Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: A meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials

Abstract Deliberate control of the breath (breathwork) has recently received an unprecedented surge in public interest and breathing techniques have therapeutic potential to improve mental health. Our meta-analysis primarily aimed to evaluate the efficacy of breathwork through examining whether, and to what extent, breathwork interventions were associated with lower levels of self-reported/subjective stress compared to non-breathwork controls. We searched PsycInfo, PubMed, ProQuest, Scopus, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov and ISRCTN up to February 2022, initially identifying 1325 results. The primary outcome self-reported/subjective stress included 12 randomised-controlled trials ( k = 12) with a total of…

• SA
  Sylff Association
• ID
  Instituto de Salud Carlos III

  Awards: CP21/00080, CIBERESP CB22/02/00052, CB22/02/00052