Hacker News Reader

Comment by aunty_helen | Hacker News Reader

I’ve done a session of holotropic breathwork before. It was a surprisingly strong experience.

25 minutes of rapid deepish breathing while listening to music. I was doing it as part of a group session and funnily it was conducted via zoom.

After the first 10, it becomes easy to keep the breathing pace. Moderately deep hallucinations, sweating a _lot_ on the bed. The weirdest part was that my face wanted to screw up in contortions. I felt my lips tight and couldn’t control my facial muscles until they hurt. I lost track of time and the session felt like it ended quickly.

Afterwards there was a positivity mindset like a mild mushroom afterglow. I would probably do it again.

View on HN

That sounds like your body telling you not to do it.

Strong Darwin Award vibes here

It also leaves you in a very suggestive state. I did several sessions with a “rebirther” years ago, basically holotropic breath work. I decided I didn’t really need it, and I went in my last few sessions determined to quit, but at the end of the session, the practitioner always managed to convince me I needed another session. I eventually broke it off with him over the phone.

It sounds like you experienced oxygen deprivation.

how do you suppose he got oxygen deprivation by breathing deeply?

You don't get more oxygen by breathing more. When you breath more the CO2 is expelled from your blood and hemoglobin cannot efficiently collect and transmit O2 in the absence of some specific amount of CO2. In fact most people overbreathe, and they should be breathing less to be optimally oxygenized.

See https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30252284/

The book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art details the journey of James Nestor as he goes over all these different methods and exercises, it's the #1 book I recommend to everyone. The number one certain conclusion to take home from the book that'll literally extend your lifespan significantly: Don't mouthbreathe, never ever.

Huh. I always associated hyper ventilating as a mechanism to increase O2 in the body allowing for longer free dives, etc.

Looks like those benefits mostly come from lower initial CO2.

https://www.deeperblue.com/why-do-so-many-freedivers-hyperve...

While Bohr effect is a real thing obviously, your description doesn't seem to be fully correct (though it's not my field of expertise). Haemoglobin will link with O₂ just fine when level of CO₂ is decreased, only release of it in tissues will be negatively affected. But it's not like it stops at all, and to me it's not clear if it can really lead to a full-scale oxygen deprivation. Blood low acidity resulting from low CO₂ can explain symptoms like involuntary muscle contractions described by that poster above on its own

How long before this become a TIL on Reddit? I'm guessing it's already in the que. Then it will slowly make it's way to different sites with titles like 'This one thing is ruining you energy level'...'5 quick hacks to increase your oxygen levels, you will never guess what number 5 is'...

Aerbil313 putting in the hard work to keep the content wheels of society turning!

But I do love seeing these 'echos' bounce from discussions like this off into public consciousness then into the randomest places.

The hypoxia/suffocation instinct, the irresistible urge to breathe, is caused by carbon dioxide levels in the blood. The nervous system has no means of directly detecting oxygen, or its absence. If you walk into a room of pure nitrogen there is almost no warning. The CO2 levels remain low, everything is fine while all your oxygen is rapidly dumped to the oxygen-free air - two deep breaths gets rid of most of it. Another 15 seconds after that you are dizzy, another 15 to 45 after that you are unconscious. Terrible design, IMHO, but presumably not a common situation in the ancient environment.

If you hyperventilate, it drives out the carbonic acid and CO2 in the body. But the blood is normally already near saturation for oxygen. This unusually low level of CO2 allows you to hold your breath much longer by suppressing the suffocation response, sometimes to the point of unconsciousness. You don't realize you should breathe. You feel fine, just a little lighthea... This is why you should never hyperventilate before diving under water.

oxygen deprivation is not euphoric. shouldn't be so flippantly reductive

I thought it was common knowledge that it is in fact euphoric. Happy to be told I’m wrong though.

(Think of nitrous oxide and .. the thing with asphyxiation and a certain pleasurable activity)

Definitely mildly euphoric and relaxing. Source: have been choked out in BJJ training a few times. Woke up happy and relaxed every time.

It is common knowledge. Kids play the choking game, people die from autoerotic asphyxiation, and folks who fly or dive are trained to recognize the symptoms as well.

The burning feeling that you get when your hold your breath is a build up of CO2, not a lack of O2.

PDF warning: https://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochures/media...

I've heard about people awakening their kundalini with that. It fucked them for years since they had no clue what was happening, and no preparation or support.

What changes with oneself when they awaken their kundalini?

Extraordinary sensitivity, internally and externally. It's considered a very advanced practice because without a trained mind it is extremely jarring, will induce anxiety and maybe make you start thinking that you have psychic abilities (or schizophrenia).

You mean someone awakened their kundalini, wasn't aware of it, and it took years for them to figure it out? Can you describe the symptoms?

No, they were very aware of it. Huge energy surges, hallucinations, emotions go haywire, etc. It can take years to stabilise if you don't know what you're doing, and apparently you can easily question your sanity (even if you know what to expect - if you have no guide you might really struggle with understanding the process).

One guy would nearly pass out every time he got an erection, some people have a phase of not being able to eat anything but yoghurt or milk, etc. Huge changes, like a second puberty.

Yes! Holotropic is crazy strong. I remember having to sign a waiver that was akin to a skydiving waiver before doing holotropic breathwork session online. Highly recommended if you feel inclined to try it.

It can be deeply emotional for some.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com