u/theclearpathjourney

Most modern breathwork pulls from ancient practices.

Some ancient traditions emphasized breath retention and referred to deep states of retention as “intracellular” or “womb breathing,” a state in which external respiration becomes quieter and the body begins operating from a deeper level of energetic efficiency and regulation.

Consider this:

For nine months in the womb, the fetus receives oxygen and nourishment through the umbilical cord rather than the lungs, while cellular respiration continues beneath conscious awareness.

It’s also said that human beings may be capable of holding their breath for extraordinarily long periods under certain physiological states, similar to adaptations seen in animals like dolphins or sloths.

Fascinating to reflect on.

The term “breathwork” emerged alongside the psychedelic movement of the 1960s.

When psychedelics became illegal, psychiatrist Stanislav Grof developed Holotropic Breathwork as a way to access non-ordinary states without substances.

A lot of modern breathwork still follows this model:

intensity, catharsis, emotional release, and altered states.

And these experiences can absolutely be valuable.

Although my sense is that people are approaching healing with the same mindset that created the imbalance in the first place: more intensity, faster results, stronger experiences.

The deeper work is what happens afterward.

In my experience, I've seen gentler breathing practices guide the nervous system toward greater regulation once the session ends, with much less force.

That’s the work.

That's integration.

I’ve been noticing a pattern with a lot of people who find their way into somatic breathwork spaces.

They’ve done some combination of trainings, retreats, or peak-state experiences, and had powerful moments, but still find something hasn't fully resolved.

There’s often a strong focus in somatic breathwork spaces on intensity: going deeper, opening more, pushing further. And while those experiences can be meaningful, they don’t always seem to translate into lasting change on their own.

What seems to be missing is what happens after - integration.

Integration, the way I’ve come to understand it, is a process of repatterning energy, moving from a tendency to leak down and out, into something more contained, moving in and up, and becoming stable over time.

I recently spoke with a therapist who described it as realizing that understanding their patterns wasn’t the same as actually shifting them, and that creating space to regularly be with somatic breathwork changed how those patterns showed up.

Curious how others think about this gap. Where do you see integration actually happening in practice, beyond the experience itself?

I’ve been noticing a pattern among many people who find their way to breathwork.

They’ve done some combination of trainings, retreats, and peak-state experiences, and had powerful moments, but something hasn't full resolved.

There’s a strong focus in a lot of breathwork spaces on intensity: going deeper, opening more, pushing further. And while those experiences can be meaningful, they don’t always translate into lasting change on their own.

What seems to be missing is what happens after - integration.

Integration, the way I’ve come to understand it, is a process of repatterning energy, moving from a tendency to leak down and out, into something more contained, moving in and up, and becoming stable over time.

Without that, it’s easy to keep having powerful experiences without anything really changing.

The breathwork experience isn’t the endpoint. It’s where the work actually begins.

Curious if anyone here has experience using breathwork while tapering off SSRIs.

I’ve worked with breath-based practices for a while and have seen both stabilizing effects and, in some cases, increased sensitivity depending on how it’s applied.

What actually helped you feel more stable vs. what made things worse?

Especially interested in:
– types of breathing that felt supportive
– anything that increased anxiety or sensitivity
– how your body responded over time

Not looking for medical advice, just trying to better understand patterns from lived experience.