When Breathwork Meets Metabolic Health

For many of us, breathwork begins as something very personal: a way to pause, settle the mind and return to ourselves.

But the breath does not belong only to the mind. It moves through the body too. A regular breathing practice changes the rhythm and depth of our breathing and asks us to give the body our attention. This leaves me curious about a larger question: over time, might a sustained practice also support aspects of physical health?

A newly published study offers one careful piece of that picture.

Researchers studied 72 adults between the ages of 30 and 60 who had metabolic syndrome. This is not one single illness. It is a name for several health concerns that can occur together—including a larger waist circumference, high blood pressure, changes in blood sugar and unhealthy blood-fat levels. Together, these factors can increase a person’s risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Participants were randomly assigned either to continue standard medical care or to add a 12-week SKY practice to that care. SKY, or Sudarshan Kriya Yoga, is a structured sequence of breathing practices taught through Art of Living programs.

After 12 weeks, the SKY group showed greater improvements in waist circumference, an overall measure of metabolic-syndrome severity and some measures of heart-rate variability when compared with the waitlisted standard-care group.

No adverse events were reported.

I find these results encouraging. I also want to hold them with care. They are more specific—and more limited—than a headline such as breathwork improves heart health might lead us to believe.

My perspective and disclosure

I teach SKY Breath Meditation as an Art of Living breathwork and meditation instructor. I also have a longstanding personal practice. That relationship makes this research meaningful to me—and makes it especially important that I describe both the encouraging findings and the limits of what one study can establish.

What the study did not find

The researchers looked at many different measures related to behaviour, blood markers, inflammation and the body’s automatic functions. Many of them did not differ meaningfully between the two groups.

Some findings—including the upper blood-pressure number, eating self-regulation and one heart-rate-variability measure—appeared significant when everyone originally assigned to the study was included, but not when the researchers looked only at those who completed the study as planned. When a result changes depending on how the data are examined, it is best treated cautiously until other studies find something similar.

The paper was also clearer about whether a statistical difference was found than about how large that difference was. Those are not the same thing. A result can stand out statistically without necessarily creating a noticeable or important change in everyday health.

Heart-rate variability is not a complete picture of the nervous system

Heart-rate variability, often shortened to HRV, describes the small changes in timing from one heartbeat to the next. Researchers sometimes use it as one window into how the body’s automatic systems are functioning.

It is not, however, a simple score of how “regulated” someone is. HRV can be influenced by breathing rate, age, health, medication, physical fitness, sleep, posture and the way data are collected and analyzed.

The HRV changes in this study are therefore interesting observations about the body. They should not be turned into claims that SKY “resets,” “heals” or permanently regulates the nervous system.

Why the comparison group matters

The participants who practised SKY continued receiving standard medical care, while the comparison group received standard care and waited for the breathing intervention.

This helps researchers see whether the two groups changed differently. What it cannot tell us is how much of the difference came from the breathing practice itself and how much may have come from everything surrounding it: attention from an instructor, encouragement, expectations, time set aside for self-care or the feeling of belonging to a structured activity.

An equally engaging comparison program would help clarify which effects are specific to SKY and which may arise from participating in a supported health practice more generally.

The trial was also small, eight participants did not complete follow-up, and measurements ended after 12 weeks. We do not yet know whether the differences would persist over six months, one year or longer.

Both researchers were affiliated with S-VYASA, an institution focused on yoga research. This does not invalidate the work. It does make independent replication by teams with different institutional relationships especially valuable.

A promising addition—not a replacement

Perhaps the most responsible way to receive this study is as an invitation for further research.

For the adults in this study, adding 12 weeks of SKY to standard care was linked with encouraging changes in several areas. The researchers randomly assigned participants to the groups and registered the trial in advance, both of which add strength. At the same time, this was one small study with a waitlist comparison, only 12 weeks of follow-up and many measures that did not change.

Breathwork should not be presented as a substitute for medical assessment, medication, nutrition, movement or other care recommended by a qualified health professional.

At the same time, we do not need to dismiss an early finding simply because it cannot yet give us a final answer.

This is promising.
And there is more we need to understand.

A question to sit with

How might we stay open to the broader possibilities of contemplative practice while remaining honest about what the research has—and has not—yet shown?

This article offers general education and reflection. It is not medical advice and does not recommend SKY or any other breathing practice as treatment for metabolic syndrome or cardiovascular disease. People living with metabolic or cardiovascular conditions should consult appropriately qualified healthcare professionals before making changes to their care or beginning a new health practice.

Transparency note: Diljeet K. Jandu is an Art of Living breathwork and meditation instructor with a longstanding personal SKY practice. This reflection is an educational review of one published study, not an independent clinical recommendation.

Written and reflected upon by Diljeet K. Jandu