British scientists from the University of Sussex found that consistent breathing practice hardly improves people’s mental health. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (NBR).
Coherent breathing involves inhaling and exhaling in a rhythm that matches the contractions of the heart. It is believed that this method helps cope with anxiety and improve overall well-being. But so far not a single serious experiment has been conducted to confirm or refute this hypothesis.
400 people without respiratory or cardiovascular diseases participated in the study. Volunteers were divided into two groups. The first practiced consistent breathing at a frequency of approximately 5.5 breaths per minute for 10 minutes every day for a month. The second group was the control group. A breathing exercise was given, the effect of which was almost no different from normal breathing.
The scientists also measured the stress level, sleep quality, anxiety, depressive symptoms and general well-being of all participants in the experiment.
The results did not reveal any significant difference in the condition of the people in the first group compared to the control group. All volunteers experienced a slight decrease in their stress levels. This suggests that consistent breathing is no different from placebo in its effect.
“We found no measurable effect of consistent breathing compared to a well-designed breathwork placebo to improve mental health and well-being. Although this does not mean that consistent breathing does not benefit people in principle,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Guy Fincham.
The scientist added that the study he and his colleagues conducted was the largest study in terms of the number of participants.
Psychologists before I learnedThis encourages some people to smell themselves all the time.