But anyone can benefit.

It's called Freeze Framer. The University of Washington Counseling Center has three of the computer programs available for students. They can walk in and use them anytime for free.

Tara Hestand used it for the first time Monday morning.

Assistant Director of the Counseling Center, Maurice Warner showed her how it can help her.

Tara's biggest stress? "Public speaking," she says. She gets nervous when she has to get up in front of a crowd. Good news for Tara because now she's learning how to reduce her anxiety with Freeze Framer.

The biofeedback program teaches people about their body's reaction to stress.

Here's how it works: Maurice Warner attached a sensor to her fingers, which shows her heart rate on the computer screen. That's key. If you want to control your stress, you need to know what your heart rate is doing. That's how you can control it.

Yes, you do have control over your heart rate! I'll explain. I just learned when we're stressed out, our heart rate is 'random'. If you look on the computer you see squiggly lines all over the place.

The computer program, Freeze Framer can help you and Tara get into a rhythmic heart rate, which is critical in reducing stress.

"You can produce a rhythmic pattern when you're nervous system is calmed down and there's a rhythmic patter to your breathing," says Warner.

How you breathe is key. Tara did it! She managed to change her random rate to a rhythmic rate, through biofeedback.

But the true test is how your body reacts when you're stressed out. In Tara's case, when she's about to speak in front of a crowd.

"Part of what's important is to understand what it feels like to relax in this way because that's what you can repeat when you're not hooked up to a machine," says Warner.

The crowds. The traffic. The deadlines. Not a problem if you learn how to get your heart rate like Tara was able to do.

For More Information:

www.heartmath.com.