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Body based practices sit alongside medication rather than replacing it. If you take something, you can do both.
They are worth having on the menu for people who cannot take medication, do not want to, or want something of their own to do as well. The skill you build stays with you between appointments, which is a genuine advantage. None of that is a reason to stop something you have been prescribed.
Qur’an and Sunnah
'who provides them with food to ward off hunger, safety to ward off fear' (Quran 106:4). Provision is described as arriving through ordinary means, and there is no prize for refusing one of them.
ٱلَّذِيٓ أَطۡعَمَهُم مِّن جُوعࣲ وَءَامَنَهُم مِّنۡ خَوۡفِۭ
who provides them with food to ward off hunger, safety to ward off fear
Qur’an 106:4read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
A systematic review describes heart rate variability biofeedback as teaching deliberate self-regulation of a dysregulated vagal response, with efficacy shown for anxiety, depression and stress, while noting it is still not routinely offered. That is encouraging rather than conclusive, and the review is not a head to head test against medication. Nothing in it says these practices match drug treatment for a serious condition.
Blase K, Vermetten E, Lehrer P, Gevirtz R. (2021). Neurophysiological Approach by Self-Control of Your Stress-Related Autonomic Nervous System with Depression, Stress and Anxiety Patients.. International journal of environmental research and public health doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
Learning to steady yourself adds what a tablet cannot: something you can do at the moment you need it.
When not to
Do not change or stop prescribed medication because a practice is helping. Speak to your prescriber first.
This one is still a draft. It is waiting on a scholar and a clinician to read it before it is published.
Near this one
Hum a note you like for a few breaths, and try covering your ears with your palms so the sound fills your head.
There are implanted devices that send small pulses along the vagus nerve, used for epilepsy, rheumatoid arthritis, depression and other conditions. Breath practice is a slow, unplugged cousin of the same idea.
Neurofeedback usually starts with an assessment, then a block of sessions, then a review, and it is mostly paid for privately. Ask about all of that before you begin.