expect even better results over time.

I've been going through a lot of stress, as many as you have. I remembered a positive experience I had in the past with biofeedback. I started researching devices online, and ended up with the emWave. At first, I was a little put off by the simplicity of it. A small device, only flashing lights and beeps, no ability to track sessions, etc. When it first arrived, I read the directions, charged the battery and put it through the paces. I must have been in a good state of mind, because my first session, I hit "coherence" quickly and stayed there. I went to level 2 and hit it there, too. I thought that I would not benefit a great deal, and even considered returning it.

However, later that evening, after dealing with phone calls and emails, I was feeling pretty stressed. I pulled it out and started using it. This time is wasn't so simple. Even on level one it took me awhile to breathe and focus to get it moving in the right direction. Then, as my mind would drift back to one of the calls or emails - bing - I was back in the red. I was amazed over the next couple days how my heart rhythm was being affected by my thoughts. Deep breathing exercises are not enough. I'm not into the "get into a happy place" mentality. But, I definitely had to clear my mind of the stresses of the day in order to get the light from red to blue to green.

Some have complained about the lights. Actually, at night in the dark, with closed eyes I can see the heart beat light and it helps me to focus better. However, for those who don't like the lights, you can go to the Stealth mode in the Advanced setup. It turns off everything except for the beeps and the indicator (red/blue/green) light. You can also turn off the beep, as well. Personally, after using it, the only thing I pay attention to is the beeps to indicate what level I am at. Even in the advanced state, I leave the breathing mode on because you get some feedback by staying out of the red zone and working up to the top of the bar and clearing it. The breathing pattern that the lights suggest were fine the first couple time, but now I do my own deep breathing pace and don't pay attention to it.

It is very responsive both with the ear clip and with the thumb on the button. At night the clip works better so I don't have to hold the unit.

It really seems to be too small and simple to be effective. However, I have found benefits from it use already. It's small enough to slip in your pocket (or purse). I showed it to a friend who gave me a hard time about it - until he tried it. Took him a long time to get it in the blue. I think he'll order one, too. It is a nice little biofeedback unit.

The computer software is pretty basic, and probably of no long term value, but it does have one thing on the screen that I wish this unit had - a timer. It would be wonderful if you could look at the unit and it had a small lcd timer. Or, they could set something up with the lights the same way they measure your % in each zone. That's my only item on the wish list.

If you are regularly into yoga or other types of meditation, you've probably already learned to focus away from your stresses. For the rest of this, this helps. Is it worth the price? Consider the alternative. Over the weekend, I noticed I felt a little fresher - and for the first time in weeks, I didn't pop any aspirin. If used regularly, I think this will have some long term benefits in stress reduction. I could see this teaching me the right way to breathe and focus, to the extent that I could get the benefit and not need the emWave. Them I'll just pass it on a friend or family member who needs it.