Altered states of consciousness induced by breathwork accompanied by music

Here is the direct link for the breathing technique:

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/asset?unique&id=inf...

I would probably end up mainly focusing on how cringey this prompt is.

Hah, you remind me of how I basically had to learn to ignore the "wellness instructor ASMR" voice used in audio guides to yoga, mindfulness, and so on. And of my sister who did her biology PhD on breathwork as an intervention method for pregnant women, which also involved selecting and sending out mindfullness audio-guides of that kind to pregnant women who were part of the research. By the end of it she swore that if she ever had to listen to someone using that kind of voice again she'd lose her mind.

On that note, you might find the Medlife Crisis' video where he investigates the genre of "people roleplaying as doctors giving you a check-up using an ASMR voice" entertaining, and also enlightening on why some people do like it[0]. Don't worry, it doesn't feature too many actual clips of that.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33QoTKgYKDI

It's just 2 paragraphs for the lazy:

Participants were guided through pre-recorded audio instructions accompanied with evocative ambient music played through a speaker in the lab to breathe normally for 10 minutes (baseline) then engage in HVB, encouraged by the tempo of the music progressively increasing to the end of HVB. Some examples of the recorded instructions are presented below.

“Mouth wide open, pulling on the inhale, that’s it. No pauses at the top of the inhale, or the bottom of the exhale. Full body breaths. Breathing in to your whole body. Keep breathing. Getting comfortable, finding your rhythm. Keep going. As you’re breathing, it’s now time to let go of any intention you have, of any expectations you have, just focusing on the breath. Keep going. Active inhale, passive exhale. The music is going to keep on rising, so fall into the rhythm and let your breath guide you. Your job is just to keep breathing, pulling on that inhale. Surrendering to the exhale. Keep that breathing circular, that’s it. Keep going. Whatever sensations you’re feeling, let them come, let them rise, enjoy them. Stay focused. Give yourself fully to the breath. It’s your closest friend. It will be with you from the moment of your birth and stay by your side until you die. You can trust it.”

Makes me want to make the opposite, meditation prompts using the Powerthirst mode of presentation, or Shia LeBeef's motivational clips.

What did your sister study specifically? It was not hyperemesis gravidarum by chance, was it?

> encouraged by the tempo of the music progressively increasing to the end of HVB

How does this part work? No real music does this so did they make their own for the study? Or do they select songs that change tempo subtley from one to the next?

It's sometimes called "circular breathing." There are a few versions of an active breathing meditation called Quantum Light Breath (which has nothing to do with either quantum mechanics or light). It's definitely worth trying.

They could have made their own, but it's really not that uncommon for music to slowly increase in tempo. Some styles of music use it more than others - for instance, ceremonial drumming might start out extremely slow and build to a frantic climax. But it's also fairly normal for musicians who are playing live, rather than to a click, to speed up when the music gets more intense.

No, her work was on determining the actual effectiveness of various stress reduction interventions on pregnant women:

“Physical Activity, Mindfulness Meditation, or Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback for Stress Reduction: A Randomized Controlled Trial”

I also misremembered, breathwork wasn't directly looked at as an intervention method, but I believe the HRV biofeedback did involve it to some degree.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10484-015-9293-x

> which has nothing to do with either quantum mechanics or light

As is tradition with these kinds of things.

No real music gradually increases tempo? Isn't that like sailors hornpipe, kalinka, and various other russian folk songs?

Should i have clarified "no music you can find online or otherwise make use of in any way"? I appreciate the honest effort to come up with things! I'll see if i can find that anywhere and of appropriate length.

I'm all for ceremonial drumming but there's gotta be a specific pace that fits their definition of "progressively" and i feel like that detail is lacking. Maybe there's more in the paper proper but the appendix is quite vague.

> Keep breathing. Getting comfortable

Is it just me or is this commonly discomfort-inducing? Hyperventilation is so associated with anxiety and panic that I don’t see how anything remotely pleasant can come of this. Assuming one’s acid-base balance and oxygenation are normal, I don’t quite see the point here.