Using an ambulatory stress monitoring device to identify relaxation due to untrained deep breathing

The objective of this paper is to assess the efficacy of deep breathing as a relaxation activity using a wearable stress monitor. For this purpose, we developed a protocol with different mentally stressful activities interleaved with regular sessions of deep breathing. We used three physiological sensors: a heart rate monitor, a respiration sensor, and an electrodermal activity sensor, to extract parameters that are consistent with the dominance of the sympathetic nervous system. Our results indicate that a large number of subjects were not able to perform the paced deep breathing exercise properly, which caused their stress levels to increase rather than to decrease. The study also showed that our wearable stress monitor can be used to monitor breathing technique and assess its effectiveness in relaxing individuals.