Atlas›Domain X · Body, movement, breath & physical›Guide 163
Guide X-163

Clarity breathwork

Ashanna Solaris, Dana Dharma Devi1999California, United States
A 30 · L 42 · M 2816 interventions in the Trinity explorer2 described for recognition only
Client cardCompare
[source: …] where a claim comes from[uncertain] not confirmed in a primary source[synthesis] the writer's reconstruction

1. Introduction

Version followed: Clarity Breathwork as its co-founders Ashanna Solaris and Dana Dharma Devi (listed on the school's site as "Dana~Dharma Devi DeLong") publish it on claritybreathwork.com (pages "What is Clarity Breathwork?", "Professional Training", "Levels 1–5", "Level 2", "About Dana and Ashanna", read October 2026), with the Global Professional Breathwork Alliance (GPBA) 2026 Ethical Standards for practitioner conduct. The two training pages describe the certification route slightly differently; both are reported below.

What it is. Clarity Breathwork describes itself as a process of "healing, transformation, and awakening" through conscious, connected breathing, and as a "complementary wellness and personal-growth practice". It calls itself "a gentle nurturing feminine approach to healing, transformation and embodiment". The school states that it "is not a substitute for psychotherapy, medical care, diagnosis, or treatment". [source: Clarity Breathwork, What is Clarity Breathwork?; About Dana and Ashanna; site footer]

Roots. The school says the work evolved from Rebirthing Breathwork, which it attributes to Leonard Orr in the 1970s, and credits Orr, Sondra Ray and other early teachers. The founders renamed their work Clarity Breathwork in 1999 because "Rebirthing" could suggest an exclusive focus on birth; birth, womb time and early bonding remain themes, but the work is said to address a wider range of experience. The school also cites yogic pranayama and the Buddha's teaching on mindfulness of breathing (Anapanasati Sutta) as older roots, and says it now draws on somatic psychology, trauma awareness, meditation, movement and sacred sound. [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?] The GPBA directory lists Clarity Breathwork as a "Certified School" based in Santa Cruz, California; the founders' page places both founders' private practices in the California Bay Area (and, for Dana, Los Angeles). A Canadian base is [uncertain: not verified]. [source: GPBA member page; About Dana and Ashanna]

Rebirthing-Breathwork is not coercive "rebirthing" attachment therapy. The breathing method described here is different from the restraint-based "rebirthing" used in a Colorado behavioural treatment programme, in which a 10-year-old girl died of asphyxiation in 2000 after being wrapped in a sheet and pushed against with pillows to simulate birth. Colorado then passed a 2001 law, "Concerning a Prohibition on the Therapeutic Technique Known as Rebirthing", which bans rebirthing techniques in therapy that involve restraint or a risk of physical injury. Clarity Breathwork, as published, involves no restraint. For the attachment-therapy harm account, see Domain XVI. [source: CNN transcript 17 April 2001; Colorado Session Laws 2001, ch. 129]

Core idea of change, as the school states it. Most people are said to breathe restrictively to cope with difficult feelings, and this restriction is said to mirror restriction elsewhere in life. Fuller, connected breathing is said to let the body and nervous system soften so that held material (sensations, emotions, memories, beliefs) can surface, be felt and be integrated, not only understood intellectually. The breath is said to reveal "what is ready" rather than forcing change. These are the school's explanatory claims, not established mechanisms. [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?]

Status and intensity. Clarity Breathwork belongs to the conscious connected breathwork family. Connected breathing of this kind can produce hyperventilation effects (tingling, numbness, cramping of hands, feet and around the mouth), intense emotion and altered states. [source: Kripalu breathwork information; Wikipedia, Breathwork (New Age)] For Holotropic Breathwork and other intense breathwork, see the Domain VII Holotropic Breathwork guide. No research specific to Clarity Breathwork is reported [uncertain: not verified]. Reviews of breathwork in general describe the evidence as limited, with a 2023 meta-analysis (Fincham et al., Scientific Reports) suggesting possible benefit for stress and urging caution [uncertain: not verified; reported via Wikipedia's summary]. The school's benefit statements (for example "Reducing stress and experiencing greater energy and well-being", "Releasing held emotions, tension, and stagnant energy") are its own claims and testimonials, without research citations. [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?; Clarity Breathwork home page]

Who leads sessions. Leading Clarity Breathwork sessions requires the school's practitioner certification (Section 2). A psychotherapist without that certification does not lead sessions; the psychotherapist's role is screening, preparation, consent, referral, collaboration and integration (Sections 4B and 5). A psychotherapist who also holds Clarity certification must keep the roles distinct and stay within both professions' codes. [source: Professional Training; GPBA Ethical Standards 1.2, 1.4; synthesis]

2. Framework

Clarity Breathwork is a named school of practice with a private-session format, group and retreat formats, and a multi-level training. It is not a manualised psychotherapy.

A. Private sessions (as published). [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?]

  • First session: a conversation about current life and relevant history (birth, childhood, family, relationships, past experiences) and setting intentions for the session and, where appropriate, for a series.
  • Every private session: opens with "intuitive counseling and somatic exploration".
  • Breathing phase: an extended period of "circular, connected breathing", with the practitioner present and supporting sensations, emotions, memories, insights and what the school calls energetic shifts. The published pages do not give breathing rates, rounds or other mechanics, and none are given here.
  • Closing: time to rest and share; the practitioner may offer reflections, practices or questions to carry into daily life.
  • Session count: the school speaks of single sessions and "a series"; no fixed number is published for clients. Moving on is by client and practitioner agreement about intentions [synthesis: no published criteria found].

B. Group and retreat formats. Online and in-person workshops and retreats combine Clarity Breathwork with live music, kirtan and mantra, "light body meditations", dance and movement, dyad and inquiry processes and group sharing. [source: home page; GPBA member page; Level 2]

C. Training and certification (as published). [source: Professional Training; Levels 1–5]

  • Level 1, Sacred Breath & Embodiment: a foundation open to everyone (dance, movement, sacred music, mantra, meditation, breathwork; basics of pre- and perinatal psychology).
  • Level 2, Healing Intensive: open to everyone; personal healing around birth, childhood, family patterns, sexuality and relationships; includes water sessions on one page. Presented as the "beginning foundation" for practitioners.
  • Level 3, Practitioner's Intensive, and Level 4, Business & Leadership (one page lists them as a combined Level 3/4): supporting others through issues that arise in one-to-one sessions, trading sessions, ethics and appropriate behaviour, setting up a practice. Taken in order.
  • Level 5, Group Facilitator Training: creating safe space, boundaries and ethics, leading processes, co-leading a group ceremony. Requires all prior levels.
  • Beyond the group training, certification requires private sessions received from certified Clarity breathworkers or the founders, assisting, supervision and mentoring with each co-founder (including supervision pods), logged sessions with real clients, and elective study in "Body, Mind, Spirit, and Shadow" areas. The two pages differ slightly in how they list these; check the current page before advising a client or colleague.
  • Certification also requires keeping to the school's code of ethics, ongoing education (including regular Clarity sessions), and understanding these listed topics: conscious breathing "including wet and dry sessions"; "creative beliefs" (affirmations, limiting core beliefs, goals); the "birth script" from conception through nursing; the "programming of aging, disease, and death"; "intuitive counseling"; and business.
  • Accreditation: the school says the programme is accredited by the GPBA and the International Breathwork Foundation (IBF) and "meets or exceeds" their minimum hour standards. The GPBA describes itself as founded in 2001 to establish breathwork as a respected modality; it says certified schools must have trained and graduated practitioners for at least two years before certification. No government regulation of breathwork practitioners was found in the sources [source: GPBA, Professionalism in Breathwork]. Contraindications are not mentioned on the Clarity training pages [uncertain: not verified whether they are taught].

D. Where the psychotherapist fits [synthesis, using GPBA Ethical Standards]: before sessions (screening, medical clearance, consent conversation, touch agreement); alongside a series (collaboration with the certified breathworker, with client consent); after sessions (grounding, integration, recognising adverse effects). Criteria for going ahead, pausing or stopping are in 4B and 5.

3. Guiding principles

The school's principles [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?; About; home page]:

  • Innate wisdom; don't force change. Practical meaning: follow what emerges; never push a client to produce a memory, catharsis or a particular experience.
  • Participation and responsibility (thoughts, beliefs, attention and choices are said to shape experience). Practical meaning: invite ownership without implying the client caused their illness, abuse or misfortune [synthesis caution].
  • Moving beyond blame and judgement; honesty and compassion. Practical meaning: forgiveness work is offered, never required; protect clients who are still in danger or not ready to forgive [synthesis caution].
  • Acknowledging and integrating past wounds. Practical meaning: session material is integrated, not just discharged; leave time to make meaning.
  • A soft, gentle, "feminine" approach in a "sacred space". Practical meaning: pace for safety; slowing down is part of the method, not a failure.
  • Practitioner presence, and recognising when someone needs more support or a slower pace. Practical meaning: monitor continuously; adjust or stop.
  • Complementary, not a substitute for psychotherapy or medical care. Practical meaning: health and mental-health needs go to qualified professionals.

Professional principles from the GPBA Ethical Standards that apply to any certified breathworker [source: GPBA 2026 Ethical Standards]:

  • Informed consent before every session, documented, with the right to withdraw at any time and a capacity check (4.3, 2.5). Practical meaning: consent is renewed, not assumed.
  • Health disclosure and screening: conditions breathwork might affect, possible pregnancy, current medicines (4.1.2, 4.1.7, 4.1.8); clients with a seizure history are told "breathwork can lower the seizure threshold" (4.3.2).
  • Never advise changing or stopping medicines (4.1.9).
  • Emergency readiness for seizures, loss of consciousness or panic attacks; emergency contacts collected (4.1.5); suicidal thoughts and self-harm invited for disclosure and referred on (4.1.6); participants monitored during sessions (4.1.10).
  • Touch explained beforehand, no sexual touch (2.5, 4.4.1.2); heightened states can amplify sexual energy, which the breathworker must manage (4.4.1.1).
  • Scope and referral: work within certification and competence; refer outside scope (1.2, 1.4, 4.4.4); no exaggerated claims about breathwork (2.8).
  • Supervision, especially with expanded states and with clients who use psychoactive substances (7, 7.1.5); dual relationships managed (4.4.2).
  • Complaints: clients are told how to complain, and complainants are protected from retaliation (2.12).

Principles for the psychotherapist [synthesis]:

  • Screen before referring; refer only to a certified practitioner.
  • Treat birth, prenatal and past-life content as experience, not verified history (see 4B.5).
  • Separate roles: don't combine your psychotherapy with hands-on bodywork unless your own code allows it and you hold the training (see 4B.3).

4. Intervention inventory

This section has two parts. Part A describes the components Clarity Breathwork publishes, so a psychotherapist can recognise them, prepare clients and integrate what happens. Only a certified Clarity practitioner delivers them, and no breathing rates, counts, retention or durations are given. Part B covers what the psychotherapist does. Example language is illustrative throughout.

Part A: Clarity Breathwork components (delivered by certified practitioners)

A1. Intake conversation and intention-setting

  • Purpose / when: at the first private session, to understand the client's current life and relevant history and to set intentions for the session and, where appropriate, a series. [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?]
  • Steps (as published, descriptively): the practitioner asks about present circumstances and about birth, childhood, family, relationships and past experiences. Client and practitioner then agree an intention. The published pages do not describe a formal medical screening step [uncertain: not verified]; the GPBA standards require health, pregnancy and medication disclosure, consent and emergency contacts (4.1, 4.3). The psychotherapist's own screening is in B1.
  • Example language (illustrative, psychotherapist preparing a client): "The breathworker will ask about your history and what you'd like from the session. You choose how much to share. Health questions, though, need full answers."
  • Watch for: intentions framed as "recovering" a memory (see B5); a client playing down health conditions; a client hoping breathwork will replace needed medical or psychiatric care.

A2. Intuitive counselling and somatic exploration

  • Purpose / when: the school says this opens every private session; certification requires "supporting clients through intuitive counseling". [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?; Professional Training]
  • Steps: not published in procedural detail [uncertain: not verified]. Described as exploring links between present difficulties and underlying beliefs, emotions, protective patterns and nervous-system responses.
  • Example language (illustrative, psychotherapist): "Some of what the breathworker offers may sound like counselling. If something comes up that you'd rather explore with me, bring it here."
  • Watch for: "intuitive" interpretations offered as fact (for example about family events or early life); advice that falls outside a breathworker's scope (GPBA 8.1.5: no medical or psychological advice from people not adequately trained).

A3. Circular, connected breathing ("dry" session)

  • Purpose / when: the central practice. Connected breathing is said to let held material surface and release. [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?]
  • Steps (descriptive only): after the opening conversation, the client breathes in a "circular, connected" way for an extended period, guided by the practitioner, who stays present and supports what arises (sensations, emotions, memories, insights, what the school calls energetic shifts). The published pages do not specify posture, rate, depth or rounds, and this guide gives none. Self-practice of intense connected breathing from written instructions is not advised [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative, psychotherapist explaining): "In the session you'll breathe continuously, with the breathworker guiding you. Tingling, strong feelings or memories can come up. You can slow down or stop whenever you want. Tell them straight away if anything feels physically wrong."
  • Watch for: hyperventilation effects, i.e. tingling, numbness, and cramping in the hands, feet or around the mouth ("tetany"). Kripalu describes tetany as temporary and links it with forcing the exhale; it advises relaxing the out-breath and stopping and telling the coach about concerning symptoms. Other effects are dizziness, sleepiness, distressing altered consciousness, panic, and strong emotion or memories. Seizures and loss of consciousness are emergencies the GPBA says breathworkers must be ready for. [source: Kripalu; Wikipedia, Breathwork (New Age); GPBA 4.1.5] The school publishes no criteria for when it is working; it describes rest, insight and sharing at the close. Signs a client is integrating rather than flooding are in B4.

A4. Water ("wet") sessions

  • Purpose / when: certification lists conscious breathing "including wet and dry sessions", and Level 2 includes "water sessions", continuing a Rebirthing-Breathwork tradition. [source: Professional Training]
  • Steps: no procedure or safety protocol for water sessions was found in the published pages [uncertain: not verified]. None is given here.
  • Example language (illustrative, psychotherapist): "Before any water session, please ask the school who supervises it, how deep the water is, and what happens if someone feels faint."
  • Watch for: any breathing practice that can cause hyperventilation, faintness or breath-holding carries a risk of blackout and drowning in or near water. Clients should never practise breathwork in or near water on their own, or while driving [synthesis: general breath-safety guidance; not stated by the school]. Epilepsy, cardiovascular conditions and pregnancy raise the stakes (see B1).

A5. Integration at the close of a session

  • Purpose / when: at the end of every private session, to rest, share and translate the experience into daily life. [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?]
  • Steps (as published): rest; the client shares; the practitioner may offer reflections, practices or questions to apply in daily life.
  • Example language (illustrative): "What stands out as you rest now? Is there one thing you'd like to take into this week?"
  • Watch for: the client leaving while still dizzy, disoriented or dissociated (see B4); big life decisions made in the glow of a session [synthesis].

A6. "Creative beliefs" work: affirmations, limiting core beliefs and goals

  • Purpose / when: a listed certification topic. It identifies limiting core beliefs and replaces them with affirmations and goals, reflecting the school's view that thoughts and beliefs shape experience. [source: Professional Training; What is Clarity Breathwork?]
  • Steps: not published in detail [uncertain: not verified].
  • Example language (illustrative, psychotherapist integrating): "Which belief came up most strongly? Let's look at the evidence for and against it in your life now." (This draws on cognitive restructuring rather than the school's procedure [synthesis].)
  • Watch for: self-blame, for example the belief that one's thoughts caused an illness or abuse. The certification topic "programming of aging, disease, and death" is the school's own concept; it is not a medical model and must never guide decisions about medical treatment [synthesis caution].

A7. Birth script and pre- and perinatal themes

  • Purpose / when: a core theme. Certification requires understanding the "birth script" from conception through nursing. Level 2 offers processes "to understand and unravel Birth material" and work on mother and father wounds and lineage. The school says the renaming widened the focus beyond birth. [source: Professional Training; Level 2; What is Clarity Breathwork?]
  • Steps: not published in procedural detail [uncertain: not verified].
  • Example language (illustrative, psychotherapist): "What came up felt like it was about your birth. We can treat it as meaningful, a story your body and mind are telling now, without needing to decide whether it literally happened that way."
  • Watch for: certainty about birth or prenatal events, and blame of parents based on session imagery alone. The scientific view reported in reliable summaries is that there is no evidence people can remember their births and that such "memories" are likely false memories [source: Wikipedia, Breathwork (New Age), citing reviews]. See B5.

A8. Group elements: sacred sound, mantra and kirtan; light body meditation; dance and movement; dyads, inquiry and sharing; forgiveness and family patterns; group ceremony

  • Purpose / when: these appear in workshops, retreats and training levels. The school describes sacred sound and mantra (often live music and kirtan led by Dana Dharma Devi), "light body meditations" (a spiritual and energy concept of the school, not an established fact), embodiment through dance and movement, dyad and inquiry processes, group sharing, forgiveness techniques, family and ancestral patterns, inner-child themes (mentioned in a testimonial) and, at Level 5, co-leading a group breathwork "ceremony". [source: home page; Level 2; Levels 1–5; Professional Training; GPBA member page] Kirtan and mantra come from devotional traditions; their spiritual meanings belong to those traditions [synthesis attribution].
  • Steps: not published procedurally; ceremonial elements are not proceduralised here.
  • Example language (illustrative, psychotherapist): "Retreats include chanting and dance as well as breathing. You can sit out any part, including the sharing circles."
  • Watch for: group pressure to share, to forgive, or to keep going past one's limits; vigorous movement in clients with osteoporosis or injury; spiritual framings that clash with the client's own beliefs; strong attachment to the teachers or the group [synthesis].

A9. Touch

  • Purpose / when: the published Clarity pages do not mention touch [uncertain: not verified whether practitioners use hands-on support]. Many connected-breathwork schools do use it. The GPBA requires any touch to be explained beforehand as part of informed consent, and bans inappropriate or sexual touch even if the participant invites it (2.5, 4.4.1.2).
  • Steps: see B3 for the consent agreement.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Will there be any touch? If so, where and why? Can I say no before and during the session?"
  • Watch for: touch that wasn't agreed beforehand; any sexual or genital touch, which is always inappropriate [source: USABP Code of Ethics VIII; GPBA 4.4.1.2]; a client who freezes and can't say stop.

Part B: The psychotherapist's role

B1. Screening and medical clearance before referral

  • Purpose / when: before a client attends any Clarity session, workshop or retreat, and again before a series or a residential intensive.
  • Steps:
    1. Ask about the conditions breathwork sources list as contraindications or cautions. Kripalu's intensive-breathwork information lists pregnancy; cardiovascular disease; personal or family history of aneurysm; epilepsy or other seizure conditions; retinal detachment; recent injury or surgery; history of mental illness or trauma, or current emotional or mental issues that could be aggravated; untreated high blood pressure; conditions needing major medications, especially tranquillisers; infectious conditions; and other serious injury or disease. Asthma is usually tolerated, but the client should bring an inhaler. [source: Kripalu] Summaries also list glaucoma, severe asthma and mental illness, and report a 1993 report's concern that hyperventilation could trigger seizures or psychosis in vulnerable people. [source: Wikipedia, Breathwork (New Age)] The GPBA asks about health conditions, possible pregnancy and current medicines, and says clients with a seizure history must be told breathwork can lower the seizure threshold. [source: GPBA 4.1.2, 4.1.7, 4.1.8, 4.3.2]
    2. Also screen for psychosis or bipolar disorder, severe PTSD or dissociation, current suicidality or self-harm, panic disorder, substance use (GPBA 7.1.5 asks for supervision with clients who use psychoactive substances) and osteoporosis where there is vigorous movement [synthesis, extending the sources above].
    3. If any condition is present, ask for written medical clearance from the client's own doctor, or advise against attending. Never suggest changing or stopping medicines (GPBA 4.1.9).
    4. Document the screening and your recommendation.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Connected breathing can raise heart rate, cause cramping, and sometimes trigger seizures in people who are prone to them. Before you book, I'd like to go through a short health list with you. For a couple of these, I'll ask you to check with your doctor first."
  • Watch for: reluctance to involve a doctor; a retreat that doesn't ask health questions [synthesis]; recent destabilisation (new diagnosis, recent hospital admission, acute grief), which suggests postponing.

B2. Informed-consent conversation about possible effects

  • Purpose / when: so the client can make an informed choice and recognise what is expected and what is a warning sign.
  • Steps:
    1. Describe the format: an opening conversation, an extended connected-breathing phase, then rest and sharing (A1–A5).
    2. Name the common effects (tingling, cramping, dizziness, strong emotion, memories, altered states) and the warning signs (chest pain, fainting, seizure, intense panic that doesn't settle, persistent confusion) [source: Kripalu; Wikipedia; GPBA 4.1.5; synthesis for the warning-sign grouping].
    3. Affirm the client's rights: to slow down, stop or withdraw consent at any time (GPBA 4.3.3); to sit out group parts; to complain (GPBA 2.12).
    4. Explain that Clarity is a wellness practice, not psychotherapy or medical treatment, and that its benefit statements are the school's own claims.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Most people feel tingling or strong feelings, and these pass. If you get chest pain, feel faint, or feel you're losing touch with where you are, stop and tell the breathworker straight away. You never need permission to stop."
  • Watch for: a client who wants to "push through" no matter what; magical expectations; a client who feels unable to refuse a teacher [synthesis].

B3. Touch and boundaries agreement; preparing trauma survivors

  • Purpose / when: before sessions with any client who has a trauma history, or where hands-on support may be used.
  • Steps:
    1. Help the client prepare questions for the breathworker: whether touch is used, where, by whom and why.
    2. Agree a clear stop signal and a "no touch" option. Consent must hold before and during the session, and the client can end touch at any moment [source: USABP Code of Ethics VIII.2, VIII.5; GPBA 2.5].
    3. Remind the client that sexual or genital touch is never acceptable [source: USABP VIII; GPBA 4.4.1.2].
    4. Don't provide hands-on bodywork in psychotherapy yourself unless your own code allows it and you hold the training. Mainstream talk-therapy codes ban sexual contact and require you to work within your competence. Body-psychotherapy codes (USABP, EABP) set out touch-specific consent, and EABP 6.b asks you to consider the implications when a client receives similar services from someone else. [source: APA Ethics Code (https://www.apa.org/ethics/code) 10.05, 2.01; USABP; EABP 2020]
  • Example language (illustrative): "If you'd like no touch at all, that's a complete answer. Shall we practise how you'd say it, and what signal you'd use if words are hard?"
  • Watch for: freezing or fawning, i.e. agreeing to please; disclosures afterwards of touch that wasn't agreed. Respond as in B6.

B4. Grounding after sessions

  • Purpose / when: in the psychotherapy session after a breathwork session, or when a client arrives still activated, dissociated or light-headed.
  • Steps [synthesis]:
    1. Orient: name the date and place, and look around the room.
    2. Feel contact: feet on the floor, the back against the chair.
    3. Let breathing return to the client's own natural rhythm; don't add any breathing exercise.
    4. Offer water and a snack, and check the client is fit to travel. Don't let a client drive while dizzy or disoriented.
    5. If symptoms persist (confusion, perceptual changes, suicidal thoughts, chest or neurological symptoms), arrange medical or crisis assessment.
  • Example language (illustrative): "Let's take a moment to land. Can you feel the floor under your feet? Name three things you can see in this room."
  • Watch for: working signs are a steadier voice, eye contact, and the client being able to describe the experience as past. Persisting depersonalisation, insomnia, agitation or unusual beliefs over the following days need clinical review.

B5. Integrating session material, with memory cautions

  • Purpose / when: after sessions, to help the client make sense of emotions, images and insights and link them to present goals. The school itself describes breathwork as turning insight into embodied experience, complementary to therapy. [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?]
  • Steps [synthesis]:
    1. Invite a free narrative of the session, then the bodily, emotional and cognitive highlights.
    2. Link themes to current life and to the treatment goals.
    3. Treat birth, prenatal, past-life or "recovered" abuse imagery as experience to explore, not as verified history. Reliable summaries report no evidence that people remember their births, and say such content is likely false memory [source: Wikipedia, Breathwork (New Age)]. Don't confirm or deny; avoid leading questions; don't act on such imagery (for example confronting family) without corroboration.
    4. Turn insights into small, concrete steps the client chooses.
    5. Consider pausing breathwork if material is flooding rather than integrating.
  • Example language (illustrative): "That image clearly carries a lot of feeling. We don't need to decide whether it's a memory to work with what it means to you now."
  • Watch for: rising certainty about uncorroborated events; family estrangement driven by session imagery; dependence on sessions for relief.

B6. Recognising adverse effects and passing them on

  • Purpose / when: whenever a client reports physical or psychological harm, boundary violations or misconduct.
  • Steps:
    1. Assess safety and arrange medical or psychiatric care as needed.
    2. With consent, tell the practitioner or school. The GPBA requires breathworkers to explain how to complain and bans retaliation (2.12). Its process applies "where local procedures are insufficient" (8.1.11). [source: GPBA 2026 Ethical Standards]
    3. For sexual misconduct or assault, support the client's choices about reporting to police and, where relevant, to any professional licence the practitioner holds; follow safeguarding duties for vulnerable adults and minors [synthesis].
    4. Document what happened.
  • Example language (illustrative): "What happened in that session wasn't OK, and it isn't your fault. Would you like help deciding who to tell?"
  • Watch for: the client minimising harm out of loyalty to the group or teacher; ongoing contact with the practitioner.

B7. Choosing and collaborating with a certified practitioner

  • Purpose / when: when a client wants Clarity sessions alongside psychotherapy.
  • Steps:
    1. Refer only to practitioners listed in the school's directory or certified by it [source: Practitioners page; Levels 1–5]. Ask about their health screening, emergency arrangements, approach to touch, and supervision (GPBA 4.1, 2.5, 7).
    2. With written client consent, agree how you will share information, and who the client calls if destabilised between sessions.
    3. Keep roles distinct: the breathworker leads breathwork; you hold the psychotherapy, risk assessment and diagnosis [synthesis].
  • Example language (illustrative): "With your permission, I'll send the breathworker a short note about what to look out for. You decide what goes in it."
  • Watch for: a practitioner who discourages psychotherapy or medical care, makes cure claims (GPBA 2.8 bars exaggerated claims), or pressures the client into more sessions or training.

5. Handling problems

The school's published pages say little about problem handling beyond practitioner presence, pacing and referral. Most of what follows is [synthesis], drawing on the GPBA standards and Kripalu guidance where marked.

  • Overwhelm or flooding during or after sessions. In session: slow down or stop, return to natural breathing, orient (the school stresses recognising "when someone needs more support or a slower pace"; GPBA 4.1.10 requires monitoring). Afterwards: grounding (B4); space sessions further apart or pause them; return to stabilisation work in psychotherapy before resuming. [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?; GPBA; synthesis]
  • Tetany, cramping, dizziness. Kripalu advises not to fight the sensations, to relax the out-breath and to tell the coach. If symptoms are concerning, stop the technique. Chest pain, fainting or seizure is an emergency: call emergency services (GPBA 4.1.5). [source: Kripalu; GPBA]
  • Panic. Clients with panic disorder may experience the effects of connected breathing as a panic trigger. Screen beforehand (B1). If panic occurs, stop and ground; in psychotherapy, treat panic with established approaches before reconsidering breathwork [synthesis].
  • Emergence of psychotic, manic or dissociative symptoms, or suicidality. Stop breathwork; arrange urgent psychiatric assessment; carry out a standard risk assessment and safety planning. The GPBA asks breathworkers to refer suicidal participants to an accredited mental health professional (4.1.6). [source: GPBA; synthesis]
  • "Stuck" clients (nothing happens; frustration). Normalise variable sessions; review whether expectations of catharsis are driving pressure; the school's "don't force change" principle supports accepting quiet sessions. Explore in psychotherapy what "nothing" felt like. [source: What is Clarity Breathwork?; synthesis]
  • Resistance or fear before sessions. Respect it as information; revisit consent (B2); offer the option of not attending. Never persuade a hesitant client to attend [synthesis].
  • Non-adherence to safety advice (for example practising connected breathing alone, in the bath or pool, or while driving; skipping medical clearance). Restate the risks plainly, including the risk of drowning if faintness occurs in water; document the advice [synthesis].
  • Birth, past-life or abuse "memories". Use the cautions in B5; don't validate or deny; avoid suggestion; seek supervision where legal or family actions are being considered [source: Wikipedia, Breathwork (New Age); synthesis].
  • Health claims. If a client stops or plans to stop medical treatment because of breathwork, or the school's idea of the "programming of aging, disease, and death": encourage them to discuss it with their doctor; never advise changing medicines (GPBA 4.1.9). Breathwork is not a treatment for any physical disease [synthesis].
  • Group or teacher pressure; idealisation; dependency. Watch for escalating retreat or training commitments, financial strain, or isolation from other supports. Explore ambivalence; the GPBA standards on dual relationships (4.4.2) and exaggerated claims (2.8) give language for concerns [source: GPBA; synthesis].
  • Boundary violations or sexual misconduct by a practitioner. Respond as in B6. Heightened states can amplify sexual energy, and the GPBA puts the responsibility to manage this on the breathworker (4.4.1.1) [source: GPBA].
  • Ruptures with the psychotherapist (the client feels you are sceptical of breathwork, or the breathworker contradicts you). Acknowledge the client's experience; separate your safety concerns from judgements about meaning; invite a joint conversation with consent (B7) [synthesis].
  • Clients confusing Clarity Breathwork with coercive "rebirthing". Explain the difference (Section 1). Any practice involving restraint or wrapping that could cause physical injury is a red flag; such techniques are banned in therapy in Colorado. See Domain XVI. [source: CNN 2001; Colorado Session Laws 2001]
  • Thin published safety information. The Clarity pages reviewed list no contraindications or water-safety protocol. Ask the school directly for its health form and emergency procedures before referring [uncertain: not verified whether these exist].

Sources

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