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What Is the Difference Between Regulatory and Deep Dive Breathwork?

Writer: Clare Pemberton
Clare Pemberton
Sep 3
4 min read

At Ember Wellness, I use two distinctly different breathwork approaches, and they are not interchangeable. Understanding the difference matters, because the two serve different purposes.


'Short form' or regulatory breathwork are simple, accessible techniques with real, felt results, that you can pretty much do anywhere.


'Long form' or 'deep dive' breathwork is a guided, 50+ minute process that asks a lot more of the nervous system, and for good reason, needs a trained facilitator in the room.


Regulatory Breathwork

Regulatory breathwork is what I teach in corporate workshops, and what I often give clients as a tool to use between sessions. These are short, simple breathing techniques, like extended exhale breathing, box breathing, or coherent breathing at a steady, even pace. They are easy to learn, easy to repeat, and designed to be used without guidance, with your kids, before a meeting, or in bed at night.


The purpose here is nervous system regulation in the everyday sense. You are gently nudging your body from a stress response back toward calm, using breath as a lever on the parasympathetic nervous system. Research on this kind of slow, paced breathing has found real, measurable effects, including improved heart rate variability and meaningful reductions in self reported stress and anxiety across a large number of randomised controlled trials (Fincham et al, Scientific Reports, 2023).


It is not a dramatic experience. It is quiet, practical, and cumulative, and that is exactly the point. This is why it works so well for corporate settings, where people need tools they can use independently, in the middle of an ordinary working day, without a facilitator present.


Deep Dive Breathwork

At my practice, I guide using the conscious connected breathing technique. For at least 45 minutes, we breathe continuously while lying down, blindfolded (to facilitate going inward), with a curated soundtrack alongside my verbal prompting. I use this technique in my one-to-one sessions and at retreats, never as something to try alone.


The reason deep dive breathwork needs guidance comes down to what is actually happening in the body during a session like this. Conscious connected breathing changes the gas exchange in your blood, shifting the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in a way that ordinary breathing does not. This shift has realtime effects on the brain, blood flow decreased in brain regions involved in the body's ordinary moment to moment self monitoring, while regions tied to emotional memory, including the amygdala and hippocampus, became more actively involved (Kartar et al, PLOS One, 2025). In plain terms, the parts of the brain that usually keep us oriented, analytical, and in control ('the thinking brain') quiet down, while the limbic system ('the feeling brain'), which holds our emotions and memories, is activated. This is part of why people often describe deep dive sessions as feeling significantly different from a normal state of mind, sometimes surfacing memories, emotions, or sensations that do not usually have easy access to conscious awareness.


This is also why guidance is not optional. When the parts of the brain responsible for orientation and control step back, and emotional material becomes more available, psychological safety must be the priority. Conscious connected breathwork is often associated with emotion release and big inner shifts, which is exactly why a trained facilitator needs to be in the room, someone who can help you come back if something feels like too much, and support integration afterward so the experience adds to your healing rather than overwhelming you. This is why my 400-hour facilitator training mattered so much, it's what taught me how to do exactly that.


Why I Offer Both

These two forms of breathwork are not a lesser and greater version of the same thing, they are different tools for different functions. Regulatory breathwork is what keeps someone steady through an ordinary stressful week, and it is well suited to a corporate setting, where the goal is practical, repeatable, evidence-based tools that a whole team can use independently. Deep dive breathwork is slower, deeper, and less predictable. It is not something I would ever teach a room of fifty people and send off to practice alone. It belongs in a one-to-one session or a retreat setting, where there is time, space, and a trained facilitator (me!) is present to hold whatever comes up.


If you are curious about which of these might be right for you, or you are exploring options for your team, I would love to talk it through with you over a 15-minute discovery call.


Warmly,

Clare


Clare facilitating deep dive breathwork

Clare Pemberton is a registered psychotherapist and 400-hour trained breathwork facilitator based in Hong Kong, integrating psychotherapy and breathwork for individuals, couples, and organisations.


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