Despite the dark night sky, the air is still thick with heat as I walk across a sandy beach towards the waters of the Arabian Gulf. Headphones in one hand, eye mask in the other, I get in line with the 20 or so others standing to attention behind an inflated airbed.
Ashley Edelman, the instructor behind the first floating breathwork experience at sea in the UAE (and maybe, he says, even in the world), gives us some words of wisdom. “Don't be afraid to cry or scream,” he says. “Give in to the breath and surrender to gravity as you're supported by the sea.”
I climb on to my flotation vessel and drift into a section of the sea safely cordoned off, ensuring we don't wake up on the coast of Iran. I stare at the stars for a few moments before Edelman's voice rings through my headphones, and our journey begins.
Floating breathwork, which opened at The Retreat by M Gallery on Palm Jumeirah this August, may be novel, but it reflects a wider trend. Online searches for breathwork have grown 17 per cent year-on-year globally, and in the UAE many more studios have added workshops to their arsenal.
Awareness about breathwork as a healing tool is growing. So too is the creativity of coaches to bring new colour to the ancient practice.
The rise of breathwork as a well-being tool
If you've practised yoga, qigong or similar, you'll likely have exercised controlled breathing to enhance your physical practice and focus your mind. This is usually calming, simple nasal breathing techniques. These have long been thought of, and more recently proven as, tools to ease everyday stress and anxiety.
But what's gaining mainstream traction now are sessions beyond the basics: immersive breathwork incorporating music and affirmations within unique settings.
“It's been part of the bigger wellness boom in recent years and now we have so much more science,” Brendon Hansford, breathwork practitioner and founder of IMD, tells The National. “It's not woo-woo any more.”
A Public Library of Science study published in September revealed “high-ventilation breathwork with music can evoke psychedelic-like states,” shifting blood flow in the brain to reduce negative emotions. The study adds: “Participants experienced unity and bliss, pointing to a natural therapeutic tool with powerful potential.” High-ventilation is a technique which involves intentionally increasing the rate and depth of breathing in a cyclic manner.
As David Ghiyam, spiritual mentor and Mindvalley speaker, puts it: “The world is waking up. When you can show people brain scans and measurable results, it removes the scepticism. We're seeing science catch up to what the sages knew thousands of years ago – that breath is the interface between our soul and our body.”
Cyclic breathing and the subconscious mind
I had an uncomfortable experience when attending one of Hansford's sessions. Lying on a yoga mat, oversized headphones on, I started to feel a cramping sensation.
“It's the breathwork. It's literally what's meant to happen,” Hansford tells me. “With the discomfort, it's how you respond in breathwork that reflects how you are in life. Did you push through the discomfort?”
I nod. “That's winning half the battle straight away,” Hansford continues. “You're making a decision that you are strong enough, and you can do it. Those who push through it find the next day that things that usually scare them just don't bother them any more. Remember, you're in the theta brainwave state now.”
Theta is the same state we access in deep meditation or hypnosis and is often achieved when adopting the high-ventilation technique. “In that state, you are so susceptible to coaching and to visualisation,” says Hansford.
He also taps into his musical background to further encourage the mind to let go. The final layer is his own voice coming through the earphones, guiding people to emotionally release and, he says, even rewire negative thought patterns.
It a technique loosely mirrored in many of the sessions I experience – some using headphones and pre-recorders, other relying on singing bowls and somatic intervention. But the goal is the same. “More intense or rhythmic breathing patterns can take you into altered states where old memories, stuck emotions, or deep insights can surface,” says Edelman.
“You might cry or even experience tingling or heat. It's not always comfortable, but it's often exactly what's needed to shift what's sitting under the surface,” he adds.
Yet, while the concept of accessing the subconscious mind, and even rewiring it, is a well-established one in alternative well-being practices, it's not one widely adopted in the scientific world. “Modern neuroscience does not support the idea of the unconscious as a hidden repository of memories,” says Dr Alexandre Machado, clinical neuropsychologist at Hakkini.
High-ventilation breathwork and healing trauma
Nassima Aboufarid, a breathwork specialist who runs the 9D breathwork at Toda, is a firm believer that what's happening in the body grants access to the subconscious mind. “Conscious breathing shifts brain chemistry. Stress hormones lower, oxygen increases and brain waves slow down,” she says.
Rapid breathing can cause carbon dioxide levels to drop in the blood, restricting the release of oxygen, even though more is being inhaled than usual. Consequently, less oxygen is circulated and the brain reacts by diverting the available oxygen away from the analytical prefrontal cortex. This drop in cardon dioxide can explain the cramping, or muscle spasms, I felt.
Recalling his own transformation, Hansford says: “My stress anxiety was so high, I ended up in hospital with what they call a phantom heart attack.
“Shortly afterwards, I did this breathwork session and a memory from when I was two years old came up. It revealed trauma I've had my whole life that I didn't even know, and I never knew why I acted the way I acted in certain situations.”
He continued to practise and bring these issues to the surface, and started to notice that he “just wasn't getting triggered any more”. He adds: “In three months I achieved more than in 20 years of therapy.”
Many practitioners describe similar breakthroughs. “After my very first session, I released so much without the analytical mind interfering,” says Aboufarid. “It felt like everything I had been searching for.”
Edelman adds: “I was struggling with ADHD and my mind was all over the place. I heard breathwork could help calm the nervous system, so I gave it a go. It ended up changing how I show up in my life. It gave me peace, structure and clarity.”
The goal, however, is not to relive trauma. As Ghiyam puts it, it's about “expanding your vessel beyond it.” Likewise, Edelman warns, “Breathwork won't 'fix' everything overnight, but it gives people access to their own healing. It's not hype, but it's also not magic.”
While Dr Machado agrees that such breathwork can “induce temporary states of hypoxia and respiratory alkalosis,” he cautions mislabelling. “The term 'healing' implies the resolution of diseases, something conscious breathing alone cannot provide,” he says, adding that the scientific community remains “cautious” over the interpretation of “altered states of consciousness as therapeutic breakthroughs”.
Is immersive, multisensory breathwork just for show?
If all this is happening in our individual minds and bodies are the elaborate workshops necessary? “It's a good question, because the truth is, breathwork on its own is already powerful and nothing can replace that," says Aboufarid, adding that "Traditional breathwork is like opening the first door.”
Her own sessions are purposefully designed to enable that opening. Her set-up isn't unusual: she sits at the centre, with props such as crystals, affirmation cards and essential oils around her. Small mattresses with blankets, pillows and headphones are placed in rows surrounding her. Then there's the 360-degree screens that light up with galactic projections. It's certainly visually striking – a performance of sorts – and social-reel friendly. This flair for spectacle is more than familiar in the UAE.
As for the audio? “The soundscape is very intentional,” says Aboufarid. “Solfeggio frequencies for harmony, 432Hz tuning for balance, isochronic tones to shift brainwaves – it's not just music, it's a coded language the body understands. When sound and breath come together, the system finds resonance.”
And intention is key. Hansford's sessions, for example, are tailored with different frequencies and affirmations for a variety of desired outcomes.
Edelmen likewise lets his voice be the guide during sessions. And to him, a breathwork coach's role extends beyond what happens in the 60-minute session. “Breathwork is more than just a certificate. It's about holding space safely. You’re dealing with people's emotions, memories, and nervous systems.”
Science-backed treatment or supplementary tool?
As demonstrated in both the scientific community and wellness community, breathwork is proven to aid with anxiety and stress. Dr Machado outlines some of the short-term benefits of breathwork as “stress relief and increased pain tolerance,” but quickly adds: “There is no strong evidence supporting long-term efficacy.”
For ADHD, for example, he explains that it can be a “helpful supplementary tool but not a stand-alone solution”. He adds: “Research shows that conscious breathing does not improve core symptoms.”
He also gives an example of biofeedback-assisted breathing showing potential in treating PTSD when combined with psychotherapy, and other breathwork teaching nervous system regulation, complementing approaches like CBT for anxiety.
Mostly, he is wary of exaggerated claims that might “divert people from effective, science-backed treatments”. Breathwork, he says, “should never replace standard treatments for medical or psychiatric conditions. Professionals must be transparent, emphasising that it is a coping strategy, not a cure.”
Liliana Paraipan, wellness director at Zem Wellness Clinic Altea, agrees with this approach to all variations of breathwork. “It doesn’t replace therapy or medication, but it can powerfully complement them,” she says.
Individuals with a history of psychosis or other severe mental health conditions, along with those with physical conditions such as asthma or heart conditions, are typically advised to avoid such practices and consult a medical professional for further advice. Dr Machado warns: “Hyperventilation carries risks like dizziness and fainting, especially in individuals prone to anxiety or cardiovascular issues. ”
Paraipan adds: “Those with cardiovascular issues, epilepsy, glaucoma, or pregnancy should avoid high intensity breathwork.”
Bringing the breath home
After attending more than a handful of sessions across the UAE – each with their own sensory spin – I've had a variety of experiences. Blissful relaxation, visions, crying, screaming, and, only once, cramping.
As the bridge between science and what some might call “woo-woo” is built, it paves the way for more people to discover breathwork as a supporting modality – especially in open minded, multicultural, on-the-wellness-pulse places like the UAE.
Hansford sees more and more C-suite executives and “high-flyers” seeking solace in the studios, some classes even seeing a male-to-female ratio of 50/50, which he says is “generally unheard of in the wellness space”.
However breathwork is introduced – be it capturing reels at quirky events and workshops or following online tutorials at home – Hansford emphasises: “The goal is always integration. Breathwork isn't an escape, it's a tool for facing what is real.”
