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This is the collection in the breathwork library most likely to produce a strong response, and the one where knowing what to expect matters most. Three of the sessions are gentle. One uses connected breathing, which is a different kind of practice.
What these sessions are
Breathe Through the Heart, Self-Compassion Breathwork Session and Breathwork for Emotional Healing are slow practices built around a soft, full breath and a warm attention. They are closer to the heart-centred collection than to anything strenuous, and most people find them quiet.
Emotional Release with Circular Breathing is not that. Circular or connected breathing runs the inhale into the exhale without a pause, sustained for long enough that the body chemistry shifts. Tingling in the hands and face, a tight or cramping feeling in the hands, temperature changes and tears are all common, and none of them means something has gone wrong.
What connected breathing is not is therapy. It can loosen something that was held, which people often describe as a release, and it has no way of helping you make sense of what surfaced. That part happens afterwards, with a person, if it needs to happen at all.
The tradition treats the breath as tied to emotional state and holds that restricting one restricts the other. What people commonly report from these is feeling lighter and occasionally tearful. Any claim that breathwork processes trauma or treats a mental health condition would need clinical evidence, and none is made here.
The sessions
4 sessions, 8 to 10 minutes. Every session in this collection needs Premium. Four other breathwork collections have a free session in them, and the free tier covers twelve guided sessions across the app.
| Session | Length | Tier |
|---|---|---|
| Breathe Through the Heart | 8 min | Premium |
| Breathwork for Emotional Healing | 10 min | Premium |
| Emotional Release with Circular Breathing | 9 min | Premium |
| Self-Compassion Breathwork Session | 10 min | Premium |
Which one to start with
Start with Breathe Through the Heart or the Self-Compassion Breathwork Session. Both are gentle, neither uses connected breathing, and either is a reasonable place to find out how you respond to this kind of practice.
Come to Emotional Release with Circular Breathing later, deliberately, and only if the cautions below do not apply to you. It is the strongest practice in the collection and the one that most warrants a first attempt somewhere you can be undisturbed afterwards.
If you are looking for something to settle you rather than open you, this is the wrong collection. The stress and anxiety sessions and the grounding sessions both close things down rather than opening them.
How to use them
Practise somewhere private with nothing scheduled afterwards. The half hour following a session is part of the practice, and having to be somewhere is the most common reason people cut one short badly.
Lie down for the circular breathing session, on a bed or a mat. Standing or sitting upright is a poor idea with a practice that can make you light-headed.
Let the response be whatever it is. Tears during a session are common and do not require anything of you. Suppressing them is more effortful than the breathing.
Stop early whenever you want to. There is no version of this where finishing matters, and the ability to stop is what makes it reasonable to start.
What usually goes wrong
Starting with the circular breathing session. It is the strongest practice here and the one most likely to be uncomfortable if you do not know how you respond. The gentle sessions are not a lesser version of it, they are the sensible order.
Treating an emotional response as the goal. Chasing a release turns a practice into a performance, and the sessions that produce nothing are not failures. Most of them produce nothing.
Breathing harder when the tingling starts. Tingling and cramping in the hands mean the breathing has gone too hard for too long. Slow down and let it pass rather than pushing through it.
Using this instead of talking to someone. A session can loosen something. It cannot help you understand it, and it is not a substitute for therapy for anyone who needs therapy.
Start with the gentle ones
PanchPrana keeps the connected breathing session in the same collection as three much gentler ones, and the order matters. The heart-centred sessions are the place to go if you want the warmth without the intensity.
Who should take care
Connected or circular breathing is the strongest practice in this library, and the cautions here are stricter than anywhere else in the breathwork collections. The three gentle sessions carry the ordinary cautions for slow breathing; the circular breathing session does not.
AVOID the circular breathing session entirely if you are pregnant, or if you live with epilepsy or a seizure disorder, cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure, an aneurysm, glaucoma or retinal detachment, or if you have had recent surgery. AVOID it if you have a history of psychosis, mania or bipolar disorder, or if you are currently in crisis. The gentle sessions in this collection are suitable in most of those cases; the connected breathing is not.
If you live with PTSD, complex trauma, a dissociative condition, panic disorder or an eating disorder, do not practise connected breathing alone. It can surface material faster than you can meet it, and doing that without support is the specific risk. Speak to your clinician first. If you have asthma or COPD, skip the circular breathing entirely and keep the gentle sessions well within an easy range.
Stop immediately if you feel faint, get chest pain, cannot feel your hands, cramp in the hands or face, or find yourself distressed in a way that is escalating rather than passing, and let the breath return to normal before you stand. Never practise connected breathing in water, in a bath, or while driving. If a session leaves you distressed for more than a short while afterwards, stop using it and speak to a doctor or a therapist.
See our full Health & Safety Disclaimer.
Common questions
Why do my hands tingle or cramp?
It is a normal and well-known effect of breathing faster and fuller than the body needs for a sustained period. It passes within a few minutes of breathing normally. It is also the signal to ease off rather than to continue.
Is it normal to cry?
It is common, and it is not the point. Sessions that produce tears and sessions that produce nothing are equally ordinary outcomes.
Is this the same as rebirthing or holotropic breathwork?
It belongs to the same family of connected breathing practices and is shorter and gentler than either. The cautions that apply to those apply here.
Can breathwork release trauma?
It can produce a strong emotional response, which people often describe that way. Whether that amounts to processing anything is a clinical question and not one this app answers. Trauma work belongs with a therapist.
Which session should I use if the cautions apply to me?
Breathe Through the Heart and the Self-Compassion Breathwork Session, both of which are slow practices with nothing forceful in them. The heart-centred collection is also suitable and is gentler still.
