Breathwork is the deliberate regulation of the breath as a means of altering the body, the emotions and states of consciousness. The observation that breath and mind are linked, that agitation quickens the breath and that slowing the breath calms the mind, is ancient and cross-cultural, and it underlies a great family of practices in which conscious control of breathing is used to steady attention, arouse energy, or induce non-ordinary states. The term "breathwork" is a modern, largely secular umbrella covering both these traditional techniques and a range of therapeutic and self-development methods developed in the twentieth century.
The practices divide broadly by aim and method. Slow, regulated breathing calms the nervous system and gathers the mind, and is used to prepare for meditation and to manage anxiety. Fast, deep or forceful breathing, by contrast, can drive the body into intense states, altering blood chemistry, producing tingling, emotional release and sometimes visionary experience, and is used in traditions and modern methods that seek catharsis or ecstatic transformation.