Read time: 3 minutes.

Today, we're breaking down the effects of meditation and breathwork on mood and anxiety.

Breathing is a life-sustaining bodily function.

It facilitates oxygenation and carbon dioxide disposal.

Its use as a recovery tool for athletes has increased in popularity over the last few years.

However, scientific studies on its significance for the mind-body connection and its effects on physiology have been limited.

What are the effects of meditation and 3 different breathwork drills on mood and arousal?

Study: Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal​

Note 1 - This study comes from Huberman's Neurobiology lab at Stanford. That does not mean it's a good or bad study; it's just a note since he is the most popular science figure in the world today.

Note 2 - He should subscribe to the Performance Insider newsletter to stay current like you.

What did the researchers do?

Design

• Researchers compared the effects of mindfulness meditation and 3 different breathwork protocols on mood and physiological arousal.
• 111 participants were assigned to 1 of the 4 groups.
• On average, participants spent ~6 minutes daily for 17-19 days over the 28 days performing their assigned protocol.

Groups

• Mindful meditation
• Cyclic Sighing
• Box Breathing
• Cyclic Hyperventilation with Retention

Measures

• Mood
• Anxiety
• Resting Heart Rate
• Heart Rate Variability
• Respiration Rate
• Sleep

What were the results?

• Both mindfulness meditation and breathwork groups showed significant reductions in state anxiety and negative affect and increases in positive affect.
• Breathwork, specifically cyclic sighing, is more effective in increasing positive affect than mindfulness meditation.
• Breathwork produces a significantly greater reduction in respiratory rate compared with mindfulness meditation.
• No changes in sleep were observed in any of the groups.​
  ​

What does this mean?

• Daily 5-minute mindfulness meditation and breathwork improve mood and reduced anxiety.
• While meditation and breathwork are both effective, breathwork is more effective.
• Cyclic sighing may be the best option.

Limitations

• This was a remote study, so participants practiced meditation and breathing on their own rather than in a lab setting.
• Data was collected using a WHOOP strap and proprietary algorithms.

Coach's Takeaway

• Meditation and focused breathwork can be valuable for state regulation.
• Using these methods post-training may be valuable for "shifting" the nervous system.
• While the data is not compelling nor specific to post-exercise, I have used these methods to get my athletes to change perspective and bridge the mind-body connection.

When you're ready, I have a couple of ways I can help you grow:

1) Want to join our community of coaches worldwide and increase your coaching knowledge, career, and impact?

​Check out the Applied Performance Coach Course and Certification​

2) Want to learn more about jump analysis with force plates and force plates in general?

​Consider the on-demand Jumping with Force Plates Course​

If you want to get social, give me a follow on Twitter and Instagram by clicking the links below.

​​