The ball appears to reduce anxiety by up to 75 percent and offers protection against worry-driven thoughts – or worry. And all thanks to the fact that the ball ‘breathes’.
At a time when mental health problems are rampant, there are – fortunately – also several ways to boost mental health. One such – quite simple – way involves simply being very conscious of your breathing. It has already been proven that it can reduce anxiety and increase well-being. But many people find it difficult to focus on their breathing for a long period of time and their thoughts quickly wander, causing them to miss out on the positive effects that breathing techniques can have on mental health.
Breathing ball
Alexz Farrall, a student at the University of Bath, has now come up with a solution. He has developed a ball that ‘breathes’. People’s breathing rhythm is recorded using sensors, after which the ball expands and contracts in the same rhythm. “When people hold the ball, their breathing turns into a physical object in their hands,” Farrall explains. “They can feel and see the flow of air as the ball expands and contracts (…) By physically shaping breathing, this ball increases self-awareness.” It also becomes easier to focus on breathing. “I hope this device can be part of the solution that people with mental health problems are looking for.”
Experiments
Experiments suggest that the ball can indeed make a difference. During these experiments, subjects were instructed to focus on their breathing – with the help of audio recordings from a meditation app. Half of the test subjects were given the ‘breathing’ ball in their hands. The experiment reveals that people who used the ball saw their feelings of anxiety reduced by an average of about 75 percent. In people who only listened to the meditation app, anxiety decreased by ‘only’ 31 percent. The combination of the meditation app and ball also appeared to protect 56 percent better against worry than the meditation app alone. In addition, the people who held the ball showed higher heart rate variability, indicating that they were better able to regulate their emotions and cope with stress better than the people who only listened to the app.
At home or in the clinic
If Farrall has his way, the ball will eventually be used by people both within clinics where mental health care is provided and at home. At home, people can use these, for example, to regulate their emotions or concentrate better during meditation exercises. And in a clinical setting, the ball can be used to make people more receptive to other interventions that require the patient’s full concentration.
However, before we see the ball again at home or in the clinic, more research is needed. For example, Farrall wants to set up a larger study to map the health benefits of the ball. The ball also needs to be further developed; For example, the experiments used sensors that were stuck to the test subjects’ bodies and recorded the breathing rhythm, after which the resulting data was sent to the ball via a computer, so that the ball could imitate breathing. But in the future, Farrall would like to develop a wireless ball. This could be done, for example, by connecting the ball via Bluetooth to a smartwatch that registers breathing. Such a ball can therefore be used anywhere – at home, in the park, at the clinic or on holiday.
2023-09-08 14:06:05
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