The valsalva maneuver involves exhaling against a pressure with closed glottis. This maneuver can be performed by holding your nostrils shut and blowing air into your nose. In our procedure, participants blow into a tube that measures the incoming pressure (labeled “valsalva”). This increased pressure leads to an expansion of the lungs, which in turn exert pressure on the other internal organs, including the heart and the blood vessels.
After the breathing awareness meditation, we perform an additional single-trial valsalva to compare valsalva responses before and after meditation.
