Breathwork is a powerful practice. Most people can do it safely. Some should take particular care, and this page says who and why.
Everything on this site is written by practitioners about their own work. None of it diagnoses anything, treats anything or replaces medical care, and none of it knows anything about you.
Please read this page before you try something you have read here, particularly if you are on your own.
The short version
Breathwork is an invitational practice. You choose your pace, and you can stop at any time. Nothing here diagnoses, treats or cures any condition, and nothing here replaces medical care.
If you have any medical concerns, or you are pregnant, please speak to your GP before trying something new.
Who should take particular care
Speak to your GP before beginning, and work with an experienced facilitator rather than on your own, if any of these apply to you.
- Cardiovascular conditions, including a history of heart problems
- High or low blood pressure
- A history of stroke, or an aneurysm
- Epilepsy or a seizure disorder
- Psychosis, bipolar disorder, or an acute mental health condition
- Severe anxiety or panic disorder
- Detached retina or glaucoma
- Pregnancy
- Recent surgery, or a recent injury to the chest or abdomen
- Asthma or another respiratory condition, particularly if it is not well controlled
- A history of trauma where strong emotion surfacing would be difficult to hold on your own
This is not a list of absolute exclusions, and it is not complete. Plenty of people on it practise breathwork safely, with support and at a gentler pace. It is an invitation to check in honestly with your own body and, where it matters, with someone qualified, before your first session.
Equally, not being on this list does not mean nothing will come up. It means the odds are in your favour.
Intensity varies enormously
“Breathwork” covers a very wide range, and the cautions on this page do not apply evenly across it.
Slowing your breathing down, lengthening the out-breath, or breathing through your nose while you go about your day sits at one end. Long sessions of fast connected breathing, breath holds, or anything designed to produce a strong emotional release sits at the other, and that end asks a great deal more of the body.
If a piece here describes something intense, take the caution seriously even if the gentler practices have never troubled you.
Things that can happen, and are usually fine
Tingling in the hands, face or feet. Lightheadedness. Cold. Muscles tightening, particularly in the hands. Yawning, shaking, tears, or laughter arriving from nowhere.
These are common in more active breathwork and usually settle within a few minutes once you return to easy, normal breathing.
Stop and breathe normally if you feel unwell, faint, or frightened, or if anything hurts. Breathwork is not something to push through. Nothing is lost by stopping.
When to get medical help
Chest pain, difficulty breathing that does not settle, fainting, or symptoms that persist after you have stopped and rested are reasons to seek medical attention rather than wait and see.
In an emergency in the UK or Ireland, call 999. In the UK you can also call NHS 111 for advice.
If a breathwork session has left you distressed in a way that is not settling, that is worth talking to your GP about too. It is a common enough thing to happen and there is no shame in it.
Practising on your own
Gentle, slow practices are generally fine to do alone. Anything longer, faster or more intense is better done with a facilitator present, at least the first few times, and that is what most of the practitioners writing here would tell you themselves.
Never practise breath holds in or near water. People have drowned doing this, and it is the one caution on this page that is absolute.
Do not practise while driving or operating anything.
Choosing a practitioner
Breathwork is not a regulated profession in the UK or Ireland. Anybody can call themselves a breathwork practitioner, and the quality of training varies a great deal.
Worth asking before you book: where they trained and for how long, whether they hold insurance, whether they screen for the conditions above, and what they do if something difficult comes up in a session. Anyone good will be pleased you asked.
Every practitioner with a profile on this site states their training and their accreditation, and we ask for both before anyone is published.
What this page is not
It is not medical advice, and it is not a substitute for asking someone who knows your history.
If something on this page contradicts what your GP or your consultant has told you, listen to them, not to us.