Connected circular breathing — the core technique

Breathe continuously without pauses between inhale and exhale, faster than normal.

Why it works

Sustained hyperventilation lowers arterial CO2 (hypocapnia), causing cerebral vasoconstriction and altered blood alkalinity. This shifts conscious experience — reducing default-mode-network dominance and potentially releasing suppressed somatic and emotional material stored in implicit memory. The effect is dose-dependent on breathing rate and duration.

How to do it

1. Lie down with eyes closed. Breathe in through the mouth fully into the chest.
2. Release the exhale immediately — no pause at the top or bottom of the breath.
3. Maintain this connected rhythm faster than your resting rate, but without forcing maximum volume.
4. Let sounds, emotions, or body sensations arise without trying to direct or suppress them.
5. Continue for the facilitated duration (typically 1-3 hours); your sitter or facilitator monitors you throughout.

Evidence

Physiological effects of hyperventilation (hypocapnia, cerebral vasoconstriction, altered EEG patterns) are well established. Whether these produce therapeutic outcomes specifically is less studied — a small observational study reported reductions in death anxiety, and case series describe trauma processing. PET imaging directly confirms that hypocapnia reduces cerebral blood flow, grounding the vasoconstriction mechanism this practice relies on. (clinical)

All published evidence is observational or clinical case series; no RCTs exist. Effects vary widely between individuals. Safe only with a trained facilitator and medical screening.

Sources

• Rhinewine & Williams (2007), holotropic breathwork and death anxiety reduction, Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine
• Holmes, S. W., Morris, R., Clance, P. R., & Putney, R. T. (1996). Holotropic breathwork: An experiential approach to psychotherapy. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 33(1), 114–120.
• Rhinewine, J. P., & Williams, O. J. (2007). Holotropic Breathwork: The Potential Role of a Prolonged, Voluntary Hyperventilation Procedure as an Adjunct to Psychotherapy. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 13(7), 771–776.
• Ito, H., Kanno, I., Ibaraki, M., Hatazawa, J., & Miura, S. (2003). Changes in Human Cerebral Blood Flow and Cerebral Blood Volume during Hypercapnia and Hypocapnia Measured by Positron Emission Tomography. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 23(6), 665–670.

Common mistake

Trying to control the experience — moderating the breath when things feel intense rather than allowing the process — which suppresses the very material the session is meant to move.