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Altered states of consciousness induced by breathwork accompanied by music

(journals.plos.org)
557 points gnabgib | 2 comments | 28 Aug 25 00:22 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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tavavex ◴[28 Aug 25 06:29 UTC] No.45049085[source]▶
This is a really strange comment section. The average person sharing their experiences seems very unlike the average HN user.

I feel like I can barely relate to those people, and understanding what they're saying is nigh impossible. The definitions of most things are really vague - even the article of this thread only defines breathwork as "cyclic breathing without pausing, accompanied by progressively evocative music". So... faster breathing while intensifying music is playing?

One issue for me is how anything connected to these topics seems to attract a healthy mix of rational observation, psychedelic users and religious people (old and new). Deciphering which is which is really difficult without already having a foot in the door on this topic.

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1. mekoka ◴[28 Aug 25 08:22 UTC] No.45049770[source]▶
The word "ineffable" is a common one in the literature that documents altered states of consciousness for good reasons. You must be an initiate. Once you've dabbled in spiritual contemplation, breathwork, or psychedelic journeys, you know what the figurative language points to and it's no longer puzzling why the seemingly separate groups you mentioned come together.
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2. tavavex ◴[28 Aug 25 16:11 UTC] No.45053942[source]▶
I'm not asking why these different groups come together, it's not very difficult to understand. The confusing part for me is deciphering which comments and arguments come from which school of thought. That seems to be nearly impossible unless you have personal experience with this topic, and I don't due to it being such an impenetrable topic.