When you do proper breathwork in a focused way, you may begin to feel euphornia: the body begins to shift its chemistry, and the mind opens a doorway to altered states.

The euphoria that many people experience during deep or rhythmic breathing is not just a physical “high.” It is part of a natural system that allows us to cross the threshold from ordinary awareness into spiritual experience and this was well-known by the Kabbalists throughout the ages.

Simply put, when you engage in intense breathing practices, whether it is slow and retained, or rapid and repetitive, you influence oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood. This creates a temporary imbalance that excites the nervous system. Endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin are released, and the body often tingles or feels weightless.

It is not artificial; it is the nervous system giving permission for consciousness to expand beyond survival mode. And, many of the Kabbalistic meditation techniques do involve raising your energy vibrations through breathwork.

This is the root of the euphoric sensation and it may even help remove certain energy blockages (this is one of the techniques I perform with my clients).

The Role of Euphoria in Spiritual Experience

Euphoria acts as a catalyst. Normally, the mind clings tightly to the body and its routines. When euphoria floods the system, it loosens those chains. Thoughts slow down, self-consciousness dissolves, and awareness can flow in new directions. This is why many traditions have used breath to access prophecy, vision, or heightened states of prayer.

There are a few symptoms or aspects of euphoria, which can be summarized below:

• Dissolution of the ego: The wave of pleasure and lightness takes the mind out of its rigid control. People often feel “melted” or “transparent.” In Kabbalistic language, this can be seen as a small taste of bittul (self-nullification) before the Infinite.
• Expansion of perception: Once ordinary filters drop, subtle perceptions arise. This can mean heightened colors, sounds, or even inner visions. In a spiritual context, these are not hallucinations but the soul’s perception of the spiritual realms (which might feel “trippy”).
• Union and transcendence: The euphoria allows a person to sense themselves not as a separate, tense being, but as part of something larger. This is why people report feelings of oneness, Divine love, or deep peace.

Neurochemical Euphoria as a Gateway to Inner Vision

The euphoric state triggered by breathwork has a solid biochemical basis. When participants engage in intense rhythmic breathing, such as in holotropic or connected breathwork, the body releases beta-endorphins, the same neurochemicals that create the “runner’s high.”

These endorphins act as natural opioids, reducing pain perception and flooding the brain with sensations of pleasure and lightness. Alongside this, studies show increases in oxytocin, especially in group settings, which brings emotional bonding and a sense of safety. The combination of endorphins and oxytocin helps dissolve rigid self-boundaries, creating the feeling of “oneness” often reported in spiritual practice.

Essentially, this euphoria is not just a pleasant side-effect, it is a neurological bridge. When tension is reduced and pleasure dominates, the brain shifts away from survival circuitry (amygdala-driven vigilance) and opens into networks linked with imagination, memory, and symbolic processing.

In this way, euphoria allows the psyche to access layers normally filtered out, giving rise to visions, intuitive insights, and spiritual imagery. This is why in many traditions breathwork is not used for relaxation alone, but as a portal into altered states of consciousness where spiritual seeing becomes possible.

(Sources: Holotropic Breathwork and Stress Hormone Regulation – Holotropic Journey, https://holotropicjourney.com/holotropic-breathwork-and-stress-hormone-regulation)

Types of Spiritual Experiences Triggered by Breathwork

There are many types of spiritual experiences, which range from “precognition” to “spiritual seeing”, to full blown “out of body experiences”. It’s important to note though that these experiences may or may not happen suddenly. What I advise my students to do is to slowly develop the spiritual faculties through meditation, breath work and energy healing in order to make it sustainable and safe.

It often happens that people go through a traumatic event (like a car accident) that ends up triggering the spiritual experience or skill, but for most of us it’s a slow process.

Either way, there are a few base components that are triggered by euphoria and they include:

1. Mystical Insight: With the mind loosened, hidden patterns or intuitive truths can surface. In Kabbalistic terms, this relates to the light of Chochmah (wisdom) breaking through.
2. Emotional Release: Stored pain or trauma can rise and release. The euphoria helps carry this out in a way that feels safe rather than overwhelming.
3. Sacred Presence: Many describe sensing God as a palpable presence. Breath, which is neshima, is intimately tied to neshama, the soul. Aligning the breath can awaken direct awareness of the Source.
4. Out-of-Body States: Some experience floating above themselves or traveling through inner landscapes. This has parallels in the writings of Rabbi Avraham Abulafia, who used specific breathing and letter meditations to reach prophetic states.
5. Integration of Body and Spirit: Paradoxically, while the soul seems to expand outward, people also feel more at home in their body. The euphoric charge reconnects spirit and flesh in harmony.

Developing genuine spiritual vision, what some call “psychic seeing”, and in Hebrew is generally translated as ruach hakodesh. It requires preparation of the body, focus of the mind, and refinement of the soul. Breath work, meditation, and energy healing each open different gateways to this capacity, and when combined they create a complete path.

These are all things our sages were masters of.

So let’s recap what we’ve covered so far, including from some other articles:

1. Breathwork: Awakening the Inner Senses

Breath is the meeting point between the body and the soul. Controlling the breath can open channels of spiritual perception.

• Why breath matters: Deep, rhythmic breathing increases oxygen flow, balances the nervous system, and releases the grip of ordinary awareness. This shift often produces sensations of light, inner colors, or expanded presence, which are the early stirrings of spiritual sight.
• How to practice: Begin with slow inhalations and exhalations of equal length. Gradually add gentle breath retentions. With practice, this brings stillness, and in that stillness images and impressions from deeper layers of consciousness can arise.
• The spiritual effect: Breath softens the barrier between the rational mind and the intuitive soul. In Kabbalistic terms, it clears away the coverings (klipot) so that the light of the inner eye can shine.

I personally enjoy Wim Hof’s guided breathing meditation and I send you here the link for the beginner’s video.

The advanced one can be found here.

You can also combine some healing or binaural music to go with it, instead of the original soundtrack.

2. Meditation: Training the Inner Eye

Meditation focuses and directs awareness. It is not about emptying the mind, although it’s certainly about silencing the inner chatter, but mainly about retrieving our consciousness and about training it to perceive subtle reality.

• Concentration methods: Focusing on a Divine Name, a Hebrew letter, or a visualized light draws attention away from external distractions and awakens the imaginative faculty (koach ha-dimyon), which in Kabbalah is considered the instrument for prophetic vision, from the Sephira of Binah.
• Contemplative methods: Meditating on a verse, a sefirah, or the qualities of the soul builds the inner landscape where visions can take form.
• Result: Over time, the images that arise shift from random imagination to meaningful visions like symbols, teachings, or flashes of higher truth.

There are many meditation techniques you can find throughout the website but you can find some here and here.

3. Energy Healing: Refining the Vessel

Blocked energy in the body clouds perception. Trauma, unresolved emotions, or physical imbalance keep the spiritual senses shut. Energy healing, whether through laying on of hands, meridian balancing, or Kabbalistic intention (kavanah), restores flow and purifies the vessel.

• Why it is needed: The soul sees through the body. If the body is tense or blocked, vision will be distorted. We, in fact only perceive a very small part of our sight range in a given moment and this is done mostly to protect us, though it severely limits us.
• Healing effect: When energy is released, people often spontaneously report inner images, ancestral presences, or a sense of being surrounded by light. This is not accidental; it is the soul finally being free to express itself.
• Integration with breath and meditation: After a healing session, breathwork or meditation can deepen the state and stabilize the new clarity.

You can use the palms of the hands which contain energy discharging cells to heal any given organ or energy center in the body or use a technique holding the forehead and the back of the head together.

This is what I work on with my private clients and you can find more about it in the Executive Spiritual Coaching page.

4. Combining All Three

The most powerful development of spiritual sight happens when these methods are practiced together.

1. Begin with breathwork to shift consciousness and calm the nervous system.
2. Move into meditation with a clear focus (a Name, letter, or light).
3. Use energy work either before or during to release blocks and amplify flow.

Over time, this sequence strengthens the inner eye. Subtle visions will move from fleeting impressions to stable, clear images and teachings.

As a bonus technique: imagine a little but powerful sphere of light in the brow center (also known as Third Eye), and intend that it goes straight inside to the back of the head and back. Keep doing this movement with your imagination and intention, and you will begin cleansing and training it.

5. Warnings and Guardrails

Spiritual vision is real and can be dangerous if misused.

The Arizal and other masters warned that one must always approach such practices with humility, prayer, and alignment to holiness. This might be the reason why Part 4 of Shaarei Kedusha, as well as the works of R’ Abraham Abulafia were censored.

I personally am against censorship of this kind but I do recognize the inherent dangers in opening one’s perceptions when he is not ready. Chasing visions for curiosity or ego can lead to a lot of confusion and false visions.

Another big risk is to chase the euphoria as if it were the goal. Euphoria is a doorway, not the destination. The purpose of breathwork is not to get “high,” but to soften the hold of the ordinary mind so that higher consciousness can be revealed. Just as wine in Jewish practice is sanctified with kiddush and not for drunken escape, breath-induced euphoria should be directed toward clarity, awe, and connection with Hashem.

Concluding remarks

As we have seen, euphoria in breathwork is not just a pleasant side effect. It is a sacred tool. It opens the gates of perception, clears emotional blockages, and allows the soul to glimpse its true root. The wise practitioner will honor it, use it to rise, and then return grounded, bringing back vision, healing, and awareness that enrich life in the everyday world, as well as keep himself/herself grounded in the Torah.

Breathwork gives access, meditation provides focus, and energy healing clears the channel. Together, they form a complete discipline for opening the doors of spiritual seeing.

The inner eye develops gradually, and with consistent practice it shifts from sparks of light and fleeting images into authentic insight. When rooted in holiness, this becomes not “psychic trickery” but a sacred capacity of the soul: to perceive beyond the surface and witness the spiritual reality that underlies all things.