Four Breath Practices to Transform Your Psychedelic Experience

Or bring benefits to any/all of life's challenges

Want to learn powerful breathing techniques that can enhance psychedelic journeys and create transformative states on their own? In my upcoming video series, I'll demonstrate four essential practices that support both ceremonial journeys and personal exploration. These ancient methods can help you navigate challenging moments, deepen mystical experiences, and integrate insights - whether you're working with psychedelics or exploring consciousness through breath alone. The first demonstration video will be available in a few weeks!

Why Practice with the Breath?

I have taken beginning instructions in meditation at the Zen temple, with the Tibetan Buddhists at Shambhala, through my yoga teacher-training, and more. All of these emphasized the breath as the object of meditation – what you're "resting" your mind on, and returning to when the mind invariably wanders/thinks. (Plenty of more advanced/specific forms of meditation focus on visual objects and other things – but by far the most common focus is the breath.)

One reason for this is the breath straddles unconscious and conscious aspects of a person. You can control it, practice with it, elongate it, but if you get completely distracted or fall into a deep slumber, it will continue on its own. Another reason is the breath is intimately connected with how emotions are felt and "processed" in the body – and un-jamming emotional/energetic blockages both supports meditation and is one of the main benefits that come from meditation.

The Key Area of Focus

Pay special attention to the bottom of the exhalation, as the lungs near empty, as the final puffs of air exit your body, and the (perhaps long) pause at the very bottom.

Do not push the air out with muscular force! Simply focus on letting go, a little more air, a little bit at a time. Become intimate with how it feels to linger close to the bottom, to surrender this way. In my experience this raw, vulnerable place is the most important in drawing out the myriad benefits of pranayama.

General Notes on Practicing

For all of these breath practices, go slow at first! Be gentle, "soft" in your practice – A friendly, joyful, self-supportive attitude, with perhaps a bit of a sense of humor, is more important than any specific detail of a practice.

Practice in a comfortable seated position if possible – next best (and in some situations, best) is lying down. Do NOT practice in a situation where becoming lightheaded would be dangerous, such as the bathtub or behind the wheel of a car. If you become lightheaded during a practice, simply stop, put your head down and breathe normally until the feeling passes.

It's best to practice with a relatively empty stomach, especially for the more robust pranayama.

Before and After Practice

Before practicing, do something physical that energizes and relaxes your body. Yoga is ideal, but there are plenty of excellent alternatives, like running, dancing, even doing a few simple stretches. Anything that gets the breath going! It's an added plus if the activity opens the breathing space and prepares the body to sit or lie down for the breathing practice.

After practicing, whatever you like! These breath practices will boost creativity and endurance. They may make socializing more pleasant and onerous jobs easier to complete. If you have a meditation practice, now's the time to do it!

Applications for Different Psychedelics

These practices can be particularly valuable during various phases of psychedelic work:

For mushroom journeys, when the come-up can be very uncomfortable, Kapalabhati is a great way to focus some of that energy. Special attention to letting go at the bottom of the exhalation (and even practicing Kumbhaka, retention at the bottom) will be a potent support. Often when anxiety rises, as it can do with such psychedelics, there is a tendency – when a well-intentioned person focuses on their breath – to unwittingly focus on gulping air at the top of the lungs, especially if the anxiety has an "I can't breathe!" element. This can be counterproductive! Allowing the breath to flow all the way out, resting at the bottom with empty lungs for awhile before inhaling again, will transform anxiety energy into clear, balanced energy that can be applied to healing.

For ayahuasca, particularly when there's music (as is usually the case in traditional ceremonies), box breathing is a potent ally. The key, again, is letting go completely at the bottom of each exhalation – so that the retention for four counts at the bottom does not involve muscular force but simply letting go. The rhythm can sweep you up so the counting doesn't need to happen and this will bring you more into your body (and away from the barriers of the thinking mind).

A simplified version of Kumbhaka practice, in which there is only one deep, belly breath preceding the long exhalation and letting go at the bottom, can be a great tool when coming down from 5-MeO-DMT or other short-acting but intense psychedelics. I have found this pranayama in that context "touches" tender emotions and allows them to be expressed (through crying, laughing, etc.) in a way that's very cathartic.

For cannabis ceremonies or intentional private use, I have found all the breath practices, especially Kumbhaka, helpful in transforming energy that can swell into anxiety and paranoia (especially in a social setting). It's important to realize that the clenching of paranoia and the dissociation from one's emotional state that may have led the person to psychedelic healing in the first place, involve self-generated (though usually unconscious) barriers to exhaling fully. If Kumbhaka is practiced in this state, while anxiety/paranoia may be alleviated, the person may suddenly be brought into intimate contact with their own repressed emotions. It will be beneficial to be able to express them in some way – so a supportive "container" is especially important here.

Beyond Psychedelics

These practices support any endeavor from the most exotic altered-state to the most mundane worldly activities. They foster wellbeing, creative flow, and spiritual growth – which, in my experience, are deeply interconnected if not equivalent. Whether you're preparing for a ceremonial journey, processing difficult emotions, or simply seeking to enhance your daily experience, these breath practices offer practical tools for transformation.

In the upcoming video series, I'll demonstrate each technique in detail, with specific guidance for both psychedelic work and everyday practice. We'll explore how to recognize when each practice is most appropriate and how to adapt them for your particular needs.