Traditional breathing exercises have been practiced for thousands of years across every culture. They work. The question isn't whether traditional breathwork is effective — it's whether AI-personalized breathwork is more effective. The evidence strongly suggests yes, for the same reason personalized medicine outperforms population-level prescriptions.
Traditional approach: pick a technique (or have one prescribed by a teacher), practice it the same way every time, hope it's the right match for your needs. This works well when a skilled teacher matches the technique to the student. It fails when people self-select patterns based on what's popular rather than what their nervous system needs.
AI approach: assess the individual's current state, cross-reference with breathing science, select the optimal protocol, adapt pacing to capacity, and adjust over time based on outcomes. Every session is a custom prescription rather than a generic one.
The biggest advantage of AI coaching is consistency of personalization. A great human breathwork teacher does everything the AI does — but they're available once a week for $100/hour. The AI does it every session, every day, for free. For the 98% of breathwork that is daily maintenance practice rather than deep therapeutic work, AI coaching is the superior delivery mechanism.