Yes: three small, independent studies show for the first time that the altered state people experience during intense breathwork tracks with measurable changes in brain blood flow, heart rhythm and reported wellbeing. The stronger the inner experience, the clearer that pattern shows up in the body, and it turned up in three separate studies, independently of each other.
In a nutshell
Three small studies. 24, 13 and 61 experienced circular-breathing practitioners, published between 2025 and 2026 in three different journals.
Measurable in the brain. MRI research saw blood flow change more strongly the more intense the experience was.
A strong first step. The studies were small and used experienced practitioners, which is exactly why larger follow-up research is now worth doing.
I hear it at almost every workshop: someone sitting back up after an intense breathwork session, saying quietly that they were “somewhere else”. Big words are rarely part of it. More often it’s a startled silence. A sense of space where a wall used to be. Sometimes tears, without anyone quite able to say why. Sometimes a feeling of connection that seems bigger than the body it happens in.
For years that was mostly something to honour, not explain, for me. You didn’t need to understand what happened to see that something did. But I’m glad about research that now, carefully and with small groups, actually looks at that. Not to strip the mystery away, but to show that what people experience during a breathwork session isn’t imagined. That opens a door. No guarantee, no quick fix, but the feeling of being taken seriously in something that has long only been allowed to be called “a feeling”.
What exactly is an altered state of consciousness in breathwork?
This isn’t about the slow, calming breathing this blog usually covers. It’s about circular breathing, known as Conscious Connected Breathing or high ventilation breathwork: breathing without a pause between inhale and exhale, usually to music and guided by a facilitator. People who do this sometimes describe feelings of boundlessness, a sense of unity, strong emotions or images arising. Experiences that closely resemble what people describe after deep meditation, or, in entirely separate research, after psychedelics. Without any substance involved.
Scientists call these experiences “altered states of consciousness”, or ASCs. For a long time they lived mostly in the realm of personal accounts: valuable for the person who lived it, hard to research from the outside.
What did the three studies show?
More insight, even a week later
The study
Fincham and colleagues (2026), published in Frontiers in Psychology. One of the first controlled trials on circular breathing ever run, known as the A2A study (“Airways to Alteration”).
Who took part
24 healthy adults with circular-breathing experience, randomly split: one half did a session of circular breathing to music, the other a lying-down bodyscan meditation, both on the same day.
What it found
Boundlessness and unity clearly stronger right after the breathwork session than after meditation.
Emotional breakthroughs reported more often after breathwork than after meditation.
A week later, more reported psychological insight and behaviour change in the breathwork group.
The group knew beforehand the session could feel intense, and expectation is part of what people experience too.
The more intense the experience, the stronger the brain responds
The study
Kartar and colleagues (2025), published in PLOS ONE. The first study to use MRI to track what happens in the brain during circular breathing.
Who took part
13 experienced practitioners, scanned during circular breathing to track cerebral blood flow. A subgroup of 8 also had their heart rate variability compared.
What it found
Cerebral blood flow dropped sharply: around 30 percent at the start, over 40 percent as the session continued.
The stronger the boundlessness, the bigger the drop in a region tied to body awareness (left insula and operculum).
And the bigger the rise in a region tied to emotion and memory (right amygdala and hippocampus).
A small group of 13 experienced practitioners: promising, and a solid base for larger studies.
Experience and wellbeing rose together
The study
Havenith and colleagues (2025), published in Communications Psychology. A third, independent research group, looking at both holotropic breathwork and circular breathing.
Who took part
61 participants in intense breathwork.
What it found
The intensity of the altered state tracked with the change in reported wellbeing afterwards: the same pattern as the other two studies, from a third, independent group of researchers.
Three separate research groups, the same pattern three times over.
Is intense breathwork safe for everyone?
No. All three studies worked exclusively with people who already had circular-breathing experience and were known in advance to handle it well. None of this has been studied with first-timers, with a trauma or anxiety history, or with heart and vascular conditions. Intense, sustained breathing can feel overwhelming, precisely because it has such a strong effect on body and brain. This isn’t something to try alone, from a blog post: that belongs with an experienced facilitator who can build it up safely, at your own pace.
Notice that even the gentle, slow-breathing exercises from our other posts stir up unease instead of calm? That’s a sign your nervous system needs more safety first, not a sign something’s wrong with you.
What you can expect from it
Breathwork is no replacement for care, and the studies used experienced practitioners in small groups, so what you experience yourself may differ. What does hold: the experience people describe during breathwork isn’t made up or pure suggestion. Something measurable happens in the brain and nervous system, three research groups saw the same pattern, and that makes larger follow-up research worth doing.
LAND • BREATHE • FEEL
Land
Sit or lie down somewhere you won’t be disturbed.
Feel first what’s underneath you: the floor, the chair, the cushion. No rush.
Breathe
Breathe six times a minute: five seconds in, five seconds out, no pause.
Let the count be done for you and breathe along with the online breathing exercise, choosing “six per minute”.
Feel
Keep breathing this way for a minute or longer.
How do you feel now? And do you also feel you’re standing more in your power now, after practising like this for a moment?
This is the calm version. You can do the exercise calmly, but this is the type of breathing we work with: no pause after the inhale or the exhale. The real session is of course stronger, more intense and longer.
If you feel dizzy or unsettled, stop and simply breathe on as usual.
Curious about more intense breathwork? Look for someone trained to guide you through it, not a blog post to follow on your own. Want to see what else is coming up at House of InnerPower? Have a look at the agenda.
This post shares scientific insight and practical experience, and isn’t medical or therapeutic advice. For ongoing symptoms, or if you’re unsure whether intense breathwork is right for you, it’s good to have someone who can guide you in person take a look.
Frequently asked questions
Is the altered state during breathwork real, or just imagination?
Three small, independent studies show that the intensity of the altered state people experience during intense breathwork tracks with measurable changes in brain blood flow, heart rate variability and reported wellbeing afterwards. The experience is tied to something measurable in the body and brain.
What happens in your brain during intense breathwork?
An MRI study saw total cerebral blood flow drop sharply during circular breathing: by roughly 30 percent at the start and over 40 percent as the session continued. The stronger someone’s sense of boundlessness, the bigger the drop in a region tied to body awareness (left insula and operculum), and the bigger the rise in a region tied to emotion and memory (right amygdala and hippocampus).
What is an altered state of consciousness in breathwork?
An altered state of consciousness (ASC) is an experience of, for example, boundlessness, unity, strong emotion or images arising, with similarities to what people describe after deep meditation or, in separate research, after psychedelics. In breathwork this mainly happens during circular breathing, not during the slow, calming breathing this blog usually covers.
Is circular breathing safe to try on your own?
The studies on circular breathing were done with small groups of experienced practitioners known in advance to handle it well, not with first-timers or people with a trauma or anxiety history. It’s not recommended to try this alone; it belongs with an experienced facilitator who can build it up safely, at your own pace.
What’s the difference between slow breathing and circular breathing?
Slow, calming breathing, focused on a longer exhale or a few minutes of attention on your breath, is gentle and meant to soothe your nervous system. Circular breathing (Conscious Connected Breathing) is a more intense, sustained form of breathwork without a pause between inhale and exhale, which can bring on a strong, sometimes overwhelming altered state.
Ilse-Marie Sobering is the founder of House of InnerPower and the creator of the InnerPower Method: LAND • ADEM • VOEL (Land, Breathe, Feel), a cyclical practice of returning to yourself again and again. She has studied yoga philosophy and Eastern philosophy for more than 25 years, and has worked professionally since 2015 as an E-RYT 500 yoga and Yoga Nidra teacher, mindfulness and breathwork coach, Ayurveda practitioner and EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) practitioner. In Spain, where she lived for seven years, she taught trainings, teacher trainings and retreats at various locations in the Málaga region, including near Periana, Nerja and Frigiliana. She now works from the Netherlands, teaching trainings and speaking in the Netherlands, in Spain and online. Within the method she works with Yin Yoga, Yoga Nidra, breathwork, meditation, Qigong and somatic work, complemented with elements from her hypnotherapy training. She teaches teacher trainings, continuing education and company training, for people living with long-term stress and for professionals who want to deepen the way they guide others.
