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.