Breath is vital to our life – both for physiological and psychological well-being. Studies and practices show voluntary slowing down of breath is not only meditative but relaxing too, however the debate continues on how breath can impact psychophysiological conditions. Slow breathing techniques change breath patterns which enhance psychological, cerebral and behavioral outputs that increase comfort, energy, alertness, reducing chance of anxiety, depression and distress.
We all know breath is very closely linked with mental functions and has been an essential aspect of most meditative practices which are not only followed by yogis and wellness experts but also the military forces. In Eastern culture it is acknowledged that cognitive aspects of meditation achieve altered state of consciousness. However, in the West the common belief is breath control has major benefits on the health, such as wellness and stress reduction, but there is very little attention to know the nuances of breath control on neural correlates of mental functions. Breath seems to be restrained as an additional role in comparison to other mechanisms such as cognitive or affective one. In findings from a systematic review article from frontiersin.org it shows how researchers are correlating slow breathing and breath control techniques to improve psychophysiological conditions.
