Decentralized Science (DeSci) is a new approach to Traditional Science (TradSci) that uses blockchain technology to make research more open, collaborative, and incentivized. DeSci aims to address challenges in TradSci like limited access to data, issues with publishing and, in particular, a lack of funding. Success rates for grants from centralized institutions rarely exceed 10% and, for example, NIH funding for <35 year-olds is <1%. This is a crippling reality for young scientists in a centralised system mainly serving those in positions of seniority.
This proposal is for supporting and scaling Dr. Guy W. Fincham's BreathworkLab, through funding the world’s first postdoctoral DeSci Fellowship. Initial research has recently suggested that specific breathwork alone may elicit effects similar to traditional psychedelics like psilocybin. Collaborating with renowned scientists like Dr. Elissa Epel and having his work featured on Dr. Andrew Huberman's podcast platform, Dr. Fincham, though an early career researcher having just received his PhD, is at the forefront of this innovative field.
Dr. Fincham wants to help onboard more DeSci projects funded by Nouns.
By funding BreathworkLab in collaboration with the pioneering DeSci platform ResearchHub and psychedelic research non-profit DMT Quest, NounsDAO will be at the forefront of cutting-edge science and consciousness exploration, helping accelerate advancements in a promising field with scalable therapeutic potential. Dr. Fincham’s ultimate goal is to scale the first BreathworkLab of its kind into a Centre, dedicated to research and practice.
Moreover, as a proponent of DeSci, and in the interest of driving more DeSci projects to Nouns, Dr. Fincham will offer support and review DeSci props submitted to the DAO. This partnership positions Nouns as a visionary leader in DeSci, supporting groundbreaking research with real-world applications, enhancing both community value and societal benefit.
An Eyeforce documentary on breathwork: Dr. Guy W. Fincham preparing to go into MRI scanner at Brighton & Sussex Medical School to perform high ventilation breathwork (HVB).
Breath is decentralization
Breath, n.
Ask yourself: What is more decentralized than the breath?
Breathing is ubiquitous, permeating, universal, abundant, global, ever-present. Humans have always breathed. Everyone breathes. Most of us take over 20,000 breaths per day, and it is known that we can survive without food for weeks, water for days, but air for only just a few minutes. Mother Nature holds the patent and, as such, breath is accessible to all.
An Eyeforce documentary on breathwork.
Summary
BreathworkLab is an initiative developed through collaboration with ResearchHub and DMT Quest, aimed at conducting robust scientific research on breathwork practices and their therapeutic potential. This long-term project seeks to explore various techniques, with the goal of establishing breathwork as an accessible, non-pharmacological alternative for improving mental and physical health. Inspired by accounts of lived experience of people who have reportedly benefited from breathwork, the initial research plans are to examine in-depth, rich phenomenological experiences so as to fully capture (and not dilute, nor negate) the profound effects, experiences and possibilities that breathwork may confer.
Why support this?
Work, n.
This proposal provides a unique opportunity to support the long-term vision and growth of an early career researcher and leader in their field through the first DeSci Fellowship of its kind. In collaboration with Dr. Fincham’s current funders, ResearchHub and DMT Quest, this DeSci Fellowship could pave the way for onboarding esteemed and reputable, open-minded scientists to non-traditional funding through more effective mechanisms using blockchain technology. Accordingly, this proposal sets the stage, and lays the foundation, for providing long-term value to the DAO and the world.
An Eyeforce documentary on breathwork.
Nouns will be acknowledged as the funder on all research outputs produced by BreathworkLab and, during this time, Dr. Fincham will also provide continuous support for onboarding DeSci projects to Nouns and reviewing of DeSci props submitted to the DAO.
Biography
Dr. Guy W. Fincham (X: breath_Guy)
Opening a conference on music and breath therapy as Keynote Speaker in Poland.
He is a world-leading Breathwork Researcher at Brighton & Sussex Medical School and the founder of BreathworkLab. His personal journey of healing from chronic fatigue syndrome through breathwork ignited his passion to study and promote its transformative benefits. Trained as a Breath Teacher with The Breath Body Mind Foundation, New York, Guy became the UK’s first Doctoral Fellow of The Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund, Tokyo.
He has spearheaded two of the largest studies on slow and fast breathwork, served as a keynote speaker at an international conference, and contributed significantly to an upcoming documentary on breathwork. Dr. Fincham collaborates with prestigious institutions, including Oxford, UCSF, Imperial, Maastricht and UCLA, and his work has been featured across major platforms like HubermanLab, BBC, The Guardian, Economist, Washington Post, and Forbes.
Guy’s research has garnered significant scientific and public attention, including a meta-analysis that ranked in the Top 100 of Nature’s Scientific Reports for 2023 (#5) and Psychology Collection (#3), placing it in the top 1% of 28M+ research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric (150K+ DLs). Ultimately, Dr. Fincham's work focuses on positioning breathwork as a non-pharmacological approach to enhancing overall wellbeing. Through BreathworkLab, he aims to establish breathwork as a therapeutic modality with applications across healthcare, performance, and consciousness exploration.
1. What is breathwork?
Breathwork, n.
"Breath", translates as spirit or soul in Latin (spiritus) and Ancient Greek (pneuma), representing a potential interface between conscious and subconscious processes. Breathwork refers to various practices that regulate breathing to improve wellbeing. These techniques have ancient roots, emerging independently worldwide from the Himalayas to Hawaii. While likely originating with shamanic teachings over 10,000 years ago, the most well-known breathing exercises come from yoga, particularly pranayama. In Sanskrit, prana translates as vital energy or life force and ayama as regulation or control. It may be viewed synonymously or better understood, albeit not exactly, as regulating or controlling the breath. This eminent body of yogic breathwork practices started gaining international scientific interest more than half a century ago.
2. What are the benefits?
Breathing is a powerful tool for influencing our mind and body. Slow breathing can induce relaxation and calm, while reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. Conversely, rapid breathing techniques can create altered states of consciousness similar to psychedelic compounds like psilocybin. This makes breathwork a fascinating and accessible therapeutic tool. Unlike many treatments, breath is something we all possess and can use to tap into our own inner, innate capacity for healing. It's a natural, free resource available to everyone — open source and scalable.
An Eyeforce documentary on breathwork.
3. Limitations of the current research
Breathwork, both slow and fast, has garnered a surge in public interest owing to its therapeutic potential. Accordingly, there is a lot of hype starting to emerge around this body of practices that have a long history of use and, while such spiritual and ancient practices are starting to be subjected to modern scientific research, there are few rigorously designed studies examining breathwork alongside the growing interest in non-drug alternatives for inducing altered states of consciousness.
4. How will BreathworkLab fix this?
By focusing on these areas, BreathworkLab will help build a solid scientific foundation for breathwork, paving the way for its broader acceptance and application in therapeutic settings.
Proof of (breath)work:
We plan to submit our findings to leading Nature Portfolio journals, including Nature Communications, Nature Human Behaviour, Scientific Reports, and Communications Psychology. Additionally, we will target other prominent journals such as PLOS ONE and Frontiers in Psychiatry. Dr. Fincham will also contribute to the newly launched ResearchHub Journal, starting this year. Nouns will be acknowledged as a funder on all preprints, papers, conference proceedings, symposia, presentations, and public talks. This will firmly establish Nouns DAO's position in the DeSci space.
Proposal Summary
Goal: To thoroughly understand the experiences induced by intense breathwork practices (in particular high ventilation breathwork; HVB).
Methods:
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Interview expert breathwork practitioners
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Conduct a comprehensive literature review
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Study breathwork-naïve participants using:
- Established measures for mystical experiences, psychological insight, emotional breakthrough, and altered states of consciousness (ASCs)
- Phenomenological interviews
- Potential new breathwork-specific scales
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Examine the role of suggestibility in reported experiences
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Develop and validate new scales for breathwork experiences
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Explore Movement Ayahuasca, a novel breathwork and movement practice, with anecdotes linked to profound personal transformation
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Continue to inform the future of breathwork research and practice
Expected Outcomes:
- 5-10 research papers
- Dedicated project website
- Dissemination events (including at popup villages)
- Formation of an impact panel for public outreach
- Continuous support for onboarding DeSci projects to Nouns and vetting of DeSci props submitted to the DAO
Significance
This research will address growing interest in non-drug modalities for inducing ASCs and deepen our understanding of HVB. It will explore how HVB can induce experiences similar to psychedelics when conducted in appropriately curated settings. For example, a rich phenomenological study with some of the most expert practitioners in the world could explore perceived benefits (and harms), along with perceived change processes associated with positive effects. This necessary first step is paramount for elucidating and identifying key outcomes and mechanisms that can then be tested in robust trials, to rigorously assess if and how breathwork is effective in the general population. Moreover, a novel breathing and movement technique called Movement Ayahuasca will also be explored for the first time in a scientific setting.
Detailed Proposal
Goal: To thoroughly understand how intense breathing techniques, known as high ventilation breathwork (HVB), can alter consciousness and potentially lead to profound, even mystical experiences. This research aims to provide a scientific foundation for HVB as a natural method to change our mental state and potentially improve wellbeing. Additionally, a novel breathwork and movement method called Movement Ayahuasca will be explored. Ultimately, provision of breathwork as a non-pharmacological intervention may improve mental health outcomes without stigma or side effects, accompanied by increased empowerment and autonomy through self-regulation techniques.
Our approach:
- Expert Interviews: We'll conduct in-depth interviews with highly experienced HVB practitioners. These experts will share detailed accounts of their personal experiences with breathwork, both as practitioners and teachers. We'll analyze these interviews to identify common themes and unique insights. This will give us a rich understanding of HVB from those who know it best. Leveraging Dr. Fincham’s vast international network of breathwork facilitators, practitioners will be chosen for their extensive experience (over 10 years) and recognized expertise in the field, with some being more prominent than others.
- Comprehensive Literature Review: We’ll gather and analyze a wide range of information about HVB across time and the world. This includes scientific papers, historical documents, texts, books, and even popular media. By looking at both ancient wisdom and modern research, we'll create a complete picture of what's known about HVB and identify gaps in our current understanding.
- Controlled HVB Sessions: We'll invite people who have never tried breathwork before to participate in carefully curated and designed HVB sessions. These sessions will take place in a safe, consistent environment. We'll use established scales to measure things like psychological insight, emotional breakthrough, mystical experiences, and altered states of consciousness. We'll also interview participants to get detailed descriptions of their experiences. This will help us understand how HVB affects people who are new to the practice.
- Scale Development: Based on what we learn from the expert interviews and participant sessions, we may create novel, well-validated scales specifically designed to capture the unique aspects of HVB experiences. This could become a valuable tool for future breathwork research/practice and advancing the field.
- Exploring Suggestibility: We'll investigate how people's expectations might influence their breathwork experiences. This is important because it will help us understand which aspects of the experience are directly caused by the breathing technique and which might be influenced by what people think will happen.
- Analysis and Comparison: We'll analyze all the data we collect from interviews, literature, and participant sessions to create a detailed profile of HVB-induced altered states. We'll also compare our findings with research on other methods of altering consciousness, such as psychedelic substances (eg. psilocybin, LSD, etc.), to see how HVB is similar or different.
- Exploration of Novel Breathwork: We’ll explore how movement, specifically rhythmic muscular contraction, may enhance and augment breathwork practices and healing experiences. This will focus on collecting data from a retreat known as Movement Ayahuasca. Anecdotal data (anecdata) are linked to profound personal transformations in terms of physical, mental and emotional health. In the interest of public health, such anecdata need to be transformed to peer-reviewed data. The reason to study this specific technique is to investigate the impact of muscular tension on breathing beyond the respiratory muscles. This is also designed for people who do not want to use pharmaceuticals — there is no drug compound involved. People can thus maintain agency in their own healing processes. Dr. Fincham’s medical colleague at Brighton & Sussex Medical School co-leads Movement Ayahuasca retreats globally, presenting a unique opportunity for valuable data collection. Additionally, there is potential for sessions to be delivered at popup villages for the Nouns and DeSci communities!
What we aim to produce:
- 5-10 research papers published in respected scientific journals (open access)
- A dedicated website to share our findings, resources and event news
- Public talks, symposiums, and podcasts to engage with a broad audience
- A comprehensive literature review summarizing what's known about HVB
- Potentially new questionnaires specifically designed for breathwork research
- A large dataset of experiences from both expert practitioners and newcomers to breathwork
- The first study on Movement Ayahuasca (breathwork and movement)
- Increased onboarding of high quality DeSci projects to Nouns DAO
Why this research matters:
- Accessible Alternative: HVB could provide a natural, drug-free method for altering consciousness and potentially improving mental health. Unlike some other methods, breathwork is accessible to almost everyone.
- Advancing Science: This research will significantly contribute to our understanding of consciousness and how we can influence it through natural means.
- Potential Therapeutic Applications: Our findings could lay the groundwork for new therapeutic practices incorporating breathwork for psychological and emotional wellbeing.
- Public Awareness: By sharing our findings widely, we aim to increase public understanding of breathwork and its potential benefits.
- Sparking Further Research: Our work will likely stimulate more scientific interest in breathwork and similar techniques, encouraging innovation and collaboration across different fields of study.
- Practical Applications: The knowledge gained from this research could be applied in various settings, from wellness programs and retreats to clinical therapeutic contexts.
By conducting this comprehensive programme of research, we hope to bring modern scientific rigor to the ancient practice of breathwork, potentially unlocking a powerful tool for personal growth and wellbeing that's available to everyone, now.
Budget
The ask from Nouns is: $165K over 5 years ($33K/year). The total budget of $99K/year will be split equally across Nouns DAO ($33K), ResearchHub ($33K), and DMT Quest ($33K).
Payment schedules will follow an annual timeline, commencing before the start of each academic year at Brighton & Sussex Medical School (September). Contributions of $33K per year each from ResearchHub, DMT Quest, and Nouns DAO will total $99K annually. These funds will be donated to the University of Sussex to employ Dr. Fincham and provide him with resources to cover the project’s research costs. The University will manage the funds through its standard system, allocating 10% to overheads. This includes providing Dr. Fincham with lab space and covering indirect expenses such as administrative support, facility maintenance, and general operational costs. Notably, this 10% overhead rate is significantly lower than the typical rates for grants, showcasing how DeSci initiatives are driving positive change!
Good scientific research takes time, with many postdoc fellowships offered through TradSci routes lasting up to 5 years, and the current 5-year plan will ensure successful implementation of BreathworkLab’s long-term vision and value.
Detailed budget breakdown:
- $300K over 5 years for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Grade 7.7) salary ($60K/year)
- $75K over 5 years for insurance and superannuation during medical school employment ($15K/year)
- $45K over 5 years as 10% overhead to University/Medical School ($9K/year)
- $25K over 5 years for participant payments ($5K/year)
- $20K over 5 years for breathwork intervention delivery costs ($4K/year)
- $15K over 5 years for conference and symposia costs ($3K/year)
- $10K over 5 years for publication and associated costs ($2K/year)
- $5K over 5 years for maintenance of a dedicated project website and social media ($1K/year).
