Sudarshan Kriya side effects include light headedness, raised heart rate, temporarily elevated blood pressure, headache, and emotional discomfort. Research across meditation and breathwork practices places adverse effect prevalence at roughly 8.3 percent.

Most reported difficulties occur during unsupervised practice or in people with existing health conditions. That is the short answer.

What follows is what the medical literature and peer reviewed research actually document, separated into physical effects, psychological effects, how common they are, and who should seek clearance before starting.

This article is not an argument against Sudarshan Kriya. More than 100 studies document real benefits, including a 2024 randomised clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open, and those are covered below.

It exists because most published material on this technique discusses benefits without discussing risk, and anyone deciding whether to enrol deserves both halves of the picture.

For a comparison with the other major kriya practice taught in India, read our analysis of Sudarshan Kriya vs Shambhavi Mahamudra.

What Are the Physical Side Effects of Sudarshan Kriya?

Reported physical effects of intensive breathwork include dizziness, nausea, tetany or involuntary muscle cramping, changes in body temperature, dry mouth and throat, coughing, and uncomfortable bodily sensations.

Formal studies have reported no breathwork related adverse effects, while these accounts come from practitioner and participant reporting.

The clearest statement of this comes from an informed consent document filed with ClinicalTrials.gov for a breathwork intervention trial. Because researchers are required to disclose known risks to participants before enrolment, these documents tend to be more candid than promotional material.

It states that in a recent analysis of 12 studies examining breathwork, no breathwork related adverse effects were reported. Then it adds that anecdotally, side effects may include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, tetany, body temperature changes, intense emotions, dry mouth and throat, coughing, and uncomfortable bodily sensations, describing events of this type as very uncommon and transient.

Both halves of that statement matter. The controlled research has not detected adverse effects. Practitioners and participants nonetheless report them. That gap is genuine and honest reporting should hold both facts rather than choosing one.

Tetany deserves particular mention because it surprises people. It is involuntary muscle contraction, typically beginning with the hands drawing into a claw like position, and it can spread. It is not dangerous but it can be frightening if nobody has warned you it might happen.

The mechanism behind most of these sensations is well established. Cleveland Clinic describes hyperventilation as rapid deep breathing where you exhale more than you inhale, creating a low level of carbon dioxide in the blood known as arterial PaCO2.

This narrows blood vessels including those supplying the brain. The resulting state, respiratory alkalosis, produces dizziness, a fast heartbeat, and breathlessness.

Cleveland Clinic notes that in most cases hyperventilation is not harmful, though a first episode of rapid deep breathing warrants medical review to rule out an underlying problem.

The practical takeaway is that these effects track breath rate and duration rather than the practice itself. Going too fast or continuing too long produces the same physiological state as any other cause of hyperventilation, which is why supervised pacing matters more than beginners expect.

What Are the Emotional and Psychological Side Effects of Sudarshan Kriya?

Documented psychological effects include sleep disturbance, resurfacing of unpleasant memories, heightened anxiety, and affective difficulties. Pre existing mental health conditions are the strongest predictor of who experiences them.

A cross sectional study published in BJPsych Open surveyed regular meditators internationally. Twenty two percent reported unpleasant meditation related experiences and 13 percent reported experiences severe enough to be classified as adverse.

These were predominantly affective, somatic, and cognitive in nature. The most actionable finding is that unpleasant experiences were significantly more likely in participants with pre existing mental illnesses.

A randomised controlled trial of mindfulness breathing meditation published through PMC recorded the specific breakdown among participants. Sleep problems were most common at 33.3 percent of the sample.

Stress and unpleasant memories resurfacing occurred in 20.8 percent, anxiety in 16.7 percent, worried and suicidal thoughts in 12.5 percent, unpleasant feelings and helplessness in 8.3 percent, and hopelessness in 4.2 percent. Notably, participants did not attribute these experiences to the intervention itself, which illustrates how difficult causal attribution is in this area of research.

The consistent pattern across both studies is that intensive breath and meditation practices can surface material that was already present.

For most practitioners this passes and is often described afterward as valuable. For people with existing mental health conditions it is a reason for clinical oversight rather than unsupervised practice.

Who Should Not Practise Sudarshan Kriya?

The Art of Living Foundation states that people with schizophrenia should avoid the practice, and that disclosing any health issue to your program trainer is mandatory so the practice can be modified. Independent guidance adds heart conditions, uncontrolled high blood pressure, respiratory conditions, and pregnancy to the list requiring clearance.

The organisation’s own position is worth reading directly. Art of Living states that it is mandatory to share your health issues with your program trainer so they can recommend modulations to the practice suited to you.

On schizophrenia specifically, the organisation advises avoiding Sudarshan Kriya and recommends a gentler practice called Sahaj Samadhi Dhyan instead. They describe the technique as safe when learned under the guidance of a trained professional, which is a conditional claim rather than an absolute one and should be read as such.

Empower Balance extends this. Individuals with respiratory issues, heart conditions, or severe mental health concerns should consult a healthcare professional before starting. Pregnant women and those with high blood pressure should practise only with direct guidance.

The recommended frequency is once daily or at least three to four times weekly, ideally early morning on an empty stomach.

If any of these apply to you, the appropriate step is not necessarily to avoid the practice. Speak with your doctor first, then tell your instructor before the course begins so the practice can be adjusted.

If you experience persistent physical or emotional distress during or after any breathwork practice, stop and consult a qualified healthcare professional.

What Are the Documented Benefits of Sudarshan Kriya?

A 2024 randomised clinical trial in JAMA Network Open found that physicians practising SKY over two months had significantly reduced stress, depression, anxiety, and insomnia, alongside increased professional fulfilment and decreased burnout.

The strongest single piece of evidence comes from a randomised clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open. Physicians were randomised to either SKY or a stress management education control.

Compared with the control group, the SKY group showed significantly decreased stress on the DASS 42 scale both immediately after training and at postintervention, significantly decreased depression at both timepoints, and significantly decreased anxiety at postintervention.

Insomnia decreased significantly from baseline. The SKY group also showed increased professional fulfilment and decreased work exhaustion, interpersonal disengagement, and burnout.

The study also reports a null finding, which is worth stating because it demonstrates the research was not designed to flatter the intervention. There was no effect on self reported medical errors.

The International Journal of Current Research reports that multiple studies show a 67 to 73 percent success rate in depression relief regardless of severity, with results typically appearing within three to four weeks.

Outcomes were independent of how long the person had been depressed, which is an unusual finding for any intervention in this space. These benefits are real and should be weighed alongside the risk profile above, not instead of it.

How Do You Practise Sudarshan Kriya Safely

Learn it through the Art of Living Part 1 course with a certified instructor, disclose any existing condition beforehand, treat the first two weeks as an adjustment period, and stop if discomfort persists.

Supervised instruction matters because breath pacing is the variable that determines whether side effects appear. A Cochrane review on breathing exercises for dysfunctional breathing and hyperventilation syndrome describes the aim of all breathing exercises as teaching the patient to breathe gently using the lower chest at a rate matching their activity level.

The review also found that only one study met inclusion criteria, concluding that no reliable conclusions could be drawn from a single small trial. That is worth knowing. Even in mainstream respiratory medicine, the evidence base for breathing interventions is thinner than public discussion suggests.

Yoga Jala describes the Sudarshan Kriya structure as three distinct breathing phases moving through slow, medium, and fast rates, with the mantra SO on the inhale and HUM on the exhale. The vigorous phases are the mechanism of action, and they are also where pacing errors happen.

Practical safeguards. Disclose any heart, respiratory, neurological, or mental health condition before you enrol. Do not self teach from video.

Stop if you experience persistent dizziness, chest pain, or emotional distress that does not settle within a day or two. Treat the first fortnight as calibration rather than a test of commitment.

For a breathwork practice suitable for independent beginners, read our guide to the 11 minute miracle breathwork.

How Common Are Adverse Effects in Meditation Practices?

A systematic review of 83 studies covering 6,703 participants found an overall adverse event prevalence of 8.3 percent across meditation practices, a rate the researchers describe as comparable to psychotherapy in general.

The most rigorous data comes from Farias and colleagues, published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. Their review screened 6,742 citations and included 83 that met criteria. Total prevalence of adverse events was 8.3 percent, varying sharply by study design at 3.7 percent in experimental studies and 33.2 percent in observational studies.

The most commonly reported events were anxiety at 33 percent, depression at 27 percent, and cognitive anomalies at 25 percent. Gastrointestinal problems and suicidal behaviours each appeared in 11 percent of the studies reviewed.

The authors make a point worth noting. They argue that researchers and centres involved in meditation study carry an ethical duty to inform participants about the existence and prevalence of adverse events, and that greater awareness would also dispel prejudice against people who experience them.

A 2025 study in Clinical Psychological Science surveyed a representative sample of US meditators across varied techniques and experience levels. Nearly 60 percent reported some adverse effect. Only 9.14 percent reported functional impairment and 6.6 percent reported strong intensity experiences they found extremely unpleasant.

That distinction between an unpleasant experience and a genuinely harmful one is central to reading this literature accurately.

Editorial Note from The Inner Path

We publish this because the imbalance in available information is worth naming plainly.

Art of Living publishes its research extensively and that research is genuine. A randomised clinical trial in JAMA Network Open is a serious credential that very few wellness practices anywhere can claim.

What is less available, from any organisation teaching intensive breathwork, is equivalent documentation of adverse effects. This is not specific to Art of Living. It is a pattern across the meditation and wellness field, and Farias and colleagues identify it directly as an ethical gap the research community should close.

Two things are true at once. Sudarshan Kriya has stronger scientific support than almost any breathing technique taught anywhere. And the broader adverse effect literature, at roughly 8.3 percent prevalence and comparable to psychotherapy, suggests that a small but real minority of practitioners will have difficult experiences.

One further limitation deserves stating. A January 2025 systematic review in IJCRT noted that meta analysis could not be performed on the available Sudarshan Kriya studies due to heterogeneity in study designs and outcomes.

Published research on this technique is also predominantly short term. Long term controlled research tracking practitioners across years does not currently exist in the peer reviewed literature. That is an evidence gap, not evidence of harm, and readers should hold it as exactly that.

Our position is that people make better decisions with complete information than partial information, and that a practice with genuine benefits does not need protection from an honest account of its risks.

Major Things to focus on

Category	What the Evidence Documents
Overall adverse event prevalence	8.3 percent across 83 studies and 6,703 participants
Most common adverse events	Anxiety 33 percent, depression 27 percent, cognitive anomalies 25 percent
Physical effects	Temporarily raised heart rate and blood pressure, dizziness, tingling, breathlessness
Physiological mechanism	Low blood carbon dioxide causing blood vessel constriction and respiratory alkalosis
Psychological effects	Sleep disturbance, resurfacing memories, anxiety, affective difficulty
Strongest predictor	Pre existing mental health condition
Functional impairment rate	9.14 percent reported impairment, 6.6 percent strong intensity unpleasant experiences
Organisation’s own contraindication	People with schizophrenia advised to avoid, Sahaj Samadhi Dhyan recommended instead
Requires medical clearance	Heart conditions, high blood pressure, respiratory conditions, pregnancy
Strongest benefit evidence	JAMA Network Open 2024 RCT, reduced stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia, burnout
Evidence gap	No long term controlled studies, heterogeneity prevents meta analysis

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Key Points for Readers

• An informed consent document filed with ClinicalTrials.gov notes that formal analysis of 12 breathwork studies found no reported adverse effects, while anecdotal reports include nausea, dizziness, tetany, and intense emotions, described as uncommon and transient. (Source: ClinicalTrials.gov https://cdn.clinicaltrials.gov/large-docs/78/NCT07129278/ICF_000.pdf)
• A systematic review of 83 studies covering 6,703 participants found overall adverse event prevalence of 8.3 percent across meditation practices, comparable to psychotherapy in general. (Source: Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13225)
• Hyperventilation lowers blood carbon dioxide, narrowing the blood vessels that supply the brain. This produces the dizziness, fast heartbeat, and breathlessness most commonly reported during vigorous breathwork. (Source: Cleveland Clinic https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/hyperventilation)
• The Art of Living Foundation itself advises that people with schizophrenia avoid Sudarshan Kriya, and that disclosing health issues to your trainer is mandatory. (Source: Art of Living https://www.artofliving.org/in-en/about-us/sudarshan-kriya/questions-answered)
• Pre existing mental illness is the strongest predictor of unpleasant meditation related experiences, according to an international study of regular meditators. (Source: BJPsych Open https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8693904/)
• A 2024 randomised clinical trial in JAMA Network Open found physicians practising SKY had significantly reduced stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and burnout, with no effect on self reported medical errors. (Source: JAMA Network Open https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38294813/)
• Sudarshan Kriya breathing can temporarily raise heart rate and blood pressure, which is why hypertension is flagged as a condition requiring caution. (Source: Top Yoga World https://www.topyogaworld.com/archives/14069)

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References

1. Farias, M., Maraldi, E., Wallenkampf, K.C., & Lucchetti, G. (2020). Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation based therapies: a systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13225
2. Van Dam, N.T., Targett, J., Davies, J.N., Burger, A., & Galante, J. (2025). Incidence and Predictors of Meditation Related Unusual Experiences and Adverse Effects. Clinical Psychological Science. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21677026241298269
3. Top Yoga World. (2025). When Not To Do Sudarshan Kriya Yoga. https://www.topyogaworld.com/archives/14069
4. Cleveland Clinic. (2024). Hyperventilation: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/hyperventilation
5. BJPsych Open. (2021). Prevalence, predictors and types of unpleasant and adverse effects of meditation in regular meditators. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8693904/
6. PMC. (2025). Effects of mindfulness breathing meditation on stress and cognitive functions. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12552627/
7. Art of Living Foundation. (2023). Get every question about Sudarshan Kriya answered. https://www.artofliving.org/in-en/about-us/sudarshan-kriya/questions-answered
8. Empower Balance. (2025). Art of Living Sudarshan Kriya: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners. https://empower-balance.com/art-of-living-sudarshan-kriya/
9. JAMA Network Open. (2024). Sudarshan Kriya Yoga Breathing and a Meditation Program for Burnout Among Physicians: A Randomized Clinical Trial, 7(1), e2353978. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38294813/
10. International Journal of Current Research. (2025). Sudarshan Kriya as Remedial Technique for Depression: A Review Study. https://journalcra.com/article/sudarshan-kriya-remedial-technique-depression-review-study
11. Cochrane. Breathing exercises for dysfunctional breathing and hyperventilation syndrome, CD009041. https://www.cochrane.org/CD009041/AIRWAYS_breathing-exercises-dysfunctional-breathinghyperventilation-syndrome
12. Yoga Jala. (2026). SKY Breathing Technique: 3 Phases to Unlock Healing Breath. https://yogajala.com/sky-breathing-technique/
13. IJCRT. (2025, January). The Effects of Yoga Therapy Sudarshan Kriya on Physical and Mental Health. https://www.ijcrt.org/papers/IJCRT2501418.pdf