You are sitting still, nothing is happening, and your heart is racing or pounding. It can be alarming. These six practices are for the moments when your heartbeat is noticeable and you are not in danger. They are optional, and they come after one thing: if you have chest pain, shortness of breath or feel faint, the sources below say to get help, and no practice should delay that. Do not assume a racing heart is stress or anxiety.
1. Read the safety advice first
The NHS heart palpitations page (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/heart-palpitations/) describes palpitations as when your heartbeat becomes more noticeable. It says they are usually harmless, but to get help if you keep getting them or you also have other symptoms. It gives this advice:
- Immediate action: if you currently have heart palpitations and they do not go away, or you also have any of these symptoms: chest pain, shortness of breath, feeling faint or fainting, call your local emergency number. The NHS says not to drive yourself, to ask someone to drive you or to call for an ambulance, and to bring any medicines you take with you.
- If you have had these symptoms but they have now stopped, ask your doctor’s surgery for an urgent appointment or get urgent medical advice.
- Non-urgent advice: see a GP, meaning your doctor, if you have had palpitations and feel well but they keep coming back or are happening more often, they last longer than a few minutes, you have a heart condition, or you have a history of heart problems in your family.
If any of this fits, take care of it first. The tools below are for when you are well and you want something to do while you wait or afterwards.
2. Sit or lie somewhere supported
Let your body be held by a chair, sofa or bed. You do not have to do anything about the heartbeat. If you also feel faint, or feel as if you might faint, stop and use the advice in item 1 now, and do not treat resting as an alternative.
3. Feel your feet and your seat
Press your feet into the floor, or notice your back against the chair. Grounding gives your attention somewhere steady. Keep it gentle, and stop if it makes you more aware of your heart in a way that is uncomfortable.
4. Look around the room
Let your eyes move round and rest on a few ordinary things. Orienting to the room brings your attention to what is around you. If you like, name a few things quietly: “lamp, window, shelf.”
5. Let your breath be ordinary
You do not need to do anything special. If you like, let one exhale out slowly, uncounted. Skip it if you are anxious or if breath focus makes you tense, and stop if you feel dizzy. Ordinary breathing is the alternative. If you feel short of breath, that is not a time for a practice, and the advice above applies.
6. Do a quiet, ordinary thing
A glass of water, a slow wander round the house, a little music or a word with someone nearby can be enough. If you are on your feet, keep your eyes open. If you are driving, do not do any of this. Pull over somewhere parked safely off the road, and a red light does not count.
Causes the NHS lists
The same NHS page lists strenuous exercise, lack of sleep, stress and anxiety, medicines, and alcohol, caffeine, nicotine and recreational drugs among the causes. It says that sometimes palpitations can be a sign of the menopause, and that some people get them in pregnancy. It also says they can be caused by conditions such as iron deficiency anaemia, an overactive thyroid, a heart rhythm problem or other heart problems. You cannot tell the cause from how it feels, so a list like this is a reason to ask a doctor, not to guess. Do not stop a prescribed medicine without talking to a doctor.
Noticing, without scanning
If you notice that you keep checking your heartbeat, you can try turning your attention outward for a while: a sound, a chore, a conversation. Checking again and again is something you can mention to a doctor or therapist, and you do not need to wait for it to get worse.
Keeping a note
If your palpitations keep coming back, a short note can help a doctor: the date, what you were doing, how long it lasted, and any other symptoms. Write down facts, not guesses. Take the note to your appointment, along with a list of your medicines.
Care for the basics
Water, regular meals and sleep are ordinary care. The NHS page says that avoiding triggers such as smoking, caffeine and alcohol can help if palpitations are not caused by a health condition. Whether that applies to you is a question for your doctor.
When you feel unsafe
If you feel that something is seriously wrong, trust that and use your local emergency number. You do not have to be sure it is the heart first.
Related: a daily somatic routine.
