About this trial
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if diaphragmatic breathing and box breathing work to enhance resilience and manage stress in physical therapy students. It will also learn about their effects on overall physiological and psychological parameters. The main questions it aims to answer are:
Do these breathing techniques improve heart rate variability (HRV)?
How do these interventions affect participants' perceived stress levels, cognitive performance, and academic achievement?
Researchers will compare diaphragmatic breathing and box breathing to a control group to see if these non-invasive methods work to improve physiological adaptation and manage stress.
Participants will:
Be randomly assigned to practice diaphragmatic breathing, practice box breathing, or join a control group Have their heart rate variability (HRV) measured as a primary sign of physiological adaptation Complete assessments to evaluate their perceived stress, cognitive performance, and academic achievement
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Academic Status: Currently enrolled, full-time undergraduate Physical Therapy students
Age Range: 18-25 years
Health Status: Generally healthy individuals with no known chronic respiratory or cardiovascular diseases.
Informed Consent: Ability and willingness to provide written informed consent and commit to the 4-week protocol (6 sessions/week).
Disqualifiers
Pre-existing Breathing Expertise: Individuals with professional training in yoga (Pranayama), formal meditation, or advanced breath work that might bias the baseline results.
Medical Conditions: Diagnosed respiratory conditions (e.g., Asthma, COPD).
Cardiovascular issues (e.g., Arrhythmias, Hypertension).
Clinical psychological disorders (e.g., Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Panic Disorder) that may require medication.
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- Diaphramatic Breathing Training
- Box Breathing Training