Conscious Connected Breathing in Research

Conscious Connected Breathing is a transformative breath technique impacting on the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level. The Breath and Consciousness Academy and the Vrije University Amsterdam developed a research paper on the ‘Effects of Conscious Connected Breathing on cortical brain activity, mood and state of consciousness in healthy adults’.

The study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval was obtained from the Scientific and Ethical Review Board of the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences at Vrije University.

Highlights of Research Findings

The participants experienced an increase in self-esteem while they experienced a reduction in negative affect states (tension, confusion, depression and anger). With respect to neurophysiological findings the power of low Beta waves was found to decrease.  Beta waves have been associated with alertness, focus, stress, and anxiety.

This is also in line with psychodynamic theories which commonly attribute the occurrence of emotional breakthroughs as a consequence of releasing bodily tensions that have accumulated through the suppression of negative emotions over a long time. The decrease in slow wave spectral power together with an increase in gamma rhythm, is a sign of cortical excitation which has also been found responsible for alleviating depression symptoms. Further analysis confirmed that the reduction in delta and theta correlated with the reduction in depression observed.

Link to Academic Research Paper

The Effects of Conscious Conntected Breathing on Cortical Brain Activity & State of Consciousness