Breathwork for Beginners: Where to Start and What to Expect
You have probably heard the word breathwork. Maybe a friend told you about it. Maybe you saw it on social media and someone was crying on the floor and you wondered what that was about. Maybe a therapist suggested it and you nodded but did not look into it.
Here is the honest version of what breathwork is, what it does, and how to start. No jargon. No spiritual sales pitch. Just what I have learned from facilitating over 500 sessions on Koh Samui since 2020.
What Breathwork Actually Is
Breathwork is the practice of using intentional breathing patterns to change how your body and mind feel. That is it. You breathe in a specific way, on purpose, and your nervous system responds.
This is not the same as just taking a deep breath when you are stressed. It is not meditation with breathing. It is an active practice where the breathing pattern itself creates the shift. You are not trying to think your way into relaxation. You are using your breath to change your physiology directly.
There are many styles of breathwork. Some are gentle and calming. Some are intense and activating. Some have roots in yoga. Some come from modern somatic therapy. The common thread is that all of them use the breath as a tool to access something that thinking alone cannot reach.
Why Breathing Differently Actually Works
Your nervous system has two modes. One speeds everything up. Heart rate, cortisol, alertness, tension. This is the stress response. The other slows everything down. Heart rate drops, muscles release, digestion activates, the body repairs itself. This is the relaxation response.
Most people spend the majority of their waking life in the stress response. Not because they are in danger but because modern life keeps pressing the accelerator. Emails, notifications, deadlines, noise, poor sleep, bad news on repeat. Your body does not distinguish between a lion chasing you and a Monday morning inbox. The stress response is the same.
Breathwork gives you direct access to the switch between these two modes. When you change your breathing pattern, you send signals through the vagus nerve that tell your body to shift gears. Longer exhales activate the relaxation response. Faster rhythmic breathing can activate the stress response on purpose (which has its own value, especially for processing stored tension). The breath is the one autonomic function you can control consciously. That makes it the most direct lever you have for changing your internal state.
If you want to understand this mechanism in more depth, I wrote about how breathwork resets your nervous system with the science behind it.
What Happens in Your First Session
Most people are nervous before their first breathwork session. That is normal. Here is what actually happens so there are no surprises.
You lie down on a mat. Eyes closed. The facilitator explains the breathing pattern before you begin. In most guided sessions, the pattern is continuous breathing through the mouth. Inhale into the belly, then into the chest, then exhale with a relaxed release. No pause between breaths. You keep this going for 20 to 40 minutes while music plays.
What You Feel Physically
Almost everyone feels tingling in their hands and around their mouth within the first few minutes. This is normal. It happens because the breathing pattern changes the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood. It is not dangerous and it passes on its own.
Some people feel waves of warmth or cold moving through their body. Some feel lightness, like they are floating. Others feel heaviness, like they are sinking into the mat. Muscle tension in the hands is common. Your fingers might curl or feel stiff. This is called tetany and it resolves completely once you return to normal breathing.
What You Feel Emotionally
This is where it gets interesting and why breathwork is different from just doing a breathing exercise on an app.
Many people experience unexpected emotions during their first session. Tears that come without a clear reason. A sudden wave of sadness or relief. Laughter. Old memories surfacing. A feeling of letting go of something you did not realize you were holding.
Not everyone has an emotional experience. Some people simply feel deeply relaxed. Both are valid. There is no right or wrong outcome. The breath meets you where you are. Whatever your body needs to process will come up, or it will not. Neither experience is better.
What Happens After
After the active breathing portion, you return to normal breathing and rest for 5 to 10 minutes. This integration period is important. Most people feel calm, clear, and lighter than when they walked in. Sleep that night is usually significantly better. Some people feel emotional or tender for a day or two as things continue to process. That is also normal.
For a more detailed walkthrough of the full experience, read what happens in a breathwork session.
Starting on Your Own
You do not need a facilitator to begin exploring breathwork. Here are two simple practices you can try right now.
Box Breathing (Calming)
Inhale through your nose for 4 counts. Hold for 4 counts. Exhale through your nose for 4 counts. Hold for 4 counts. Repeat for 5 minutes.
This is one of the simplest regulation techniques. Navy SEALs use it before operations. You can use it before a meeting, during a moment of overwhelm, or as a daily practice. It works because the equal ratio of inhale to exhale and the holds activate your parasympathetic nervous system.
Extended Exhale Breathing (Relaxation)
Inhale through your nose for 4 counts. Exhale through your nose for 8 counts. No holds. Just breathe in for 4, out for 8. Repeat for 5 to 10 minutes.
The longer exhale is the key. When your exhale is longer than your inhale, your body reads it as a safety signal. Heart rate drops. Muscles soften. Cortisol production slows down. This is a practice you can do in bed before sleep, at your desk, or anywhere you need to calm down quickly.
When to Try a Guided Session
The practices above are useful for daily regulation. But guided breathwork with a facilitator is a different experience entirely. The depth you reach in a guided session, with music, with someone holding the space, with the freedom to fully surrender to the process, is something you cannot replicate on your own with a timer and a YouTube video.
A facilitator watches the room. They adjust the music. They support you if something intense comes up. They hold the container so you do not have to hold anything. That is the difference between doing breathing exercises and doing breathwork.
If you have been practicing on your own and feel curious about going deeper, that curiosity is the right signal. If you have been carrying stress, tension, or emotional weight that does not seem to shift no matter what you try, breathwork with a facilitator might reach what other approaches have not.
Common Questions Beginners Ask
Is breathwork safe?
For most people, yes. The main exceptions are pregnancy, epilepsy, severe cardiovascular conditions, and recent surgery. If you have any of these, talk to your doctor first. A good facilitator will ask about your health history before the session begins.
Can I do it wrong?
Not really. The most common thing beginners do is try too hard. They force the breath, create tension in their jaw and shoulders, and fight the process instead of letting it happen. A facilitator will spot this and guide you to soften. If you are on your own, the main instruction is to keep the breath flowing without forcing it. Effort without tension.
How is breathwork different from meditation?
Meditation generally asks you to observe your thoughts and let them pass. Breathwork uses the breath to actively shift your physiology. They complement each other but they are doing different things. I wrote a full comparison of breathwork and meditation if you want to understand the distinction clearly.
How often should I practice?
The simple practices like box breathing or extended exhale breathing can be done daily. Even 5 minutes makes a difference when done consistently. Deeper guided sessions are best spaced out. Once a week to once a month gives your nervous system time to integrate what comes up. More is not always better with intense breathwork.
Where to Start in Koh Samui
If you are on the island and want to experience guided breathwork for the first time, UNTAMED is designed to be accessible for complete beginners while still going deep enough to be meaningful. It is a full day that includes breathwork, ice bath, jungle, honest conversation, and lunch. About 8 hours total with hotel pickup and return. 3,500 THB.
You do not need any experience. You do not need to be flexible, fit, or spiritual. You just need to show up willing to breathe and be honest about what you find.
For groups, the private workshop format is a 2 hour session with breathwork and ice bath. I bring everything to your location anywhere on the island.
If you have questions about whether breathwork is right for where you are right now, reach out to Diego directly on WhatsApp. No pressure. Just a straight conversation.
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About Diego Pauel
I have lived in Koh Samui for 15 years. I discovered breathwork through freediving, which I have trained in for over a decade. When COVID hit and the island emptied out, I started offering breathwork and ice baths for free to help the local community feel better in their bodies. I was the first to offer this work on the island. Five years later, I have facilitated countless sessions for people from all over the world. No guru energy. No mystical language. Just the work.
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