If you’ve ever walked out of a breathwork session feeling cracked wide open, only to find that clarity slipping away days later, you’re not alone. Psychedelic traditions teach us that lasting change doesn’t come from the peak experience alone, but from the framework that surrounds it. By borrowing four core principles from the psychedelic space – set, setting, intention, and integration – we can make breathwork journeys safer, deeper, and more transformative.

Psychedelic Principles Applied to Breathwork

One big lesson I've learned in my own exploration of psychedelics is that it's not just the medicine that matters – it’s the preparation beforehand, the environment during, and the integration afterward. Breathwork may not involve substances, but it can still guide us into altered states where perception shifts and new insights about our inner and outer worlds emerge.

Borrowing four core principles from the psychedelic space can help give breathwork journeys a strong framework for ensuring these peak experiences also turn into lasting change.

Set (Mindset)
Your mindset is the inner state you bring into a session. It shapes how open, curious, or resistant you might feel once your breath invites you deep into yourself. Before beginning a session, check in with yourself: How am I arriving today? What emotions or expectations am I carrying? What would help me feel safe enough to explore?

Preparing your mental and emotional “soil” doesn’t mean you have to be in the "perfect" headspace before going into a breathwork journey. It means acknowledging where you are and meeting it with honesty. When you do, the insights that arise have a much better chance of taking root.

Setting (Environment)
The environment in which you do breathwork matters more than most people realize. The lighting, music, props, and even the agreements you make with yourself or a facilitator all send signals to your nervous system about whether it’s safe to relax and explore. When the body feels supported – blankets nearby, a comfortable place to lie down, minimal distractions, music that holds rather than overwhelms – it can feel a lot easier to soften into an experience. 

Intention
Intention isn’t about setting an expectation for a particular outcome; it’s more like giving your breath a compass to move towards. A clear, simple intention for your practice can help focus your energy without boxing in what the experience needs to be.

Think of it as a gentle guidepost: soften into trust, meet this memory with compassion, or stay open to whatever arises. The point isn’t to achieve something perfectly; it’s to give your mind and body an anchor you can return to if a session begins to feel expansive or challenging.

Integration
Breathwork can open powerful insights, yet without integration, they can fade quickly: a breakthrough is only as strong as the follow-through. Integration is the process of turning insight into lived change, anchoring what surfaced so it doesn’t just stay in your notebook or memory. That might look like journaling, moving your body, resting, talking with a trusted friend, or making one small choice differently tomorrow than you did yesterday. Remember: insights are sparks, not fire. It’s the work of integration that keeps the flame alive and allows transformation to last.

Author's note: The phrase “set and setting” was first used by psychedelic researcher Al Hubbard in the 1950s and later popularized by Timothy Leary in the 1960s. But it’s important to recognize that while Western researchers coined the terminology, the concepts of set, setting, intention, and integration have long been central to Indigenous traditions. These communities carried and refined these practices for generations, often at great costs to their communities during colonization. Western science gave new language to principles that were already deeply rooted in Indigenous wisdom.

Can Breathwork Really Help You Access an Altered State?

An altered state is any state of consciousness that feels noticeably different from your normal waking awareness—a space where perception shifts and memories, emotions, or sensations may surface in unexpected ways. Psychedelics are well known for creating these states. But breathwork can too.

I've experienced this first-hand. When I had my first therapeutic-assisted psychedelic session, my intention was to work on my mother wound, and wow, did the medicine deliver! Almost immediately, I was transported back into my mother’s womb. It was a cathartic, painful, and profoundly healing altered state that I still carry with me to this day (perhaps I'll share more about this story at another time). 

A few years later, in the very first breathwork journey I ever facilitated, one participant emerged in tears and said: “I know this sounds strange, but I spent that entire session back in my mother’s womb.” The parallel was striking. It showed me firsthand that breathwork has the capacity to open the same kinds of doorways psychedelics do.

How Breathwork Differs from Psychedelics

So what are the differences between a psychedelic journey and a breathwork journey?

Both can help you access altered states. Both can surface unprocessed memories, help you meet hidden parts of yourself and bring up profound insights. But with breathwork, you have far more agency and autonomy.

Think of psychedelics like being dropped into the middle of the ocean. Once you’re in, you’re there until the tide shifts. Breathwork, on the other hand, is like swimming at the shoreline. You can wade in, ride the waves, or step back onto dry land at any time simply by returning your breath to a slow, natural pace.

That choice point is part of the medicine. Breathwork lets you decide how far you want to go and when it’s time to return. With psychedelics, the depth of the journey is less controllable; which is sometimes a gift, but also a barrier for many seeking healing through altered states. Breathwork’s flexibility makes it more accessible while still offering profound depth.

The Bottom Line

Breathwork and psychedelics both have the power to create altered states and unlock deep insights. But insights don’t equal change. The psychedelic principles of set, setting, intention, and integration provide a roadmap for making breakthroughs last. Unlike psychedelics, breathwork offers more agency – you can ride the wave or step back at any time. With proper preparation and integration, breathwork becomes not just an experience, but a practice of lasting transformation.

Want to experience these concepts for yourself?

You’re invited to join me for Shift: From Limitations to Liberations, a 1-day breath retreat with ocean front views in Malibu, CA. Together we’ll weave these psychedelic principles into a breathwork journey, complete with movement, meditation, reflection, and integration. 

📍 Malibu, CA
🗓 Saturday, November 8
🎟 Spots are limited - save yours here

Transformation doesn’t end with the exhale. It begins there. Can't wait to see you ocean side!