I found an intriguing study in a recent Cell Reports Medicine publication, it investigated: Can five minutes of structured breathing improve mood more effectively than mindfulness meditation? The results are both elegant and practical.
The study, titled “Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal”, compared three breathwork techniques with mindfulness meditation. Researchers wanted to know whether controlling the breath—rather than simply observing it—would create stronger changes in mood and stress physiology.
The Study
Participants: 114 adults completed the trial (ages not reported). They had no specific prior training in meditation or breathwork.
Design: This was a randomized, remote-controlled study conducted over 28 days. Participants were assigned to one of four groups:
- Mindfulness meditation (observing the breath without control)
- Cyclic sighing (two quick inhales followed by a long exhale)
- Box breathing (inhale–hold–exhale–hold, equal counts)
- Cyclic hyperventilation with retention (deep, fast inhales with shorter exhales, plus breath-holding) Practice: Each person practiced for 5 minutes per day.
Measures:
- Mood: Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS)
- Anxiety: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI)
- Physiology: Respiratory rate, heart rate, and heart rate variability via wearable sensors
- Other: Sleep quality (self-reported + wearable metrics)
What They Found
- Both mindfulness and breathwork helped: All groups saw reduced anxiety and improved mood.
- Breathwork pulled ahead: Participants doing breathwork had greater improvements in positive mood compared to mindfulness.
- Cyclic sighing stood out: This technique produced the strongest gains in mood and the largest drop in respiratory rate.
- Faster feedback mattered: Participants felt the benefits immediately after practice, which helped them stick with the routine.
Why This Matters
From a career and productivity standpoint, these findings are striking. A 5-minute exhale-heavy breathing drill minutes is shorter than most coffee breaks. A technique that reliably boosts mood and calm your body quickly is an useful and practical tool before a big meeting, presentation, or when switching between tasks.
Why This Happens
Breath is one of the few body systems we can control directly. By extending exhales, cyclic sighing increases vagal tone—the “rest and digest” response of the nervous system. This reduces arousal and signals calm to the brain.
Researchers also note that perceived control matters: unlike mindfulness meditation, where the goal is passive observation, breathwork gives you the sense that you are steering your body’s state. That sense of control is powerful for reducing anxiety.
Implications / Benefits
- Five minutes a day is enough to improve mood
- Breathwork may work faster than meditation for stress relief
- Exhale-focused breathing (like sighing) is especially effective
- Quick feedback loops (feeling better right away) help with habit adherence
How You Can Try This
Here’s a simple cyclic sighing exercise you can do right now:
- Sit or lie down comfortably. Set a 5-minute timer.
- Double inhale: Inhale through your nose; when full, take a second shorter sniff to “top off.”
- Long exhale: Slowly exhale through the mouth until the lungs are empty.
- Repeat this pattern at a relaxed pace for the full 5 minutes. If light-headed, pause and breathe normally.
Try a 7-day experiment: do 5 minutes of cyclic sighing before your most stressful daily event, and jot a 1-line mood note, so you can track the results.
Final Thoughts
This study shows that something as simple as how we breathe can meaningfully shape how we feel. While mindfulness remains a valuable long-term practice, structured breathwork may be the faster tool when you need an immediate reset.
Technical Summary
TL;DR
- Study: 28-day randomized trial comparing 5-minute daily breathwork vs. mindfulness.
- Finding: Breathwork improved positive mood more than mindfulness; cyclic sighing worked best. Respiratory rate dropped more with breathwork.
- Why does it matter: A short, free technique you can do at your desk can lift mood and calm your body fast.
A study in Cell Reports Medicine, titled “Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal,” tested whether a simple 5-minute breathing routine can beat mindfulness for mood. The researchers compared three breathwork styles with mindfulness over 28 days.
The trial randomly assigned adults to one of four conditions: mindfulness meditation (control) or one of three breathwork protocols—cyclic sighing (exhale-focused with a “double inhale”), box breathing (equal inhale/hold/exhale), or cyclic hyperventilation with breath retention (longer inhales). Participants practiced 5 minutes daily for 28 days and completed brief mood and anxiety surveys immediately before and after each session; a wearable tracked respiratory rate, heart rate, and HRV. Breathwork—especially cyclic sighing—produced greater increases in positive affect and larger reductions in respiratory rate than mindfulness, while both approaches reduced negative affect and state anxiety within sessions.
Methods Overview
This was a fully remote, randomized controlled study conducted during 2020. Eligible adults (n=108) were mailed a WHOOP wrist strap for physiology monitoring and were instructed via pre-recorded videos. They did one 5-minute daily exercise for 28 days and filled out short surveys (PANAS, STAI-state) right before and right after each session. Resting respiratory rate, heart rate, and HRV were recorded passively.
Breathwork protocols were standardized: cyclic sighing (inhale, brief second inhale, long exhale), box breathing (equal inhale-hold-exhale-hold), and cyclic hyperventilation with short exhale plus brief retention; mindfulness involved passive attention to the breath.
Study Design Snapshot
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Design | Remote randomized controlled, repeated-measures over 28 days; NCT05304000 (retrospective registration). |
| Participants | 108 adults; recruited mainly from a Stanford undergraduate class; English-proficient; key medical/psychiatric exclusions applied. |
| Intervention / Exposure | Daily 5-minute assigned protocol (cyclic sighing, box breathing, or cyclic hyperventilation with retention) or mindfulness for 28 days; video-guided. |
| Comparator | Mindfulness meditation (passive breath attention). |
| Outcome Measures | Daily pre/post: PANAS (positive/negative affect), STAI-state; physiology: respiratory rate, heart rate, HRV via WHOOP. |
| Follow-up Length | 28 days; no post-study follow-up. |
| Statistical Analysis | Within-group: paired Wilcoxon on daily pre-post change. Between-group: linear mixed-effects models; for some figures/tests, Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis with Bonferroni-Holm corrections; α=0.05. |
Key Findings
- Breathwork (all three combined) improved daily positive affect more than mindfulness over the month (p = .027). Mean daily positive affect change (post–pre): breathwork +2.87 ± 0.50, mindfulness +1.54 ± 0.56.
- All groups showed significant within-session boosts in positive affect: cyclic sighing +3.29 ± 0.49, box breathing +2.91 ± 0.95, cyclic hyperventilation +2.63 ± 0.70, mindfulness +1.54 ± 0.56 (all p < .05).
- Cyclic sighing outperformed other breathwork groups for mood over time; it also showed the largest respiratory-rate reduction vs mindfulness.
- Both mindfulness and breathwork produced within-session reductions in negative affect each day (all groups p < .05).
- All groups reduced state anxiety within sessions (p < .05), with smaller between-group differences on this measure.
- Across the month, respiratory rate decreased more with breathwork than with mindfulness; cyclic sighing’s slope was significantly lower (Figure 4; p < .05).
- Physiology–mood link: Lower daily respiratory rate correlated with higher positive affect (r = −0.24, p < .05). Group sizes & adherence: Randomized: mindfulness n=24; cyclic sighing n=30; box n=21; cyclic hyperventilation n=33. Average practice days: mindfulness 17.71 ± 9.25, breathwork 19.61 ± 7.73 (of 28).
Limitations Stated by Authors
- Four-week study; no longer-term follow-up.
- Small per-group samples, limiting power for head-to-head breathwork comparisons.
- Adherence inferred from survey completion; better time-stamping is needed.
Critical Notes
- Unblinded behavioral study; expectancy effects possible. (Not explicitly blinded; remote self-report design.)
- Group imbalance due to household allocation (to avoid protocol mixing).
- Population skew (many undergraduates) limits generalizability.
- Industry link: devices donated; author advisory role to device company (declared). Bottom line we can stand on: Brief, exhale-emphasized breathwork (cyclic sighing) produces larger mood gains and respiratory-rate reductions than mindfulness over 28 days.
Paper Quality ( 🟡 Moderate)
One-line verdict* — Solid randomized design with clear outcomes, but small groups, self-report measures, and remote adherence limit certainty.
| Criterion | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Randomisation & blinding | 🟡 Moderate | Randomized controlled design; no participant blinding; household-based allocation created group imbalance. |
| Sample size & power | 🟡 Moderate | Total N=108; per-group Ns small; authors note limited power for between-breathwork comparisons. |
| Attrition / adherence | 🟡 Moderate | ~18–20 of 28 days completed on average; daily self-report used to infer adherence. |
| Conflicts of interest | 🟡 Moderate | WHOOP donated devices; one author became a WHOOP advisor (declared). |
Glossary
- PANAS: A short checklist rating positive and negative feelings “right now.” Used to track mood.
- STAI (State): Questionnaire for current anxiety level.
- Respiratory rate (RR): Breaths per minute; lower RR generally reflects calmer physiology.
- HRV (Heart Rate Variability): Beat-to-beat variation in heart rate; a marker of autonomic balance.
- Cyclic sighing: Two inhales (second is shorter), then a long, slow exhale. Exhale-focused.
- Box breathing: Equal inhale–hold–exhale–hold counts (e.g., 4-4-4-4).
- Cyclic hyperventilation with retention: Deep breaths with passive short exhales, then brief holds after a full exhale.
Suggested Reads
- Russo, M.A., Santarelli, D.M., & O’Rourke, D. (2017). The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human. Breathe, 13, 298–309.
- Bernardi, L., Gabutti, A., Porta, C., & Spicuzza, L. (2001). # Slow breathing reduces chemoreflex response… J Hypertens, 19, 2221–2229.
- Zelano, C., et al. (2016). Nasal respiration entrains human limbic oscillations and modulates cognitive function. J Neurosci, 36, 12448–12467.