Shamanic Breathing Technique
By Leo Gura - April 9, 2018 | 17 Comments
A powerful deep-breathing technique for emotional healing
I just tried it. Quite an impressive effect for such a simple-sounding technique!
Nothing like psychedelics for me, but it still was pretty cool & intense. The ‘memories coming up’ aspect is very interesting. While you’re lying & panting you’ve got time to reflect on your past, future and life in general. I was surprised by how contemplative I got! (Mostly pleasant or neutral memories and thoughts, nothing traumatic for me). Got a few nice insights!
I’ve tried erotic asphyxiation (strangling oneself during sex to get high & boost orgasm), but this is totally different! This is more like hyperventilating your brain with oxygen rather then restricting it. Also different from N20 (nitrous oxide, I’ve seen it on your ‘psychedelics wishlist’, Leo, have you tried it? I recommend you do!)
It’s hard to breathe with such a pace for a long time, though (I did 30 mins). In the videos with people doing it they seem to breathe with greater effort (even more frequently and inhale/exhale completely till it hurts), I think it greatly affects the result. I will try harder next time and for a longer duration!
(By the way, DO take your time after breathing this way for 30 mins and don’t try to stand up)
I heard about holotropic breathing, but never had a chance to try it until today.
Thank you Leo for sharing this tool with us!
Made it leo…. im almost spiritual lol. Like i almost watched this video… but i didnt almost watch all the others luvya ur channel is awesome
Toi says: Tried this one, got an headache 8 minutes into the session, freaked out that I might harm my brain and then stopped.
How can I be sure that it is not something harmful? I’m not afraid to die, just to be paralyzed or something else I might regret…
I’m just trying to get some experience of something spiritual. I think I understand pretty well all the theory that Leo puts in his videos, but only on the mental level. I didn’t experience yet anything on this “Being level” that he’s talking about..
I don’t have access to psychedelics. I’m meditating daily for almost half a year now, 2-3 sessions half an hour each. Contemplating a lot, watched almost every video on this channel and took extensive notes, already read some books.. It’s all mind twisting and extremely fascinating theories.. I’m thinking about all this constantly.
I want to test these theories. Leo seems to talk as if it is verifiable. I’m trying.. I’m thinking about getting this yoga book and adding this to my effort.. I’ll keep on trying and trying and being positive and open minded about it, but where is the border between trying very hard and being brainwashed? brainwashed in the sense that you tell yourself that you feel something but you’re not..
It is challenging for me.
Toi says: Tried it again today, managed to do 16 minutes or so…
Stopped because I was afraid I’m gonna lose my hands. They felt very stiff and I couldn’t move them. Moving my fingers hurt for several hours after that.
It felt extremely unsafe. Some say that hyperventilation is dangerous for the nerve cells.. For me it felt dangerous even in the short term. Do I exaggerate?
I did feel calmer afterwards, and I sweated a ton even though I was cold. But no altered state or something. I understand that it was too short, but I hesitate very much to try it again, even though I would have wanted to.. Does anyone has something to say to address my concerns?
Mark says: From what I know, the effects are not so much due to increased oxygen but due to reduced carbon dioxide in the blood. This actually reduces the amount of oxygen that is available for the brain (yes, sounds counterintuitive) and puts nerve and muscle cells in an hyperexcitable state due to higher blood pH. You can search for: “hypocapnia”.
To me it seems relatively safe (i.e does not cause permanent damage) as long as you built the durations of your sessions slowly and know what you can handle. And maybe be aware that after the session, you will notice yourself not wanting to breath much, which could lead to oxygen shortage.
Mayur says: Tried it but nothing happened, my mouth got dry nothing else, did I do something wrong ?
aditya says: Leo,
OMG, you are an incarnation of Jesus.
Lots of Love!
Callum says: I tried it and liked it, felt super energetic and optimistic!
Daniel says: I VOTE FOR LEO FOR OFFICE! WHAT DO SAY LEO, THOUGHT ABOUT GOING FOR PRESIDENCY?
Justin Evans says: @Toi
Hey Toi, unfortunately I cannot say how shamanic breathing effects your healt because I haven’t done enough personal trial and error with it. If you are so worried about the effects, I would give it a break and pick it up half a year or a year from now until you feel better about it.
About the brainwashing thing, I was in your shoes as well.
It’s great to be open minded, but 100% DON’T force experiences. I was in your shoes when I was starting off and when I got tingling sensations I would over exaggerate it and be like “Oh my gosh! This is it!” And so on.
Just do things like meditation and get used to doing it for the sake of enjoying it. That will be HUGE. If you can just enjoy the process and not attach to the results or experiences, those experiences will come. It’s a strange counter intuitive thing that no one can teach you. It will just take time and patience.
Don’t force yourself via brainwashing to hold some “framework” for what reality and consciousness is. Be 100% honest with yourself. If you feel skeptical, openly question why you think something feels stupid, and just sit and contemplate that thought for a while.
Trust that truth will guide you in the right direction. Be willing to question everything and let every side of the argument speak its case in your head, don’t ignore one facet in efforts to push yourself on the spiritual side, if you do this, it will only become beliefs.
Justin Evans says: @Toi
One more point I wanted to make. Since you are craving an experience so bad, and because that would make it harder to enjoy the process of meditation, yoga, etc (because your focusing on the end goal) let me share with you something important.
When you get your first experience, let me assure you that it will not settle all of your doubts. It will help a lot, and can be very motivating, a spontaneous experience which occurred to me really pushed my motivation to meditate to the next level when it first happened. However, the experiences come and go, even if they are profound and world shattering. Experiences become memories and you shift back into the ego (unless you have been practicing for a long time and can maintain such an experience or become enlightened), you will most likely go back into the ego and it will feel fleeting.
Your doubts will come back I promise, even if the experiences has still changed your life and your direction forever.
So to the best of your ability, focus on the work that needs to be done, enjoy the process, and when you start getting into an experience, an awakening, you will be more prepared, calm, and you will be able to soak the juice out of the experience instead of freaking out and having the experience go away because you reacted to it so much!
Counterintuitive indeed, that excitement, our reaction to the experience will make it harder to maintain the experience without it going away.
Hi, Leo!
Thanks a lot!
I did and here’s the outcome:
I managed to last for 25 minutes.
At the beginning I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right, but then I started feeling my limbs going numb but I didn’t stop.
That feeling continued throughout the process.
Meanwhile, I was still thinking in some of the things that happened to me today. Then, after 15 minutes or so (I really don’t know), I started focusing completely on the process: on my breathing and my numb limbs.
I also felt my mouth and jaw going stiff. I couldn’t change the way I was breathing anymore because I couldn’t move the muscles of my mouth. For me, it felt weird but funny.
Maybe I wasn’t scared of the numbness because I’d tried some other techniques that have that same effect.
It was really hard. I was just waiting for the alarm to go off. And when it did, I tried to move but I couldn’t. Not my legs, not my arms. the worst feeling was in my hands.
For some reason I burst into a high-pitch tear-inducing laugh that I couldn’t stop almost for five minutes!
The only thing that could move was my stomach because of the laugh.
Little by little, my legs recovered their movement (while still laughing), then my arms. And I was hoping the next thing would be my hands but two things happened in that moment: I tried to move my hands unsuccessfully, and I also tried to open my eyes to see them BUT I ALSO COULDN’T. This made me laugh even harder. I couldn’t control myself. Actually, I didn’t even want to try.
One minute later, I tried to hit my hands against each other, only to discover that I couldn’t feel that!! The fingers were completely anaesthetized!!
Another burst of laughter!
Slowly, my voice was getting to its normal pitch again. I was moving my legs, my arms, and my head was also available now.
When I managed to sit up, I was able to move my whole body except for my hands. They were really stiff. I felt as if something was holding my fingers tight. This continued for around 8 minutes, with some random laughs here and there. After that, I was able to move my whole body but my fingers, my eyelids, and my legs were shaking.
Fifteen minutes later I was almost back to normal, but it feelt different. For one thing, I’m more awake now, but I’m not sure how to describe all the feelings that I have right now (Yes, I wrote this after I recovered all my mobility).
I will do more research on this because it was so interesting. Thank you very much again, Leo.
Update.
One hour later, I went to the kitchen to make dinner. I was feeling so relaxed and joyful that I started dancing a little bit with the music I had on my phone. I don’t dance like that. I don’t feel like doing it just because. When I do it, it’s only with a coreography, or because a girl makes me do it in a party (and I feel uncomfortable). But last night I was goofing around because I felt like doing it!
Today, even though I had some issues to worry about, I felt calm. Not ignoring them, because I’m still taking care of them, but I’m not stressed. It’s not that suddenly those issues/tasks are now attractive to me, but I approach them without any overreaction.
This breathing technique was also developed by Jeru Kabbal as a guided meditation called “Quantum Light Breath”
In the Jeru Kabbal version, listening to uplifting music while over-breathing is an essential component. His point is also to go beyond the emotional release level, to let it pass and not stop there. In my experience, what is beyond is nothing less that the loss of our personality (sense of self) and the experience of the most beautiful dance with Existence.
As Mark said below, the body controls the need of breathing by checking the amount of CO2 in the blood, so over-ventilation could bring the reflex of breathing even more, and so on… So it is a good idea to do it in groups with a facilitator who can prevent to over do it too much. This level is reached when the hands and fingers are becoming stiff.
Love and Light to all!
One more observation:
The position that Leo shows can be improved by bending a little bit the legs, eventually by placing one or two cushions under the knees. To breath deeply into the belly becomes easier.
Anyways, thank you, Leo, for having publish this wonderful technique !
Thank you immensely
I tried two years ago this breathing technique and I found it so powerful! For me the first 2/3 session was really like ayahuasca ceremony, I remember that I spit out a black lump during my first session and I felt so relieved after!
I wanted so bad continue with this technique but I didn’t know how I could feel do it alone.
One day I decide to check online and I found your video and I discover you!
Thank you so much, you are very inspiring and you are able to give words to my thoughts
Coming back on the technic now is the second time I tried alone and in the last one I did I had to stop after 20 minutes, my hand and feet goes very stiff like never before.
My teacher let us breath into it when the sensation become to strong.
I wonder why sometimes is happening and other time no?
MirrorMan says: Hi,
On that vid about Shamanic Breathing Leo mentioned that he would make some others, my main interest is in how to breathe consciously throughout the day. I’ve done a search but couldn’t find any others, anyone help me out here ? I’ve found a few on the net generally but nobody gets to the point and delivers the info BS free like Leo does so very interested to know if he has done this.
Thanks !