Key result
4-7-8 breathing reduces stress in women and Nadi Shodhana in men, but neither improves HRV.
Why the study?
The acute effects of 4-7-8 and Nadi Shodhana breathing techniques on stress, affect, and cardiac autonomic regulation in university students were not well characterized.
Do 4-7-8 and Nadi Shodhana breathing techniques improve stress, affect, and heart rate variability in university students?
RCT (n=34)
analyst-blinded
crossover
Do 4-7-8 and Nadi Shodhana breathing techniques improve stress, affect, and heart rate variability in university students?
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Different breathing techniques may have sex-specific benefits on stress and affect, though they do not acutely alter conventional heart rate variability indices.
Grounded in the Neurovisceral Integration Model (NVIM), this study examines the acute effects of two respiratory architectures-4-7-8 (exhalation-focused) and Nadi Shodhana (alternate-nostril breathing)-on stress, affect, and cardiac autonomic regulation in university students. This analyst-blinded, randomized crossover study included 34 participants (19 male, 15 female) who completed three 10-min conditions (4-7-8, Nadi Shodhana, and resting breathing) in a counterbalanced order (with a 1-week washout period between conditions). Subjective outcomes were assessed using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), and Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Heart rate variability (HRV) was recorded via Polar H10 (1000 Hz) and analyzed using Kubios with artifact correction. HRV parameters (SDNN, RMSSD, LF/HF) were evaluated using 3 × 2 mixed-design ANOVAs with Bonferroni correction. Significant condition × sex interactions were observed for subjective outcomes. The 4-7-8 technique was associated with reduced stress and negative affect in women, whereas Nadi Shodhana showed greater reductions in men. No significant main effects of condition were observed for conventional HRV indices. However, a significant main effect of sex was found for RMSSD (F(1, 33) = 10.19, p < 0.01, η
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Avcık et al. (2026) conducted an RCT in university students (n=34). 4-7-8 and Nadi Shodhana breathing vs. resting breathing was evaluated on stress, affect, and heart rate variability (HRV) (p=<0.01). The 4-7-8 breathing technique reduced stress and negative affect in women, while Nadi Shodhana showed greater reductions in men, with no significant main effects on conventional HRV indices.
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