An online breathing trial keeps cessation care in view
An eight-week trial studies a brief supervised breathing programme alongside a broader question about smoking-cessation support.
A randomised trial published November 2 in Nicotine & Tobacco Research examines Y-BLISS, a yoga-breath programme delivered online under live supervision. Researchers assigned 139 smokers with moderate to severe nicotine dependence to the programme or an attention-matched desktop-exercise comparison.
A short practice within a structured programme
Y-BLISS combined twelve minutes of breathing practice with a single session of yoga-philosophy-based psychotherapy. Supervised practice took place five days a week for eight weeks. The comparison included exercise and health education, so the study tested more than simply receiving attention from an instructor.
At eight weeks, the researchers reported favourable differences in cigarettes smoked per day, craving and dependence. Seven-day abstinence was reported for 25.7 percent of the Y-BLISS group and 11.6 percent of controls. This is a short-term result, not evidence of lasting cessation.
The sample was 95 percent male, and the intervention combined breathing with psychotherapy. It cannot isolate a breathing technique or establish the same result for every student. The authors describe a possible adjunct to standard cessation care and call for longer studies. For online teachers, the practical detail is the live supervision and repeated contact built around a brief session.
Sources
YOGA+