I am lying flat on my back, a blanket tucked over me, and I’m being told by Tanya Alijani – sound-healer, breathwork and meditation guide, and all-round spiritual powerhouse – that I might cramp up if the breathing gets intense. “Sometimes, when energy wants to move and you resist it, the hands can claw,” she explains. “But don’t worry, I’ll be right here. It’s not painful, just your body’s way of clearing what’s stuck.”
Clearing what’s stuck. We might need a bit of time. Because what else is adulthood if not the accumulation of stuff that’s stuck – unprocessed stress and trauma, intrusive thoughts, the anxiety of life’s to-do list? I didn’t realise how much of it my body had been storing until Tanya guided me through what she calls Soulchemy, a fusion of revelation breathwork, sound healing, and intention setting.
The Set-Up
Tanya begins, as she always does, with reassurance. “Safety is key,” she tells me. “Comfort too – to a point. Because sometimes we grow outside our comfort zone. But never too far, especially because it’s your first time.”
She asks if I meditate. The answer is yes and no. I wish I did it more. I need to do it more. She explains the difference between the breath I might know from yoga (nasal breathing that calms the parasympathetic nervous system) and what we’re about to do: holotropic mouth breathing, designed to push the body into temporary sympathetic activation – fight or flight – before dropping it back into parasympathetic calm. “Chaos before order,” Tanya says. “Like everything in nature.”
I’m intrigued but also nervous. “This style of breathwork can bring up emotions, and we want that to happen. It’s a safe space to release.”
Into The breath
We begin. The pattern is simple – deep inhalations and loud exhalations through the mouth, one after the other. Within minutes, I feel lightheaded. The breathing is intense. It‘s powerful. Tingling spreads through my fingers. “Lightheadedness is common,” she says. “Tingling too. Even cramping. But see it as energy moving.”
The strangest thing is the way my thoughts seem to dissolve. Tanya had told me it would happen: “The rapid breathing changes your carbon dioxide levels, alkalises the body, and switches off your default mode network – the busy, thinking mind. It’s like microdosing mushrooms without the mushrooms.”
I don’t see technicolour visions, but I do feel something loosening. My chest, which often feels tight, softens. I am in my body and oddly outside of it, watching. It sounds very woo-woo, I know, but it feels like I’m rising above my body. I can also feel the emotion building. The sense of deep connection with myself.
The Science (And A Bit Of The Magic)
Tanya has a knack for blending the mystical with the biological. One minute she’s talking about Bruce Lipton’s epigenetics research (“Every cell holds memory – even the subconscious can live in the fascia”), the next she’s reminding me that humans, unlike dogs, don’t physically shake off trauma. “We store it. In the chakras, in the tissues. Breathwork helps clean it out. It’s like those magic boards we had as kids – you draw, then wipe, and it’s gone. This is that, for the nervous system.”
Sound As Integration
After about half an hour of breathwork, Tanya shifts me into stillness. My body feels buzzy, electric. Then comes the sound: bowls which send vibrations across my skin. “Sound is incredibly healing,” she explains. “Pure tones shift brainwaves and help resonance. You’re bathing in frequency. The body matches that vibration and integrates the release.” I hear more than sound – I really feel it. A low hum vibrates through my ribs. High, crystalline notes seem to skim across my forehead. It’s deeply physical, but also deeply soothing.
The Aftermath
When Tanya brings me back, I feel as though I’ve been under for much longer than an hour. My limbs are heavy, but my mind is startlingly clear, like someone has cracked a window open in a stuffy room. I sit up and burst into tears – it feels like a huge release of emotion. We sit and talk through the sensations. “Everyone’s experience is different,” she says. “Some people see visions, some cry, some laugh. It depends what your body needs. My role is just to hold the space.”
And here’s the thing – she really does. Tanya has that rare quality of making you feel both utterly safe.
Is It Therapy?
The obvious question: is breathwork therapy? “I always say these sessions are equivalent to 100 hours of therapy,” she says. And yet, she clarifies, it’s not therapy in the traditional sense. You don’t analyse your childhood, you don’t pick apart patterns. Instead, you bypass the thinking mind entirely, letting the body process what words often can’t. It’s therapy without the talking. And sometimes, that’s what’s needed.
Why Women Are Drawn To It
Breathwork seems to resonate especially with women. “So many of us carry conditioning from early childhood,” Tanya says. “Messages that we’re not enough, or we have to do it all. Add to that the hormonal shifts, the pressure of caregiving, and the constant noise of modern life… Our nervous systems are exhausted. Breathwork gives us a way to reset. To drop into parasympathetic calm. To let go of what doesn’t belong.”
And I realise – that’s exactly what had happened to me. I hadn’t solved all my problems, or magically become a more patient mother, or untangled a tough couple of years. But I felt less clenched. More spacious. So much lighter.
The Verdict
Can an hour of breathing change your life? Maybe not in one go. But can it change how you feel in that hour? Absolutely. I came in sceptical and left feeling like someone had quietly pressed reset. Is it 100 hours of therapy? I don’t think so. But god, I feel good and can’t wait to do it again.
The Riise Membership
Tanya also offers a Riise membership which she describes as your daily check-in with calm. Created after years of guiding sound and breath journeys in person, it’s a virtual studio you can dip into anytime, anywhere. Each practice is short (5–20 minutes), but purposeful – designed to soothe your nervous system, shift stuck energy, and bring you back to yourself. Morning focus, a midday reset, or winding down before bed — Riise meets you exactly where you are. What started in studios and retreats now lives in your living room, with hundreds already making it part of their daily rhythm. Simple, accessible, and quietly transformative — Riise is about building those tiny moments of clarity and connection that change the way you move through your day.
For more information, go to tanyaalijani.com
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Longevity & Beauty Powered By Science – How Swisse Nutra Fuels Cellular Health
Native ad body.
