The Complete Guide

Types of Breathwork, Explained

Breathwork isn’t one thing. It’s a whole family of practices, from a simple four-count pattern you can do at your desk, to a full guided journey that takes an hour and asks a great deal more of you. Some techniques calm you down in ninety seconds. Others are designed to bring things up, not settle them. Knowing the difference matters — the right technique for a stressful meeting is not the right technique for processing something you’ve been carrying for years.

This is a plain-English guide to the main types of breathwork people ask us about — what each one is, roughly how it works, and when you might reach for it. No modality is “better” here than another; they simply do different jobs.

The quick, everyday techniques

These are the ones you can learn in a minute and use anywhere — on a train, before a meeting, lying in bed. They work directly on the nervous system through the breath's pace and rhythm, and none of them require any special setting or equipment.

Box breathing

Inhale for four counts, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four — then repeat, tracing the four sides of a “box”. It's simple, silent, and can be done with your eyes open in almost any situation.

Reach for this when: you need to steady yourself quickly — before a difficult conversation, a presentation, or in a moment of acute stress.

4-7-8 breathing

Inhale through the nose for four counts, hold for seven, exhale slowly through the mouth for eight. The long exhale is the key part — it's what signals the body to shift out of alert mode.

Reach for this when: you're trying to wind down, particularly at night. Many people use it as a way to fall asleep.

Diaphragmatic (belly) breathing

Breathing low into the belly rather than shallow into the chest, letting the stomach rise and fall rather than the shoulders. It's less a technique with counts and more a baseline habit — most other breathwork practices build on top of it.

Reach for this when: you want a general, ongoing habit rather than a one-off tool — it's often the first thing people are taught before anything more advanced.

Alternate nostril breathing

A yogic technique (sometimes called Nadi Shodhana) where you use a finger to close one nostril at a time, breathing in through one side and out through the other, then switching. It has a slower, more ritual feel than box breathing.

Reach for this when: you want to balance your state before something that needs focus — studying, meditation, or a task requiring calm concentration.

Coherent (resonant) breathing

A steady rhythm of around five or six breaths per minute — roughly five seconds in, five seconds out, with no holds. It's the pace many heart-rate-variability apps aim for, and it's gentle enough to sustain for ten or twenty minutes at a time.

Reach for this when: you want a longer, meditative practice without any of the more intense sensations that come with deeper breathwork.

The deeper, guided practices

These are a different category entirely — longer, more physically active, and usually done with a facilitator present rather than alone. They're built to access and move things that a quick technique isn't designed to reach.

Holotropic Breathwork

Developed by Stanislav and Christina Grof in the 1970s, Holotropic Breathwork uses fast, sustained, conscious breathing combined with evocative music, usually in a group setting with a trained facilitator and often a partner ("sitter") for support. Sessions typically run an hour or more and can bring up strong physical and emotional responses.

Reach for this when: you're specifically looking for a longer, facilitated group experience aimed at deeper self-exploration, and you're comfortable with an intense, unpredictable session.

As with any intensive breathing practice, this isn't suitable for everyone — check with a doctor first if you have a cardiovascular condition, epilepsy, are pregnant, or have a serious mental health condition.

The Wim Hof Method

Created by Dutch athlete Wim Hof, this combines a specific breathing pattern (rounds of deep breaths followed by breath retention) with cold exposure and mindset training. It's widely practised solo, using apps or videos, though guided group sessions and instructor courses exist too.

Reach for this when: you're drawn to a structured daily practice, especially if cold exposure and physical resilience training interest you alongside the breathing itself.

As with any intensive breathing practice, this isn't suitable for everyone — check with a doctor first if you have a cardiovascular condition, epilepsy, are pregnant, or have a serious mental health condition.

9D Breathwork

9D Breathwork layers conscious connected breathing with immersive, multi-track sound — music, guided vocal coaching and layered audio — all delivered through headphones while you lie down, fully guided from start to finish. Sessions run around two to two-and-a-half hours, including grounding at the start and integration at the end.

Reach for this when: you want the depth of a longer guided journey but would rather be led through it entirely — no experience or preparation needed, just show up and breathe.

If you'd like to see what an actual 9D Breathwork session looks like, this local news feature is a good, independent introduction — not our own marketing, but a journalist's look at the practice.

Which one should you try?

If you want something to use today, on your own, in a stressful moment — start with box breathing or 4-7-8. If you want an ongoing daily habit, diaphragmatic breathing or coherent breathing are good foundations. If what you're carrying feels bigger than a technique alone can shift, that's usually where a longer, guided session — Holotropic, 9D, or similar — starts to matter more than which specific method you choose.

There's no wrong door in. Most people who come to us for a full 9D session have already tried some of the quicker techniques above, and found they wanted to go further than a few minutes alone could take them.

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If a fully guided, immersive session sounds like what you're looking for, a Signature Journey is the best place to start — or ease in gently first with a £20 intro session at Dunkeld.

9D Breathwork · What To Expect

Why do people cry during 9D Breathwork?

If you’ve watched someone come out of a breathwork journey with tears on their face — or you’re wondering what might happen to you — this is the honest, plain answer. Crying during 9D Breathwork is common. It is not a sign that something has gone wrong, and it is not something to brace against.

It happens more often than people expect

Most people arrive at a session expecting to feel relaxed, and are surprised when something closer to grief, frustration, or old sadness surfaces instead. Some cry during the breathing itself. Others feel nothing in the moment and are caught off guard by tears on the drive home, or the next day. Both are completely normal, and neither is more “correct” than the other.

Why it happens

A lot of us get very good at holding things together — staying busy, staying composed, not making a fuss. Conscious connected breathing, layered with immersive sound, seems to loosen that grip. For many people, tears are simply what release looks like when the usual defences soften.

It isn’t always about anything specific. Sometimes people cry and can point to exactly what they were thinking about. Just as often, someone will say afterwards, “I don’t even know what that was about — I just needed to let it out.” You don’t need to know why to let it happen.

You’re never on your own with it

Every session is guided from start to finish. Everyone is on their own mat with their eyes closed, so nobody is watching or judging — whatever comes up for you is private, even in a room full of other people.

You remain in control of your breath the entire time, which means you're always able to soften the pace if something feels like a lot. And the journey always closes with a grounded integration phase, so you're never left mid-feeling — there's time built in to settle before you leave the mat.

What it isn’t

Crying isn’t a sign the session is “working better” than a session where you don’t cry. Plenty of people have deeply meaningful sessions with no tears at all, and plenty of people cry without it being connected to any big realisation. There is no scorecard here — whatever your body does is simply what your body needed to do that day.

It also isn’t something to fear or avoid. If the thought of crying in front of other people is part of what’s holding you back from trying breathwork, it may help to know: most people who’ve been before say the room feels far more supportive than they expected, and nobody is ever asked to explain or share more than they want to.

After the session

Most people feel lighter once a good cry has passed — that sense of having put something down. It's common to feel a little tender or reflective for the rest of the day, and that's fine too. Our Support Hub has grounding audio and aftercare guidance if you'd like something to help you land afterwards.

★ 5.0 Google · 46 reviews · 1,000+ breathers guided

If you're curious to experience it for yourself, a Signature Journey is the best place to start — or if you'd rather ease in gently first, our £20 intro sessions at Dunkeld are built exactly for that.

9D Breathwork · What To Expect

Inside a Signature Journey: what to expect, step by step.

If you’ve never done breathwork before, "guided 9D Breathwork journey" can sound like a lot. So here’s the honest, step-by-step version — no mystery, no jargon, just what actually happens when you walk through the door.

Before you arrive

If it’s your first session with us, you’ll complete a short intake form beforehand — a few questions about your health and what you’re hoping to work through. It takes a couple of minutes and helps us support you properly on the day. Turn up 15 minutes early, in comfortable clothes, without a heavy meal in your system.

The first 20 minutes

You’ll settle into the space — mat, blanket, pillow, whatever helps you get comfortable lying down. We talk through what to expect, answer any questions, and set an intention for the session. This part is relaxed, unhurried, and exactly where any nerves usually start to ease.

The journey itself

Headphones on, eyes closed, you’re guided through conscious connected breathing — layered with immersive 9D sound, music and voice coaching. There’s no technique to get right and nothing to perform. You breathe, the sound does its work, and your body does the rest.

Most journeys build through an active breathing phase to one or two release points — this is often where emotion moves, sometimes as tears, sometimes as a physical release, sometimes as something quieter you can’t quite name. All of it is normal. You remain in control of your breath throughout, and can soften the pace at any point.

Landing and integration

The journey closes with a grounded integration phase — space to come back into your body and let things settle before you head out. Nobody rushes you off your mat. Some people leave quiet and reflective; others leave lighter and chatty. Both are completely normal.

What happens after

The effects of a session can keep unfolding for a day or two — you might feel deeply rested, or a little tender, or notice vivid dreams that night. That’s all part of integration, not a problem to fix. Every attendee gets access to our Support Hub, with grounding audio and aftercare guidance to help you land well.

The Honest Bit

You don’t need any experience. Most people at any given session have never done breathwork before — you won’t stand out for being new to it.

You’re never watched or judged. Everyone’s on their own mat with their eyes closed. Whatever comes up for you is yours, and nobody else is paying attention to how you look doing it.

⭐ 5.0 Google · 43 reviews  ·  1,000+ breathers guided  ·  2.5 hours, fully guided

If this sounds like something you’re ready to try, a Signature Journey is the best place to start — or if you’d rather ease in gently first, our £20 intro sessions at Dunkeld are built exactly for that.

Honest Answers · 9D Breathwork

Breathwork vs therapy: which one do you actually need?

The honest answer from people who hear "I've done years of therapy" every single week — why it's the wrong question, what each one actually does, and how to know where to start.

There's a sentence we hear at almost every session we run. It arrives in slightly different forms, but the shape is always the same:

"I've done therapy for years — and this reached something the talking never touched."

It would be easy — and good for business — to leave that quote there and let you draw the obvious conclusion. We're not going to, because the obvious conclusion is wrong.

Breathwork is not a replacement for therapy. Therapy is not a substitute for breathwork. They do different jobs — and the people who get the most from either tend to understand the difference.

What therapy does brilliantly

Therapy works with the story. A good therapist helps you understand where a pattern came from, see it clearly, name it, and build new ways of responding. It's structured, relational, and cumulative — and for many conditions it's the properly evidenced, first-line treatment. If you're dealing with a diagnosed mental health condition, ongoing trauma, or anything that feels unsafe, a qualified therapist or your GP is where to start. Not a breathwork session. We'll say that as many times as it needs saying.

Therapy also gives you something no group session can: a consistent, confidential relationship with someone whose entire job is your mind. That matters, and nothing on this page argues otherwise.

Where people get stuck

And yet — that sentence keeps arriving at our sessions. Usually from people who genuinely valued their therapy. So what's going on?

Here's the pattern they describe. They understand their story completely. They can explain their childhood, name their triggers, narrate their patterns with real insight. The understanding is all there.

And the weight is still there too.

That's the gap. Not a failure of therapy — a limit of what talking, on its own, is built to reach.

What breathwork does differently

Breathwork skips the story and goes to the body. In a 9D session you lie down, headphones on, and sustained connected breathing — combined with layered sound and guided voice — shifts the state of your nervous system directly. Not by discussing the tension. By giving it, as we put it in our sessions, somewhere to go.

What tends to move in a session isn't understanding — most people arrive with plenty of that. What moves is the held stuff underneath the understanding: the stress that sits in the shoulders, the emotion that got parked years ago, the brace the body forgot it was holding. Sometimes that release is loud, sometimes it's completely quiet. Either way, people consistently describe the same after-state: lighter, clearer, properly calm — often for the first time in a long while.

One session doesn't rewrite a life. But it can shift what years of analysis couldn't — precisely because it isn't analysis.

So which one do you need?

The honest answer: it depends what kind of stuck you are.

Therapy first if you're dealing with a diagnosed condition, active crisis, unprocessed trauma that feels overwhelming, or you simply don't yet understand what's happening to you. The story needs a skilled witness before the body needs a release.

Breathwork fits when you understand plenty and still feel heavy; when stress lives in your body more than your thoughts; when you're functional but running on empty; when you want to feel different, not just understand differently.

And often — genuinely — both. Plenty of our regulars are in therapy and use breathwork alongside it: the talking does the understanding, the breath does the releasing, and each makes the other work better. More than one has told us their therapy sessions went deeper after the body finally let go of what it was holding. Some therapists now recommend somatic practices alongside their work for exactly this reason.

If you're currently in therapy and thinking about breathwork, mention it to your therapist. That's not a formality — it's the both-tools-one-toolbox approach working the way it should.

The honest summary

"Breathwork vs therapy" is the wrong frame. It's understanding vs release — mind-work vs body-work — and most people carrying real weight eventually need some of each.

If you've done the understanding and the weight is still there, that's not a sign you failed at therapy. It's a sign the remaining work might not be a talking job. And if you've never done either: start wherever feels safest, and know that both doors stay open.

If the body's turn has come

The gentlest way to find out what breathwork reaches is to experience one session. Our £20 intro evenings at Dunkeld are exactly that — 90 minutes, everything explained, small group. Or go straight to a full Signature Journey — themed 2.5-hour sessions across Perth, Dundee, Stirling and Fife.

First read on safety and who should check with us beforehand: Is breathwork safe? An honest guide.

Honest Answers · 9D Breathwork

Is breathwork safe? An honest guide.

From people who guide it every week — who it's for, who should check first, what the intense moments mean, and why you're in control the whole way through.

"Is breathwork safe?"

It's the question we get asked more than any other — usually by message, usually late at night, usually from someone who has watched a few videos, feels the pull, and has one foot hovering over the booking button.

It deserves an honest answer, not a sales answer. So here it is: for most people, yes — breathwork is safe, and you stay in control the whole way through. And for some people, it needs a conversation first. This post covers both, plainly.

What actually happens in your body

Connected breathing — the style used in 9D Breathwork — means breathing fuller and faster than normal, without pauses, for a sustained period. That changes the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood. Your body notices.

Common sensations during a session include tingling in the hands, feet or face, light-headedness, temperature changes, waves of emotion, and sometimes tightness or cramping in the hands (this has a name — tetany — and it passes when you soften the breath). Some people laugh. Some people cry. Some people feel very little the first time, then a lot the second.

None of this is the body going wrong. It's the body doing exactly what sustained breathing does — and it settles when you slow down. Which brings us to the most important thing on this page.

You are in control the entire time

This is the part people don't realise before their first session. Breathwork is not something that happens to you. You are the one breathing. Which means you hold the dial.

At every session we run, this is explained clearly before we begin — how the method works, what you might feel, and how to adjust the intensity at any point. Nobody is pushed. Ever.

That's also why the setting matters. You're lying down for the entire journey — you're not standing, driving, or in water, which is where unguided breathwork can genuinely become dangerous. (For the same reason: never practise strong breathwork techniques in a pool, bath, or while driving. Ever.)

Who should check with us — or their doctor — first

Deep breathing practices place a temporary, healthy demand on the body — a bit like exercise does. And like exercise, there are conditions where you should get advice before taking part. Please message us before booking if any of these apply:

· Pregnancy
· Cardiovascular conditions, including previous heart attack or uncontrolled high blood pressure
· Epilepsy or a history of seizures
· Severe asthma or serious respiratory conditions
· Glaucoma or detached retina
· Recent surgery or serious physical injury
· A diagnosis of bipolar disorder, psychosis, or schizophrenia
· Severe mental health instability right now — including recent hospitalisation

This isn't a "computer says no" list. In some cases a session can be adapted; in others, a gentler practice or one-to-one setting is the right starting point; and sometimes the honest answer is "not right now." We'd far rather have a five-minute conversation before you book than have you sit in a session that isn't right for you. There's no charge for asking, and no awkwardness — it's the most normal message we receive.

If you're managing any medical condition, your GP knows your situation better than any breathwork page ever will. Checking in with them first is never the wrong move.

"But I saw someone crying / shaking / shouting in a video..."

Yes — release can look dramatic. Emotion that has been held in the body for years sometimes moves loudly on its way out. What a video can't show you is the room around it: a trained facilitator nearby, a person who remains in control of their own breath, and a group that has been prepared for exactly this.

Big releases are not a sign that something has gone wrong. But they're also not compulsory. Plenty of people have quiet, deeply settling sessions and get just as much from them. There is no prize for the loudest journey. Your body decides what's ready to move — the session simply gives it the invitation.

What a well-run session includes

If you're considering breathwork anywhere — with us or anyone else — this is what safe facilitation looks like:

✓ A clear introduction before any breathing starts
✓ An intake form so the facilitator knows about health conditions in advance
✓ Explicit teaching on how to adjust or stop your own breath
✓ Lying-down practice only
✓ Facilitators present and attentive throughout — not off in a corner
✓ Time at the end to ground and land before anyone drives home
✓ No pressure at any point

Every Torus Tree session includes all of the above. First-timers complete our intake form before attending, and our full safety guide is available to read before you book.

The honest summary

Breathwork is a strong practice — that's exactly why it works. Treated with the same respect you'd give a hard gym session or a cold-water swim, it's safe for the great majority of people, and the intensity is always in your hands.

If you're healthy and curious: you're guided the whole way, and you can soften the experience whenever you choose.

If you have any of the conditions above, or you're just not sure: message us first. It costs nothing and it's what we're here for.

A gentle way to find out for yourself

Reading about breathwork is a bit like reading about swimming. At some point, the only real answer is the water.

If you'd like to experience it with the lowest possible stakes, our £20 intro evenings at Dunkeld are built exactly for that — 90 minutes, everything explained, small group, gentlest possible entry. Or if you're ready for a full journey, our Signature Journeys run regularly across Perth, Dundee, Stirling and Fife.

Either way — come as you are, ask us anything first, and know that from the moment you lie down to the moment you leave, you're the one holding the dial.