What is DMT Breathwork & Why You Should Try It
People have been using breath as a way to control their emotions and bodies for centuries. Some people say that controlling your breath puts you in control of your life — and can release good-feeling chemicals like endorphins and serotonin into the body.
But what if something as simple as breathing could release something much stronger — and more spiritual?
While many people have turned to psychedelic substances throughout history as a way to explore their consciousness and heal issues, breathwork can put you in the same conscious state but without the LSD. This article is about DMT breathwork.
What is Breathwork?
Breathwork is the intentional manipulation of your breathing pattern to achieve a desired response. Generally, the goal of a breathwork session is to create a feeling of peace and calm and to shift the central nervous system towards tranquility.
While yoga and meditation sessions sometimes use breathwork, they often have another primary goal. In a true breathwork session, breathing is the entire focus and the only tool used.
Breathwork has been used by many cultures throughout history and is now becoming increasingly common in the west as a holistic and natural approach to health and wellness.
What is DMT?
DMT (N, N-Dimethyltryptamine) is considered one of the most powerful psychedelic drugs. Consuming DMT can lead to intense psychedelic experiences. However, it can also simulate newer death experiences where people report feeling themselves leave their body to explore an unknown and undiscovered alternate reality. This experience has given DMT the nickname “the spirit molecule”. DMT is thought to play an important role in REM sleep cycles when you are dreaming.
DMT is naturally in many plants and animals, including humans, and has been found in our brain, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid. Since DMT is found within ourselves, how can we activate it?
What is DMT Breathwork?
In the 1960’s, Stanislav Grof created one of the two original branches of breathwork called Holotropic Breathwork. He began to develop a conscious breathwork technique that he hoped would achieve the same psychedelic state that he had originally achieved using LSD-facilitated therapies.
With the hope that DMT could be released in the body by manipulating one’s breath, DMT breathing techniques were created.
There are a few ways that breathwork may release DMT into the body or elicit the same results. The first is that during a breathwork session, the ratio of carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in the body changes. This, along with the increase of pH, place stress on the body. Since some stress states may lead to the production of DMT from the pineal gland, this may cause DMT to be released during a breathwork session.
The second way that DMT may be released during a breathwork session is through reduced oxygen levels in our body’s tissues. While the intentional deep breaths we take during a session may flood the body with oxygen, rapid breathing reduces the amount of carbon dioxide while increasing pH. This may cause vasoconstriction, or the narrowing of blood vessels. DMT may be released as a way to protect the cells inside low-oxygen environments.
Finally, we have to explore the connection between brainwaves and cerebrospinal fluid. Breathwork activates gamma brainwaves, which are associated with heightened awareness, higher brain functions, and states of deep meditation. It is also noted that the correlation between gamma brainwaves and the release of DMT are mirrored, where one almost always means the release of the other. It is also thought that breath is the primary mover of cerebrospinal fluid, suggesting that it controls the circulation. With the connection between these three, it is very possible that breathwork may be able to naturally release DMT into the body.
Mental and Physical Benefits of Breathwork
While breathwork alone has been thought to help improve mental and physical health in individuals, using breathwork to release DMT in the body offers more intense results.
When performed regularly, breathwork may improve mood, decrease high blood pressure, help with symptoms of COPD, reduce feelings of anxiety and depression, improve cognitive function, improve sleep quality, and so much more.
DMT breathwork benefits include all the same benefits as regular breathwork but may also help treat anxiety, depression, allow for deeper healing, and help those struggling with drug or alcohol dependence.
Breathwork Techniques
Breathwork takes on many different forms and also has a variety of patterns depending on the intention behind each session. Finding a certified breathwork coach you can trust is vital for your breathwork journey. These individuals can help set you up for success and guide you safely through each session which is extremely important for those looking to perform DMT breathwork.
Breathwork can be as simple as a 5 minute relaxing deep breathing routine involving a deep inhale for 5 seconds, holding that breath for 5 seconds, and slowly exhaling through the mouth for another 5 seconds. This simple exercise repeated 5 times helps invoke feelings of relaxation and may help the individual de-stress.
Other types of breathwork techniques can be similar to those you may have used in yoga sessions. Breathe in deeply through our nose until your abdomen is fully expanded, hold the breath for a few seconds before exhaling sharply through your mouth with your tongue out is called lion’s breath. The exhale through the open mouth will create a sound similar to a tiger roaring. This breathwork technique is great for releasing tension or pent up anger.
While these simple techniques are great, there are also breathing techniques to release DMT. Holotropic Breathwork takes place over 2-3 hours per session. These sessions are accompanied by music and require you to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth rapidly. The thought is that this type of session is similar to those experiencing an LSD trip but without the drug.
The rapid breathing reduces oxygen to the brain which may cause the pineal gland to release DMT. The release of DMT is thought to alter the state of consciousness and allow for deeper healing and higher levels of meditation.
Conclusion
DMT breathwork may be the answer you’ve been looking for. Developed by psychologists throughout history and still being studied today, breathwork sessions with the intention to release a naturally occurring chemical in the body may help you achieve your goals and reach your highest potential.