Unlocking the Brain’s Hidden Potential Through Breathwork
Let’s talk about what happens in your brain during a long breathwork session. Whether you’re doing Conscious Connected Breathwork (where the breathing is continuous and rhythmic) or Tension Release Breathwork (involving deep breaths, breath holds, and a whole lot of resilience), your brain is in for a wild ride.
Both styles of breathwork lead to some pretty dramatic changes in the brain. You’re shutting down certain areas, lighting up others, and triggering a cascade of chemical reactions that leave you feeling a bit like you’ve just hit a mental reset button. Whether you’re “climbing the mountain” with breath holds or staying in the flow of continuous breathing, your brain reacts in ways you might not expect.
The Three Brains: A Quick Breakdown
Think of your brain like a layer cake, with each layer built on top of the other through evolution:
1. The Lizard Brain (Reptilian Brain): This handles your basic survival functions like heart rate, breathing, and the fight-or-flight response.
2. The Mammalian Brain (Limbic System): The seat of emotions and memories. It’s where those emotional releases and vivid memories during breathwork come from.
3. The Neocortex: The logical, thinking part of your brain. This is the one that tends to overthink and stress you out, and it’s also the one that takes a back seat during breathwork, allowing deeper experiences to surface.
What’s Happening in the Brain
As you dive into a breathwork session, especially long ones, the prefrontal cortex—responsible for logic and planning—quiets down. This gives your brain the freedom to focus on deeper processes, like emotional regulation and memory recall, handled by the limbic system. It’s why breathwork often feels like you’re accessing hidden parts of your mind—you are.
Your brain also releases a bunch of chemicals, like dopamine and serotonin, giving you that euphoric, tingly sensation. The lack of CO2 during deep breathing and breath holds, especially in trauma release sessions, causes the brain to shift into a heightened state of awareness, resulting in visual and physical sensations like tingling or numbness.
Chemicals on the Loose: Dopamine, Serotonin, and Beyond
As the breath intensifies, your brain starts releasing a cocktail of chemicals. Dopamine (the “reward” chemical) and serotonin (the “feel-good” chemical) flood the brain, which explains why, despite feeling like you’re hyperventilating, you’re also kind of enjoying it.
Then there’s norepinephrine, which amps up your focus and alertness, making you feel like you’re on the verge of some massive revelation. It’s like your brain saying, “Pay attention! Something big is happening here.”
And let’s not forget about endorphins—the body’s natural painkillers and mood boosters. These chemicals explain that euphoric, tingling sensation (often experienced as numbness or pins and needles in your arms and legs) you get during breathwork. The increased oxygen levels trigger these effects, making your body feel like it’s buzzing with energy.
The Tingling and the Visuals
Speaking of tingling, this is one of the most common sensations people report during long breathwork sessions. As you flood your system with oxygen, your body responds with tingles, particularly in your extremities. It’s your body’s way of saying, “We’re getting a lot of oxygen, and we’re not used to this.”
And then come the visuals. No, you’re not hallucinating—well, not in the traditional sense. Your brain is no longer filtering out what’s “real” and what’s just your imagination running wild. This can result in everything from seeing vibrant colours to experiencing dreamlike states, all while being wide awake. Stan Grof, the pioneer of Holotropic Breathwork, would say this is where deep emotional healing happens—when the brain finally stops trying to make sense of things and just allows you to feel.
The Wim Hof Effect (But Not Really)
Now, if you’ve heard of Wim Hof, the “I can climb a mountain in my underwear” guy, you’ll know he’s big on breathwork too. His techniques focus on deep breathing and breath holds, which share similarities with what we do in Tension or Trauma Release Breathwork. By holding your breath for extended periods after flooding your system with oxygen, you induce a state of heightened awareness that pushes your brain and body to new limits.
It’s similar to what we call “climbing the mountain” in breathwork sessions—pushing your body and mind beyond their usual comfort zones.
To Sum It Up: Your Brain on Breathwork
So, what’s really happening when you do a long breathwork session? Your brain is shutting down certain areas (bye-bye, overthinking), lighting up others (hello, emotions and memories), and releasing a cocktail of chemicals that leave you feeling all sorts of tingly and euphoric. Whether you’re doing Conscious Connected Breathwork or Trauma Release Breathwork, your brain is getting a full-body workout that goes way beyond just breathing.
And while there’s a spiritual side to all of this, we’ll save that for the next article. For now, let’s just appreciate the fact that through breathing, you’re giving your body one hell of a ride—but also a very healthy reset.
Lets’ Chat
Alright, so that’s the deal with your brain on breathwork. If your mind’s blown (or you’re just curious), hit me up. Seriously, I want to hear from you. Got a burning question? A wild experience to share? Let’s talk. You can drop me a message or start a chat using Substack’s conversation function. Don’t be shy—I’m literally here for this stuff. Let’s connect and see where the breath takes us.