Science

Conscious Connected Breathwork (CCB)—deep, steady breathing without pauses between inhales and exhales—shows early promise across several areas like anxiety relief, trauma healing, mood boosts, stress reduction, dream-like mind states, and body/brain changes. These come from small studies, case reports, and lab experiments, but bigger, longer-term trials are needed to confirm them fully.

Anxiety Relief

The strongest evidence comes from a study of 107 adults (mostly women, average age 41, 79% white) with at least mild anxiety (Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale scores ≥35, meaning noticeable daily interference). They did six weekly 90-minute online group sessions: 10-15 min intro/safety check, 5 min grounding, 40 min continuous mouth-breathing while lying down (eyes open for safety monitoring via Zoom), 10 min cooldown, and 15-30 min optional group sharing. The CCB group dropped 10.56 points on the anxiety scale (from 43.87 to 33.31; large effect, Cohen's d=1.44 within-group), vs. just 1.89 points in a 6-week waitlist group (between-group d=1.02-1.14). Post-session averages fell below the "clinical" cutoff of 35, with biggest drops in those starting severe (23.8 points). Gains held whether people did 5 or 6 sessions.¹

Trauma and PTSD Healing

In one detailed case of a 28-year-old male firefighter with confirmed DSM-5 PTSD (from work stress, possibly linked to birth trauma), eight 32-81 min CCB sessions over ~3 months cleared all PTSD symptoms (CAPS-5 score from diagnostic to zero), plus anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory) and depression (Beck Depression Inventory). Heart rate variability (HRV) before sessions showed patterns of autonomic "blocking" easing over time, supporting the idea that CCB "unlocks" stuck emotional memories and body tremors (like in animal freeze responses), similar to EMDR (eye movements for mental processing) or Somatic Experiencing (gentle body release)—but without therapist directing the memories.²

Mood, Stress, Depression, and Well-Being

A single 45-min guided CCB session (lying down, dim lights, music) in 20 healthy adults (ages 23-39) significantly reduced tension (from 8.36 to 6.5), confusion (9.91 to 8.55), depression (7.09 to 5.68), and neared statistical significance for anger, while raising self-esteem (5.46 to 7.41) on the Profile of Mood States survey—measured right before/after breathwork.³

In 61 experienced breathers doing Holotropic or CCB group sessions (~1.5-3 hours), deeper trance states and lower CO2 predicted better well-being (Warwick-Edinburgh scale up) and less depression (QIDS-16 scale down) one week after the session. The correlation between subjective deeper states and well-being is consistent with similar studies using psilocybin.⁴

Dream-like or Spiritual Experiences

CCB reliably triggers "altered states" like psychedelics but milder: In a healthy adult study, Altered States of Consciousness Scale(11D-ASC) scores matched medium-high psilocybin (mushroom) trips for unity/bliss/insights (oceanic boundlessness), medium visions, but low fear/ego-loss—suggesting uplifting, mystical vibes without panic. In the group study, active CCB/Holotropic breathers hit scores like therapy-dose psilocybin/LSD on unity, ego-dissolve, and insight scales; deeper states were linked to mood gains. These states are hypothesized to help process emotions or gain fresh psychological perspectives.​⁴

Brain Wave and Body Changes

EEG after one CCB session showed less slow-wave activity (delta 1-4Hz fronto-temporal for inhibition; theta 4-8Hz parietal for rumination) and low-beta (12-20Hz parieto-temporal for stress/focus), plus more gamma (30-45Hz right parietal/temporal)—changes linked to calmer, less depressed mood. Depression relief correlated with occipital delta/theta drops. During sessions, steady deep breathing drops end-tidal CO2 to ~20mmHg (vs. normal 35-45), triggering light trance by changing brain blood flow, pH (alkalosis), and nerve excitability; CO2 lows predicted peak "depth" early in sessions. Saliva tests showed sympathetic stress drop and mild inflammation rise, with deeper states tied to balanced responses.​​⁴

Other potential benefits

Early signs for substance rehab (less anxiety/relapse in alcohol cases via Holotropic-style CCB), heart rate variability improvements (better nervous system balance), and possibly personality shifts or emotional regulation from repeated practice—though these are from weaker studies or reviews pooling diverse breathwork. Big reviews of fast-breathing practices (CCB, Holotropic, Rebirthing, yoga types) note consistent short-term wins vs. controls for anxiety/stress/depression, but stress small sizes and variability.⁵

"Established autonomic and neurometabolic effects of hyperventilation clearly support the notion that High Ventilation Breathwork (HVB) can induce profound modulatory effects at various levels of central and autonomous nervous systems, altering their functions and reciprocal interactions, and ultimately impacting high order metacognitive functions that might be relevant to HVBs therapeutic effects. However, direct support for specific clinical application of HVB practice is scarce at present."​⁵

References

1. Blake, R. L. (2026). Efficacy of online conscious connected breathwork in reducing symptoms of anxiety: A randomized waitlist control trial. Journal of Affective Disorders, 394, 120565.

2. de Wit, P. A. J. M., & Moraes Cruz, R. (2021). Treating PTSD with connected breathing: A clinical case study and theoretical implications. European Journal of Trauma & Dissociation, 5(3), 100152.

3. Bahi, C., Irrmischer, M., Franken, K., Fejer, G., Schlenker, A., Deijen, J. B., & Engelbregt, H. (2024). Effects of conscious connected breathing on cortical brain activity, mood and state of consciousness in healthy adults. Current Psychology, 43, 10578–10589.

4. Havenith, M. N., Leidenberger, M., Brasanac, J., Corvacho, M., Figueiredo, I. C., Schwarz, L., Uthaug, M. V., Rakusa, S., Bernardic, M., Vasquez-Mock, L., Pérez-Rosal, S., Carhart-Harris, R., Gold, S. M., Jungaberle, H., & Jungaberle, A. (2025). Decreased CO₂ saturation during circular breathwork supports emergence of altered states of consciousness. Communications Psychology, 3, 59.

5. Fincham, G. W., Kartar, A., Uthaug, M. V., Anderson, B., Hall, L., Nagai, Y., Critchley, H., & Colasanti, A. (2023). High ventilation breathwork practices: An overview of their effects, mechanisms, and considerations for clinical applications. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 155, 105453.