Psychophysiological Effects of Controlled Respiration and Mindfulness
The investigators aim to understand the effectiveness of 3 types of breathwork exercises and a mindfulness meditation control on improving psychological and physiological measures of wellbeing. The interventions will be delivered remotely and effects are monitored through daily surveys and physiological monitoring with WHOOP wristband through a 28-day period. The information gained will help develop the most effective remote interventions for lowering stress and improving wellbeing. The study will be run on a healthy general population. The three breathing conditions were 1) Cyclic Sighing, which emphasizes relatively prolonged exhalations, 2) Box Breathing, which is equal duration of inhalations, breath retentions, exhalations and breath retentions, and 3) Cyclic Hyperventilation with Retention, with longer, more intense inhalations and shorter, passive exhalations. Mindfulness Meditation practice involved passive attention to breath.
Stanford is currently not accepting patients for this trial.
Stanford Investigator(s):
Intervention(s):
- behavioral: Mindfulness Meditation
- behavioral: Cyclic Sighing Breathing
- behavioral: Box Breathing
- behavioral: Cyclic Hyperventilation with Retention
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- Age ≥ 18
- Not pregnant
- Able to follow basic instruction for prescreen and scheduling
- Compliant with investigator instructions during the consent process and participation
in the study
Exclusion Criteria:
- Age <18
- Pregnant
- Non-English speaking
- Anyone with personality disorders or psychosis such as schizoaffective disorder
- Demonstrates evidence of severe psychiatric disorder in prescreen or email contact (as
judged by Dr. Spiegel)
- Glaucoma
- History of seizures
- Suicidal
- Heart disease (based on PI's clinical judgement, dependent on the severity of the
symptoms)
- Current untreated psychosis, or bipolar disorder, or substance/alcohol
abuse/dependence (based on PI's clinical judgement, dependent on the severity of the
symptoms)
- Any Medical condition that could be exasperated by study participation (based on PI's
clinical judgement)
- Non USA mailing address to receive the WHOOP strap
- Vision or hearing impairment severe enough to interfere with study participation,
Ages Eligible for Study
18 Years - N/A
Genders Eligible for Study
All
Not currently accepting new patients for this trial
Contact Information
Stanford University
School of Medicine
300 Pasteur Drive
Stanford,
CA
94305
Not Recruiting