emWave Desktop Stress Relief System

by HeartMath

Product Features

• Real-time heart rate variability monitor
• Interactive games to build and sustain coherence
• Four challenge levels to help you raise your baseline coherence levels
• Extensive library of information plus free training, customer service and webinars
• Emotion Visualizer provides stunning colorful images which vary according to your emotional state and coherence level

Product Description

EmWave Desktop is a scientifically validated hardware/software system that teaches techniques to help you create an optimal state in which the heart, mind and emotions are operating in-sync and balanced. We call this coherence. emWave Desktop helps you achieve coherence through simple-to-learn exercises and feedback. Using a pulse sensor plugged into your USB port, emWave Desktop collects and translates HRV (heart rate variability) data into user-friendly graphics. Through coherence techniques, interactive exercises and game play, emWave Desktop helps you bring your heart and mind into a coherent state, building resilience, increasing energy, and promoting focus, mental clarity and emotional balance. emWave Desktop works on both PC and Mac systems.

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0035LCUX6
• UPC: 753182824710
• Item model number: 6020
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,601 in Health & Personal Care (See Top 100 in Health & Personal Care)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars emWave Desktop and/vs emWave2 PSR, September 1, 2011

By 

MWPinSD (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: emWave Desktop Stress Relief System (Health and Beauty)

This is a review of both the emWave Desktop and emWave2 PSR, both purchased on Amazon. I am an owner of the original emWave, so this was not new to me. I had, however, used it for awhile and then just left is sitting in a drawer. With the stress building up this year on the job, I brought it back out. Then I discovered the emWave2 that allows you track your session, which I thought would be helpful. That got me to also looking at the emWave Desktop. I want to say upfront that the support and communication from HeartMath is excellent. 10 Stars for customer support. Through this process, I was asking a number of questions, and their responses were timely and informative! I thought, with a company this good, I can't go wrong, so I ordered both. I've also started using Day One on my Mac, iPhone and iPad to create daily notes of my activities, so I can correlate them to the sessions that day on the emWave. Here are some comments:

emWave2 PSR. I love the new PSR. Of course, it was easy to use, since the controls and set up is the same as the original. But, the ability to store sessions and review them on the computer is excellent. This unit seems a little more sensitive than the first. On the first, I was up to level 3 with pretty good results. On the new emWave, it seemed that starting at level 1 was almost the same in sensitivity. When I restarted with the original emWave, I went back to level 2, could hit coherence in a short time and stay there for the rest of the session. On the new emWave2, it's a little harder on level 1 than 2 on the old. I have to keep more of a focus to stay in coherence and if my mind drifts to work thoughts - bang - I'm back in the red. I think this will have greater challenge in the future than the initial PSR. This is my perception, anyway.

The software on the emWave2 is pretty basic, but OK. You can hook up your emWave2 via the USB connection and run a visualization or game on the computer, but there are more of these in the Desktop software. There is no option for more than one user, since you identify the emWave2 user the first time you connect, and that's it. Just one user. The software is valuable though for tracking sessions and viewing your average heart rate and coherence %. Overall, I feel like this is a great value and is certainly a good upgrade from the original. I make no hesitation in recommending it. BTW, software can be installed on either a Mac or PC for the emWave2 and Desktop software. When you hook up to the software you can upload sessions and then delete the sessions on the emWave2, or keep the sessions on the emWave2... it knows which sessions have been uploaded so there's no duplication, but I see no need to keep the sessions on the PSR, because there's nothing you can do with them there.

emWave Desktop. I'm not as enamored with this as I am with the emWave2. First of all, you are tied to your computer to use it. Secondly, the software games and visualizations disappointed me in their lack of sophistication, especially given the high quality of everything else emWave. The graphics are very simplistic and really don't lend themselves to a great experience. The USB module seems even more sensitive than the emWave2. Of course, sitting in front of a computer looking at the screen is not the best way to relax and center, but I figure if I can get it down there, I can anywhere! But, here's the thing: I can hook up the emWave2 directly to the software and my sessions are more closely aligned with a regular emWave2 session where I recline. Still a bit tougher to hit and maintain coherence because of sitting at the screen, but overall, pretty close. For me, the USB module is extremely sensitive and it's almost impossible to get a very good percentage of blue/green coherence. I was surprised at the difference between the Module included with the Desktop and just hooking the emWave2 up. I'll keep trying, but the difference is huge.

The software does allow for multiple users, and I found that creating a new database in a shared DropBox folder allows for me to see results on multiple computers (HeartMath told me I can install the software on 4 computers). I have created a separate user for my sessions at the computer with the Desktop Module, so I'm looking at it separately. I've also created a user for my wife. She uses a MacBook Pro at home while I use an iMac. I use a PC notebook at work. Results are available on each computer and it doesn't matter where you sync the emWave PSR or do a computer session. DropBox updates each computer, so when you move to a different computer, everything is available. This, for me, is the biggest advantage of the Desktop Software. It's very convenient because I travel a lot. BTW, you can enter notes in your session, which is helpful. You can select the music to run with general sessions, but not with the games or visualizations. I just turn off audio in the software and run the music I want through iTunes. The only thing I miss is the "dings" that let me know where I'm at if I close my eyes - which I often do.

My recommendation is to buy the emWave2, and if you want to be able to view your sessions everywhere and create more than one user, buy the Desktop software alone. The emWave is $229 and the software alone is $99. (Here's a suggestion for HeartMath - how about and emWave2/Desktop software bundle at $299?)

HINT! You can use the Desktop Software with the emWave2 hooked up for a number of users. The emWave2 does not store information when the session is run with it hooked up to the computer. So, you can select any user for a session. Had I known this, I would probably have just purchased the emWave2/Desktop software. I thought I needed the Desktop Module in order for my wife to use this on her computer. Not necessary.

HeartMath is a great company with excellent support. While you will not go wrong with either, you'll probably be much happier with the emWave2 if you can only buy one unit. It allows portability, but also the basic software to track your sessions. For another $100, you get the Desktop software multiple user (at the computer) along with the creation of a database that can be housed in your DropBox (and perhaps other cloud services).

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent stress relief tool, June 7, 2010

By 

Seorsa "book lover" (Stockton CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: emWave Desktop Stress Relief System (Health and Beauty)

The EmWave Desktop stress relief system is a powerful training tool that can help you go beyond stress relief to stres transformation. Regular use of the EmWave will help you transform stress into positive emotional states that will give you energy, vitality and a new positive outlook. I strongly recommend getting one of the HeartMath books. If you do not feel ready to ready about the entire HeartMath system, try one of their smaller, more focused books: Transforming Anxiety, Transorning Hypertentison, and a variety of others.

Everyone of my clients, no matter their reason for using this system, found improved sleep. One client, a Psychologist, hadn't slept in years. She was very familiar with some of the failures in bio-feedback, and was truly a sceptic. She was thrlled when she began sleeping well for the first time in decades.

It may seem overwhelming to try to evaluate a system that claims to work for so many different prolems. The power is not so much in the EmWave Desktop, as it's in the EmWave's ability to unleash the power of your heart. If you are a golfer, you owe it to yourself to check out the book on improving your golf game.

The most powerful benefit is in the improvement in your heart health, as evidenced by increased Heart Rate Variability. You will find after just a short time that you are less likely to get sucked into the cycle of increased stress, increased worry, even more increased stress etc. You will be able to use the techniques to intervene, and the software can gradually make your program more challenging for continuous improvement.

I love graphs and gadgets, so I dove right into this. For some this might seem a bit overwhelming, but their free training and technical support is excellent!

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Awesome, January 5, 2012

By 

John R. Thompson "johnrt6" (Chesterland, oh United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: emWave Desktop Stress Relief System (Health and Beauty)

MW's review is really thorough so this is my subjective take. I have been using the desktop version for one year now and when I started I was in the low coherence range in the morning and would progress to the medium range at night. Now I'm starting the morning out squarely in the high range and sometimes hitting the highest range at night. I've read some people claim that they got quickly discouraged and stopped for lack of prgress and boredom. I bet those people also waste money on the xix second ab machine. Overcoming serious stress and anxiety is not an overnight process, you have to work at every day. If you're not making prgoress on this system it's just like your old girlfriend told you: you're not doing it right. Find the way that works, that is the whole point of this system.

For me the best part of this system is that the games run 3, 5 and 10 minutes. I want and need to turn down the anxiety immediately; several times a day. I don't have time or the temperment to stop in the middle of work, put some music on, get in a lotus position then get my zen on for 40 mins. This system teaches you to do it fast. If you want to run a longer program then I just use the graph and it will go till you stop it.

The system is over-priced but I got mine on sale through Heartmath for 175-. Being tied to a lap top is a pain but you can transfer the CD to a USB drive and then transfer it to a smaller device such as a netbook.