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In breathwork vs meditation, neither is clearly "better". In the one head-to-head trial I found, 5 minutes a day for 28 days of either cyclic sighing (a breathing exercise) or mindfulness meditation lowered anxiety by about the same amount. Cyclic sighing raised positive mood more. That trial was small and exploratory, so it's a hint, not a verdict. The best choice is probably the one you'll actually do.
Gentle slow breathing is suitable for many people, but if you have a heart or lung condition, are pregnant, or have panic attacks or a mental health condition, check with your doctor first. Skip breath holds and fast breathing unless a professional has advised you. See who should not do breathwork.
Here's a question I hear a lot from beginners: should I breathe or should I meditate? From the outside they look alike. You sit, you slow down, you pay attention. But they're different practices, and researchers have started to compare them.
This post looks at the one direct comparison I could read in full, plus what larger reviews say about each. I won't crown a winner, because the evidence doesn't.
How can you try both breathwork and meditation?
Since neither is clearly better, try both side by side. Give each a few days and notice which one you look forward to.
Breathing (cyclic sighing, as in the trial):
- Sit or lie down comfortably and set a 5-minute timer.
- Breathe in slowly through your nose.
- Take a second, shorter sip of air to fill your lungs fully.
- Breathe out slowly and completely, ideally through your mouth.
- Repeat for 5 minutes, then return to normal breathing.
Quiet sitting (mindfulness):
- Sit comfortably and set a 5-minute timer.
- Pay attention to your breath or body.
- When your mind wanders, notice it and gently return.
The trial used 5 minutes a day for 4 weeks. We don't know whether longer sessions, or other techniques, would change the comparison.
Is breathwork better than meditation for stress?
Balban and colleagues ran a study at Stanford, published in Cell Reports Medicine in 2023 (Balban et al. 2023). It was done remotely, with 108 adults, mainly recruited from an undergraduate psychology class. Everyone practised for 5 minutes a day for 28 days. People were randomly assigned to:
- mindfulness meditation (24 people),
- cyclic sighing (30),
- box breathing (21),
- or cyclic hyperventilation with breath retention (33).
Cyclic sighing means a deep breath in through the nose, a second shorter sip of air on top, and then a long, slow breath out. Participants filled in short surveys before and after each daily session. A wearable strap tracked things like breathing rate and heart rate variability, the small natural change in time between heartbeats.
What stood out:
- Anxiety went down equally. On a state anxiety scale, scores fell by 3.85 points after cyclic sighing sessions and 3.95 after mindfulness sessions. There was no difference between the groups.
- Negative mood fell in every group, with no difference between groups.
- Positive mood favoured cyclic sighing. It rose by 1.89 points per session with cyclic sighing and 1.22 with meditation, and the analysis found cyclic sighing raised it significantly more. The other breathing groups also rose, but not significantly more than meditation.
- Breathing rate dropped more with cyclic sighing than with mindfulness. The paper didn't give the numbers in the text I read.
- Heart rate variability, resting heart rate and sleep measures didn't change in any group over the four weeks.
- Practice was similar. Mindfulness participants practised about 6 minutes a day on average and breathwork participants about 5.8, completing roughly 18 and 20 days out of 28.
What couldn't that trial tell us?
- It started as an exploratory feasibility study and was registered retrospectively.
- It was remote, so how closely people followed the instructions was largely unchecked.
- Groups were small and uneven, and it lasted only four weeks.
- It was done during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The wearable straps were donated by their maker, who was not involved in the design or analysis, according to the paper.
What do bigger reviews say about each?
These aren't head-to-head, so compare them with care.
A 2023 meta-analysis of breathwork trials by Fincham and colleagues pooled 20 trials for anxiety and found a small to medium lower score compared with non-breathwork comparison groups (g = -0.32), with moderate risk of bias (Fincham et al. 2023). I wrote about it in breathwork for anxiety, stress and depression.
For meditation, a 2014 review in JAMA Internal Medicine by Goyal and colleagues covered 47 trials with 3,515 adults. Mindfulness programmes had moderate evidence of lower anxiety (effect size 0.38 at 8 weeks, 0.22 at 3 to 6 months), and low evidence for stress and distress. The authors found no evidence that meditation programmes were better than any active treatment such as drugs, exercise or other behavioural therapies (Goyal et al. 2014; I read the abstract only).
The two reviews use different methods, different people and different programme lengths, so the numbers can't be lined up side by side. What they share is a theme: small to moderate effects, with calls for better trials.
The research in a nutshell
| Study | Who | What they found |
|---|---|---|
| Balban et al. 2023, Cell Reports Medicine | 108 adults, mostly university students | Anxiety fell equally with cyclic sighing and mindfulness; positive mood rose more with cyclic sighing |
| Fincham et al. 2023, Scientific Reports | Adults, 20 trials for anxiety | Breathwork: anxiety g = -0.32 |
| Goyal et al. 2014, JAMA Internal Medicine (abstract only) | 47 trials, 3,515 adults | Meditation: moderate evidence for lower anxiety, low for stress |
How strong is the evidence? Early for the comparison itself: there's one small head-to-head trial. Each practice has its own mixed-to-moderate evidence.
Who should skip this or check first
- People with heart or lung conditions, or who are pregnant. Check with your doctor before trying breathing exercises.
- People with panic attacks or a mental health condition. Both meditation and breathing can bring up strong feelings. Speak to your doctor or therapist first, and stop if it feels like too much.
- Everyone: skip breath holds and fast breathing for now. The comparison above used gentle practice for five minutes. Cyclic hyperventilation with retention was one of the trial arms, but it's not something to try casually.
Questions people ask
Which is better for anxiety, breathwork or meditation?
In the one trial that compared them, anxiety dropped by about the same amount. That doesn't prove they're equal, only that this small study didn't find a difference.
Which is better for mood?
Cyclic sighing raised positive mood more than meditation in that trial. Negative mood fell in every group with no difference. It was a small, short study, so treat it as a hint.
Does breathwork change heart rate variability?
Not in that trial. Heart rate variability didn't change significantly in any group over four weeks.
Can I do both breathwork and meditation?
There's nothing in these studies that says no. We don't have trials that combine them, so I can't say whether doing both is better than doing one.
Why not just say one is best?
Because the evidence doesn't support it. Small trials, short follow-up and a different mix of people in each study mean any headline winner would be a guess.
Sources and further reading (3)
- Balban MY, Neri E, Kogon MM, et al. Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 2023. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9873947/ (full text read, all but the last few pages of references)
- Fincham GW, Strauss C, Montero-Marin J, Cavanagh K. Effect of breathwork on stress and mental health: a meta-analysis of randomised-controlled trials. Scientific Reports, 2023. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9828383/
- Goyal M, Singh S, Sibinga EM, et al. Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2014. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24395196/ (abstract only)
Updated 24 October 2026. We re-check posts when new research comes out.
