Psychedelic States Without Psychedelics: The Healing Power of Hypnosis and Breathwork
Emerging neuroscience shows that both hypnosis and breathwork can access brain states similar to those triggered by psychedelic substances, unlocking profound clarity, emotional release, and deep healing without the risks or pharmacological side effects. Research from Baylor University supports that hypnosis protocols specifically designed to evoke mystical or non-ordinary states resulted in 70% of participants reporting “complete mystical experiences” in controlled clinical settings.
Breathwork, too, creates measurable neurophysiological shifts. Studies show that slowing and deepening the breath reduces anxiety, regulates brainwave activity, and improves emotional well-being (see Neuroscience News for an overview). These effects mirror the present-moment awareness, internal spaciousness, and heightened interoception often attributed to psychedelic sessions.
While regulating breathwork such as coherent or diaphragmatic breathing has been widely studied and shown to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and support restful awareness states, activating or “circular” breathwork remains under-researched. Yet this style, popularized by psychiatrist Stanislav Grof as Holotropic Breathwork, was developed specifically to replicate the expanded awareness and emotional catharsis observed in psychedelic therapy after LSD was made illegal. Despite limited formal research, decades of clinical reports and personal accounts describe how circular breathwork can access altered states of consciousness, surface repressed memories, and catalyze spiritual breakthroughs. I see these breakthroughs firsthand in my own practice every week. (See my post here on the three categories of breathwork for clarification as it can get confusing without formal categories).
This follows a now-familiar pattern: contemplative practices that begin at the margins—dismissed as “woo” or unscientific are only embraced once validated by neuroscience. Meditation, mindfulness or presence, and hypnosis were all once viewed with skepticism by western psychology. Now they’re front and center in clinical mental health care. And yet, even after adopting mystical contemplative practices, the field often then tries to gatekeep access. See my post here for more on this.
It’s also worth remembering: there is no healing model within modern therapy that wasn’t first spiritual. Every truly transformative modality—from IFS to EMDR to somatic experiencing—relies on insights that originate in embodied, consciousness-based, or transpersonal frameworks. Science is finally catching up. Among other reasons, this is why I strongly believe spirituality and psychology are meant to be one and the same. There cannot be one without the other or each is a delusion.
So what makes these psychedelic-like states so powerful?
They are transpersonal. Whether accessed through substances, breathwork, or hypnosis, these states invite us beyond the confines of ego and into something larger. Many describe a felt sense of interconnectedness, encounters with archetypal imagery, or insight that transcends language, often accompanied by catharsis, compassion, insight, and clarity. These are not abstract ideas; they are direct experiences that reorient one’s relationship to self, others, and life itself.
In my experience, even deeper, more beyond the veil if you will, states can be accessed through meditation/contemplation and dreams, though they tend to require more time, discipline, and inner orientation. In contrast, the expanded states accessible through hypnosis, breathwork, and psychedelic work are often more immediate and therefore, more accessible to all.
This transpersonal dimension is central to psychosynthesis, which integrates modern psychology with spiritual wisdom. And it’s foundational to my own approach at The Cyclical Seed, where I weave the personal, interpersonal, and transpersonal into a single coherent path of healing.
In my practice, I integrate hypnosis, activating breathwork, and somatic trauma resolution within a deeply attuned relational container creating space for these altered states to arise naturally and be integrated safely. Research from Baylor’s Mind-Body Medicine Lab echoes this approach: combinations of mindfulness, guided awareness, and breath-based practices result in measurable improvements in stress response, heart-rate variability, and emotional regulation.
The result? Something I’ve been aware of all along but is now validated…
Hypnosis and breathwork offer a path to transformation that mirrors the depth and insight of psychedelics without the need for substances. In my personal practice at The Cyclical Seed, I take this a step further though: integrating these practices with a body-based somatic intervention that grounds real change into the nervous system for lasting and sustainable integration. This takes the work from temporary emotional catharsis to real transformation.
See more about my integrative process for real transformation here.
-Susan Reis
