Dr. Guy Fincham
BERLIN BREATHWORK DAYS 2025 SPEAKER
LEARNING LAB | 17.30-18.30
Talk (EN) + Q&A
”Does Breathwork Work? An empirical evaluation of the hype”
Breathwork—the deliberate control of breathing—has gained widespread attention, often promoted as a powerful tool for reducing stress and improving health. But does the scientific evidence support the claims? This talk examines the research behind both slow and fast breathing techniques, exploring their ancient origins and contemporary applications. I will present findings from a series of studies, including a meta-analysis of breathwork interventions for stress and the largest randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to date on both slow, coherent breathing and high-ventilation breathwork (HVB), all delivered remotely. While breathwork shows promise in the literature, our rigorous RCTs found no significant effects compared to placebo in real-world, digital practice. These results raise important questions about how breathwork is studied, its clinical relevance, and the challenges of scaling interventions responsibly. The talk will conclude with key insights into the future of breathwork research and the need for robust, evidence-based practice.
About Dr. Guy William Fincham
SCIENTIST, FOUNDER BRIGHTON & SUSSEX BREATHWORK LAB, BREATH TEACHER, RESEARCHER PSYCHOLOGY (BRIGHTON & SUSSEX MEDICAL SCHOOL)
Dr Guy William Fincham's journey with breathwork began as a personal healing tool for chronic fatigue syndrome, which inspired him to share his knowledge with the world. He trained as a Breath Teacher with the Breath Body Mind Foundation in New York and has since established collaborations with leading institutions including Oxford, UCSF, Imperial, Maastricht, UCLA, and the company Othership.
He founded the Brighton & Sussex Breathwork Lab and aims to expand it into a Breathwork Centre, inviting potential donors to support this vision. His research on breathwork has been featured in major media outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Economist, TIME, Forbes, and HubermanLab.
Dr Fincham has a growing interest in exploring the diverse applications of breathwork across human recovery and performance, spanning from health and wellness to sports. His primary goal is to investigate how breathwork can support mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.
He is open to opportunities for advisory and consulting work, coaching and training, and delivering keynote talks and public speaking engagements.