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Professional Standards

Breathwork, and more particularly the practice of conscious connected breathwork with a facilitator, is a powerful tool for change. As the practice grows and matures, the call for professional standards is growing.

This document is a draft set of standards for initial adoption by the UK Breathwork Association at its inception.

The standards outlined in this document are intended for Practitioners and Trainers, whether still in training or qualified, but henceforth referred to as ‘Practitioners’.

Table of Contents

UK Professional Standards

Basic Values

Breathwork practitioners will always maintain the highest quality & integrity in their work by following these standards. They are committed to:

  • Caring for others with kindness and compassion
  • Being clear and honest with their communication
  • Taking responsibility for their own actions
  • Being committed to establishing, and promoting, professional and ethical practice in the field of Breathwork
  • Commiting to a responsibility to participate in activities that contribute to the global community, including devoting a portion of our services for little or no financial reward

Country of residence and the law

In most countries, including the UK the law does not define the scope of practice for breathwork. Nor is it the purpose of this document to do so. If practitioners meet the requirements set out in this document they will be delivering to a high standard of care that will promote client health and wellbeing and protect clients from harm. Practitioners must keep to all standards set out in this document, and all the related laws within the country. It must also be noted that with working online there might be particular laws within the client’s country of residence and those might differ from the country of residence of the practitioner.

Accreditation and Professionalism

  1. Practitioners should always have access to proof of qualifications, and be able to produce these at any given time upon request.
  2. It is a requirement for Practitioners to carry valid public liability insurance and insurance that is appropriate to their business practices, and if they are practising from home that they are also insured to do so.
  3. Practitioners are required to improve their knowledge and abilities through continued professional development. A record of this should be kept. There should be a minimum of 10 hours per year completed.
  4. Practitioners offer a duty of care to their clients and should not work outside their area of expertise. In this situation, the practitioner should refer the client to a more experienced practitioner and not make claims for a service that cannot be substantiated. You must recognise and work within the limits of your own knowledge, skill and competence.

Working Environment

  1. The sessions can take place anywhere, online, indoors or outdoors, as long as the practitioner has done their best to ensure that the space is safe, clean, free from smells or unwanted sound, and with access considered.
  2. Practitioners should also check that the space has no trip hazards, uneven floors, cables lying around etc. that could cause injury. In some cases for example, such as festivals, an event risk assessment will be asked to be provided by the organiser.
  3. Practitioners must not be impaired by illness, alcohol, drugs or for any other reason whilst seeing clients.

Equality and Anti-Discrimination

You must promote equality in line with human rights and anti-discrimination law within the countries where you are working. As you provide services to the public you have a legal duty to promote equality and tackle discrimination within your services.

  • Discrimination when providing services means:
    refusing to provide a service for reasons that are unjust or prejudicial of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of gender, race, religion, political persuasion, sexual orientation, age, appearance or disability.
  • providing a lower standard of service to said people

You should consider how you can provide services to everyone who may want to use your service – for example, by changing the way you communicate with clients and giving support and providing access support to clients who need them.

Administration

Before working with clients on a 1:1 basis, with groups, or online, an intake and waiver form must be completed. This is a full, written consultation that will enable the practitioner to establish whether the client is prepared to practise with you. It also gathers important background information that will enable the practitioner to understand the clients needs. The intake and waiver form can be a combined document but must include:

Outline and Consent

  • a clear description of what to expect in the session
  • an explanation around breathwork being a self-help and self-healing method
  • client confidentiality practices
  • the use of touch
  • a statement that you do not claim to replace a doctor or other healthcare practitioner, or that you have authority to advise a client to stop medication or treatment that has been prescribed

 

Medical and Historical Questionnaire

  • Questions around the mental, and physical state of the client. These may include questions about: family history, medication, current mental health state and other therapeutic approaches.

 

Contraindications and Precautions

Breathwork results in certain specific physiological changes in the body and also can result in intense physical and emotional release. While the intensity and type of breathwork may vary among techniques, they generally generate breathing patterns that surpass metabolic needs at a resting state, leading to respiratory alkalosis. The alteration in both breathing patterns and biochemistry across the body and brain induces physical, mental, and emotional changes.  Hence, there are contraindications, particularly to high-ventilation (prolonged, high-intensity, high-volume) breathwork. 

As a precaution, UK breathwork practitioners agree to be aware of any relevant contradindications for each client. 

UKBA recognises that not all CCB is involves high-ventilation techniques but a number of styles such as Transformational, Holotropic and Wim Hof have this as central to their practices.  This document highlights the effects of high-ventilation breathing on the body.

If in doubt about an identified or suspected contraindication, start with gentle approaches (slow nasal breathing) and suggest that the client contacts their doctor or healthcare professional.

Signature of Agreement

  • This must be signed and dated by the practitioner and client, or by an appropriate individual on behalf of the client.
 

Record Keeping

  1. Records should be kept of all clients. They should be factual, legible, with date, time, location stated and be a true representation of your interaction with the client. They must be kept for a minimum of seven years. They must be stored safely and securely even if you finish your practice.
  2. Practitioners must follow legal frameworks around data protection laws and personal privacy. Data protection relates to the safeguarding of information that you have about a client, this includes: names, email addresses, race, ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, sexual life or orientation, genetic or biometrical data or criminal histories. These should not be passed onto third parties for use in promotion of events.
  3. Personal data must be stored securely and clients have the right to ask what data you hold about them and request its removal at any time.

Consent

  1. Practitioners will need to ensure that they have a signed agreement from clients to show that they have agreed to taking part in the breathwork session.
  2. Written permission to work with people under 18 must be sought by both the young person and by a parent or a responsible adult.
  3. If the child is under the age of 16 there should always be a parent or guardian present. Even if the client has not asked for this, you should safeguard yourself and the client by ensuring someone with parental responsibility is present during the session.
  4. If you work in schools, care homes, or hospitals, you must ensure that permissions are sought beforehand. In schools, relevant child disclosure forms need to be granted.
  5. If you are working with vulnerable adults, you must have a procedure in place to include having a third party in attendance (a chaperone) during any sessions, for your own personal safety to be considered at all times and where needed to have a second practitioner present or a specialist.
  6. If in the event that the practitioner is informed by a client that they intend to commit a crime, self-harm or harm others, the practitioner has a moral duty of care. It is important to encourage the client to seek help from their medical practitioner or social worker and inform their next of kin and you must let the client know.

Client / Practitioner Relationship

  1. Confidentiality is central to the relationship that you have with your client. You must maintain confidentiality of clients processes, observations, interactions and only discuss this with appropriate staff / your trainer or mentor if necessary. You must let the client know that this may be the case, if you need to seek further advice or consultation on your work, that the name of the client will be protected, and no session notes will be disclosed.
  2. Practitioners should maintain clear business practices, including making agreements regarding appointments, session times and lengths, the cancellation policy, and fees.
  3. You must always act within your clients best interest, when making assessments, or referrals and when recommending products or services to them.
  4. You must respect a client’s decisions and not put them under pressure to accept your guidance.
  5. For students offering sessions to clients, guidance, supervision, and advice of a trainer / mentor is required throughout their training. This must be explained to any clients before the session takes place. If disclosure of information has to take place by a student to a mentor or trainer regarding a client, it must be ensured that there is not a disclosure of identifiable information, such as the client’s name or contact details. So it is good practice to only disclose the information you need to.
  6. Careful consideration may be needed when working with clients in their own home or in yours when no third person is present.
  7. As breathwork professionals we do not invite, project, respond to, or allow any sexual behaviour with clients. Feelings of being seen, heard and respected can be experienced as romantic love. We can work with parts of our clients that are very young or even new-born. We are never to sexualise the relationship with them in this state, it is an abuse of trust.
  8. If a practitioner is sexually attracted to a client, they should consult with their trainer or supervisor and determine whether a referral is possible. Equally, should a client consciously or unconsciously imply or invite a relationship of a sexual nature the practitioner needs to decline such an invitation for a minimum of one year after the invitation has been made and they have stopped practising with them.
  9. Practitioners should not discuss their personal beliefs or views with a client, unless invited to do so. They should also interact with clients in a truthful, courteous, considerate and compassionate manner, knowing that they are not the instrument of their healing, but the facilitator.
  10. In establishing the rates for our services we may also consider the financial situation of our clients. When practitioners offer treatment without payment, they work under the same professional obligation to the client as when a fee is paid.

Self-Care

  1. Practitioners should seek appropriate professional assistance for their own personal problems or conflicts which may impair their work performance or professional judgments.
  2. Regular personal breathwork sessions with yourself and with other practitioners are recommended for all practitioners, this is to ensure good mental health and to maintain balance whilst giving regular breathwork sessions.

General Practical Guidance

  1. Practitioners should always be fully present during a session, using their own attunement to stay grounded and present with their client(s).
  2. Students still in training may only practise when under the supervision of a trainer and mentor.
  3. It is very important to ensure that all clients are fully integrated, and grounded before leaving a session, please leave enough time in your session for this.
  4. If a session has consented to touch, this should be explained in a clear and professional manner. Practitioners should be clear about the frequency, the reason, the amount of pressure used, and where on the body the touch is suggested. It is also important to be sensitive to cultural differences.

Administration

  1. Records must be kept in confidence and not disclosed to anyone, except for the client if they request access. In the UK you must comply with a client’s request for a copy of their records within a given time frame.
  2. In some cases there could be a request from the police or court, for you to provide records of a client that you were having regular sessions with. If this happens you will have to comply by law and full disclosure will be necessary (it should be noted that full disclosure is very rare).
  3. Collecting consent from all clients should include the use of touch, and any other therapies that might be used alongside breathwork. When working with groups an intake and waiver form can be emailed to the group ahead of the session.

Presentation

  1. As a practitioner you must ensure that you are appropriately dressed when holding a session. Long flowing clothes, if they touch a client, may disturb them and cause a reaction when in a deep vulnerable state. Appropriate dress is casual, comfortable, and modest. Appropriate adaptations to dress may be made for religious and cultural purposes.
  2. As a practitioner you should never ask clients to remove clothes, except maybe shoes, jackets or glasses. You must always protect the dignity and privacy of your clients. It is important that both you and the client feel comfortable at all times.
  3. It is the responsibility of the practitioner to ensure their personal hygiene is taken care of. This would include, not wearing strong perfume or aftershave that could trigger allergic reactions in clients, as well as proper dental hygiene and clean hands and nails.
  4. If you have a pet at your home and that is where you see clients you must notify the client before they book, in case they have allergies that need to be considered.

Professional Practitioner Interrelationships

  1. Give constructive feedback to other practitioners who you believe have failed to follow one or more of the professional standards. If this does not sufficiently resolve the issue, seek consultation with the most appropriate professional and/or civil authorities within your region for the protection of clients involved.
  2. Respect the skills and contributions of others. It is important to cooperate with colleagues from the breathwork community, no matter what technique they practise, as there is a shared intention of being in service to this community. Having an ethical framework and professional standards will help support these relationships.
  3. If a practitioner has due concern about the professional conduct of another practitioner they must go to a professional body, such as their school of training, Breathwork UK, or the GBPA.

Responsible marketing

  1. All promotion material, regardless of format, must be legal, decent, honest and truthful and must not be misleading. Practitioners must not claim in their promotional material that they can treat, heal or cure a medical condition, or make a medical diagnosis.
  2. All testimonials of clients must be used with permission of the client to do so.
  3. When using third party logos and illustrations on marketing materials ensure you have permission to do so, and agree to the guidelines of use.
  4. When publishing blogs or articles, video content or information on your website and other social media platforms, ensure that you appropriately credit any researchers, educators, and authors and appropriately accredit any references or non original materials used.
  5. It is important when you are filming or taking photos of any of your sessions to gain prior written consent from the clients.

Concerns / Good Practice

The UKBA have formed a board to address both good practice and concerns of standards of care. This team will address reports made. The position to encourage members of community to reports concerns is a preventative measure to mitigate harm. If concerns are reported before clear crossings of boundaries and respect, we can rapidly decrease the harm caused by those witnessed in the field. 

To report a concern or good practice, please use think link. 

Some reports may need the support of the Ethics Committee. Formed in November 2025, the committee aims to attend to issues of complexity and ethical dilemmas with skill and precision. 

Suggestions for Working Online

Online work is the same as in-person. All documentation, waiver forms, consent, legal frameworks and professionalism applies online too. You must be qualified before offering work online or be under the supervision of a mentor and/or trainer. These are suggestions from experience working online:

  1. Check that you are insured to be working online with your insurance company and that this includes international work.
  2. It is important to also ensure that you can see clients and request them to have their cameras on, even if they are positioned so only the head and torso can be seen.
  3. Offer procedures if there is a fault in the internet of what after care service is provided.
  4. With online sessions, clients provide their own materials. Let your clients know ahead of their session to wear comfortable clothes, to make sure they have a pillow, blanket, water etc. To find a quiet space where they cannot be disturbed during the session, to go to the toilet before the session starts, and to not consume a large meal, alcohol or anything else intoxicating.
  5. When conducting faster than normal breathing online it is particularly important to have reasonable assurance of the participants’ ability to self monitor.
  6. Identify who in the group is new to breathwork. Ensure that your frame / instructions adequately cover things such as: length of session, whether there is music, your voice and guidance, the type of breathwork used and a demonstration, what to expect during the session, the contraindications and what to do if you are contraindicated, integration and grounding.
  7. It is advised for large groups (40+ people) to also have 2 people assisting you. One person can answer questions in the chat box and offer technical support, like a sound check. You may need another person to help you hold space, as it is hard to do this whilst holding the session, and looking at the chat box.
  8. Consider the length of sessions with large groups. Group work can create a strong energy and it is important to keep people feeling safe.
  9. Consider offering a guided meditation into the session, again helping to set the scene for creating your safe space.
  10. Offer CCB through the nose as an option for breathers as well as mouth breathing and mention that breathers can always come back to their own regular breathing at any time they wish.
  11. At the end of the session ensure there is an invitation to contact you if time is not available for sharing feedback. It is your duty to provide care for individuals and ensure everyone feels grounded before closing the session.
  12. Careful consideration must be given if practising online and alone. Clients must be advised to share their phone number and a contact number of someone who can reach them if needed.

Appendix: Glossary

Breathwork session – means any setting in which a practitioner practices such as private, public, group, 1:1 basis, paid or voluntarily, these standards apply to all. This includes conscious connected breathwork and all other forms of breathwork that the practitioner might use to support their work.

Trainer – The person that delivers the training to students at any level of training

Mentor – A person that is suitably trained to be in a position to support a student whilst undertaking their training.

Breathwork Professional – A person who is appropriately trained and conducts breathwork sessions as a significant component of their livelihood.

Supervisor – A senior person with experience in a relevant field, to whom a practitioner may go with inquiries or questions about issues arising in practice.

Ongoing Continuous Professional Development (CPD) – Recommended practice to stay up to date with advancements in the field with the aim of supporting increased professional and personal development.

Client – Any one single person, or any group of people that you are offering your services to.

Breathwork (definition from IBF) – The experiential field of study and practice that encompasses a variety of breathing techniques utilised individually and in groups, the purpose of which is to cultivate self-awareness and the enhancement of physical, emotional, cognitive, or spiritual well-being.

Conscious Connected Breathwork (CCB) is an experiential field of study and practice that uses conscious connected breathing (no pauses between inhale and exhale) with body-mind techniques to support the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual levels of being.

List of Other Organisations

Global Professional Breathwork Alliance (GPBA) – is a consortium of professional breathwork schools, trainers, practitioners and partner organisations who have created some  standards of training and ethics for conscious connected breathwork sessions

International Breathwork Foundation (IBF) – The IBF is a non-profit international network open to everyone interested in conscious breathing and breathwork. 

The British Rebirth Society (BRS) – The BRS promotes the art of conscious breath through the practice of Rebirthing Breathwork.