Overview

• Researchers tested experienced practitioners completing 20–30 minute fast cyclic breathing sessions with music across remote, laboratory, and MRI settings involving 15, 8, and 19 participants, respectively.
• Global cerebral blood flow fell during sessions, while the right amygdala and anterior hippocampus showed progressive increases and the left operculum and posterior insula showed decreases linked to stronger ‘oceanic boundlessness.’
• Participants consistently reported psychedelic-like experiences characterized by unity and bliss, alongside reductions in fear and negative emotions.
• The intensity of altered states correlated with sympathetic activation, indicated by decreased heart rate variability during breathwork.
• The exploratory study lacked an active control to separate music effects and drew from small, experienced samples, so the authors caution that therapeutic potential remains to be tested with larger controlled studies.