BREATHING AND OVERBREATHING IN BIOFEEDBACK, MEDITATION AND PSYCHOTHERAPY WEBINAR RECORDING

Presenter: Inna Khazan, PhD

Most biofeedback practitioners have had the experience of their clients reporting that they know how to do breathing exercises, but these practices do not work for them, making them feel lightheaded or short of breath, and/or make their symptoms worse. A frequent reason for such experiences is overbreathing. Overbreathing is the most common dysfunctional breathing habit, affecting 10 - 25% of the US population. Overbreathing, or exhaling too much carbon dioxide, results in hypocapnia, or low levels of carbon dioxide in the blood and other interstitial fluids. Overbreathing leads to significant emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physiological changes which may seriously impact health and performance. Specifically, overbreathing serves as a contributing factor to anxiety and panic.

The purpose of this 1.5-hour webinar recording is to introduce the concept of overbreathing, including relevant physiology and behavioral consequences, and discuss ways of recognizing and correcting overbreathing in clients seen in the context of biofeedback and/or psychotherapy, including meditation practices.

All views expressed in the recording are solely those of the presenters and participants.

Learning Objectives

• Understanding what overbreathing is and what it can lead to
• Achieving normal respiration
• Evaluating normal respiratory chemistry and normal overbreathing chemistry
• How to teach healthy mindful breathing for panic disorders

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Freire et al. (2008).