Teaching has been ranked as one of the highest among stressful work settings, and chronic stress can lead to burnout. Therefore, specific interventions that can reduce teacher stress and burnout symptoms through improved stress management strategies are needed. Such initiatives are currently proposed through teacher training in the French national education system. This study aimed at assessing...
Breathing does not only perform the function of keeping the body alive but plays an important role in promoting our physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing. Sudarshan Kriya Yoga Breathwork (“SKY Breath”) is a unique breathing practice involving several types of rhythmic breathing patterns, ranging from slow and calming to rapid and stimulating. Studies have shown that SKY Breath technique can...
Scientific ReportsDecember 12, 2025Nadia Fox, Hannah Biddell, Jemma King
The paradoxical nature of stress lies in its ability to both enhance and hinder psychological, physiological, and cognitive functioning. While chronic stress impairs functioning, acute stress can enhance resilience, cognition, and performance. We examined whether intentional short-term stress induced by cyclic hyperventilation and cold exposure (the Wim Hof Method (WHM)) improves...
Aging is a natural process that all humans go through. Aging in women begins with entering the climacteric period which begins at the age of 40-65 years. Premenopause usually causes symptoms such as irregular menstrual cycles, hot feelings from the chest to the face, cold sweats at night, vaginal dryness, insomnia, fatigue and depression. Efforts that can be made to reduce anxiety in...
Pranayama, yogic breathing techniques, are considered a form of meditation. In classical yoga, the breath is associated with prana; thus, pranayama is a means to control the inner force, the prana shakti or life energy. Pranayama is more than regular breathing and if practiced in structured and methodical manner can reduce the body's physical symptoms of stress and anxiety. It has more recently...
Current OncologyNovember 26, 2025Lauren Deckelbaum, Nikita Guarascio, Marie-Pierre Bastien et al.
Healthcare providers in oncology experience exceptionally high stress rates. Research emphasizes that stress management programs must be quick to implement, flexible to accommodate demanding schedules, cost-effective, accessible to all staff, and tailored to the needs of oncology personnel. Programs that fail to meet these criteria often struggle with uptake and sustainability. This...
Resonant Breathwork is proposed as a layered, measurable intervention that modulates vagal activity and interoceptive processing through acoustic vocalization, respiratory mechanics, and biofeedback. This review synthesizes human empirical studies from 2022–2025 across five domains: (1) noninvasive transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation and acoustic or vocal vagal engagement; (2)...
Abstract Breathwork which increases ventilatory rate or depth represents an accessible nonpharmacological modality for potentially inducing altered states of consciousness (ASCs). Despite gaining traction as a therapeutic tool, empirical research remains limited, hence we conducted the first randomised-controlled trial (NCT06916312) on breathwork and ASCs. We examined the effects of a single...
bioRxivNovember 17, 2025Lena Hehemann, Lisa Stetza, Christoph Kayser
preprint
Respiration is a unique physiological process that can operate automatically but can also be deliberately used to modulate the bodily state. Importantly, respiration is deeply intertwined with neural processes, influencing processes from arousal and attention to executive control. Although structured respiration (breathing practice) has been exploited for centuries, the immediate consequences...
Traditional breath-centered contemplative practices have been shown to enhance stress resilience through autonomic and cortical mechanisms by increasing parasympathetic tone and modulating neural activity. In this single-session observational case study, we investigated the acute effects of Bön Tsa Lung, a Tibetan breathwork practice, using multimodal recordings; electrocardiography (ECG) and...
Depression is a major cause of disability across the world, and influences not only emotional but also cognitive health. Although medication and psychotherapy are the main approaches in treating depression, the effect of alternative methods such as mindfulness meditation and pranayama (yogic breathing techniques) have shown to be beneficial to reduce depressive symptoms. Mindfulness meditation,...
Explores strategies for integrating breathwork and mindfulness in the Orff Schulwerk classroom that offer teachers and students a means to manage stress in school and in their daily lives.
Abstract Background and aims Research on classical psychedelics like ayahuasca is increasingly focused on treating mental disorders and enhancing well-being. Ayahuasca has shown promise in improving cognitive flexibility, emotion regulation, and sleep, though findings are mixed and further research is needed. This study tracked participants over three months, assessing cognitive flexibility,...
The modern digital era brings a problem that has a direct impact on physical and mental health, mainly in young people and adults related to stress, which promotes new health workers to take new care measures such as “yoga” Objective: To describe the scientific production of the topic Breathwork from 2021 to 2025 according to the type of document, category, editors, year of publication, country...
PLoS OneAugust 27, 2025Amy Kartar, Toru Horinouchi, Balázs Örzsik et al.1 citation
The popularity of breathwork as a therapeutic tool for psychological distress is rapidly expanding. Breathwork practices that increase ventilatory rate or depth, facilitated by music, can evoke subjective experiential states analogous to altered states of consciousness (ASCs) evoked by psychedelic substances. These states include components such as euphoria, bliss, and perceptual differences....
Medical SciencesAugust 13, 2025Adam Siebieszuk, Adam Filip Płoński, Marcin Baranowski2 citations
Modern society faces a growing prevalence of mental disorders, with stress emerging as a critical factor affecting mental well-being. In recent years, breathwork has gained public and scientific recognition as a promising approach for enhancing psychological health. Despite the rapid growth in research, the field remains fragmented due to the diversity of breathing techniques. Moreover, recent...
Breathwork - deliberately altering the way one breathes - has gained growing attention as an emerging non-pharmacological intervention for mental health and stress regulation. A novel yet ancient method that remains largely underexplored in the literature, breathwork requires structured, evidence-based investigation to optimize its application. This review analyses the existing literature on...
Pranayama, the yogic art of breath regulation, occupies a central position in classical Yoga literature, bridging physiological practice and spiritual realization. This study presents a comparative analysis of pranayama as conceptualized in the Yoga Raj Upanishad and the Yoga Chudamani Upanishad, highlighting their distinct methodological approaches, philosophical orientations, and intended...
Purpose: Stress is common in speech-language pathology. While sources of stress cannot be eliminated overnight, lifestyle changes such as learning tools to be resilient can be implemented. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the impact of an evidence-based breathwork meditation program (Sudarshan Kriya Yoga Breath Meditation [SKY]) on the well-being of trainees in speech-language pathology....