Breathwork Beyond Behavior: How Emotions Drive Your Health

In this episode of EveryDay ABA, Dr. David Moore joins BCBA Paola and RBT Leslie to bridge the gap between neuroscience, breathwork, and behavioral science. You’ll learn how heart-brain coherence and heart rate variability (HRV) can be tracked to measure stress and resilience, and why your emotions drive your health outcomes. Discover how intentional breathwork, like elliptical breathing, goes beyond basic box breathing to retrain your autonomic nervous system for optimal wellness. Whether you’re working with PTSD, hypervigilance, sleep disruption, or burnout, this episode gives you actionable strategies to help clients (and yourself!) regulate stress and rewire for resilience.

 

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By the end of this episode, listeners will be able to:

• Identify at least two breathwork techniques and explain how they impact heart rate variability.
• Compare systematic desensitization within behavior analysis to breathwork for resilience-building.
• Discuss ethical considerations for BCBAs when integrating breathwork practices into treatment plans.

 

References:

Craske, M. G., Treanor, M., Conway, C. C., Zbozinek, T., & Vervliet, B. (2008). Maximizing exposure therapy: An inhibitory learning approach. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 46(1), 5–27. 

Kazdin, A. E., & Rabbitt, S. M. (2013). Novel models for delivering mental health services and reducing the burdens of mental illness. Clinical Psychological Science, 1(2), 170–191. 

McCraty, R., & Shaffer, F. (2015). Heart rate variability: New perspectives on physiological mechanisms, assessment of self-regulatory capacity, and health risk. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 4(1), 46–61. 

Thayer, J. F., Åhs, F., Fredrikson, M., Sollers, J. J., III, & Wager, T. D. (2012). A meta-analysis of heart rate variability and neuroimaging studies: Implications for heart rate variability as a marker of stress and health. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 36(2), 747–756.  

Wolpe, J. (1958). Psychotherapy by reciprocal inhibition. Stanford University Press.

 

👤 Guest Expert:

Dr. David Moore 

A chiropractor  turned nervous system coach and educator who has discovered that the secret to rewiring stress lies in your breath. After 25+ years in chiropractic, chronic pain pushed him to explore HeartMath and heart-brain coherence. Now, through his Brain Body Breathing method, Dr. Dave blends science and measurable data with simple breathwork to help high-achievers calm anxiety, build resilience, and rewire their nervous system for lasting change.

Watch him on YouTube 

Follow Him on IG: @bestlifedr  OR LinkedIn

Join his course:  Brain/Body Breathing Academy