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Insight 20223
August 31 – September 3 in Berlin

Using Your Breath to Change Your Mind: The Neuroscience of Conscious Breathing

  • 09/09/2021
  • 19:00 - 19:40
  • Auditorium

Abstract

Psychoactive substances are one way to explore altered states of consciousness (ASCs) – but by far not the only one. Traditions across the globe have used physical challenges like fasting, sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures or pain in order to evoke ASCs. One of the most widespread and accessible practices in this vein is voluntary hyperventilation, often referred to as breathwork. Unlike the more gradual effects of slow-breath practices, breathwork can trigger immediate and at times dramatic mental shifts. It may conjure up visual experiences, resurface memories, or trigger intense expressions of emotion. How can simply changing the rhythm of your breath so profoundly alter your conscious state? Neuroscience has only just begun to address this question, and in this talk, I will discuss current insights into the physiological and neuronal mechanisms by which breathing – conscious and unconscious – can shape cognitive processing. We will focus on hyperventilation-based approaches such as Holotropic/Connective Breathwork and Tummo, and explore how an interplay between O2-CO2 balance, blood pH, cortical blood flow and neurotransmitter release may give rise to the extraordinary subjective experiences that can be evoked by breathwork.

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