A naturalistic observational study of 58 Czech-speaking adults found that a single session of Holotropic Breathwork (a breathing technique intended to produce altered states of consciousness) was associated with lasting improvements in non-judgment, satisfaction with life, and reductions in stress-related symptoms. Although participants reported only low levels of psychedelic-like experience (averaging 0–34% on a 100% scale), the increase in non-judgment appeared sub-acutely and persisted for four weeks. Satisfaction with life increased and stress symptoms decreased at the four-week follow-up.
Psychedelic substances show promise for treating psychiatric disorders, but their therapeutic mechanisms remain poorly understood. A review of 266 rodent studies from 2014 to 2026 finds systematic disconnects between animal research and human therapy conditions. Most studies contain stress-inducing factors: only 14% reported active-phase testing, 7% environmental enrichment, and 21% refined handling; drug administration almost universally used stress-inducing methods. Behavioral assays rely on brief, constrained testing with isolated markers that fail to capture the multidimensional nature of psychedelic states. The authors argue that improving translation requires a shift from brief testing of stressed, isolated animals toward longitudinal tracking of individuals in enriched social environments.