Max HeyraudAfter stepping away from Galway’s club scene, Gareth Laheen founded Ecstatic Breathwork, blending breath and movement to reshape his relationship with music, sobriety, and communal dance, and he’s inviting DJs and artists to join a free online session next Wednesday, February 18th, at 7 PM on Zoom.
Once a permanent fixture in Galway’s club culture, Gareth Laheen has stepped back from traditional DJing and promoting shows. After hitting a point of burnout from the hedonistic side of club life, he sought a new way to centre himself, turning to breathwork. For an artist and techno scene devotee who had long burned the candle at both ends, it became a lifeline and a path toward something meaningful.
Laheen speaks candidly about his early days of sobriety, admitting that he initially thought he “would never DJ again” because of the conflicting environments of substances and alcohol that clubs often perpetuate. Since then, he has rewritten this chapter of his life, reconnecting with music and movement in a way that feels purposeful and impactful through his venture, Ecstatic Breathwork. Here, he fuses his expertise in breathwork with his enduring love for movement and music, without the excesses of his past.
Sober raving has recently become something of a buzzword, sometimes criticised for leaning toward soft-clubbing. But Laheen’s approach is far removed from early-morning tech-house sessions fueled by matcha lattes. Instead, it draws on a primal, communal spirit: “Tribes danced around fires—and still do—and used breathing to improve their health.”
Through Ecstatic Breathwork, Laheen is rewriting his love for music and dance in a grounded, mindful way, and inviting others along on this deeply personal journey.
Before we dive into your current breathwork project, let’s start at the beginning: your relationship with dance music and club culture. When did that love affair start?
My relationship with dance music & club culture began back in 2018. I was one half of a Galway-based collective called D2AL. We ran events around Galway in venues like the Loft, Cellar, Roisin Dubh and small pubs. We brought DJs like Yasmin Gardezi, Shee, Maedhbh O Connor, Boots & Kats, IMNOTYOUROURMATE and many more talented Irish artists to Galway. During the pandemic, we managed to secure the only open pub in Galway, Cookes Corner. Turning it from a quiet pub to a weekly rave with cues out the door. What a time that was.
You’ve mentioned that breathwork has had a transformative impact on your life, including your relationship with substances and alcohol. Can you share that story with us, how breathwork entered your life, and how it changed things for you, especially after going sober?
During my time running events around town, I was using a lot of substances. Being a DJ & event organiser, everything was handed to me. There was almost a pressure to take something then. In December 2021, I hit a low point. I was struggling with my mental health. The substance abuse and lack of sleep played a huge role in this.
I came across a breathwork video online that a friend had sent me. At the time, I didn’t know what it was, but I gave it a go. I can best describe it as almost like a layer of fog taken off my mind. All the substance abuse had me numb, but the breathwork brought me back into the body. It gave me the confidence and self-awareness to say no to things and people who were not serving me anymore. The sobriety journey was challenging and quite lonely. But the best thing I have ever done.
I know you travelled to Bali and Goa and discovered the power of ecstatic dance. Can you tell us about that journey and what you experienced there?
When I first went sober, I thought I would never be able to DJ again because I struggled to be in the environments of substances and alcohol.
I travelled to Bali, where I stumbled across a sober dance/ecstatic dance at the Yoga Barn in Ubud. I remember the fear that came over me with the thought of dancing sober, as I was so used to dancing under the influence of something. I say dance, but nobody was doing the general 2 step; people were moving in the wildest ways and that showed me that it is normal and okay and cool to dance sober. Everybody was on the same buzz.
That leads naturally to your Ecstatic Dance events. How did the idea for those events come about?
That first sober dance in Bali was incredibly liberating for me and sparked the idea to take what I had learned from running club nights and use my skills to take it into the sober dance/ecstatic dance scene. The first sober dance I ran was out the back of the Secret Garden Cafe in Galway city on a fine summer’s evening in June 2024. 40 people, dancing under the sun, no alcohol and no substances. Just good vibes.
Breathwork is widely known to improve mental, emotional, and physical health, and many people feel that communal dance experiences can have similar benefits. Do you think that’s a fair comparison?
Although breathwork and communal dance spaces are two different things, there are many similarities, especially in the benefits. One of the main ones is feeling great afterwards. A deeper sense of connection to self and others. More presence while in it. Go back thousands of years, tribes danced around the fires (and still do) and used breathing to improve their health. Breathing and communal dance spaces have so many benefits, so it’s important to make use of them.
You’ve also integrated music into your breathwork sessions. Has that process, in some way, been rewriting your personal history with electronic music?
Music is a huge part of my life and breathwork sessions. Something I have learned over the past few years is the impact music has on what I feel. In my early twenties, I used to only listen to 130+ techno. Now, my music taste includes ambient, classical, house and traditional Irish. I blend them all together in my breathwork session and ecstatic dances for a lovely journey of sound. Starting off with upbeat house, moving into trad and finishing on some gentle ambient.
I know you believe breathwork can be especially helpful for artists working in electronic music. It’s often cited as a tool for improving creativity. Can you expand on that?
We live in a world that is constantly doing, doing, the mind can be quite active, especially with the rise of social media. How can our full creative potential flow if the mind is busy? I work as a photographer, breathwork facilitator, and DJ, and I run retreats. My life revolves around creating things. I struggle to create the most when the mind is going a thousand miles an hour. So how can this relate to music artists? Through breathwork, we are cultivating presence, which can help slow down thoughts, quiet the mind and create space for creative ideas to come through.
Anxiety seems to be a big challenge for many DJs: late nights, meeting lots of new people, loneliness, and the pressure of being the epicentre of the party. How do you see breathwork helping artists navigate that stress?
The body is not built to be in constant overdrive all the time. It is so important to slow down and give the body the space to rest and recover. When the body is in a stressed state, that can show in the breathing. In times of stress, challenge & anxiety, the breath can get quite shallow and fast. To bring a sense of calm to the body, it is important to do the opposite. Slow down the breath and breathe a little deeper. A practice that can be done in times of stress is to place the hands on the side of the body at the lower rib cage. Breathe in and out through the nose. Breathe in for 5 and out for 5. On the inhale, the belly should be expanding and the hands moving outwards. This is how you know you are breathing deep enough.
Breathwork creates a space for the body to slow down. Breathwork creates a space to feel.
Sleep is another major concern for people in electronic music. Breathwork is said to improve sleep. Can you explain how it does that and why it’s so beneficial?
Late nights alone can put the body into a state of stress and anxiety. Sleep is the time when the body rests and recovers. If someone is not sleeping, that can have many negative effects on their well-being. Now combine that with constant social interaction, substances, being the epicentre of the party, travel and loneliness. If someone goes to bed in a stimulated state, they may have just finished a gig and had loads of social interaction, and they may not get a deep night’s sleep. Breathwork brings a sense of calm to the body, which can set us up for a deep night’s sleep.
Sleep has a huge influence on our well-being the next day, so it is essential to sleep well.
Looking ahead, how do you hope to continue merging breathwork, music, and dance culture, and what’s the impact you want to leave on the community?
Going forward, I will be hosting weekly online breathwork sessions. A space for all to slow down, cultivate presence & bring a sense of calm to the mind and body.
As well as that, I will continue to bring people together, to breathe and to facilitate sober dance/ecstatic dances around the world and Ireland.
Maybe some people can relate to my journey and know that they are not alone in whatever they are going through.
At the end of the day, we all breathe. We can go days without food and days without water. We can go minutes without breathing. Humans breathe on average 20,000 times a day. With that, I think it’s important to take control of the breath.
