The Great Unlearn 190. HRV: The Key to Slow Aging and Increase Vitality with Salim Najjar
Sep 16, 2025
Salim Najjar, an HRV expert and founder of educational programs on nervous system regulation, unveils the secrets of heart rate variability as a vital compass for health and aging. He discusses the importance of sleep and recovery for optimal HRV, explores his transition from biohacking to focusing on regulation, and shares his personal journey through challenges like injury and bankruptcy. Salim emphasizes the transformative power of relationships in longevity and offers practical tools to leverage HRV without becoming overly fixated on metrics.
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HRV Is Your Nervous System's Language
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is the nervous system's language, showing how the heart perceives moment-to-moment stress.
- Chronic stress drives cellular inflammation, making HRV a key longevity biomarker.
Prioritize Sleep As Your First Hack
- Prioritize sleep because deep delta sleep is the deepest parasympathetic reset for the body.
- Use HRV as feedback to discover how much sleep your body actually needs, not a one-size rule.
Evolution Explains Chronic Stress Harm
- The autonomic nervous system governs most body functions and evolved for short fight-or-flight bursts.
- Modern chronic sympathetic activation reroutes resources away from digestion and repair, creating inflammation and disease.