Psykia partners with Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Flow Genome Project to launch the broadest-ever observational study of breathwork.
overview
Psykia Institute, dedicated to merging breakthrough science with traditional wisdom to help individuals and communities cultivate psychological and spiritual well-being, has partnered with Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and The Flow Genome Project to answer the question, “Does breathwork work?”
More specifically, does breathwork meaningfully symptoms of mild to severe anxiety, depression, and trauma (including PTSD).
The JHU observational study takes the form of an online survey to be completed after a breathwork experience (in the near or more distant past). Given the recent explosion in popularity of breathwork styles and offerings, the study has been designed to capture the broadest possible variety of breathwork experience:
All styles of breathwork
Conducted in the near or more distant past
In person or online
With or without plant medicine
With or without music
With or without bodywork
The survey asks for details regarding to the style and the nature of the breathwork experience to be assessed, and then takes various assessments of the participant's psychological state both prior to and after the experience.
Participation is anonymous, and study participants must meet three criteria:
1) They must be at least 18 years old
2) They must read and write English fluently
3) They must have participated in breathwork with the intention to address symptoms related to anxiety, depression, trauma (including PTSD) (whether it helped or not)
Completion of the survey requires 30 - 40 minutes of uninterrupted time in front of web browser or mobile phone. All answers will feed into a data set being maintained and analyzed by Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Results will be published.
PARTICIPATe in, SHARE, or financially support THE STUDY
If you have participated in any kind of breathwork experience in the near or more distant past, with the intention to address symptoms related to anxiety, depression, trauma (including PTSD), you may take the study here:
http://www.thebreathworkstudy.com
If you are a breathwork facilitator and would like to invite your clients to participate in the study, please visit:
http://www.breathworkstudy.net
If you would like to financially support the study, helping us distribute it as far and wide as possible, please make a tax deductible donation to MAPS here.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact us.
The research team
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, one of the nation’s most prestigious academic research institutions, has led the field of research into psychedelic medicine for decades, stretching as far back as the 1960s, when Dr. Grof conducted his explorations into LSD-assisted psychotherapy.
Dr. Matthew Johnson and his team will be overseeing this study. He and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine are leaders in neuroscience, psychiatry, and behavioral research. Dr. Johnson is an expert on drugs and addiction/risk behavior, having published over 100 articles and chapters. For over 14 years, he has conducted psychedelic research, including psilocybin studies of mystical experience, cancer-related depression & anxiety, and meditation. He is the principal investigator of psilocybin-based smoking cessation research and has been interviewed on news networks including the BBC, CNN, NPR, Fox Business News, and the New York Times. Learn more about his research here: https://bit.ly/2UHzoZO