How Breathwork Promotes Wellness: The Science Behind the Breath

There are many breathwork techniques available today—simple practices like Box Breathing, 4-7-8, or Pranayama can be done anytime to bring a sense of calm and relaxation.

At Luminous Breathwork, our approach is a bit more involved. Rooted in the Holotropic and NeuroDynamic lineages, this style of breathwork can certainly be peaceful and relaxing, but it also has the potential to open the door to deep emotional release, spiritual insight, and expanded states of awareness.

Because of the intensity and depth this kind of breathwork can access, it’s best facilitated by a trained guide who can hold a safe, supportive space.

In this article, we’ll explore how this form of breathwork works—and why, according to recent neuroscientific research, it can be such a profoundly therapeutic and transformational practice.

The Brain's "Default Mode" and Why Quieting It Matters

To understand how breathwork heals, we first need to explore something called the Default Mode Network (DMN)—a network of brain regions that's most active when we're not focused on specific tasks. Think of it as your brain's "screensaver," constantly running background commentary about yourself, your past, your future, and everything and everyone out there that’s not how it “should” or “has” to be.

While the DMN serves important functions, it can also become problematic when it gets stuck in patterns of rumination, self-criticism, or anxiety. Many mental health challenges involve an overactive DMN that creates persistent loops of negative self-talk and emotional reactivity.

1. The Physiology of Transformation: Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, and Brain Chemistry

When you engage in the fast, deep breathing characteristic of Luminous Breathwork, your body undergoes significant physiological changes. Hyperoxygenation occurs as you take in more oxygen than usual, while simultaneously reducing carbon dioxide levels through rapid exhalation. This creates a condition called respiratory alkalosis—a shift in your blood's pH that has profound effects on brain function.

This altered chemistry leads to:

• Reduced cortical inhibition (your brain's "control center" becomes less dominant)

• Heightened sensory and emotional perception

• Disruption of typical DMN activity

Think of it as temporarily "loosening the reins" of your analytical mind, allowing deeper, more intuitive parts of your psyche to surface.

2. Ego Dissolution: Stepping Beyond the Story of "Me"

One of the most remarkable aspects of Luminous Breathwork is its ability to induce states similar to those experienced with psychedelic medicines—but without any substances. Participants often report:

• Ego dissolution: The normal sense of being a separate self begins to fade

• Loss of narrative identity: The constant internal story about "who you are" quiets down

• Experiences of timelessness and unity: Boundaries between self and environment blur

As one practitioner described: "I felt like I was no longer 'me'—I was everything."

This isn't just a subjective experience; neuroimaging studies show that both psychedelics and breathwork reduce DMN coherence in similar ways. When the brain networks responsible for maintaining rigid self-boundaries become less active, people often access profound insights about their lives, relationships, and patterns that may have been blocking their ability to move toward their deeper longings.

3. Activating Your Emotional and Somatic Intelligence

As the DMN quiets, other brain networks become more prominent: The Salience Network becomes more active, helping you detect emotionally significant events and memories that may need attention. The limbic system—your brain's emotional processing center—comes online more fully, often leading to cathartic emotional releases.

Meanwhile, somatosensory areas become heightened, increasing your awareness of physical sensations, tensions, and the wisdom held in your body.

This neurological shift explains why breathwork sessions often involve:

• Spontaneous emotional releases (crying, laughing, expressing anger)

• Physical movements or trembling as the body releases stored tension

• Vivid imagery or memories arising from the subconscious

• Profound insights about life patterns or relationships

4. Brainwave States: Accessing the Regenerative Frequencies

Breathwork also appears to shift brainwave activity from the beta waves associated with normal waking consciousness to slower theta and delta frequencies—the same patterns seen in:

• Deep meditation states

• REM sleep and dreaming

• Hypnotic trance

• Yoga Nidra state

These slower brainwave patterns are naturally less conducive to DMN activity and more associated with:

• Integration of experiences and memories

• Subconscious processing

• Intuitive insights

• Spiritual or transcendent experiences

The Inner Guiding Intelligence Within

When you combine all these neurological changes, something remarkable happens: your inner guiding intelligence gets space to operate. With the analytical mind temporarily quieted and emotional/somatic processing networks activated, you can:

• Access and process past events in a safe, supported way

• Release emotions that may have been stored in the body for years

• Gain new perspectives on persistent life challenges

• Experience states of deep peace, connection, and insight

• Reconnect with your authentic self beneath layers of conditioning

A Natural Path to Transformation

What makes Breathwork particularly compelling is that it demonstrates our natural capacity for revitalization and transformation. Unlike approaches that require external substances or interventions, breathwork reveals that we already possess the biological mechanisms for accessing profound therapeutic states.

The breath becomes a doorway—a way to temporarily step outside our habitual patterns of thinking and being, creating space for restoration, insight, and transformation to naturally unfold.

Whether you're dealing with anxiety, stuckness, or simply seeking deeper self-understanding, Luminous Breathwork offers a powerful, natural pathway for working with what's in the way. As you breathe, you see more clearly. As you gain clarity, you can use our integration tools and support to harness the wisdom in the session to create meaningful shifts outside the breathwork session.

Interested in finding out more about the benefits of this type of breathwork journey? Join us for a free weekly session and experience the power of breathwork for yourself.

Join a Free Weekly Session: The Reset Hour

Let's pause, drop into your body, calm your mind, and reset your nervous system through conscious breathing and expressive art.