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.
Why it works
Lindahl and colleagues interviewed Western Buddhist practitioners and experts about meditation-related experiences and identified influencing factors, including health behaviours and relationships. That study concerns meditation rather than breathwork, so this page applies the finding by analogy. Water, food and rest keep the body steady while the breathing change settles, and another person can notice if things get worse.
How to do it
- No more breathwork today. Put the exercise and any video away.
- Sit or lie down for a while somewhere quiet and safe, with your feet on the floor if you are sitting.
- Drink some water in small sips, and eat something simple if you can, even if you are not hungry.
- Tell one person you trust, in plain words, what happened, and ask them to stay with you or check on you later.
- If you cannot eat or keep fluids down, or you still feel unwell after a good while, get medical advice (see the steps on when to get help).
Evidence
Lindahl et al. (2017) report a taxonomy of 59 meditation-related experiences and influencing factors, including health behaviours and relationships, that shaped how difficult experiences were interpreted and managed. (observational)
The study describes factors people reported, not a test of food, water or rest after breathwork. This is ordinary practical care, not a treatment.
Sources
- Lindahl, J. R., Fisher, N. E., Cooper, D. J., Rosen, R. K., & Britton, W. B. (2017). The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists. PLOS ONE, 12(5), e0176239. About this work
Common mistake
Going straight back to a video or a longer session to prove you are fine, or spending the rest of the day alone with the feeling.
Practice this with IX Coach
More practices for 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Related concepts
- 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
- Grounding Techniques for Acute Distress
Fast sensory skills to come back to the present when distress spikes
- 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, Made Practical
The physiology of skull-shining breath and how to build a safe, effective practice
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