High Ventilation Breathwork practices: An overview of their effects, mechanisms, and considerations for clinical applications
August 1, 2023 Guy W. Fincham, Amy Kartar, Malin V. Uthaug et al. 3 citations preprint
High Ventilation Breathwork (HVB), which involves deliberate manipulation of breathing, has a long history of use for psychological distress. This review examines its potential as a treatment for psychiatric disorders by analyzing its phenomenological and neurophysiological effects. Clinical observations and neurophysiological data show HVB produces extraordinary changes in subjective experience and profoundly affects central and autonomic nervous system functions by modulating neurometabolic parameters and interoceptive sensory systems. These effects may guide understanding and harnessing of HVB's volitional perturbation of psychophysiological states. Reports of beneficial effects for trauma-related, affective, and somatic disorders warrant further mechanistic research and rigorous clinical testing.