u/BreathBall_App — reddlx

What seems to matter more for acute anxiety: slower breathing or breath ratio?

I found this study interesting because it looks at a very practical question: when people use slow diaphragmatic breathing for anxiety, what matters more, breathing slower or tweaking the inhale/exhale ratio? In this 2024 study, 828 participants completed a single 10-minute guided breathing session online. Breathing rate was varied between 6 and 12 breaths per minute, while inhale/exhale ratios were also systematically adjusted. The main finding was that slower breathing rates were associated with lower post-exercise anxiety, while the inhale/exhale ratio did not show a significant relationship with anxiety outcomes. That seems useful because it points toward a simpler takeaway: if the goal is acute anxiety reduction, slowing down may matter more than fine-tuning the ratio. Of course, this was a one-session study, so it says more about immediate effects than long-term practice. Curious whether people here find that intuitive, or whether you expected the inhale/exhale ratio to matter more. Source: Czub M, Kowal M, Esteve Zarazaga R, Serrano-Ibáñez ER, Ruíz-Párraga GT, Ramírez-Maestre C, López-Martínez AE, Paccione C, Piskorz J (2024). A slow diaphragmatic breathing intervention for anxiety: How do respiration rate and inhalation/exhalation ratio influence self-reported anxiety? Stress and Health, 40(6), e3496. DOI: 10.1002/smi.3496 Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/smi.3496

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u/BreathBall_App — 1 day ago

▲ 4 r/breathwork

Null findings like this are useful for breathwork too

I think null findings like this are useful, especially in sports where breathing practices are often assumed to help recovery. In this 2026 randomized study, 34 participants completed 4 weeks of supervised sprint interval training. The intervention group also practiced slow-paced breathing after each session and every evening before bed. Researchers tracked running performance, vagally mediated HRV, and sleep-related recovery metrics. Both groups improved through the training itself, but the breathing add-on did not produce extra gains in performance, HRV, or sleep. Unexpectedly, nocturnal heart rate even rose slightly in the breathing group over time. That does not mean slow breathing is useless in sport. It just means it did not add value in this specific high-intensity recovery context. To me, that is exactly the kind of result people should know before turning one method into a universal rule. Curious whether people here see null findings as discouraging, or actually more useful for practice. Source: Raidl P, Wessner B, Laister S, Csapo R (2026). No Evidence for the Efficacy of Slow-Paced Breathing as a Recovery Strategy After Sprint Interval Training. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 21(2), 302-311. DOI: 10.1123/ijspp.2025-0138 Link: https://doi.org/10.1123/ijspp.2025-0138

u/BreathBall_App — 8 days ago

▲ 5 r/breathwork

I liked this paper because it pushes breathing research beyond the usual stress relief frame. In this 2026 randomized controlled trial, 54 community-dwelling older adults aged 65 to 75 were assigned to diaphragmatic breathing, diaphragmatic breathing plus diaphragmatic mobilization, or a control group. The intervention was done twice weekly for 8 weeks, and the outcomes included balance, gait performance, lower-extremity strength, fear of falling, fatigue, and quality of life. The results showed significant group-by-time effects across most outcome measures, suggesting that the breathing-based interventions improved several functional outcomes compared with control. That seems important because it positions diaphragmatic breathing as something potentially relevant to mobility and daily function, not just relaxation. It is still a specific rehab-style intervention, so I would not generalize it too broadly. But I think it raises a good question: do we underestimate breathing-based interventions when they are used outside the usual stress-management context? Source: Nazir S, Mathiyakom W, Tassawar MA, Tantisuwat A (2026). The effect of diaphragmatic breathing and diaphragmatic mobilization on physical performance, fear of falling, and quality of life in community-dwelling older adults: A randomized controlled trial. PLOS One, 21(1), e0339868. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0339868 Link: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0339868

u/BreathBall_App — 15 days ago

▲ 4 r/breathwork

I thought this was a genuinely interesting breathwork paper because it looked beyond self-report and into biology. In a 2023 randomized controlled trial, 55 people with panic disorder were assigned either to 4 weeks of slow-paced breathing with HRV biofeedback or to an active sham biofeedback control. The study measured HRV and pro-inflammatory cytokines, including TNF-alpha and IL-6. The key result was that the slow-paced breathing + HRV biofeedback group showed increased vagally mediated HRV and reduced TNF-alpha, while the sham group did not show the same intervention effect. That doesn’t prove breathing fixes panic disorder, but it does suggest that this kind of intervention may influence not just subjective state, but also physiological pathways linked to inflammation. To me, that makes the result more interesting than a typical people felt calmer finding. Curious how people here interpret this kind of evidence: is it more convincing, or just a more complicated marker of the same thing? Source: Herhaus B, Conrad R, Petrowski K (2023). Effect of a slow-paced breathing with heart rate variability biofeedback intervention on pro-inflammatory cytokines in individuals with panic disorder - A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Affective Disorders, 326, 132-138. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.091 Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.091

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u/BreathBall_App — 22 days ago