Breath Characteristics of Volitional Yoga Breathing and Breath Awareness
International Journal of Yoga Therapy December 1, 2024 Shirley Telles, Sachin Kumar Sharma, Kumar Gandharva et al.
Each of five pranayama techniques changes breathing in a distinct way. In 23 yoga practitioners, high-frequency yoga breathing increased breath rate by 373.3%, while bumblebee, hissing, and alternate-nostril breathing decreased it by 75.3%, 63.0%, and 55.3%, respectively. Depth of breathing increased across all five techniques, most markedly in bumblebee (307%) and high-frequency (275%) breathing. The ratio of inspiration to expiration rose during high-frequency breathing (177%) and fell during bumblebee (74.3%) and alternate-nostril (39.0%) breathing. Breath awareness produced no changes. These results support earlier findings that high-frequency breathing is activating and enhances attention, whereas bumblebee and alternate-nostril breathing are calming and may increase vagus nerve activity.