Drawing the Breath: Innovative Methods for Psychedelic Healing

Innovative methods for psychedelic healing: breath and drawing for anyone integrating a psychedelic experience, or preparing for one.

With Alyssa Gursky, co-founder of the Psychedelic Art Therapy Network. Making a mark gives the breath a way in, without asking anyone to "do breathwork." No art experience needed; materials provided.

No substances are provided. Breath, gentle movement and marks on paper. A calm, grounding evening the week before Thanksgiving.

Your breath can leave a trace. In this workshop you draw it: the mark moves one way on the in-breath and another on the out-breath. We work with white and colored soft pastels on big sheets of black paper, so nothing has to be precious. The point is the process, not the picture. The image becomes a map of how you breathed.

We start with a short orientation to the art-making from Alyssa, then a gentle body-mind practice from Henry: spinal movement and chakra awareness with visualization. There are deliberately no breathing exercises at this stage, so your first real meeting with the breath happens on the paper.

Then three rounds, each in its own color, on one sheet or several. First, your breath as it is, with one prompt: in-breath one way, out-breath another. Second, your breath as you choose to shape it, from a menu: longer inhales for energy, longer exhales for grounding, faster, slower. Third, a shared rhythm, set with box breathing and steady music. At any point you are free to break the rhythm, put the pastel down, or lie down and rest.

Throughout, we pay attention to letting each exhale leave fully. We close by looking at what we made: how you feel about the image, what you chose and why. Keeping it, crumpling it or tearing it up is up to you. A guided rest, such as yoga nidra, ends the evening.

No art experience needed. You don't have to draw well; you only have to be willing to make a mark. Work on the floor or at a table, whichever suits your body.

The research

A few short questions at the start and end of the evening support our research. This is citizen science in a small, practical form: what you notice helps shape how the practice develops. Taking part is optional, separate from your ticket, and you can decline any part of it without explanation.

A note on fit

The breathing is gentle, and you can rest at any point. If breath holds don't suit you, breathe naturally through the box-breathing round. This is a yoga and art practice, not therapy or medical treatment, and you take part at your own risk. No substances are involved, and we ask that you don't take anything beforehand.

Your guides

Alyssa B. Gursky (they/them) is a co-founder of the Psychedelic Art Therapy Network, a researcher and artist, and a PYRC advisor. They co-authored the paper Psychedelic Art Therapy: The Intersection of Psychedelics, Creativity, and Art Therapy and love helping creatives reconnect with imagination and curiosity. Henry Kandel is the founder of the Psychedelic Yoga Research Collective.

Practical

Friday, November 20, 2026, 6:30–8:30 PM.
35 Meadow Street, Unit 301, Brooklyn, NY 11206. Third floor; there is an elevator.

The room holds 20. Art materials are provided. Wear something you can move in and don't mind getting a little pastel on.

Questions: henrykandel@gmail.com

Presented by the Psychedelic Yoga Research Collective, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, in collaboration with the Brooklyn Psychedelic Society, with Alyssa Gursky.

Art by Alyssa Gursky.