Breathwork

The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults

Ma X, Yue ZQ, Gong ZQ, et al. · Frontiers in Psychology, 2017

Forty healthy adults were randomly assigned either to a diaphragmatic breathing program or to a control group that did not receive the training. The breathing group completed 20 sessions over eight weeks, using a real-time feedback device and breathing at about four breaths per minute. Everyone completed attention and mood tests before and after, and gave saliva samples to measure cortisol, a stress hormone. After training, the breathing group showed less negative affect, better sustained attention, and lower cortisol levels, while the control group showed no change in cortisol. The authors see diaphragmatic breathing as a mind-body practice with value for health promotion in healthy people. Limitations: the sample was small, and the control group received no alternative activity, so some of the benefit could come from attention or expectation rather than the breathing itself.

Our summaries describe what each study found. They are not medical advice, and the practices at Halcyon are not a treatment for any condition.