Is breathwork safe? The risks, and who should be careful
Slow breathing is low risk for most healthy people. Fast styles can bring on fainting, tetany and seizures, and harm has been poorly measured. What six published lists screen out, what happens in a first session, and when to call 911 or 988.
Short answer: Slow breathing is low risk for most healthy people. Fast styles such as holotropic, Wim Hof and conscious connected breathing can cause tingling, tetany and fainting and can set off seizures in people prone to them, and harm has been poorly measured. Never do them in or near water, in the shower or while driving. Call 911 for a faint that does not clear, chest pain or a seizure. In a mental health crisis, call or text 988.
This guide is built from what health bodies, neurology guidelines, peer-reviewed studies and the breathwork organizations themselves publish. Nobody at Tendground is a clinician and we did not try these practices: this is general information, not medical advice.
When to call 911 or 988 during or after a session
If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. If a life is in danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
MedlinePlus says to call 911 if someone who fainted fell from a height, does not become alert within a couple of minutes, has chest pain or a pounding or irregular heartbeat, loses speech or vision, cannot move a limb, or has convulsions. It also says to call if the person is pregnant, over age 50 or has diabetes.
For a seizure, the Epilepsy Foundation says to call 911 if it is a first seizure, lasts longer than 5 minutes, happens in water, or the person has difficulty breathing or does not return to their usual state.
For chest pain, MedlinePlus says to call for sudden crushing, squeezing, tightening or pressure in the chest, or pain that spreads to the jaw, left arm or between the shoulder blades. Overbreathing can cause chest pain too, but telling the two apart takes a medical check, so call first.
Two kinds of breathwork, and how to tell which you booked
Slow breathing means patterns such as diaphragmatic breathing, box breathing and 4-7-8 breathing, done sitting or lying down. Cleveland Clinic describes these as ways to calm the body and move out of fight-or-flight mode.
Fast breathing means breathing faster and deeper than the body needs. Researchers call it high ventilation breathwork, and it covers Holotropic Breathwork, conscious connected breathing and the fast rounds with breath holds in the Wim Hof Method and SOMA Breath.
The two carry different risks, so ask which one a class is before you book. Cleveland Clinic says people new to breathwork should try other options before holotropic, and not to try it without a trained facilitator.
Why slow breathing is the lower-risk kind
NCCIH, part of the National Institutes of Health, says relaxation techniques bring on a response marked by slower breathing, lower blood pressure and a reduced heart rate. It calls them generally safe for healthy people, and says most research studies reported no negative side effects. A 2017 review had found no documented adverse effects of breathing at 6 to 10 breaths a minute.
Low risk is not zero risk. NCCIH says people occasionally report increased anxiety, intrusive thoughts or fear of losing control, and notes rare reports of these techniques causing or worsening symptoms in people with epilepsy or certain psychiatric conditions, or with a history of abuse or trauma.
If holding your breath or watching it makes you anxious, drop the holds or stop. Our box breathing guide covers that.
What fast breathing does in your body
Overbreathing lowers the carbon dioxide in your blood. MedlinePlus says that causes many of the symptoms, which include feeling lightheaded, dizzy or weak, chest pain, a fast and pounding heartbeat, muscle spasms in the hands and feet, and numbness and tingling in the arms or around the mouth.
Low carbon dioxide also narrows blood vessels, including those that bring blood to the brain (Cleveland Clinic). In a 2026 brain imaging study of 30 experienced practitioners, blood flow in the brain’s grey matter fell 45.5% at the point of strongest effects. The authors called the drop marked; the study measured blood flow, not health outcomes.
That is the likely route to fainting: MedlinePlus defines a faint as a brief loss of consciousness due to a drop in blood flow to the brain, and lists rapid and deep breathing among the causes. The altered states these sessions aim for also track the fall in carbon dioxide (Havenith and colleagues, 2025).
The worry is not rising pressure inside the skull. Hospitals have used hyperventilation to lower raised pressure after a head injury, and the main criticism of that practice is the risk of too little blood and oxygen reaching brain tissue.
Tingling and tetany: what is common and when to stop
The Wim Hof Method tells people to expect lightheadedness and tingling in the hands or face, especially the first time. Its FAQ describes tetany as involuntary muscle contraction, usually in the hands and feet but able to spread across the whole body.
The method calls tetany harmless barring preexisting conditions, says it fades within minutes, and says to see a professional if it hurts. That is one organization’s wording, and the medical view is firmer.
Cleveland Clinic says most tetany is not life-threatening but severe cases can be, and that it comes from electrolyte imbalances, most often low blood calcium, with overbreathing another route. It says to talk to a provider about mild signs and to call 911 for severe ones: spasms in the voice box that make it hard to breathe, painful cramps all over, vomiting, seizures or an irregular heart rhythm.
So stop the fast breathing when it starts rather than pushing through. MedlinePlus suggests breathing out slowly through pursed lips, as if blowing out a candle, with calm reassurance from someone nearby, and it says the paper bag method has been questioned by experts. Contact a provider if the overbreathing continues or gets worse.
Is fainting during breathwork dangerous?
Cleveland Clinic says severe hyperventilation can in rare cases make you pass out, which can lead to injury. Where you are matters, and so does why it happened.
The Wim Hof Method says that lying down there is “little danger to fainting”, though it means you “went a little too far”, and elsewhere it calls loss of consciousness “physiologically harmless”. Medical sources are less relaxed.
The NHS says to see a GP if it happens. MedlinePlus says to be seen if you have never fainted before, faint often or have new symptoms, and that a provider will work out whether you simply fainted or whether something else happened, such as a seizure or a heart rhythm disturbance. A facilitator nearby does not answer that question.
What to do if someone faints during breathwork
If someone faints, check their breathing, lay them on their back, raise their feet about 12 inches and loosen anything tight around the neck. Keep them lying down for at least 10 to 15 minutes, turn them on their side if they vomit, and get up slowly afterward (MedlinePlus, NHS).
The NHS says most people wake within 30 seconds, and to call for emergency help if someone cannot be woken within 1 minute. It says to lay a pregnant person on their side, especially past 28 weeks, and not to drive yourself to the emergency department. Call 911 for any of the signs at the top of this guide.
Never near water: what hypoxic blackout is
CDC explains the mechanism. Hyperventilating or holding your breath before swimming lowers the body’s stores of carbon dioxide, which delays the signal to come up for air, and oxygen can fall until you lose consciousness underwater. Hyperventilating does raise oxygen modestly, but not enough to compensate safely.
The swimmer may get no warning (Royal Life Saving Society UK), and the old name, shallow water blackout, misleads: it can happen at any depth. CDC’s New York case series counted 16 fatal and nonfatal drownings from 1988 to 2011, four of them deaths, including two healthy young men who hyperventilated on purpose before going under. New York City’s pool code requires a sign that says: “Prolonged or repetitive breath-holding can be deadly.”
The Wim Hof Method prints the rule plainly: “Never practice in water, in the shower, or while driving.”
If you see someone unconscious in water, call for help immediately and decide whether you can safely reach them.
Has anyone died doing breathwork in water?
The record is thin. CDC’s report describes swimmers, not people following a breathwork method. The Wim Hof Method’s own page reports that a girl drowned in her family’s pool, that blame was directed at the method, and that the lawsuit was dismissed.
We found no official count of deaths from breathwork in water, and no official record of one in a cold plunge or a bathtub. CDC does say drowning happens in bathtubs, and that the bathtub is the most common site for people with seizure disorders.
Breathwork before a cold plunge: keep them apart
Some workshops pair fast breathing with an optional ice bath, so the order matters. The Wim Hof Method says to breathe normally during any cold exposure in water and not to do its breathing exercise there.
Its cold dipping page says to leave at least a couple of minutes after a breathing session before a dip, and never to do the breathing once you are in. Royal Life Saving Society UK says to let your breathing return to normal, not gasping, before you go under. We found no study that set a safe gap, so treat a couple of minutes as one organization’s number, not a tested one.
The breath hold alone is not the enemy: Royal Life Saving Society Australia says ordinary breath holding carries limited risk. The danger is purposeful hyperventilation and prolonged or repeated holds.
Our ice bath and cold plunge guide covers the slow exhales that help in the first seconds of cold, which is the opposite of overbreathing. Our guide to who should avoid cold plunging covers the cold itself.
Driving, hard floors and getting home
The Wim Hof Method says its breathing can affect motor control and, in rare cases, lead to loss of consciousness, so never practice while piloting a vehicle. Cleveland Clinic makes the same point even for box breathing, noting that it can be done almost anywhere but not while you are driving.
The authors of a 2024 trial asked participants to practice away from water and hard ground, and anywhere else fainting could prove dangerous. Sit or lie on a mat, not on a bench edge and not standing.
We found no published waiting time before driving after a session. One research workshop in Berlin told participants not to plan immediate activities afterward. If a long session has left you foggy, shaky or tearful, get a ride.
Who should avoid fast breathing: six published lists compared
No single authority publishes a list, so we read six and counted who names what. They are the Wim Hof Method, SOMA Breath, a Holotropic workshop at Menla approved by Grof Transpersonal Training together with Stanislav Grof’s own page, and Cleveland Clinic on holotropic breathwork.
The other two are the exclusions in two trials (2024, 2025) and the neurology guidelines for hyperventilation during a brain wave test (American Clinical Neurophysiology Society, UK).
| Condition or history | Named by | Lists |
|---|---|---|
| Heart disease | Wim Hof, SOMA, Holotropic, Cleveland Clinic, trials, EEG guidelines | 6 of 6 |
| Pregnancy | Wim Hof, SOMA, Holotropic, Cleveland Clinic, trials | 5 of 6 |
| Epilepsy or seizures | Wim Hof, SOMA (unless a doctor permits), Holotropic, Cleveland Clinic, trials | 5 of 6 |
| High blood pressure | Wim Hof (on prescription medication), SOMA (severe, uncontrolled), Holotropic (severe or uncontrolled), Cleveland Clinic, trials | 5 of 6 |
| Psychosis or serious mental illness | Wim Hof (see a professional first), SOMA, Holotropic, Cleveland Clinic, trials | 5 of 6 |
| Stroke, aneurysm or brain blood vessel disease | Wim Hof, Holotropic, trials, EEG guidelines | 4 of 6 |
| Lung disease or asthma | SOMA (if it impairs breathing), Holotropic (asthma: bring your inhaler), trials, EEG guidelines | 4 of 6 |
| Recent surgery or injury | Wim Hof, Holotropic, Cleveland Clinic | 3 of 6 |
| Regular medication | Cleveland Clinic, trials | 2 of 6 |
| Panic attacks | Cleveland Clinic, trials | 2 of 6 |
| History of fainting | Trials | 1 of 6 |
| Bipolar disorder | Holotropic | 1 of 6 |
| Glaucoma or retinal detachment | Holotropic | 1 of 6 |
| Sickle cell disease or trait | EEG guidelines | 1 of 6 |
Heart disease is the only item on all six. The brain wave guidelines exist to help diagnose epilepsy, which is why seizures are not on them and why pregnancy appears only as something that can make the test hard to do.
A condition on one list is not a smaller risk, only a less examined one. Sickle cell disease is the clearest gap: both neurology guidelines rule out even a few minutes of hyperventilation, a case report describes stroke symptoms returning during the test, a 2006 review gathers earlier reports, and none of the breathwork lists we read names it.
The wording varies, from advise against to Grof Transpersonal Training’s line that many conditions may still be compatible with participation when discussed in advance. Take the table to your clinician: a workshop’s short form is not a clearance, and absence from a list is not an all clear.
Heart disease, blood pressure and stroke
Hyperventilation is a recognized way to bring on a spasm in the heart’s arteries. A 1994 study notes it is often used as a provocation test, and it brought on an attack in 23 of 47 patients with variant angina.
A 2025 case report describes a 37-year-old man with panic disorder whose heart went into ventricular fibrillation, likely from a spasm brought on by hyperventilation during a panic attack. That is one case, and not a breathwork session.
Hospitals treat this as a known risk. The UK guideline records a heart tracing during 3 to 5 minutes of hyperventilation, stops for chest pain, and rules the test out after a bleeding stroke or a heart attack within the last 12 months or with poorly controlled angina. In a UK evaluation of 3,475 patients there were no reported significant heart, breathing or brain vessel events, but that was a few minutes in a clinical test, not hours in a studio.
One study of fast breathwork examined people on the day and excluded anyone with a resting heart rate above 100 or a resting blood pressure above 160. Stanislav Grof writes that uncontrolled high blood pressure, arrhythmia, past strokes or heart attacks, or an aneurysm “could mean a serious risk”. The trials we read excluded these people, so they cannot tell you your risk: ask your cardiologist.
Seizures and epilepsy
Neurologists use fast breathing to bring out seizure activity during a brain wave test, and MedlinePlus warns it may trigger seizures in people with seizure disorders. In the UK evaluation, 69 of 3,170 patients with suspected epilepsy (2.2%) had a seizure provoked by hyperventilation, and one (0.03%) had a generalized tonic clonic seizure.
In a smaller study of 97 patients with hard-to-treat focal epilepsy, 24 had a seizure brought on during monitoring. The standard test runs 3 to 5 minutes with staff ready to manage a seizure, while a Holotropic session usually runs two to three hours. We found no study of seizures during a breathwork session.
The Wim Hof Method, the Menla workshop and Cleveland Clinic say to avoid fast breathing with epilepsy or seizure disorders, and SOMA says the same unless your doctor gives specific permission. If you take bupropion, our antidepressants guide explains why it matters, and our epilepsy guide covers the rest.
If someone has a seizure, the 2024 first aid guidelines say to help them to the ground, place them on their side, clear the area and stay with them. Do not restrain them or put anything in their mouth.
Panic attacks and fast breathing
If you are in crisis, call or text 988. If a life is in danger, call 911.
Overbreathing can mimic panic (2026 paper), and panic attacks are one of its causes (MedlinePlus). In a 1992 study of 48 people with panic disorder, 24 said voluntary hyperventilation felt like their panic attacks, and 10 of those had a panic attack during the test. Cleveland Clinic says to avoid holotropic breathwork with a history of panic attacks.
Researchers note that exposure to feared body sensations is a first-line treatment for panic disorder, so whether panic is a reason to avoid fast breathing or a target for it still needs clarifying. That question belongs with your own clinician, not a studio.
Our guide to anxiety in wellness spaces goes further.
Trauma, psychosis and bipolar disorder
If you are in crisis, call or text 988. If a life is in danger, call 911.
On trauma the sources disagree. A Cleveland Clinic therapist says holotropic breathwork can be very helpful for people living with trauma and recommends using it alongside ongoing therapy. Grof Transpersonal Training warns that without training, screening, preparation and integration it can lead to panic, retraumatization or serious psychological consequences, and a 2025 workshop at Menla listed complex PTSD as a reason not to attend.
Researchers add that hyperventilation can induce dissociation, a central feature of PTSD, and that whether PTSD is a reason to avoid it or a target for it needs clarifying.
Cleveland Clinic and the Menla workshop name psychosis or severe mental illness, and Menla names bipolar disorder. In a 2026 survey of 48 mental health professionals who had just done a workshop, psychotic, dissociative and bipolar disorders came out as contraindications; that is expert opinion, not outcome data.
Stanislav Grof writes that some diagnosed psychotic episodes were a “misdiagnosed spiritual emergency” and that such people were accepted. That is a founder’s view, and a diagnosis is a question for your own clinician.
Grof Transpersonal Training’s medical form says the work “is not a substitute for psychotherapy, medical treatment, or psychiatric care”. If you have a care team, ask them first. Our guide to wellness with bipolar disorder goes further.
Pregnancy, eyes and lungs: what the evidence covers
The Wim Hof Method advises against its practice in pregnancy and says it does not know whether the adrenaline rise affects the baby. SOMA, the Menla workshop and Cleveland Clinic, which adds breastfeeding, say much the same, while Stanislav Grof calls it a relative contraindication. A 2013 review says maternal hyperventilation may interfere with fetal brain oxygenation during labor, and we found no trial of fast breathwork in pregnancy.
Glaucoma or retinal detachment is on the Menla list only. In 11 healthy people, hyperventilating lowered eye pressure, and in a study that included 10 glaucoma patients, holding the breath against a closed throat moved pressure up by as much as 9.5 mm Hg or down by as much as 4.0, with a small average change. A trial of yogic and diaphragmatic breathing in 90 glaucoma patients lowered eye pressure; we found no study of fast breathwork with glaucoma, so ask your eye doctor and see our glaucoma guide.
The UK guideline rules out hyperventilation with COPD that leaves you breathless at rest and treats asthma as a relative reason, and the Menla list says to bring your inhaler. Our guides to COPD and asthma cover why slow, pursed-lip breathing is a different case.
What the research says about harm, and what it misses
The reassuring numbers come from people already screened. The 2023 meta-analysis did not find adverse events attributed to breathwork, but only four of its studies, six counting secondary outcomes, actively reported on harm.
The 2024 trial, which its authors called the largest blinded trial of fast breathing with holds to date, gave 200 young, healthy adults 20 minutes a day for 3 weeks. Only 9% in each group reported unpleasant short-term effects, including dizziness and tetany, and none reported lasting ones. It excluded anyone with a history of fainting, epilepsy, panic attacks, high or low blood pressure or heart or breathing problems, and anyone on medication other than the contraceptive pill.
The 2025 study of experienced practitioners says potential adverse effects have not been sufficiently studied and that its sample will by definition underestimate them, and some participants reported lower well-being afterward. Cleveland Clinic’s therapist says most people have no adverse side effects, with no number attached. We found no count of how often sessions go wrong in the general population.
Does fast breathing work better than slow for stress?
Not in the trials we read. A meta-analysis of 12 randomized trials found a small-to-medium effect of breathwork on stress, and its authors urged caution about hype.
In the 2024 trial, fast breathing with long holds did not beat a slower comparator on stress. In a 2024 trial of 84 women with high stress and depressive symptoms, a Wim Hof Method program and slow breathing brought equivalent improvements in depression, anxiety and stress.
If stress is your reason, these two trials give no reason to choose the riskier kind. Sleep is less settled: in a 12-week trial of slow breathing with 98 student paramedics, stress, anxiety and depression scores were lower than controls, but the change in insomnia was not significant.
Our meditation versus breathwork comparison and breathwork benefits overview cover what slow breathing is for.
What happens in a first breathwork session
A slow class asks little of you. You sit or lie down and follow a count: the NHS exercise breathes in and out to a count of up to 5, for at least 5 minutes. We found no standard length for a guided slow class, so ask when you book.
A Holotropic session starts with you lying on a mat, eyes closed, breathing fast and deep with no pauses, to music. People work in pairs as breather and sitter, with trained facilitators available if needed. Cleveland Clinic’s therapist says the strong emotion may mean waves of sadness, bursts of anger or shaking from fear.
The Wim Hof Method is shorter: sit or lie down, take 30 deep breaths, hold until your body asks for air, take one breath in and hold for about 10 to 15 seconds, and repeat 3 to 4 times. Its workshops add an optional ice bath, which is where the water rule applies.
A Berlin research workshop of conscious connected breathing gives a useful benchmark: 4 hours in all including breaks, with 30 minutes of active and 20 minutes of passive breathing, up to 15 people with four facilitators, a consent step about touch, and an integration session the next day. It was built to research standards, so do not expect every studio to match it.
How long the fast breathing lasts
The length runs from a few minutes in a hospital test to hours in a workshop.
| Setting | How long the fast breathing lasts |
|---|---|
| Hospital brain wave test | 3 to 5 minutes (UK guideline); at least 3 (US guideline) |
| Wim Hof Method at home | 3 to 4 rounds; the method calls it a “15-MINUTE RESET” |
| 2024 home trial | 20 minutes a day for 3 weeks |
| Conscious connected breathing | 30 to 60 minutes (2026 paper) |
| Holotropic Breathwork | Usually between two and three hours (the Grofs) |
These are not equal doses, and we found no study that compared them.
What you may feel during a session
A Florida State University trial’s consent form lists nausea, vomiting, dizziness, tetany, body temperature changes, intense emotions, dry mouth or throat and coughing, which it describes as anecdotal and very uncommon. Tell someone if any of it frightens you, and stop if you want to.
Cleveland Clinic’s therapist says the most common experience in a Holotropic session is emotional release, and that it can be either an unnerving roller coaster or extremely relaxing. Tingling and cramping come from the breathing itself, as the section above explains. If a warning sign appears, stop and use the list below.
What to ask before you book a breathwork session
The 2024 trial’s authors say leaders of fast breathing workshops should provide thorough informed consent, and Grof Transpersonal Training names screening, preparation and integration as what imitators commonly skip. The Wim Hof Method says many coaches’ websites lack proper safety guidelines. These questions come from those pages; the one about emergencies is ours, because we found no published standard.
- Is this slow or fast breathing, and are there long breath holds? Then ask how long the fast part runs.
- Will you warn me about tetany and strong emotion beforehand? One research team wrote that leaving out warnings about tetany would be “ethically problematic”.
- What is on your screening list, and when do you ask? One research team screened by questionnaire at least a week ahead, by phone, and again on the day.
- What training do the facilitators have? Ask who certified them, and check it with our credentials guide.
- How many facilitators for how many people? The Berlin workshop had four for up to 15; Wim Hof Method workshops are limited to 30 participants.
- What happens if someone faints, has a seizure or has chest pain? Ask who calls 911.
- Will anyone touch me, and can I say no? The Berlin workshop asked for consent to touch before the breathing began.
- Is there water or an ice bath in the program? Then ask about the gap and who watches.
- What support is there afterward? Grof Transpersonal Training treats integration as part of the safety of the work.
Stopping should never be an argument. The UK guideline puts it simply for its own test: the patient can stop if they wish.
Breathwork warning signs at a glance
| What happens | What the sources say | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Tingling, numb lips, lightheaded | Low carbon dioxide from overbreathing (MedlinePlus) | Stop the fast breathing; breathe out slowly through pursed lips |
| Hands or feet cramp | Usually fades within minutes (Wim Hof Method); severe cases can be life-threatening (Cleveland Clinic) | Stop; talk to a provider; 911 for trouble breathing, painful cramps all over or a seizure |
| Panic or fear | Overbreathing set off panic in some people with panic disorder (1992 study) | Stop; slow breathing and calm company; 988 in a crisis |
| Faint, awake quickly | Be seen if it is your first or something is new (MedlinePlus) | Lie flat, feet raised, 10 to 15 minutes; no driving |
| Faint, slow to wake or other signs | Chest pain, irregular heartbeat, trouble speaking, convulsions; or pregnant, over 50, diabetes (MedlinePlus) | Call 911 |
| Seizure | First one, over 5 minutes or in water (Epilepsy Foundation) | On their side, nothing in the mouth, 911 |
| Chest pain | Sudden crushing or pressure, or pain that spreads (MedlinePlus) | Stop; call 911 |
| Unconscious in water | May come with no warning (Royal Life Saving Society UK) | Call for help at once; decide whether you can safely reach them |
| Thoughts of harming yourself | 988 is free and confidential (988 Lifeline) | Call or text 988; 911 if a life is in danger |
FAQ: breathwork safety
Is breathwork safe for beginners?
Slow breathing is where Cleveland Clinic suggests beginners start; it calls diaphragmatic breathing a perfect place to start. Fast styles need a health check first: see the table of six lists above.
Is tingling during breathwork normal?
It is common. The Wim Hof Method says to expect it, especially the first time, and MedlinePlus lists numbness and tingling among the symptoms of overbreathing. Stop the fast breathing if it spreads, hurts or turns into cramping, and see the section on tetany above.
Can breathwork make you pass out?
Yes. The Wim Hof Method says its breathing can, in rare cases, lead to loss of consciousness, and MedlinePlus lists rapid and deep breathing among the causes of fainting. That is why the sources say to do it seated or lying, away from water, hard ground and vehicles.
Can you do fast breathing alone at home?
The sources split by style. The Wim Hof Method teaches it for home use, seated or lying, and the 2024 trial ran remotely with people screened first. Grof Transpersonal Training says intensive online sessions go against its safety standards, and Cleveland Clinic says not to try holotropic without a trained facilitator.
If you have any condition in the table, or have never done it, a room with someone trained in it is the safer first step.
How long should a breath hold be?
The Wim Hof Method says to hold until your body naturally asks for air, not as a test of how long you can last. In a small lab study of nine nondivers, hyperventilating before breath holds after a 12-hour fast may have raised the risk of a blackout. The method also recommends an empty stomach, so do not push the holds.
Can you do breathwork in the shower or bath?
Not fast breathing or long holds. The Wim Hof Method names the shower outright, and CDC says drowning happens in bathtubs.
Does medication change the risk?
It can. MedlinePlus says medicines used for anxiety, depression and high blood pressure may cause a drop in blood pressure and fainting. The 2024 trial excluded people on blood pressure medicines, beta blockers, antidepressants, anxiolytics or other psychotropic medicines, and Cleveland Clinic lists any condition requiring regular medication.
Ask your prescriber. Our guides to antidepressants and sedating medication go further.
Can teenagers do breathwork?
The Wim Hof Method advises that children under 16 be supervised by a parent or legal guardian, because the breathing can cause loss of consciousness and children often cannot adequately assess that risk. The trials we read enrolled adults.
Is breathwork safe with alcohol or drugs?
We found no study that tested it. Grof Transpersonal Training says combining substances with breathing goes against its safety standards, and the Wim Hof Method’s terms ask clients to report alcohol, drug or medication use.
The bottom line on breathwork safety
Slow breathing is low risk for most healthy people, with NCCIH’s caveats for epilepsy, psychiatric conditions and trauma. Fast breathing changes blood chemistry and blood flow to the brain, can set off fainting, seizures and panic, and has not been well measured for harm.
Keep it out of water, showers and vehicles. Check the six lists with your clinician before a first session, ask the questions above, and know when to call 911 or 988.
To find a breathwork studio, start with our city wellness maps. We have not visited these places, and a listing is not a recommendation or a safety check.
Related reading on breathwork safety
- Box breathing: how to do it, and when it helps
- Breathwork benefits: what the science actually says
- Breathwork retreats explained: Holotropic vs Wim Hof vs SOMA
- Does the Wim Hof Method actually work? The honest evidence
- Meditation vs breathwork: which calms you down faster?
- Is cold plunging safe? Who should avoid it, and why
- Wellness with epilepsy: breathwork, water, heat and sleep, honestly
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