You find it hard to fit in a daily trip to the Himalayas to meditate with the yogis, but what’s a pain-sufferer to do to relax and de-stress?

The StressEraser is a hi-tech, but easy-to-use gadget the size of a deck of cards to help you “learn to calm your mind and relax your body.”  They call it a “personal biofeedback machine.”  When you put your finger on a sensor, you see a real-time wave image on a small screen that measures changes in your heart rate.

Changes in your heart rate reflect the balance between the activity of your stimulating nervous system and your pacifying nervous system.  To become more relaxed, you want more activity in your pacifying system, and the StessEraser captures that in graphic form so you can see it.

As you watch these waves, you’re instructed to slowly and smoothly inhale and exhale.  The StressEraser “knows” how relaxed you are, and 1, 2, or 3 dots appear under each wave image, 3 dots meaning you’re most relaxed.  As you become more relaxed, you’ll see more waves with 2 and 3 dots, which is your goal.

For maximum benefit, it’s recommended that you accumulate 100 “points” each day, which you do by getting 1 point for every 3-dot wave and 1/2 point for every 2-dot wave.  The benefits are especially strong if you use the StressEraser right before bedtime.

I teach breathing exercises to patients and use them myself to relax, and the StressEraser accurately reflected my level of relaxation.  I found it impressive that when I was less relaxed, the StressEraser would even show my nervous system reacting to a loud noise or a passing worry.

I felt this was a great product for many reasons:

• very effective
• easy and enjoyable to use
• gives you a target to reach for each day (100 points)
• having it visible reminded me to do even short relaxation exercises several times a day
• small enough to carry with you
• many helpful additions, including:
  • it has an audible prompt option to tell you to when to take each breath, if you want to use it with your eyes closed
  • it keeps track each day of how many points you’ve gotten, so if you do several shorter sessions each day, it adds up your points for you
  • it tracks your progress over weeks or months by storing info on past sessions

The only drawback is the cost, which is $299, but if you can afford it, it might be very helpful for you.  They do have a payment plan; they also offer a money-back guarantee.

The StressEraser won the 2006 Frost and Sullivan Medical Innovation of the Year award, and I believe it’s well-deserved.  If you try it, let me know how you do.

(Periodically, I’ll write here about products you might be interested in. These will be products I’ve requested to review, and you’ll read about them here only if they’re helpful – these aren’t advertisements. If you have something you’d like me to consider, send a note to Submissions.)