Why Music Matters in Breathwork

Close your eyes. Take a breath. And listen.

When someone comes into one of my breathwork sessions, they might expect breathing to be the most important part. And of course, it is. The breath is what changes the experience.

But there’s another element I put almost as much thought into: the music.

I don’t see music as something playing quietly in the background while we breathe. I see it as part of the journey.

Before a session starts, I already have a sense of where I want to take people. Not in the sense that everyone should have the same experience, but in the sense that I want the room to have an energy and a rhythm. The music helps create that.

And after doing this for a while, I’ve become convinced that the right music can completely change a breathwork session.

1. Music helps you leave the outside world behind

Most of us don’t arrive at a breathwork session with an empty mind. You might have come straight from work, had an argument, answered ten messages in the car, or spent the entire morning thinking about everything you still need to do.

Your body might be on the mat, but your mind is somewhere else.

Music helps create that transition.

As the room gets quieter and the first track begins, your attention starts moving away from everything outside. You don’t have to consciously tell yourself to stop thinking about work. You simply have something else to listen to.

The world becomes a little smaller.

The music gets louder.

The breath gets deeper.

And gradually, you arrive.

2. Music gives the breath a rhythm

There is something natural about rhythm. We walk to it, dance to it, train to it, and even speak with it.

Breath has rhythm too.

When you connect conscious breathing with music, the two can start working together. A steady beat can help you find your pace. A gradual build can bring more energy. A slower, spacious piece can help you soften again.

You stop thinking so much about whether you’re breathing correctly and start feeling the rhythm of the practice.

That’s when breathwork becomes less like an exercise and more like an experience.

3. Music can take you somewhere words can’t

This is probably my favourite part.

There are things we can explain with words, and then there are things we can only feel.

Music has a strange ability to reach those places.

A certain melody can bring up a memory. A voice can stir emotion. A bassline can make you want to move. A piece of music can suddenly make you feel completely present without any idea why.

When you’re already in an altered state of awareness through conscious breathing, that effect can become even stronger.

You don’t necessarily need to understand what’s happening.

You can simply let the music be there while you breathe.

Sometimes you laugh. Sometimes you cry. Sometimes you feel a huge wave of energy. And sometimes nothing dramatic happens at all.

All of it is fine.

4. The playlist becomes part of the journey

When I build a breathwork playlist, I don’t just choose songs I like and put them in a random order.

I think about the arc of the session.

We usually start with space—something that lets you arrive and settle into your body. Then the energy gradually builds. The rhythm becomes stronger, the music becomes bigger, and the breathing becomes more powerful.

There may be a point where everything feels intense.

And then, just as deliberately, we come back down.

The music softens. The pace slows. Eventually, it disappears altogether.

That final silence is important.

After being surrounded by sound, you suddenly notice your own breath again. You notice the room. Your body on the mat. The feeling of simply being there.

For me, that’s part of the transformation.

The music takes you somewhere, but it also knows when to let you go.

5. Music makes the experience yours

Every person in a breathwork session will experience the music differently.

The same song might make one person emotional and barely register for someone else. One person might feel energised while another feels completely relaxed.

That’s exactly how it should be.

I’m not trying to tell you what you’re supposed to feel.

The music is there to create an environment where something can happen.

And perhaps that’s why I put so much importance on it. Breathwork isn’t just about technique. It’s about experience. It’s about creating enough space to step out of your normal patterns for a while and see what happens when you breathe, listen, and let go.

The breath is the practice. The music is the journey.

I’ve always loved music, and over time I’ve realised it can be an incredibly powerful partner to breathwork.

The right track at the right moment can change the entire atmosphere of a room. It can give your breath momentum, open an emotion, help you surrender into the experience, or simply make you feel more present.

But ultimately, the music isn’t there to distract you from the breath.

It brings you closer to it.

You don’t walk into a session and perform calm. You don’t have to force an experience or achieve anything.

You lie down.

You breathe on purpose.

You listen.

And somewhere between the breath and the music, you might find yourself somewhere a little different from where you started.

That’s the magic of the session.

Not escaping yourself.

Coming back to yourself.