全球身心产业在2023年估值6.32兆美元，较2019年成长约25%，并预期至2028年以年均7.3%速度逼近9兆美元；冥想与正念市场自2019年以来已翻倍至65亿美元。这股规模扩张伴随重心自「心智」转向「身体」：沉浸式体感课程兴起，呼吸法遍布布鲁克林到曼谷。作为快速可验证的生理调节工具，深长的横膈膜呼吸能在数次呼吸内由交感转入副交感状态，降低皮质唤醒并提升α、θ脑波活动，使被压抑的情绪更容易浮现与释放。
呼吸法的市场与技术生态同步扩张。Open 自五年前创立以来已募资1,450万美元，提供线上线下混合课程；其三段式呼吸课吸引约二十名学员，强调「一堂课即可体感变化」。古老的吠陀、道家与佛教传统被重新诠释，并因2014年畅销书 The Body Keeps the Score 的身体创伤论而在西方大幅普及。作者建议的最佳呼吸频率为每分钟5.5次、每次约5.5公升空气。与九天、每日九小时静坐才能体感变化的内观相比，呼吸法提供了即时回馈，尤其在AI资讯洪流造成身体感知减弱的时代，成为辨识「自身仍然存在」的基础验证。
身体导向的练习因其可携性与去概念化特质而受到推崇。新开幕的Samadhi 工作室提供声波、冥想、舞动与呼吸课，强调透过身体讯号重建直觉以避免语言治疗中的「说服循环」。部分激烈技法如 holotropic 呼吸可能诱发迷幻般体验，但对部分人会造成头痛与不适。3,000人参与的曼谷 Dragonfly 峰会亦强调简单呼吸即可见效。呼吸法的核心价值不在仪式，而在可随时介入任何情境的生理事实：透过延长一次吐气，人能在抽象化加速的世界中重新确认自身位置。
The global wellness industry was valued at $6.32 trillion in 2023, up about 25% from 2019, and is projected to grow 7.3% annually to nearly $9 trillion by 2028; the meditation–mindfulness segment has doubled since 2019 to $6.5 billion. This expansion coincides with a shift from mind-centric to body-centric practices: somatic modalities have proliferated, and breathwork now spans Brooklyn to Bangkok. As a rapid, measurable regulator of physiology, slow diaphragmatic breathing can shift the body from sympathetic to parasympathetic mode within a few breaths, lowering cortical arousal and increasing alpha and theta activity, enabling suppressed emotions to surface.
Breathwork’s ecosystem is scaling alongside demand. Open has raised $14.5 million over five years, offering hybrid classes where roughly two dozen participants practice a three-part breathing rhythm promising immediate state shifts. Ancient Vedic, Taoist, and Buddhist methods have been reinterpreted and amplified by the trauma-in-the-body thesis of the 2014 bestseller The Body Keeps the Score. An optimal pattern, according to James Nestor, is 5.5-second inhales and exhales, or 5.5 breaths per minute totaling about 5.5 liters. Compared with vipassana’s nine hours per day for nine days to produce perceptible change, breathwork offers instant feedback, particularly valuable amid AI-driven erosion of somatic awareness.
Body-based practices are valued for portability and minimal cognitive framing. The newly opened Samadhi studio integrates sound, meditation, dance, and breath, emphasizing intuitive reconnection and avoiding talk-therapy “persuasion loops.” More intense methods such as holotropic breathing may induce psychedelic-like states but also discomfort. At Bangkok’s 3,000-person Dragonfly Summit, teachers highlighted the effectiveness of simple breath awareness. Breathwork’s core advantage is its universal accessibility: elongating a single exhale allows individuals to reorient themselves within an increasingly abstract world.