Twenty minutes into my second Breathwork session, a woman three feet from my mat started screaming. People around her nodded like that was the point. I lay there silent with a tight chest and numb hands, sure I was doing it wrong.
I've since trained as a facilitator and guided hundreds of people. Some of the deepest sessions I've watched were silent.
What Is Cathartic Breathwork? Where Screaming and Yelling Fit In
Cathartic Breathwork is built on outward expression. Think of the viral videos of rooms full of people screaming and sobbing.
Holotropic Breathwork, developed by Stanislav Grof in the 1970s, used intense, sustained breathing to access non-ordinary states, and strong emotional and physical expression was expected. Many cathartic styles descend from it, often without its clinical container. (See our breakdown of Holotropic Breathwork and a gentler, Surrender-based alternative to Holotropic Breathwork.)
The Four Strategies for Intense Emotion
When a strong emotion comes up mid-session, people do one of four things:
- Suppress and repress: push it down.
- Avoid and escape: get distracted, go numb, or leave the room.
- Express: scream or shake it out.
- Surrender: relax around the feeling and let it move through you.
Most cathartic Breathwork trains the third. Liquid Breathwork teaches the fourth.
Crying, Shaking, and Screaming During Breathwork: What's Normal
Crying during Breathwork is common, sometimes with no memory or story attached. Shaking or trembling during Breathwork is the nervous system discharging held tension, the same mechanism animals use after stress, and it settles by itself.
If your body screams on its own, let it. Trouble starts when a room expects screaming and people fake a release to fit in.
Emotional Release in Breathwork: Catharsis Isn't the Only Path
Somatic release in Breathwork usually looks quiet: tears on a relaxed face, tingling and waves of warmth, long sighs, a jaw that finally unclenches. In body-based, somatic Breathwork, the body lets go of what it's ready to, at a pace the nervous system can integrate. Trauma release works the same way: a slow process, not one dramatic moment.
Is Breathwork Safe? Too Much, Too Fast, and the Working Zone
For most healthy people, yes. The risk in a loud cathartic room is overstimulation: feeling vulnerable and unsafe at once can re-traumatize, and some people leave worse than they arrived. Others get pushed to hyperventilate past their "working zone," where the breath is doing work and the nervous system still feels resourced.
Is It Dangerous, or Just Intense?
Somatic and holotropic-style Breathwork can be intense. Harm starts when intensity outruns your capacity and nobody notices. That's why we teach trauma-informed facilitation. The facilitator tracks each breather's pace instead of pushing the breath harder.
If you have a heart condition, are pregnant, or have a history of seizures or serious psychiatric conditions, talk to your doctor before any strong Breathwork practice.
What a Surrender-Based Session Looks Like
In a Liquid Breathwork session you set your own breath the whole time. The facilitator cues you to go deeper; you decide how far. People often tell us afterward it's the most relaxed they've ever felt.
How to Choose the Right Style for You
- Cathartic or holotropic-style work can fit if you want loud, physical release and trust the facilitator to keep the room safe.
- Start with a gentler, Surrender-based path if loud rooms overstimulate you, you have a trauma history, or you're new to Breathwork.
- Either way, ask before you book how they handle pacing and what they do when someone gets overwhelmed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need to scream or cry during Breathwork for it to work?
No. Plenty of people have a deep session without making a sound. Screaming is one form of release, not a measure of depth.
Is Breathwork safe if I don't feel a big emotional release?
Yes. Safety depends on pace and environment, not on how dramatic the session looks. A session that ends in stillness or mild relaxation has still worked.
Try a Surrender-Based Session
Join us at a Phoenix class, or breathe from anywhere with the virtual membership.