This study examines the effectiveness of high-ventilation breathwork (HVB) as a microbreak activity to enhance employee cognitive performance and well-being in the workplace. Drawing from theories of resource conservation and effort recovery, we hypothesize that short, audio-guided breathwork exercise can replenish cognitive and affective resources, enabling employees to sustain attention, increase task engagement, and positive-activation states (e.g., alert, engaged). Through a randomized controlled experiment, we will compare the effects of a guided high-ventilation breathwork (HVB) exercise to a psycho-educative listening microbreak on cognitive performance, task engagement and affect. Preliminary results from a pilot study with 31 employees showed considerable between- and within-group variation in response patterns in cognitive performance and subjective self-reports of task engagement and affective states. Despite the low current sample size, we observed a tendency that breathwork improves attention (i.e. limits distraction from irrelevant information), compared to the control condition. These findings highlight breathwork’s potential as a practical and accessible recovery tool for employees, offering immediate benefits without extensive training or equipment. We conclude by highlighting implications for workplace recovery practices and our planned future research exploring moderating factors and the neurophysiological response to HVB microbreaks.
