The effects of six-week slow, controlled breathing exercises on heart rate variability in physically active, healthy individuals

Sürücü, Cihan Erdem; Güner, Sarp; Cüce, Caner; Aras, Dicle; Akça, Fırat; Arslan, Erşan; Birol, Abdulkadir; Uğurlu, Alkan

doi:10.15561/10.15561/26649837.2021.0101

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…Tharion et al (2012) found that individuals practicing breathing at 6 breaths per minute for 1 month experienced decreased resting breathing rate and increased resting HF HRV. Sürücü et al (2021) found increased HF and LF HRV and an increased LF/HF ratio in healthy adults that practiced 6 breaths per minute breathing. Van Diest et al (2014) also determined that breathing at 6 breaths per minute leads to higher HRV than 12 breaths per minute.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Integrating Breathing Techniques Into Psychotherapy to Improve HRV: Which Approach Is Best?

et al. 2021

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IntroductionApproaches to improve heart rate variability and reduce stress such as breathing retraining are more frequently being integrated into psychotherapy but little research on their effectiveness has been done to date. Specifically, no studies to date have directly compared using a breathing pacer at 6 breaths per minute with compassion focused soothing rhythm breathing.Current StudyIn this randomized controlled experiment, 6 breaths per minute breathing using a pacer was compared with compassion focused soothing rhythm breathing, with a nature video being used as a control group condition.MethodsHeart rate variability (HRV) measures were assessed via electrocardiogram (ECG) and respiration belt, and an automated blood pressure machine was used to measure systolic diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate (HR). A total of 96 participants were randomized into the three conditions. Following a 5-min baseline, participants engaged in either 6 breath per minute breathing, soothing rhythm breathing, or watched a nature video for 10 min. To induce a stressful state, participants then wrote for 5 min about a time they felt intensely self-critical. Participants then wrote for 5 min about a time they felt self-compassionate, and the experiment ended with a 10-min recovery period.ResultsConditions did not significantly differ at baseline. Overall, HRV, as measured by standard deviation of NN intervals (SDNN), low frequency HRV (LF HRV), and LF/HF ratio, increased during the intervention period, decreased during self-critical writing, and then returned to baseline levels during the recovery period. High frequency HRV (HF HRV) was not impacted by any of the interventions. The participants in the 6 breath per minute pacer condition were unable to consistently breathe at that rate and averaged about 12 breaths per minute. Time by Condition analyses revealed that both the 6 breaths per minute pacer and soothing breathing rhythm conditions lead to significantly higher SDNN than the nature video condition during breathing practice but there were no significant differences between conditions in response to the self-critical and self-compassionate writing or recovery periods. The 6 breath per minute pacer condition demonstrated a higher LF HRV and LF/HF ratio than the soothing rhythm breathing condition, and both intervention conditions had a higher LF HRV and LF/HF ratio than the nature video.ConclusionsAlthough the 6 breath per minute pacer condition participants were not able to breath consistently at the low pace, both the participants attempting to breathe at 6 breaths per minute as well as those in the soothing rhythm breathing condition effectively increased HR variability as measured by SDNN, and attempting to breathe at 6 breaths per minute led to the highest LF HRV and LF/HF ratio. Both breathing approaches impacted HRV more than watching a relaxing nature video and can potentially be used as key adjuncts in psychotherapy to aid in regulating physiological functioning, although it appears that consistent breathing practice would be needed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Integrating Breathing Techniques Into Psychotherapy to Improve HRV: Which Approach Is Best?

et al. 2021

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“…Although baseline RSA has been implicated in developmental outcomes related to children's allostatic load (Hinnant et al., 2013), it is unclear whether interventions could alter baseline RSA in children. Recent evaluations of breathing interventions revealed that 4 or 6 weeks of brief weekly breathing exercises can yield significant increases in baseline RSA levels in small adult samples (Lin, 2018; Sürücü et al., 2021) and decreases in HR in adolescents (Gregoski et al., 2011). Future research should extend this work to children and examine whether regular deep breathing practice can have a sustained effect on baseline RSA levels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taking a few deep breaths significantly reduces children's physiological arousal in everyday settings: Results of a preregistered video intervention

Obradović

Sulik

Armstrong‐Carter

2021

Developmental Psychobiology

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This preregistered, randomized field experiment tested the effectiveness of a brief deep breathing intervention on children's concurrent physiological arousal in naturalistic settings (N = 342; M age = 7.48 years; 46% female; 53% Asian, 26% White; 21% other race/ethnicity). The treatment consisted of an animated video that introduced deep breathing as a self-regulation strategy and scaffolded the child in taking a few slow-paced breaths, while the control group watched an informational video featuring similar animated images. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and heart rate (HR) were measured while children were sitting still (baseline) and subsequently while watching 1-min videos. Relative to baseline arousal, RSA increased and HR decreased only in response to the deep-breathing treatment video. Effects were larger in the second 30-s epoch of the video, which included most of the deep breathing practice. RSA fully mediated the intervention's effects on HR. By analyzing all children exposed to intervention video regardless of their engagement in the deep breathing practice (intention-to-treat design) and by using easily scalable treatment videos, the study identifies an effective and pragmatic approach to reducing children's physiological arousal in everyday, group settings. Implications for advancing applied developmental psychophysiological research are discussed.

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The effects of six-week slow, controlled breathing exercises on heart rate variability in physically active, healthy individuals

Cited by 2 publications

References 31 publications

Integrating Breathing Techniques Into Psychotherapy to Improve HRV: Which Approach Is Best?

Integrating Breathing Techniques Into Psychotherapy to Improve HRV: Which Approach Is Best?

Taking a few deep breaths significantly reduces children's physiological arousal in everyday settings: Results of a preregistered video intervention

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