The journal of Clinical Psychology

From what I've seen, controlled breathing is still the one skill you want to master before you're in a situation that requires it.

This study consisted of 25 patients suffering from major depression disorder (MDD), despite more than eight weeks of taking antidepressants. Usually at that point doctors increase dosage or try a handful of other add-ons that rarely offer benefits and come with a list of side effects of their own.

This experiment did things a bit differently.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania assigned participants to an eight week "breathing intervention group," ultimately comparing their results to a group who didn't receive the treatment.

There was an initial six-session program in the first week, which featured Sudarshan Kriya yoga (SKY) in addition to yoga postures, sitting meditation, and stress education. For weeks two through eight, participants attended weekly Sudarshan Kriya yoga follow-up sessions and completed a home practice version of the technique. The goal was to use a breathing-based meditation practice to defend against the mental challenges of the disease.

The results

Patients in the SKY group showed a significantly greater improvement in HDRS scores compared to patients in the waitlist group who didn't receive the treatment. This suggests that Sudarshan Kriya is a legitimate add-on intervention for MDD patients who have not responded to antidepressants and vaguely suggests that there isn't a soul in the world who would't benefit from this practice. Sure would be nice to do the same trial just without the medication to see what happens. In the meantime I'd call this a "pro" if you're making a list of reasons for why you should do yoga.

Takeaway: There's a low-cost therapy that could potentially serve as an effective, non-drug approach for patients struggling with depression: yoga with a heavy emphasis on breathing.