Improve Client Care By Dispelling Breathing Myths

April 23, 2025

2:30 PM ET

Clients and practitioners are bombarded by scientific misinformation on social media by influencers peddling nonsense like “carbon dioxide is a toxic waste gas.”

Breathing myths can reinforce dysfunctional breathing behaviors, sabotaging biofeedback and neurofeedback training.

This workshop introduces basic breathing science and challenges 14 breathing myths.

Attendees will gain a clear understanding of the importance of proper breathing physiology. They will be able to explain why we inhale sufficient oxygen, why conserving carbon dioxide is crucial, and how over-breathing can negatively impact both health and performance. Additionally, they will learn why maintaining an oxygen saturation level of 95–98% is more beneficial than aiming for 100%.

Fredric Bruce Shaffer, PhD, BCB, BCB-HRV is a Biological Psychologist who consults on heart rate variability, physiological psychology, and psychopharmacology. He has proudly taught at Truman since 1975. He earned a BA in Psychology and Political Science with a minor in Philosophy/ Religion from Claremont Men’s College in 1971 then he completed a MS in Clinical Psychology in 1973 and a PhD in Social-Personality Psychology in 1975 from Oklahoma State University. In 2008, He received the Walker and Doris Allen Fellowship for Faculty Excellence at Truman State University. In In 2019, I received the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback’s (AAPB) Distinguished Scientist award. He has trained biofeedback professionals in Aveiro, Canberra, Cardiff, Eindhoven, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Munich, Rome, Thailand, and Venice (Aaron Truitt joined Chris Wally and me in Rome.) He provide online biofeedback, neurofeedback, and qEEG education through BioSource Software LLC. He has served as Chair and Treasurer of the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance (BCIA), which certifies professionals in 35 countries. (BCIA Board members joined me for a June, 2017 Golden, Colorado retreat.) In 2021, BCIA created a scholarship in his honor for HRV Biofeedback applicants. Currently, he is an associate editor of the journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, and contributing editor for Biofeedback magazine and he is one of five co-editors of Evidence-Based Practice in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback (4th ed.), Foundations of Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback, and Physiological Recording Technology in Biofeedback and Neurofeedback.