Breathing: The Mind/Body Connection. Youtube interviews of Erik Peper, PhD by Larry Berkelhammer, PhD

Erik Peper, Respiration & Health

How we breathe is intimately connected to our state of health. We can speed up breathing to energize or slow it for a calming effect. Practice becoming more aware of the speed and depth of your breathing. Breathing diaphragmatically at 6 to 7 breaths per minute is regenerative. Breathing patterns alter physiological, psychological, and emotional processes. Conscious regulation of breathing can improve asthma, panic disorder and many other conditions. A simple change in breathing can induce symptoms or resolve them. Learn to observe breath-holding. Devices like Stress Eraser and Em-Wave  teach healthy breathing at home. When we start taking charge there’s more hope. Focus on skills not pills.

Erik Peper, Mastery Through Conscious Breathing Practices

In this interview of Dr. Erik Peper, we discuss the power of Tumo breathing. This form of conscious breathing has been studied by Dr. Herbert Benson of Harvard and many other Western researchers. It is a special form of conscious respiration that increases metabolic rate and allows Buddhist monks and others who practice it to prove to themselves that they can use their minds to alter physiology. The value of such intense practices is that they allow us to gain mastery and the absolute knowledge that we have the ability to exert voluntary control over mental and physiological processes. Most Buddhist practices lead to the possibility of gaining a certain degree of  mastery of consciousness.


3 Comments on “Breathing: The Mind/Body Connection. Youtube interviews of Erik Peper, PhD by Larry Berkelhammer, PhD”

  1. Coherence BreatheHeart and Valsalva Wave Pro are “breathing biofeedback” instruments” as is Stress Eraser which also takes advantage of synchronizing respiration with heart rate variability.

  2. Mary Leslie says:

    Loved the U tube video…Good to see your wisdom in action. Was just in Berkeley, but for only 4 days…hopefully longer next time, as I would love to have coffee and a chat, Erik.
    All the best for the new year…keep these clips coming, thanks,
    Mary Leslie

  3. […] or when we run out of air while exercising. Breathing is more than just the air moving in and out. It is the boundary between the conscious and the unconscious—the voluntary and involuntary nervous…– and affects the sympathetic and parasympathetic activity of our body. The way we breathe can […]


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