Calming ‘Breathing Cushion’ Could Lower Your Anxiety When You Hug It

Image via Haynes et al / PLOS One

One known way to alleviate stress is by taking deep breaths, and it turns out that this effect applies with external objects that “breathe,” too.

In a study of 129 participants at the University of Bristol, scientists were looking to design a huggable pillow to ease the nerves of students before a test.

Volunteers were asked to cuddle mechanical iterations that purred, replicated heartbeats, and simulated breathing, before being asked to complete a math test.

Of the three cushion types, it was the “breathing” variation that tracked the lowest anxiety levels.

“Using pre- and post-test questionnaires, the researchers found that students who used the device were less anxious pre-test than those who did not,” the study’s authors noted in the PLOS One scientific journal. They described that the low-cost relaxation tool calmed subjects down as if they had just meditated before the test.

“We were excited to find that holding the breathing cushion, without any guidance, produced a similar effect on anxiety in students as a meditation practice,” concluded the researchers. “This ability of the device to be used intuitively opens it up to providing wider audiences with accessible anxiety relief.”

Their next step is to improve the pillow’s technology and test it on a larger group so as to observe its effects on a wider scale.

[via CNET and ScienceDaily, cover image via Haynes et al / PLOS One]