Breathwork - How to access healing, transformation and insight
Everything in heaven and earth breathes. Breath is the thread that ties creation together.
-Morihei Ueshiba, founder of Aikido
One of the logos I use for my Breathwork. Created using Dall-E 3.0.
(You can also read this article on Medium.
Today breathwork is having its moment.
It’s on its way to becoming a solid pillar in professional health and fitness routines as well as spiritual and healing practices, alongside already well-established things like Meditation and Yoga.
This is why I’d like to give you an overview of breathwork: I’ll write about (1) where it comes from, (2) what its benefits are, (3) why it is so effective, so you know what all the fuzz is about.
At the end, (4) I’ll offer you a practical field guide and two different techniques I personally practice and recommend for daily and weekly use.
That the breath is essential for our health, gaining control over bodily functions, and increasing awareness has been well-known in most spiritual traditions.
Pranayama, Yoga, and Tai Chi (as well as Qi Gong) are some prime examples (among many) where this knowledge has been masterfully put to great use.
In these traditions, similarly as in ancient Greece and Rome and many other cultures, the breath is associated with our life force.
Generally, the term breathwork can refer to any type of conscious breathing practice including mindful breathing, or the aforementioned Pranayama and Tai Chi. There are many great and beneficial breathing practices well worth trying like 4–7–8-breathing, box-breathing, the Buteyko Method, Sufi-Breathing and many more.
But today I’m talking about the more intense practices, which center around breathing deeper and faster than usual for an extended period of time.
I’ll specifically talk about holotropic breathing and Conscious Connected Breath (CCB).
(More in-depth discussions about the spectrum of different breathwork schools, the science, and the spiritual aspect of the breath follow in other articles.)
By now, many people may have heard about breathwork or tried it.
Holotropic Breathwork is well-known and Wim Hof, the person as well as his method, have become relatively famous in the last years. Meanwhile, different breathwork schools are sprouting like mushrooms after days of summer rain.
But for many, the core is the same.
A Very Brief History
Let’s rewind a little bit.
Alongside Rebirthing (which has an interesting origin story in its own right), Holotropic Breathwork became the first modern breathwork technique.
It was developed in the mid-70s after Stan Grof, a Czech psychiatrist working in the US, had to stop the LSD-assisted psychotherapy he was offering to terminally ill patients at the time. Having done over 2000 of these LSD-sittings, he was one of the last who were allowed to continue this type of therapy after the war on drugs started.
To find an endogenous alternative to LSD, Stan and his wife Christina were researching breathing techniques used in different traditions around the world to induce altered states of consciousness and implementing them at Workshops in Essalen (a center for counterculture, spirituality, and pioneering consciousness research in California). They found that many cultures used intense breathing for healing purposes, and although they all where slightly different, they still shared some commonalities.
They tried to simplify the technique to get to the core of it and the essence they found consisted of two elements:
(1) Breathing deeper and faster than usual.
(2) Connecting the inhale with the exhale, which is also referred to as circular breathing.
Imagine all you had to do to access a state that helps you heal, gain insight, or return to center is… breath.
At the end of this article I present you with two different techniques, one for a daily practice (for a boost of energy, clarity, insight, and calm each day) , and another one for weekly/monthly deep-dives (for healing, self-exploration, and inspiration).
Important Additional Elements
Many schools and techniques add music as a great tool to deepen and support the experience. The right music can indeed be an incredible guide and motivation really elevating the experience.
Holotropic Breathwork for example does not include any guidance from the facilitator during the session, instead, there is super loud and evocative music, that will often start slowly and build to an intense crescendo.
Another common spice in the mix are breathholds (that Holotropic Breathing or CCB usually don’t include).
Here, after a period of breathing, a full exhale is done so the lungs are mostly (not entirely) empty and this is maintained for as long as it feels comfortable.
Through the intense breathing the PH-level of the blood lowers, so that it becomes more alkaline, which causes our body not to perceive the need to breathe as quickly and these breathless moments can lead to profound stillness and relaxation.
After the urge to breathe arises again, a deep inhale fills the lungs back up again. This is held for a moment, around half a minute, then released and the practice continues.
In techniques like Soma Breath or Wim Hof there are rounds of breathing in which the breather oscillates between a few minutes of fast breathing and holding his breath.
Beyond that many other variables playing an important role, such as:
· The length of the breathing
(In a holotropic session this can last up to three hours, while some other sessions may only go on for 30 minutes. Many techniques lie somewhere in the middle.)
· The role the facilitator plays
(does he or she give instructions or prompts during the session or do they stay quiet)
· Is bodywork included and if so which type and when
· Is a specific type of movement included or encouraged
Why do Breathwork?
In my humble opinion breathwork really is one of the most powerful tools out there to work with trauma, induce personal growth and explore one’s consciousness.
It is easy to access, more controllable and direct than most psychedelic experiences and it comes in a million variations, some of which you can include into a weekly or daily routine.
So, you can effectively tailor yourself your very ow breathing practice to fit your own needs and adjust it every time to what you need in the moment.
It’s an incredibly powerful tool that has many beneficial effects, but it can be especially helpful for…
Emotional Release - releasing stuck emotions and trauma from our body-mind system
Gaining Insight and Inspiration- it also enables us to tap deeply into our unconscious thus enabling us to receive guidance and inspiration.
It enables us to get out of our minds and into a deep connection to our bodies.
This often leads to a lastingly different perspective on our problems and ailments. I also call this the “birds-eye-view”, through which we become free from our current thought patterns creating the feeling that we “are stuck”.
The “Breathwork talk” from my former instructer Ben sums it up perfectly:
I call it therapy for those who don’t want to talk about their problems,
I call it meditation for those who can’t want to sit on a cushion for hours, and
I call it a drugfree plant medicine.
- Breathwork Talk by Benedict Beaumont
The list of possible benefits is pretty, pretty long.
In more general terms it may enable you to process certain topics, break behavioral patterns, quiet your mind, gain insights or simply bring your body, emotional and cognitive system back into balance.
More concretely it often leads to:
Enhanced physical, emotional and mental well-being, more mental clarity, increased energy, a better connection to the body, a boost of the immune system, improved sleep, better concentration, better mood, while commonly reducing stress and anxiety by helping you to switch from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic nervous system.[1]
It may read like a miracle cure; too good to be true.
But a small reminder and word of caution against heightened expectations: Things are very different from person to person. And expectations are a killer to the experience. So, just be open, try it out and see if it’s something for you.
That being said, it really is an incredible practice and there are different explanation why it is so effective. I’ll explore two of them now.
The Inner Healer
As Stan Grof explains the psyche has the ability to self-heal and self-regulate when given the right circumstances. [2]
Like a thermostate, the psyche knows how to bring itself back into balance, yet the conscious mind with all its believes and our past wounds that left emotional scar tissue, while also splitting off parts from ourselves, prevent it from doing so.
Breathwork offer a relief because it lets the mind step back and lets the intuitive inner healing function take over.
Stan didn’t invent this notion.
C.G. Jung already pointed out that there appears to be an ordering function in our psyche that tries to restore equilibrium and wholeness by surfacing certain materials that aid in this process, e.g. in dreams and through symbols. [3] For Jung it is is the archetype of the Self that has a balancing and centering function and that might also be equated to the soul or essence of a person.
But too often this self-healing ability is blocked in everyday life and even though we may be aware of a problem or issue, we can’t solve it.
Sometimes we can’t help, but maintain unhealthy patterns or habits, we keep making the same mistake, or have recurring thought loops. Maybe we are just feeling out of sync.
The reason lies on a deeper level, either in our unconscious (trauma, past), in an imbalance in our life (neurotic behavior, present), or maybe we are not allowing ourselves to live certain parts of ourselves (lack of authentic expression, future). The list of possible issues and solutions is pretty long, if not potentially endless.
This is why breathwork is so incredibly effective.
You don’t need to figure out what’s wrong or how to fix it.
You only need to breath and let go.
The issue only exists because we are not in contact with our “full” and authentic self, we are cut off from certain aspects of ourselves through trauma that left emotional scars, an unbalanced life, or certain assumptions who and how we should be.
But on a deeper level our psyche is already whole and knows what’s going on.
When we let the conscious mind step aside we put its controling function on stand-by our limited perspective expands and our fears and worries subside.
In that way the thinking mind is bypassed and our unconscious can bring the problem to the surface, where it can be resolved, or at least where resolution can begin.
In in this moment the material can be dealt with differently than in our ordinary state of mind. Old emotions which were stuck in our system can come up and be processed and trauma, fears, or unresolved conflicts can be seen from a wholly different perspective and thus partially or entirely healed and integrated.
So breathwork (and the altered state reached when breathing for an extended time) helps to tame the thinking mind, thereby enabling whatever needs to be processed to come to the surface where it can be confronted or experienced and integrated.
A Modern Scientific Explanation from Cognitive Science
In terms of modern cognitive science, there is much talk and experimental evidence of the default mode network (DNM) going offline in altered states, which are reached e.g. through breathwork and psychedelic therapy.[4] [5] [6]
Meditation has also been proven to significantly reduce the activity in the areas associated to the DNM.[7] (I’ll go much deeper into this in another article as this topic obviously deserves a more in-depth explanation. For more info see sources below)
The default mode network, as the name implies, is our “standard system” or “controller”, which is especially active when we are caught up in thoughts or being in “neutral”, for example idle on a task.
Then there are the many physiological effects happening in our bodies too. The oxygen and CO2 level are changing as well as the alkalinity of our blood.
Some reduce the positive effect of breathwork to these physiological alterations and they are indeed very important as they enable our nervous system to reset and rebalance. While this is also very important and well worth exploring, I’ll leave this part for another time.
“Enough theory, what practice would you recommend?”
So, that’s much talk, but what type of breathwork do you do or recommend, you may rightfully ask.
I’ve tried many different techniques, but surely not everything out there, as it is an endless and ever-developing space.
I personally do and highly recommend two things for two different purposes:
Wim Hof-style breathing for starting the day
I do some Wim Hof-style breathing every morning (or at least 5 times a week).
It’s easy to implement into a daily routine as it can be done in 10, 15 or 20 mins (doing 2 to 4 rounds) if there’s not much time.
But it can also be extended to 30 minutes or more (doing 3 to 5 longer rounds) if one has the energy and motivation.
I find it extremely energizing, it clears my head, helps me connect to my body, gives me motivation, and leaves me in a good mood for the day. Especially if I didn’t get enough sleep or feel a bit out of sync it works better than a cup of coffee would and is much more sustainable.
Additionally, many health benefits come along too. Some I mentioned above so I won’t go into more detail here.
(If you do some research you can find some good studies and great stories too.)
I also find that meditating afterward comes much easier, letting me go deeper as I’m already feeling connected to my body and in a thought-free state.
I do much longer intervals of breathing than the classical Wim Hof technique suggests, so I often do more than 100 breaths (I don’t count) before holding my breath.
How to do it
This can be done sitting up or lying down (lying down is recommended if you’re just starting out), while breathing through the nose or the mouth (mouth-breathing is usually more intense).
Preparation: Maybe put some rhythmic or meditational music on your headphones and get comfortable. No distractions, maybe use a blindfold.
Start taking deep breaths in and deep breaths out.
Remember to connect your inhale and exhale, letting one transition into the other.
Find you rhythm and flow, listen to what your body needs right now.
How exactly you breath is not so important in the beginning (just deeper and faster than usual).
Just start and listen to your intuition.Do this until you feel a slight tickling sensation arising in your body (alternatively you can aim at doing around 40 to 100 breaths, or 2 to 4 minutes).
Breath retention: Take a few more deep and slow breaths at the end and then fully exhale.
Stay like this. Here you can just relax deeply and enjoy the stillness.
Or you might add more advanced techniques like progressive relaxation, a bodyscan, affirmations, visualizations etc.The recovery breath: If you feel the urge to breathe, wait for another 10 seconds while relaxing even deeper.
Take a deep breath in and hold it again for around 30 seconds, or as long as it feels good.Let’s start again: Exhale, take a few normal breaths, and then repeat the whole shebang as much as you like.
Often the breathholds in the fourth and fifth rounds get more intense and can get a little psychedelic too.Try it out and see what feels right. Your intuition is your best guide. Learn to listen to your body and just be present in the process.
If you want more info there are tons of information online. Wim Hof has a great website and app, but there is much, much more out there. Soma breath might also be interesting.
Feel free to experiment and most importantly listen to your own intuition and your body!
Longer CCB-Sessions (e.g. every second week) for self-exploration and healing
The second thing I try to do regularly, like once a week or sometimes every two or three weeks, is a longer session of CCB (Conscious Connected Breath).
Conscious Connected Breathwork is a circular breathing technique. This means that inhalations are immediately followed by exhalations without a pause.
At times, an active inhale and a passive exhale, and full body breaths (also known as diaphragmatic breathing) are recommended. I’d say, that’s great if it comes naturally. Again, in my opinion as a begginer it’s more important to find out what you need and what feels good, so that you get into a flow.
Music is usually accompanying the experience and the facilitator might say some words as encouragement and guidance too.
This (as a participant) I’d usually do in a group with another facilitator guiding the session, usually including around 1 to 2 hours of breathing.
Sometimes, if I just do an hour or less, I also do this at home with a video or music, but being in a group is more powerful in my experience and much better if you’re starting out.
I’m also not necessarily tied to one technique here, I also go to sessions of holotropic breathwork, biodynamic breathing, transformational breathwork etc., or try some entirely new techniques.
The goal of such a longer experience depends on my intention. What is it that I want to explore or work on. But sometimes it’s also good to simply dive into the depths of my mind and connect to my body to see what comes up, what needs attention and maybe get a fresh perspective or inspiration.
In itself, CCB is quite open, so every facilitator will offer their own style and way of guiding and holding space.
If you want to try some holotropic breathwork or CCB, for the start I’d recommend you find a facilitator you trust. Feeling safe and supported is important. But its also normal to be nervous before the experience. If you feel called to it, I’d say you should follow that call.
If you want to know more, follow me on Medium or my social media where I’ll share more info about the technique, science and benefits of Breathwork.
If you’d like to have a session with me, you can join for the donation based online breathwork I offer over my website.
They include an introduction with all you need to know, a short meditation and 45 minutes of breathing before it’s time to come back and integrate.
I’m curious about your feedback. What do you think? Did I miss any important element? Do you have any of your own tips and experiences you’d like to share?
For further engagement, you can also buy me a coffee, or find me on social media (Insta, Substack & Threads), or my website.
For a bonus, here’s a great interview with Stan Grof at Tim Ferriss.
And here’s one with Wim Hof.
Here’s a collection of scientific papers about the Benefits of Breathwork.
Essential Reads to start with:
About Breathwork
Holotropic Breathwork — by Stan Grof
The Wim Hof Method — by Wim Hof
About the Breath in General
Breath — by James Nestor
The Oxygen Advantage — by Patrick G. Mckeown
[1] Here’s a collection of scientific papers about the Benefits of Breathwork: https://backline.care/science-breathwork/
[2] c.f. Stan & Christina Grof, Holotropic Breathwork, p. 19.
[3] Active Imagination is another practice in which we can bypass our everyday thinking mind and actively engage in the dialogue with the unconscious/ deeper levels of the psyche.
[4] Breathwork and the DNM https://wellnessforce.com/breathwork-the-default-mode-network-whats-really-happening/
[5] Jamie Wheal, Recapture the Rapture, p. 100, 2021.
[6] Psychedelics and the Default Mode Network
https://psychedelicstoday.com/2020/02/04/psychedelics-and-the-default-mode-network/
[7] “Decrease of Functional Connectivity within the Default Mode Network by a Brief Training of Focused Attention on the Breath in” (2021) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.02.09.430388
Meditation leads to reduced default mode network activity beyond an active task” (2015) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3758/s13415-015-0358-3
There’s much more research on this. Feel free to do your own search or subscribe for more info.
Also check out this amazing paper:
“From many to (n)one: Meditation and the plasticity of the predictive mind” (2021) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.06.021