(Photo: Alternate Nostril Breathing; courtesy of Integral Yoga Photo Archives)
In recent years, breathwork has experienced a renaissance within both wellness communities and mainstream science. Now, a new study sheds remarkable light on why these practices can feel profoundly transformative. Research highlighted in a 2025 report shows that certain forms of deep, rhythmic, or high-ventilation breathing can create brain-state changes strikingly similar to those produced by psychedelic substances—yet completely naturally and safely.
According the report, participants engaging in 20–30-minute breathwork sessions, accompanied by carefully chosen music, reported states of bliss, expansive awareness, and a deep sense of unity. These feelings resembled what psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud once described as “oceanic boundlessness,” a state marked by peaceful oneness and a soft dissolution of the usual sense of self. Many also experienced reductions in fear, stress, and negative emotion.
What makes this study especially fascinating for Yoga practitioners is that it examined what happens physiologically during these practices. The research team—led by Amy Amla Kartar of Brighton and Sussex Medical School—used MRI imaging, biometric data, and self-reports to observe changes throughout the brain. They discovered a pattern of decreasing activity in regions such as the left operculum and posterior insula, areas involved in monitoring the body’s internal state, including breath. This quieting of internal-state processing is one potential explanation for why practitioners often feel spacious, open, and less tethered to habitual patterns of thought.
At the same time, there was a progressive increase in blood flow to the right amygdala and anterior hippocampus—regions associated with emotional memory and integration. This shift may help explain why breathwork can unlock not only calmness, but also emotional release, insight, and a feeling of inward expansion. Cardiovascular changes also played a role. As described in the study, moments of bliss correlated with sympathetic activation, shown through decreases in heart-rate variability. While this might sound counterintuitive—activation often being associated with stress—these findings suggest that certain forms of breathwork may temporarily stimulate the system in ways that lead to a positive emotional breakthrough.
Importantly, participants reported no adverse reactions across all sessions. Music alone did not produce these effects, emphasizing that the breath itself was the core catalyst. For Yoga practitioners, this research offers another modern scientific lens on practices traditionally understood as gateways to deeper consciousness. What the yogic tradition has long affirmed—that breath is a bridge between body, mind, and spirit—is now being validated in neurological terms.
Breathwork becomes not just a relaxation technique, but a powerful method of neuromodulation that can reduce suffering, enhance emotional well-being, and create states of clarity and joy. As Dr. Alessandro Colossanti, one of the researchers, summarized: breathwork holds tremendous promise as a transformative therapeutic tool.
For those curious to explore, even a few minutes of intentional breathing can begin to shift the inner atmosphere. And while the study notes the need for larger trials, its findings reinforce something Yoga practitioners have known through experience: when we guide the breath consciously, the mind moves toward peace, and the heart opens to a deeper sense of connection.
Breath, after all, is not only life—it is a portal to the quiet, luminous center within.
