Coherent Breathing

Coherent Breathing

Coherent Breathing is a breathing method that is claimed to facilitate circulation and autonomic nervous system balance. It involves breathing at the nominal rate of 5 breaths per minute with equal inhalation and exhalation. It is claimed that 'Coherent Breathing' CREATES a wave in the circulatory system, the 'Valsalva Wave', which rises in the 'arterial tree' during exhalation and rises in the 'venous tree' during inhalation.

The practice of Coherent Breathing is facilitated by simple audible and visual pacing devices as well as with heart rate variability (HRV) and Valsalva Wave biofeedback INSTRUMENTS wherein the breather learns to monitor their heart rate variability cycle, exhaling at peaks and inhaling at valleys.

History

In 2004, author, inventor, and 'life scientist' Stephen Elliott announced his technique of "Coherent Breathing", this being synchronized breathing at the nominal rate of 5 breaths per minute with equal periods of inhalation and exhalation. In 2008, Elliott offered a new definition for the term "physiological coherence", this being the nominal '180 degree phase synchrony of the heart rate variability cycle' with the 'Valsalva Wave' that ultimately produces it. In 2010, Elliott went on to develop devices to aid in the detection and biofeedback of the 'Valsalva Wave', a class of heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback instruments that detect 'variations in blood volume' as a function of breathing. These instruments are said to facilitate synchrony of the heart rate with changes in 'blood volume' that produce them. The term "Valsalva Wave" to describe the complete circulatory wave induced by respiration was coined by Stephen Elliott and Dr. Robert Grove. Antonio Valsalva was one of the earliest western physiologists to observe that a relationship exists between breathing and blood flow.