Hugging this breathing pillow can provide much needed anxiety relief

A huggable soft pillow that “breathes“ was shown to reduce anxiety as effectively as a guided meditation in people anticipating a maths test. Alice Haynes at the University of Bristol and her colleagues recruited a total of 129 people to test the breathing cushion, which was designed to be held against the belly and chest. The pillow, which measures 36 centimetres long, contains an inflatable chamber that connects to an external pump and motor, enabling it to expand and deflate at a rate similar to human lungs in the resting state.