For someone with no connection to surfing at all, could you elaborate? Why is surfing special, or different from other sports, in needing to control your breathing?

I also tend to use my freediving experience for the opposite, when I'm highly stressed I tend to do one or two short (full exhale) breath holds to calm down. This works amazingly quickly and let's me refocus. Note, this will probably not work for untrained individuals.

I'm in a bad spot because I love swimming but I can barely hold my breath for 20s.

Is it healthy to get into a near death experience just to get something done?

Why is it "bad" to be in a lethargic state?

Have you ever asked yourself these questions?

I have a degree in building science, so maybe I can chime in. Note of caution: you will find yourself breathing heavily after reading this. It's normal.

We do a terrible job at ventilating our indoor spaces. As a cave-dwelling species our brains are quite comfortable with tuning out bad smells and tolerating stale air -- but the effect of it on our mode and well-being is almost immediate. You don't notice the effect, but it is there.

That's why they tell you if the airplane's cabin depressurizes, put on your own mask first. People who don't manage to that quickly enough their eyes stay open, they don't even feel anything is wrong, but they are physically unable to put on their masks until they pass out.

If not eating proper food kills you in 3 weeks, not breathing proper air kills you in 3 minutes. Yet, people spend thousands of dollars on a new diet, but have no idea what kind of stuff are going into their lungs.

The situation is not life and death. It's feeling nice versus feeling low. People end up with indoor air that is often stale and full of volatile compounds. We often make it worse by using essential oil diffusers and not using the vent hood when cooking.

When you do a breathing exercise, all of a sudden you are giving your starving brain a dose of what it could be like. When you have a walk in the nature, you do the same.

So yes, breathing exercises are great, but it's even better if we fix our indoor environments to feel great at all times.

>Together, those often cause euphoria, altered states of consciousness, and cognitive shifts not too far off from psychedelics.

It must vary between people, because no matter the environment if I breath too eager, whether on purpose or accidentally (like working out) it just becomes really hard to think, everything starts to tingle and all my muscles lock up. A very not-fun time. Also dangerous with weights.

Very much on point.

That said when facilitate breathwork sessions i trade the peaceful hippie music for edm (and it actually works better because it encourages people to stay with the rhythm and get into the same mildly trance-like state you might get into while exercising to repetitive music).

What you described is indeed true. There are breathing sessions at the Lifetime gym provide exactly the condition. People involved were amazed by the effect on their metal state.

I'm a philosopher, not a medical professional. But I can tell you that philosophy and deep breathing are inextricably linked. Breathing deeply in of itself is a philosophical exercise, one that centers and grounds oneself in the here and now of the universe that surrounds you, and the universe that lies deep within you. It's a cosmic balance between the metaphysical and the empirical. As a philosopher, one must be able to breathe deeply, so one can breathe in, hold, and spew out the deepest and most esoteric pearls of knowledge unto the masses.

Put on a five-minute song and start hyperventilating. You can tell pretty quick.

Your summary is exact. Medical personnel here

This is a bit off topic, but what do you think about people doing nitrous recreationally? It's always concerned me that people are inhaling close to pure nitrous oxide and holding it in. I've always wondered if this creates damaging low-oxygen conditions without the normal reflexes kicking in, and if this can cause brain/neuronal damage.

I believe in medical settings it's delivered in a mixture with O2, but in recreational settings it's usually inhaled directly.

I see a lot more talk about the risks of vitamin B12 depletion, and not much talk about O2 deprivation, so not sure if everyone else is crazy or if it's me who is the crazy one.

As a Neuroscientist and breathwork facilitator, do you think there is any harm in intentional apnea (e.g. free diving, static holds, ect)?

At what point does cell damage (not necessarily death), kick in? As someone involved in these sports, I operate under the assumption that any damage would kick in after loss of consciousness. For example, if I hold my breath, even for 4 or 5 minutes but dont pass out, that is an indication I am still in the range of safe practice. Anecdotally, I know many people who have spent their lives doing breathholds, and they dont seem any worse for wear.

Are there any high quality studies that look at potential brain damage prior to loss of consciousness?

Intense but did you get any lasting change from it? Are you still practicing? I did some breathwork and disturbed something with my natural breathing pattern. For about two weeks I had insomnias and was constantly lightheaded. Im reluctant to try again..

What kind of breathwork? Is it kind of the same as box breathing? That’s breathing in for four seconds, holding it in for four, exhaling and pausing all for four seconds.

Why not make it a daily habit now?

" find my mind just doesn't want to go beyond about 5-10 minutes of breathing, vs the 30 minutes I did in breathwork sessions."

Same for me. I did a workshop with Wim Hof and the breathing exercises were great with really profound effects. But I couldn't make myself practicing at home with the same intensity regularly. I also developed a pretty bad cough after a few weeks. Probably from the dry air where I live.

it's an incredibly hard workout, depending on the style you're actually using a lot of muscles that you don't typically exercise, so your body wants to naturally give up after a while. it took me probably 6-8 sessions until I could reliably do one myself.

I hate getting startled, even when I realize right away that there is nothing to worry about. But the physiological effects, once set in motion, carry on. My heart seems to skip a beat and then rev up to a high rate and it's uncomfortable, taking some time to come back down to normal.

Some years ago, I discovered a technique to suppress the effect of being startled. I just breathe in sharply, using mostly my diagphragm, before my heartrate goes up and it keeps things normal as usual. I wonder if this is also using the vagus nerve to suppress being startled?

I encourage you and everyone else interested to attend a Holotropic Breathwork session to truly grasp the profound impact your breath can have on your mind. This is nothing like your regular five-minute yoga breathing exercise, boxed breathing, or even the Wim Hof breathing. It's a completely different level. These sessions typically last 3 to 5 hours and take place in a safe, supportive setting with a dedicated sitter and experienced facilitators.

And please don’t try this stuff alone at home.

Did you check the co2 levels on your office? that could be one reason.

Surveying people is pretty important in a study like this, and valid science.

Regardless, if you read the paper, you'd learn that they did do objective measurements, namely etCO2 levels and bio-markers from saliva.

Of note: "when etCO2 fell below approx. 20 mmHg, it was virtually guaranteed to trigger at least some (and often a strong) departure from ordinary waking consciousness. This effect is particularly intriguing because in non-breathwork-related circumstances, an etCO2 of 20 mmHg or less would be considered a sign of severe physiological malfunctions, e.g. of the heart or lungs"

But anyone who tried breathwork, especially in group settings with accompanying music, knows such practices can lead to intense trance-like states.

At what level do you experience euphoria? Say on a scale of a low dose of codeine to a standard dose of heroin? Or is it more like the euphoria you get from running? Or the euphoria you get from tripping? Or the euphoria associated with some strains of cannabis? Or the euphoria associated with amphetamines? Or the euphoria associated with ethanol consumption?

Sivananda teaches pranayama as part of their core practice. They are based globally with multiple ashrams in the US.

https://sivanandayogafarm.org/

I'm not sure about other forms of respiratory alkalosis, but I do know that it's quite common for people to claim that breath work leads to altered states of consciousness.

Very unlikely. Here's a back of the envelope calculation: The human energy requirement per day is about 9MJ. This corresponds to about 500g sugar (or starch), which releases around 750g CO2. Metabolic activity is reduced at night, so 250g CO2 is the upper limit for a full night's sleep. At typical temperature and pressure, this is < 0.14 m^2 of CO2. Assuming a very small (20 m^3) and hermetically sealed bedroom, you'll end up with a concentration of 0.7%, or less. Serious physiological studies (with divers and submariners) show that CO2 has a measurable effect starting at about 1% concentration and only becomes pronounced at 3% or so. This is consistent with the fact that exhaled air contains about 4% CO2 during normal breathing and can go much higher (>10%) during breath holds. In summary, sleeping in a stuffy room might give you respiratory problems, but no improved CO2 tolerance.

Those astronauts maintain normal CO2 levels, and divers can experience increased CO2 buildup if they don't exhale properly, which is the opposite.

It's not made up. Plenty of people here who tried breathwork can attest to its power to bring you in strong trance-like states.

Try it yourself. Ideally in group setting, because doing this on your own (with a YouTube video or whatever) won't give you the same experience at all, and could be dangerous if you take it too far.

Good observation! Lower co2 concentration isn't caused by simply inhaling more oxygen, but rather by blowing off too much co2.

Co2 is produced by the body, and the rate at which it is produced doesn't change much if you breathe pure oxygen. it's how we get rid of the co2 is what is being modulated during breathwork.

If you presume rationality is the goal, then the rational mind should point to decades of research and anecdotal evidence that shows the positive effeccts of meditation and breathwork on mental well-being. Why are you assuming depriving your brain of oxygen for a short period of time is decreases the ability to think rationally? That could be a short term effect, but a long term adaptive effect could be the brain thinks more clearly. Same with fasting from food, etc.

I used Harris's app, and was a bit surprised to hear him use language that he'd savage anyone else for.

I get the problem there; you're trying to teach what something feels like, and there just aren't words.

It's not surprising that you can alter the brain by various exercises, or that those exercises are counterintuitive. The brain is complicated and our tools for manipulating it are baroque. Still, it was a little weird to hear Harris give in without apparently reconsidering other forms of mental exercise from that standpoint.

Depriving? The goal is to oversaturate.

You are mixing up religion and meditation.

Think of meditation more as a physical exercise for the brain, like yoga. Is yoga a religion, even if it strengthens your core? Many people do it without any religious ideas.

Same with breathing, 'low CO2' sounds bad, but we do have the next breath, the goals isn't continued low CO2, it can lead to increased oxygen later.

As to rationality. Meditation helps declutter thoughts, so that helps with rationality doesn't it? Why would being strung out and stressed be more rational?

Atheism isn't specifically "a goal of rationality" it's just not believing in a deity (usually because of a rejection of "trust me bro, now pay your tithing" style pitches). I expect for most people the choice to believe or not believe stories with no evidence is orthogonal to the choice of an altered mind.

I study cognitive neuroscience. Meditation is extremely evidence-based. It is literally one of the most evidence-based things there is in terms of actions you can take to improve mood, executive function, focus, general cognition, etc., it's almost as backed as physical exercise. Of course, there is also a lot of woo-woo spiritual stuff around it, but you can just ignore that side and use it effectively. Not sure about breathwork, I'm moderately skeptical of many the claims made about it, but I haven't looked super far into it comparatively.