Sit or lie down where you cannot fall, and stay out of water
Get onto a seat or the floor right away, away from water, traffic and anywhere you could fall, because a faint can come with little warning.
Por qué funciona
Albert and Craig measured breath-holding at rest, after hyperventilation, during exercise and after both, and concluded that loss of consciousness after hyperventilation and during exercise is possible and is probably due to hypoxia, meaning low oxygen. Immink and colleagues find that hyperventilation with a change in posture did not reduce brain blood flow enough to cause fainting in the studies they summarise, but that combining it with cardiovascular stressors such as cold immersion or reduced cardiac output puts brain blood flow at risk. The rule to sit or lie down, and to stay out of water, is practical caution built on those findings. It is our reasoning, not a finding of either study.
Cómo hacerlo
- Stop, and sit or lie down now, on the floor if you need to. Do not stand up quickly.
- If you are in water, a pool, the sea or a bath, get out now and sit at the edge. Do not stay in the water, and do not try to swim.
- If you are driving or about to, pull over somewhere safe and stop the car before you do anything else.
- Keep your feet on the floor and your back against something solid. Tell someone nearby what is happening.
- Stay lying down and still. If you have fainted, nearly fainted, have chest pain, or the lightheadedness does not clear within a few minutes, call emergency services now; do not wait to see whether it passes.
Evidencia
Albert and Craig (1961) report experiments on breath-holding after hyperventilation and during exercise in which loss of consciousness was possible. Immink et al. (2014) review how hyperventilation-related hypocapnia reduces cerebral perfusion and how cardiovascular stress adds to that risk. Paganini et al. (2025), reviewing breath-hold diving research, list hypoxia-induced syncope among neurological effects of breath-holding. Kox et al. (2014) describe a training programme of cyclic hyperventilation followed by breath retention that produced intermittent respiratory alkalosis and hypoxia in trained volunteers. (observational)
These are small experiments, reviews and a training study, not trials of positioning or of water rules. The rules to sit or lie down, to stay out of water and not to drive are precautions drawn from the fainting findings; no source tested them directly.
Fuentes
- Albert, B., & Craig, J. R. (1961). Causes of loss of consciousness during underwater swimming. Journal of Applied Physiology, 16(4), 583–586.
- Immink, R. V., Pott, F. C., Secher, N. H., & van Lieshout, J. J. (2014). Hyperventilation, cerebral perfusion, and syncope. Journal of Applied Physiology, 116(7), 844–851.
- Paganini, M., Moon, R. E., Camporesi, E. M., & Bosco, G. (2025). Advances in breath-hold diving research: A state-of-the-art review. European Journal of Applied Physiology, 126(3), 1223–1243.
- Kox, M., van Eijk, L. T., Zwaag, J., van den Wildenberg, J., Sweep, F. C. G. J., van der Hoeven, J. G., & Pickkers, P. (2014). Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of the innate immune response in humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(20), 7379–7384.
Error común
Standing up quickly to “shake it off”, or getting into cold water to cool down. Immink and colleagues identify cold immersion as one of the stressors that puts brain blood flow at risk when combined with hyperventilation.
Practica esto con IX Coach
Más prácticas para Dizzy, Tingly or Panicky After Breathwork: Why, and What Helps
- Stop the breathing exercise now and let breathing go back to its own pace
Put the technique down completely the moment dizziness, tingling or panic begins: no next round, no slower or deeper version of the same exercise.
- Ground through your feet, your hands and what you can see
Turn attention outward to the solid room — the floor under your feet, something in your hands, five things you can see — rather than inward to the breath.
- Let breathing find its own rhythm, with no counting and no holds
Once you have stopped and steadied, stop managing the breath: no counts, no targets, no holding, just gentle breathing that you are not controlling.
- For the rest of today, rest, drink water, eat something and be with someone
Set the rest of the day around ordinary care — water, a simple meal, rest and one person you trust — and leave breathwork for another day.
- Know the signs that need a doctor or emergency care, and act on them
Chest pain, fainting, trouble breathing that does not settle, or numbness that does not pass are reasons to get medical help now.
- Return to breathwork only with a qualified teacher or clinician, or not at all
If you want to practise breathing methods again, do it later, with a qualified teacher or clinician who knows about the dizziness, and never with breath holds alone.
- If panic or frightening feelings keep coming back, talk to a professional
When fear, panic or unreal feelings follow breathing exercises again and again, or last for days, a doctor or a therapist who knows panic is the right next step.
Conceptos relacionados
- Meditation-Related Challenges: When Practice Makes You Feel Worse
Steadying, practical steps for when meditation leaves you shaken, and where to find people who understand
- Técnicas de Anclaje para el Malestar Agudo
Habilidades sensoriales rápidas para volver al presente cuando el malestar se dispara
- Tummo (Inner Heat): The Six Yogas Practice, What Research Measured, and How to Approach It Safely
The inner-heat yoga of Nāropa’s lineage: what it is for, how it is received, what scientists found, and how to stay safe
- Kapalbhati Pranayama, de Forma Práctica
La fisiología de la respiración de brillo craneal y cómo construir una práctica segura y eficaz