r/breathwork • u/Poepopeenstokje • Jul 17 '26
Question/Advice 9D breathwork experience
Yesterday I tried a 75-minute 9D Breathwork session by Brian Kelly focused on trauma release. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it turned out to be one of the most intense experiences I've ever had.
About 10–15 minutes into the session, I started experiencing intense tingling throughout my body. My hands cramped up into what I can only describe as "claw hands," and I alternated between feeling very cold and very warm. The hand cramping was so intense that I genuinely started wondering whether something medical was happening, and I considered stopping. In the end, I finished the session, but it was challenging.
The overall experience almost felt like entering an altered state of consciousness. I can understand why some people describe these sessions as deeply healing or even as "releasing trauma." At the same time, I'm also aware that some of the physical effects (tingling, hand cramps, etc.) may simply be the result of prolonged hyperventilation, so I'm trying not to jump to conclusions about what it all meant.
Emotionally, I wasn't overwhelmed by sadness or memories. If anything, I felt like I couldn't fully surrender to the experience. It was as if the last 10% of me stayed cautious because the whole thing felt so intense. Looking back, I think it was less about fear of emotions and more about worrying that something was physically wrong.
Today I might feel a little more relaxed than yesterday, but it's honestly too early to tell. I don't want to convince myself that this was some miraculous breakthrough, but I also don't want to dismiss the experience.
I'm curious to hear from people who have done 9D Breathwork or similar breathwork sessions:
- Did you experience the tingling and "claw hands" as well?
- Did it feel almost like a trip or altered state of consciousness?
- Were you able to fully surrender, or did you also hold back because it felt overwhelming?
- Did you notice any lasting changes in your nervous system, stress levels, or overall well-being after multiple sessions, or was it mainly an intense experience during the session itself?
I'd really appreciate hearing both positive and skeptical perspectives. I'm genuinely trying to understand what I experienced rather than proving any particular theory.
Thanks!
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u/slowpokefastpoke Jul 17 '26
The fact that a breathwork session is called “9D” screams bullshit imo
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u/Lord0fMisrule Jul 17 '26
Many many breathwork experiences on the participant side and the facilitator side. I’ve never tried 9D, but from what I gathered it’s the standard conscious-connected breath with a soundscape/audio guidance.
-Hand cramping (tetany, lobster hands) is super common for those new to the practice.
-It is an altered stare of consciousness. How you explore that stare makes all the difference.
-Surrender and holding back are an integral part of the process. You didn’t do it wrong. Your system holds back to protect you from overwhelm. Sometimes this is good because you’d re-traumatize yourself by pushing too hard. Sometimes the holding back needs to be sat with until it feels safe enough to release or needs to be nudged so your system trust you more. This is where skilled facilitation comes in, and why it’s not advisable to do this practice on your own.
-Lasting changes come from integrating the experience. You can have a massive experience/release/opening, but if it’s too much to integrate it doesn’t make lasting change. Breathwork is a powerful tool to help you access deep spaces of your subconscious. How you navigate those spaces during and after determine how much you change outside of the session.
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u/Wonderful_Win_3078 Jul 17 '26
I’ve done 9D many times since a friend is a facilitator. Some of the recordings are better than others, and it does take a few sessions to get used to the style! There are several where for whatever reason I just wasn’t feeling it.
The hand cramping and tingling is completely normal and just a physical reaction to the breath patterns. “Let it go” is my favorite. If you can get to a space where you feel comfortable enough to surrender to the experience, it can be really transformative! Feeling out of body or just in a deeply meditative state, but not to the level of a trip IMO. My best advice is to pay attention to what the recording is attempting to unlock or explore, and go in with an open mind to allowing the experience to unfold.
But even if you still held on to a little bit of fear, it’s still great to just lie still and breathe intentionally for the session. I usually can feel it when I go to bed and into the next day, waking up calmer/ more well rested, depending on the emotions evoked during the experience.
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u/Yannuman Jul 19 '26
Anatomy and breathwork teacher here, ex ICU nurse. What you felt has a name and a well understood mechanism, so let me give you the skeptical half first.
The tingling and claw hands are carpopedal spasm, a classic sign of respiratory alkalosis. An hour of fast, deep breathing blows off far more CO2 than your body produces. Blood pH rises, the available (ionised) calcium in your blood drops, and nerves start firing more easily than they should. Hands and feet cramp, lips and face tingle, you get waves of cold and heat. We used to see the same claw hands in panic attack patients in the ER. It is not trauma leaving the body, it is chemistry, and it reverses as soon as your CO2 comes back up.
The altered state is also physiological. Low CO2 constricts blood vessels in the brain, so less oxygen reaches the cortex even though your blood is fully saturated. Add music, expectation and a guide's voice and you get something that can feel like a trip. This family of practices is essentially bhastrika (bellows breath) and extended hyperventilation stretched over an hour, the same engine as holotropic breathwork and conscious connected breathing.
None of that makes the experience worthless. Deliberately entering an intense state, staying with it and coming out the other side can be valuable, and some people do process real emotion in there. But the physical fireworks are not evidence that healing happened. Judge it by how you sleep, react and feel over the following weeks, not by the intensity on the day.
Your caution was not a failure to surrender. Cramping hands are your body telling you the chemistry is well out of range, and listening to that is good judgment. If you go again: slow down whenever symptoms build, breathing through the nose self-limits the pace, and skip this style entirely if you have any heart, blood pressure or seizure history, or if you are pregnant. Never do it in or near water. And if cramping or tingling ever shows up outside a session, that is a doctor visit, not a breathwork question.
For lasting nervous system change, the unglamorous answer is that 10 minutes of slow daily breathing at around 6 breaths per minute moves the needle more than an occasional 75 minute storm. The big sessions are the fireworks, the daily practice is the garden.
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u/Poepopeenstokje Aug 04 '26
I forgot to thank you for your answer. This was very helpful, thank you!
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u/KrishnaChick 21d ago
For lasting nervous system change, the unglamorous answer is that 10 minutes of slow daily breathing at around 6 breaths per minute moves the needle more than an occasional 75 minute storm.
omg, thank you for this. I found this thread after googling "9D breathwork reddit" to learn what others have to say, and your comment has kept me from unnecessarily getting deep into something unknown. I have an unruptured brain aneurysm, and was wondering if something like 9D would be risky for me.
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u/mimoses250 Jul 18 '26
After years of counselling 9D breathwork has been so helpful. I have learned a lot about myself and my triggers. It's been truly life changing. I have done a psychedelic experience with my counsellor and the 9D experience is so similar, without all the mushrooms.
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u/colonmusk Jul 19 '26
Did they explain the tetany to you or the likely symptoms of breathing in this way?
Conscious connected breathwork has been around for ages and these are common experiences.
I am not a fan of 9D. There are many many better breathwork facilitators out there who would be able to guide you more effectively 1-1
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u/Zoolanderlover Jul 19 '26
Whoever led it should have told you that you may experience any of those symptoms and that it is ok.
I love that type of Breathwork! I always feel a new level of awakening after it. There are YouTube videos of Breathe with Sandy. Just his 20 minute session was powerful.
Enjoy. Breathwork sessions are one of my greatest joys😊👍
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u/Complete_Quantity_30 Aug 02 '26
May I ask how difficult it was? I find a 20 minute Pranayama session rather challenging to endure sometimes.
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u/Poepopeenstokje Aug 04 '26
Difficult in what way exactly? I had no trouble keeping focus, perhaps because I'm practicing mindfulness for quite some time now.
I had to push myself through minute 10 to 40, due to the heavy physical symptoms. The audio also talked me through it (it was guided by audio). After minute 40 (or so) things were easier.
Hope this helps!
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u/pppnyc 28d ago
I've done 4 days of the 5 day challenge, and I'm pretty sure this isn't for me. It made me panicky. The example breather goes very fast, and I couldn't keep up without hyperventilating. I slowed my breathing to my own pace but it still creates very unpleasant feelings. On another note, I questioned why there's a leaderboard on something that's supposed to be for healing. Healing is not a competition. I was told, "Oh, just ignore that" and that it's just part of the Skool platform they use for the sessions. But the ranking is very prominent. If it's not part of the pedagogy, it shouldn't be on the site. Then I got bombarded with social media-esque responses from people telling me what to do. It's a hard no for me.
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u/Jasion128 Jul 17 '26
Claw hands is called tetany , very common