Breathwork is everywhere. Therapy offices, wellness retreats, high performance coaching, even TikTok. It is marketed as a quick fix for everything from panic attacks to productivity slumps. But here is the reality: Not all breathwork is calming and not all breathwork is safe.
If you work with trauma survivors, clients with anxiety, or anyone experiencing nervous system dysregulation, you have probably seen this happen: You suggest a deep breath, expecting relief. Instead, their chest tightens. They get lightheaded. Their heart starts racing. Suddenly what was meant to calm them has only made things worse.
This is not random. It’s biology. And if you are using breathwork in your clinical practice without understanding why this happens, you are working with an incomplete toolset.
Breathwork Isn’t One Size Fits All
Breathing techniques directly affect the autonomic nervous system, but not always in the way people expect. Some breathing patterns activate the stress response rather than settle it. Others shift oxygen and carbon dioxide levels so rapidly that they can mimic a panic attack. Clients with trauma might find that forced breath control makes them feel more trapped, not less. And something as simple as a breath hold—often included in mainstream calming techniques—can actually trigger hyperarousal in someone with anxiety.
Without understanding how breath interacts with the nervous system, breathwork can become a well intentioned but risky guessing game.
The Science of Breath and the Nervous System
Breath is not just an automatic function. It is a direct lever for nervous system regulation. But using it well requires more than handing clients a technique and hoping for the best. A therapist needs to know when a client should slow their exhale, when a longer inhale is the better choice, and when breathwork should be avoided altogether. They need to recognize the physiological red flags of breath dysfunction and understand the difference between helpful discomfort and harmful dysregulation.
Most clinicians were never formally trained in breathwork yet many use it instinctively. The problem? Intuition isn’t enough.
At ClinicAlly Trained, we bridge the gap between breathwork and clinical application, giving therapists the tools to use breathwork safely, adapt techniques for different nervous system states, and avoid the common mistakes that make symptoms worse instead of better.
If you are using breathwork in your practice, you need more than well intended advice. You need scientific precision. Because when used correctly, breath is one of the most powerful tools we have for mental health.
Stop guessing. Get trained in the science behind breathwork.