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Effects of Hypoxic Breathwork

Impacts of Rhythmic and Hypoxic Breathwork on EEG, Mood, Sleep, and Physiology

Who can join

Ages 18 to 45 · All sexes · Healthy volunteers welcome

Inclusion Criteria:

* Persons, aged 18-45
* Availability for the duration of the study
* In good general health as revealed by self-report
* Stated willingness and capability to adhere to the breathwork regimen
* Agreement to adhere to Lifestyle Considerations (see section 5.3) throughout study duration
* Provision of signed and dated informed consent form

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Current or past regular breathwork practice
2. Current use of psychoactive medications (e.g., anti-depressants or anxiolytics)
3. Pregnancy
4. Bedtime past 11:30pm or regularly getting less than 6 hours of sleep per night.
5. Feverish illness within 10 days
6. Regular smoker or tobacco user ( \> 1 cigarette, gum or pouch per month)
7. Presence of blood pressure above 140 systolic and/or 90 diastolic, seizure disorder, asthma, or serious cardiac fibrillation disorders.

About the study

This project will study changes that occur during a short period of intensive daily slow-paced breathing and breath hold practice (i.e., "breathwork"). On the first and last days of the week-long practice, investigators will conduct high-density EEG recordings during breathwork to evaluate spectral power, coherence, and causality dynamics of the brain when it is naïve to breathwork and after adaptation to a breathwork practice. Breath, blood, urine, saliva, stool samples, biometric data, and sleep EEG will be collected before the start of daily breathwork practice and again after 1 week of breathwork practice to examine the effect of breathwork on full body biochemistry, molecular biology, and sleep. Investigators will also use questionnaires to assess the impact of breathwork on stress and sleep quality.

What is being tested

• Hypoxic breathwork plus music and messaging (behavioral)
• Hypoxic breathwork only (behavioral)
• Music and messaging meditation (behavioral)

Sponsor: University of California, San Diego · Participants: 75 · Started: Jun 17, 2024

Contact the study team

• Julie Onton, PhD · Phone: 8583362704

Official record on ClinicalTrials.gov — NCT06317259

Locations in the U.S.

From ClinicalTrials.gov, data retrieved Sep 30, 2026. Each study sets its own eligibility; the study team decides who can join.