Non-ordinary states of consciousness evoked by breathwork correlate with improved heart-rate variability
- 1Department of Psychology, University of Torino
- 2Zero-Noise Lab, Ernst-Strüngmann Institute for Neuroscience
Abstract
High-ventilation breathwork is a breathing practice that involves deep, accelerated breathing over an extended duration (> 15 min). Variants of this technique appear across diverse traditions, from Pranayama to Holotropic and Conscious-Connected breathwork (CCB), and have been reported to benefit physical and mental health, often by evoking non-ordinary states of consciousness. However, scientific research on the effects and mechanisms of high-ventilation breathwork is still in its infancy. This study examines the physiological and experiential effects of CCB. Specifically, we characterize subjective breathwork experiences using Natural Language Processing analyses of semi-structured phenomenological interviews, and relate them to changes in heart-rate variability. Finally, to disentangle the effects of the breathing technique itself from context effects, we tested whether accompanying the session with music altered its impact. Our findings show that CCB consistently triggers non-ordinary states of consciousness, intensifies emotional experience, and leads to reduced HRV during the session, but increased HRV post-session. Notably, this post-session increase in HRV was larger for subjects who experienced a wider range of emotions during the session, but not predicted by HRV fluctuations during the session. This suggests that post-session HRV improvements might be a product of emotional release (catharsis) rather than a purely physiological stress adaptation (hormesis, i.e., an adaptive improvement in function following time-limited, manageable physiological stress). Finally, none of these effects were significantly impacted by music, underscoring the central role of the breathing practice itself.
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BibTeX
@article{canello2026nonordinary,
title = {{Non-ordinary states of consciousness evoked by breathwork correlate with improved heart-rate variability}},
author = {Tiziano Canello and Alejandro Tlaie and Kamlesh Chalise and Marieke L. Schölvinck and Lorenzo Pia and Martha N. Havenith},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-59995-6},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-59995-6},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Non-ordinary states of consciousness evoked by breathwork correlate with improved heart-rate variability
AU - Tiziano Canello
AU - Alejandro Tlaie
AU - Kamlesh Chalise
AU - Marieke L. Schölvinck
AU - Lorenzo Pia
AU - Martha N. Havenith
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-59995-6
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-59995-6
AB - High-ventilation breathwork is a breathing practice that involves deep, accelerated breathing over an extended duration (> 15 min). Variants of this technique appear across diverse traditions, from Pranayama to Holotropic and Conscious-Connected breathwork (CCB), and have been reported to benefit physical and mental health, often by evoking non-ordinary states of consciousness. However, scientific research on the effects and mechanisms of high-ventilation breathwork is still in its infancy. This study examines the physiological and experiential effects of CCB. Specifically, we characterize subjective breathwork experiences using Natural Language Processing analyses of semi-structured phenomenological interviews, and relate them to changes in heart-rate variability. Finally, to disentangle the effects of the breathing technique itself from context effects, we tested whether accompanying the session with music altered its impact. Our findings show that CCB consistently triggers non-ordinary states of consciousness, intensifies emotional experience, and leads to reduced HRV during the session, but increased HRV post-session. Notably, this post-session increase in HRV was larger for subjects who experienced a wider range of emotions during the session, but not predicted by HRV fluctuations during the session. This suggests that post-session HRV improvements might be a product of emotional release (catharsis) rather than a purely physiological stress adaptation (hormesis, i.e., an adaptive improvement in function following time-limited, manageable physiological stress). Finally, none of these effects were significantly impacted by music, underscoring the central role of the breathing practice itself.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -