The first step in Breathwork is awareness or consciousness. We practice breath awareness—simply observing or tracking the breath. And we practice conscious breathing—controlling or directing the breath.
We practice going back and forth between these two basic aspects: doing the breathing and being breathed, directing the process and allowing the process. We practice breathing the breath and we practice letting the breath breathe us. Read More
Belly, chest, release.
Chest, belly, release.
Belly, chest, release.
Chest, belly release.
This is a very simple breathwork meditation exercise. The idea is to break the inhale up into two parts. Focus on filling the belly first and then the chest. When you are full, just relax and exhale.
Then focus on filling the chest and then the belly. When you feel full, relax and exhale.
Go back and forth like this for several minutes. Do it slowly at first, and then play with speed.
It may help to put one hand over your belly button, and one hand over your heart. Read More
Recently at the seminars, we have been focusing on using the breath to awaken body intelligence or instinct, mind intelligence or intellect, and heart intelligence or intuition.
Many people are trying to get through life using only their intellect or mind intelligence. Yet, we have two other centers of consciousness waiting to be awakened and accessed. All together we have three brains: one in our head, one in our heart, and one in our gut.
With breathwork, we can tap into all three brains and therefore be fully present, create deeper connections, make better decisions, and keep ourselves safer. First, consider that you have three breathing spaces: a lower breathing space from the perineum to the belly button, a middle breathing space from the belly button to the nipple line, and an upper breathing space from the nipple line to the chin. Read More
We have been pounding on the basics and focusing on the fundamentals at the seminars lately. And one of those basic fundamentals is RELAXATION. Some of you may know that relaxation is one of the three elements in the Formula for Transformation, and it is one of the three Cornerstones of Breath Mastery.
Anyone can relax. The question is how deeply can you relax? How quickly can you relax? How completely or how totally can you relax? And in the face of what situations can you relax? In the middle of what circumstances can you relax?
Relaxation Training is important because it’s not just a matter of being relaxed or not relaxed: there are levels of relaxation. And the fact is, no matter how relaxed you are, you can always relax more. Read More
Recently, we have taken the “fundamentals of breath mastery” to the high-tech, high-
performance, high-rolling, entrepreneurial world of California and Las Vegas! We also brought
the art and science of breathwork to the west coast fitness world.
The benefits of breathwork are well proven and easily experienced. Breathwork is the new
yoga! It is modern meditation! Healthy successful people who value their time appreciate how
quickly breathwork increases awareness, energy, and inner peace. Read More
Conscious Breathing has played a part in shamanic rituals and ancient indigenous ceremonies since the beginning of time. The breath is symbolized in many creation myths, and it is applied in many initiation rites and religious practices.
Breathworkers all over the world are now using the power of the breath to awaken inner peace and to promote world peace. Conscious breathing is being used to support healing and growth, to trigger awakening, to fuel performance, and to unlock hidden powers and dormant abilities.
Here is a good exercise to tune your instrument and to prime your system: Read More
I recently had the pleasure to work with a group of hockey players and coaches at Competitive Edge Skating and Strength Training in Michigan. And I’d like to share with you some of the tips and techniques we covered in the three days of work with these great young athletes.
Feelings or emotions like fear, anger, sadness, guilt, shame, doubt, and so on, are very powerful forces. When left to run wild, they can cause us to say or do things that we regret. And when held in or held back, they can fester as illness and disease. They can paralyze us or empower us. They can silence us or drive us to success.
Emotions are very healthy and natural energies. And like all energies, they are meant to flow. Feelings and emotions mean we are alive. They are not meant to be stopped, blocked, or suppressed. And they are not meant to be used as weapons to hurt ourselves or others. If we lash out or project our uncomfortable emotions, we can hurt others. If we stifle or suppress them, we can hurt ourselves. No wonder so many good people wrestle with their feelings. Read More
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I recently had the pleasure to work with a group of hockey players and coaches at Competitive Edge Skating and Strength Training in Michigan. And I’d like to share with you some of the tips and techniques we covered in the three days of work with these great young athletes.
You may have noticed that Breathwork is coming of age! It is being applied by more and more people in the fitness, sports and peak performance world, in medicine and psychotherapy, in martial arts and the military, in the creative arts and in the corporate world.
My friend Leonard Orr once said:
“Breathing for healing and growth is so easy, it’s like cheating!”
After over 40 years of study and practice, teaching and learning, the essence of the practice has become quite clear to me, and it explains why so many people are getting such amazing results from Breathwork.
In the first place, people who come to Breathwork have a desire and an intention to heal and grow, to improve and develop themselves in some way. Add action to that the power of intention, and the results and benefits are guaranteed!
You see, breathing is an action. It’s a primal action. Breathwork involves focusing on and consciously directing our awareness and our energy. Breathwork gives us a handle on our awareness and on our energy, and so with it, we awaken our natural inherent healing and creative powers.
Breathwork awakens heart intelligence and body intelligence. The practice connects us and aligns us with our source and with our purpose. It fuels our grand desires and helps us to manifest our heart’s deepest intentions. And for many people, it makes certain drugs and medical procedures unnecessary. It also puts a lot of therapists out of business!
The physiological effects of conscious breathing techniques are unarguable. And Breathwork allows us to manage our emotional and psychological states. Breathwork opens us to a rich and deep inner world. It helps us to access our unconscious mind, and it connects us to each other, and to the world around us in a direct and powerful way.
When you become more conscious of your breathing, you become more conscious of everything: your body and mind, your thoughts and feelings, and those of others; and it brings to light your unconscious habits and patterns.
When you take control of your breathing, you take control of yourself, your awareness and your energy. With it you can determine your results and your outcomes in life. Breathwork is nothing short of transformational! In fact, it ultimately leads us all to spiritual awakening, spiritual enlightenment, and spiritual liberation.
No wonder so many people are jumping on the bandwagon! No wonder everyone is talking about it! No wonder Breathwork is spreading like wildfire around the world! I am so honored, so grateful, and so blessed to be part of this worldwide movement!
Breathwork is the new Yoga! It is modern meditation. It’s spiritual purification. And it doesn’t really matter what style, school, method, or approach you try: there are certain basics, certain common denominators, certain fundamentals that apply.
That’s why I am so excited about the recent launch of our new Online Breath Mastery Fundamentals Course. It provides a solid body of knowledge and a set of skills that will help anyone on the path of Breath Mastery.
If you are a beginner, the course will dramatically shorten your learning curve. And if you are a seasoned practitioner, it will deepen and broaden your practice, and give you lots of coaching tools and strategies. It is like adding a whole new set of colors to an artist’s palette!
I invite you to sign up for the Course and join the growing number of people who are becoming masters of their awareness and energy, in body, mind and spirit!
There is no longer any argument about it: the practice of Breathwork enhances performance in sports and business. It improves health and increases enjoyment in everyday life.
It is being used everywhere—from the battlefield to the playing field, from the classroom to the courtroom, from the boardroom to the bedroom.
When you control your breath, you control your energy and your awareness. When you control your breath, you control your body and your chemistry. When you control your breath, you control your attitude and your emotions.
We are into the new year… filled with promise and possibilities… Many people start the year with the intention to get more exercise. A simple start in this direction is to take a daily walk. Maybe you already have that habit. In that case, I invite you to make it a ‘Breathwalk’.
Maybe you have decided to take your life in a new direction, to change your pace—to speed up or to slow down.Maybe you have reached a comfortable plateau and this year is about settling in or settling down. I invite you to use conscious energy breathingto express, reflect and fuel your intentions. Read More
Expect stress levels to be high for many—if not most—of us over the next few weeks!
As if we are not busy enough. As if there aren’t already more than enough things to do. I just breathed with a guy who was rushing to finish several work projects before the year’s end. And after work, it’s all about shopping and cooking, office parties, religious duties, and family gatherings.
Between traffic jams, packed airports, and long lines everywhere, there’s the traditional increase in credit card debt. Heck, just trying to figure out what to get certain people can be a source of great stress! When will you find the time to send out all the Christmas cards? And at Christmas dinner, do you hold your tongue as usual, or do you finally speak your mind to your Aunt Lucie or your Uncle Harry?
For many, the holidays will also be marked by the loss of loved ones.
And yet, beneath it all, this is a very special season of appreciation and celebration. It is a time to connect more deeply with our family and friends, and to spread peace and goodwill throughout our communities.
Ask yourself:
Here is a simple lesson from the Breath Mastery Fundamentals Program—a breathing exercise to help you move through the holiday season with a relaxed body, a quiet mind, and a peaceful heart.
Inhale, exhale, pause…
Inhale, exhale, pause…
Inhale, exhale, pause…
Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
It is.
In fact, it’s nature’s way of breathing when we are truly at rest. It’s how your body naturally breathes when nothing is disturbing your comfort or peace.
Try it now.
Breathe the Triangle Breath:
Repeat.
Practice a 4-4-4 pattern for one or two minutes.
After six to twelve Triangle Breaths, notice how you feel.
If you’ve been counting in seconds, you’re breathing at approximately six breaths per minute—a proven therapeutic breathing rate that naturally promotes relaxation and helps release stress.
At our live breathwork events, I train participants in two directions:
Begin with a 3-3-3 or 4-4-4 breathing pattern, then adjust it toward what feels most comfortable.
Experiment by changing the shape of your triangle:
Practice for a minute or two and discover the breathing rhythm that feels easy, natural, relaxing, or energizing.
Your ideal pattern might be:
Whatever feels best for you can become your personal technique for refocusing, reducing stress, clearing your mind, settling your stomach, and calming your nervous system.
The second direction of training is challenge.
For example, if holding a pause after the exhale feels uncomfortable, practice extending it gradually.
If your comfortable pause is only two, three, or four seconds, work toward six, eight, or even twelve seconds over time—without strain.
Progress gently and let your body adapt naturally.
Avoid unnecessary muscular effort. Make each inhale conscious but relaxed.
As you inhale, appreciate the feeling of expansion.
As you exhale, consciously relax your body and release tension.
Treat the pause after the exhale like coming home.
Don’t rush into the next breath.
Linger in the quiet, open feeling of inner stillness for as long as it feels comfortable.
Good luck with your practice, and many blessings on your path.
May your holiday season be filled with healthy comfort, peaceful breathing, and natural joy.
I love it when someone digests what I teach, blends it with what they have learned from others, integrates it into their own experience and practice, and then passes it on in a clear, effective, and powerful way.
This is exactly the case with Shane Saunders, one of our One Sky Practitioners in Australia. And so, this month I would like to share with you what we could call a 20-minute Breathing Workout. A great way to start your day!
This unique Breathwork Protocol focuses on three aspects of Breath Mastery Training: Read More
Hey kids! Hey teachers! Are you feeling a bit nervous about the start of a new school year? That’s a good, healthy thing, you know! It is perfectly normal to feel anxious when facing a challenge or beginning a new adventure.
The nervousness we all feel at times like these is simply the awakening of our creative energy. It’s fuel for life. If we resist it, we feel fear, but if we welcome it, we feel excitement! You can learn to channel your life force in ways that not only help you to overcome fear and anxiety but assist in meeting and mastering any challenge.
The secret is to practice conscious breathing combined with deliberate relaxation, and positive imagery. Elite warriors do it, Olympic athletes do it, yogi masters do it, great artists and peak performers in every field do it, and so can you! Breathe slowly into your lower chest and belly. While you do, imagine beautiful scenes and wonderful feelings, like joy and success. Consciously open and expand, and deliberately relax and let go with every breath.
(Insert Triangle Breathing illustration here.)
Breathe in for a count of four; breathe out for a count of four; then pause for a count of four. Count to four on the inhale, count to four on the exhale, and then count to four before breathing in again.
Inhale 1… 2… 3… 4…
Exhale 1… 2… 3… 4…
Pause 1… 2… 3… 4….
Practice this while waiting for the bus or when standing in the lunch line. Use it before an exam. Do it when negative thinking begins to cloud your mind or make your body tense. In this way, you’ll gather all that nervous energy and channel it in a very healthy and productive way.
Remember the ancient Chinese proverb:
“Where consciousness goes, energy flows.”
Imagine breathing into your brain to calm and clear your mind and to fuel your thinking before a test. Breathe into your legs to give them energy before you run, jump, or play. Breathe into your hands before art class. Breathe in rhythm to your footsteps when climbing stairs, or when walking to and from class.
Take a long slow breath in through your nose when you want to commit something to memory: a geographical map, an historical date, a chemical or mathematical formula, or a musical phrase. This simple practice has been proven to improve recall.
Give yourself energizing and relaxing breaths from time to time throughout the day, because as Mark Divine, my friend and Navy Seal Commander, says:
“It’s easier to keep up than it is to catch up!”
Place your hands on your chest for a few minutes every day and breathe positive, loving energy into your heart. Do this to honor yourself for being the best you can be, and as a way to generate gratitude for every beautiful challenge life brings you!
Dan Brulé, author of Just Breathe, is a pioneer in the field of Breathwork, and a world-renowned leader of the Spiritual Breathing movement. A former US Navy Deep Sea Diver, he is one of the originators of Breath Therapy, a Master of Prana Yoga (The Hindu Science of Breath), and an expert in Chi Kung (Chinese Medical Breathing Exercises). His new book, Just Breathe, is on sale now from Atria Books, an imprint of our sister company, Simon & Schuster.If you are among the more than 40 million Americans who suffer from an anxiety disorder, or if you are one of the 75 million who have high blood pressure, I have good news for you. You can make stress and anxiety—and even high blood pressure—a thing of the past! How? Through conscious breathing, also called breathwork. Read More
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