King Kanyini at AUREA: The Plant Medicine Is Your Breath

Twenty-five minutes into the session, King Kanyini counted the AUREA III room down from three, told everyone to breathe in and squeeze every bit of tension to the surface of the body, and the whole room screamed. Then he had them lie back down, breathe again, and do it a second time, because the first scream is usually the polite one.

This recording is the full session rather than a talk about breathwork. King Kanyini is a breathwork facilitator who calls his method transformational breathwork, and he set the terms in the first two minutes: "This is basically a plant medicine ceremony, but the plant medicine is your breath." Press play with somewhere to lie down and an hour you can give it, and you will be doing the session rather than watching it.

What happens in King Kanyini's breathwork session, start to finish

The session runs in six movements: a mirror visualization to set a foundation of self-love, a guided release of one thing you are ready to put down, a question asked of your inner child, roughly twenty-five minutes of active breathing to music, two full-throated screams, and a closing sequence he calls energy bubbles. Nothing is improvised. He tells the room the whole map before the first deep breath so that nobody is braced for a surprise.

He also handled consent out loud before starting. He asked for a show of hands from anyone who wanted hands-on bodywork during the session, and a separate show of hands from anyone who did not want to be touched, and named the two people who would be moving through the room. He told the room what physical sensation to expect and how he reads it: "If you feel any tension in the body, that means you are doing amazing work." Tension in the hands or the stomach, in his framing, is energy on its way out.

The breath pattern is belly, chest, release

One hand on the belly and one hand on the chest. Breathe in through the mouth into the belly, then into the chest, then let the exhale go without pushing it. He calls the rhythm out in three beats for most of the session: belly, chest, release.

His one technical correction, repeated more than any other cue, is about depth. "Depth over speed is the most important thing right now," he told the room, promising to speed them up later when it was time. You should feel your back and your diaphragm expand on the belly breath and your ribs expand on the chest breath. The exhale is a rest, a moment of respite, with no force in it. And the instruction he returns to like a refrain: "Breathe into the boundaries of your breath edges and you will find true transformation."

The release: give it a color, put it in a bubble, cancel the contract

Before any hard breathing, he has the room picture one thing they are willing to let go of so they can stop playing small. The instruction is to give it a color, whatever color arrives, and put a bubble around it.

Then it becomes spoken. You breathe the bubble in toward your heart, hold at the top, and say to yourself that in this ever-present moment, with unconditional love in your heart, you say goodbye to this experience. You release. You do it a second time with the bubble weaker than before, and this time the sentence is "I cancel all contracts, vows, and agreements that hold me in this experience." Then you watch it float off past the atmosphere until it pops.

What the inner child question is for

The second visualization puts you back in front of the mirror looking at your inner child, and the question he gives you to ask is precise: what is one thing I can do to be my authentic self? Not a plan, one thing. His examples run to the ordinary, like setting a boundary with friends or family.

Whatever answer arrives, he has you feel the emotion of already living that way, turn that emotion into a bright light, and place it in the sky as a north star for the rest of the session. That is the anchor he sends you back to every time the breathing gets loud. He was matter-of-fact about the cost of losing it in the first place. At some point, he told the room, all of us said goodbye to that little person because of what society said we needed to be. He was equally matter-of-fact about the consequence of taking it back: when you speak your truth and it offends someone, that is not your problem.

Why the session ends in two screams

He plans for two because of what usually happens with the first. People are self-conscious, the sound comes out half-sized, and the tension stays in the body. So the room screams, drops back into the breath for another five and a half minutes, and then screams again with nothing held back.

He gives the second scream a specific job. It is a declaration that you are done playing small and done living inside a life defined by other people. Before the countdown, he asks the room to go find the exact moment they lost their authenticity, the moment they chose what looked like success over their own genius, and to let the scream be the reversal of that choice. During the long stretch before it, the mantra he offers for a wandering mind is four words: "I am loving awareness."

What the closing energy bubbles do

The last movement fills the space the release emptied. He calls it energy bubbles, and he calls it his favorite part. You find the earliest memory you can reach of being loved unconditionally for simply being you, hold it in front of you like a snow globe, and shake it up while you breathe.

The snow globe becomes a star and gets brighter with every breath. Then the breath changes shape: push all the air out, purse your lips like you are drinking through a straw, and sip that light back in until you feel it in your fingers, your feet and your third eye. The final image sends you back to the mirror to meet the best possible version of yourself, who is standing there proud of you and holding a gift. You put both hands out, receive it, and place it over your heart. His instruction for what to do with the gift is to walk out with it.

Who this breathwork session is for

This is for anyone carrying something they are ready to put down and willing to be loud about it. It suits people who already know what their one thing is, and it suits people who have never done breathwork and want the whole arc walked out loud, because King Kanyini narrates every step and repeats the two reassurances that matter most: you are safe, and you are in full control.

It asks for real effort. His line at the halfway point was that 100 percent transformation takes 120 percent effort, and he means the breathing. It also asks for a room where you can scream twice. He builds long visual stretches to carry people through the hard middle, including a walk through an enchanted forest that he then reveals is your own subconscious, and a song he introduced by the name of the spider who taught humans how to weave themselves into their own authenticity. The session lands on the anthem We Shall Be Known, playing while the room lies still and receives.

His own summary of the work came after the music stopped, and it was smaller than everything that preceded it. This is why he does it, he said: to watch people see themselves as they are. We complicate things because we are human. Being yourself lets you walk through life with more ease.

Watch the full session above.

Frequently asked questions

What actually happens in this breathwork session?

Six movements in a fixed order: a mirror visualization for self-love, a guided release of one thing you are ready to put down, a question asked of your inner child, roughly twenty-five minutes of active mouth breathing to music, two screams, and a closing sequence of visualizations King Kanyini calls energy bubbles. He explains the entire sequence before starting, so nothing in it arrives unannounced.

How do you do the breathing pattern?

One hand on the belly, one hand on the chest. Breathe in through the mouth into the belly first, then into the chest, then release the exhale without pushing it out. He calls the rhythm as belly, chest, release. His main correction throughout is depth over speed: expand the diaphragm and the ribs, and treat the exhale as a rest rather than an effort.

Who is this session suited to?

People who have something specific they want to release and are willing to get loud about it, and complete beginners, since every step is narrated aloud. You need a space where you can lie down and scream twice without alarming anyone. King Kanyini asks for real physical effort during the breathing, and he checked consent for hands-on support with the live room before beginning.

What are the screams for?

Releasing the tension the breathing brings to the surface. He runs two because the first one is usually held back by self-consciousness, so the room breathes for another five and a half minutes and goes again. He asks people to aim the second scream at a specific memory: the moment they chose to play small, and to let the sound be the reversal of that choice.

What does he say about tension or discomfort during the breathing?

He tells the room that tension in the hands or the stomach means the work is happening and the energy is on its way out, and he asks people to send love to that part of the body on the exhale. He repeats two reassurances throughout the session: you are safe, and you are in full control. He also invites the analytical mind to thank itself and rest.