The breath is unique in that it has the capacity to massively influence the nervous, immune, and other systems of the body and that it’s subject to conscious control, whereas many aspects of the nervous, immune systems, etc. are autonomic, meaning they function independently without conscious thought.
Using the breath, it’s possible to produce benefits in these systems that might otherwise be beyond voluntary control — and perhaps exorcise some demons in the process.
Related: The Science™ Pins Climate Change™ on Human Breathing
At the risk of sounding like a conspiracy theorist, you’re probably not going to get a lot of information on what the breath can do for your health from mainstream media, since there’s no money in it for the pharmaceutical overlords and, hence, none in advertising revenue for the corporate state media.
So here’s some, from legitimate research outfits.
Via Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (emphasis added):
A systematic search of MEDLINE and SCOPUS databases, using keywords related to both breathing techniques and to their psychophysiological outcomes, focusing on cardio-respiratory and central nervous system, has been conducted. From a pool of 2,461 abstracts only 15 articles met eligibility criteria and were included in the review. The present systematic review follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines…
Slow breathing techniques act enhancing autonomic, cerebral and psychological flexibility in a scenario of mutual interactions: we found evidence of links between parasympathetic activity (increased HRV and LF power), CNS activities (increased EEG alpha power and decreased EEG theta power) related to emotional control and psychological well-being in healthy subjects.
Numerous studies point to improvement in psychological markers of mental health, as participants practicing controlled breathing self-reported.
Via Scientific Reports (emphasis added):
More accessible therapeutic approaches are needed to reduce, or build resilience to, stress worldwide. While breathwork has become increasingly popular owing to its possible therapeutic potential, there also remains potential for a miscalibration, or mismatch, between hype and evidence. This meta-analysis found significant small-medium effects of breathwork on self-reported/subjective stress, anxiety and depression compared to non-breathwork control conditions.
“Holotropic breathing” is one popular modality of breathing exercise, which involves deep, rapid inhalation and exhalation and culminates in a breath hold.
Via Fullscript (emphasis added):
Holotropic breathwork was developed by psychiatrist Stanislov Grof in the 1970s as a drug-free way to induce a non-ordinary state of consciousness. The word holotropic was coined by Grof and inspired by the Greek words “holos” (whole) and “trepein” (to move towards)…
HB is promoted to induce deep states of altered consciousness and release blocked energy and emotions. Holotropic breathing involves deep accelerated breathing and encourages combining inhalation and exhalation into a cycle of continuous breath…
Holotropic breathing involves lying down, relaxing, and breathing as rapidly and as deeply as possible. Once this breathing rhythm has been established, participants may eventually fall into a slightly different breathing rhythm variation that feels most right to them.
Among a cornucopia of controlled breathing disciplines, research indicates a variety of psychological, social, and emotional benefits for holotropic breathing in particular.
Via The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (emphasis added):
For the All-HB [holotropic breathing] group (n = 20), significant temperament changes were seen for persistence. This indicates a movement toward a temperament that, according to Cloninger,7 is connected to a lower risk of obsessional tendencies, which can make it easier to handle contingency events. The All-HB group experienced a significant reduction in interpersonal problems and IIP [inventory of interpersonal problems] total score, which indicates that participants became more sociable and experienced less interpersonal mental distress in general.
The study results show that the self-awareness process for the nine novices primarily led to significant positive medium and large changes in temperament at pre-post.
The results for the more HB-experienced group primarily show character changes because there were positive significant changes at pre–post-test on the character scale self-transcendence. The positive self-awareness changes were supported by a significant reduction in interpersonal problems, such as domineering/controlling, overly accommodating, intrusive needy, interpersonal sensitivity, and hostility symptoms.
If you think that’s all hippie gibberish, that’s fine. But if you’re interested, give it a go. You might be surprised what it does for you physiologically, psychologically, and perhaps even spiritually.
The video below is not technically holotropic breathing, as the practice is trademarked, but it covers the basics, and it produces profound effects on me. I assume it may for you as well.
So suspend any disbelief, just for a few minutes, and give it a whirl.
