I have been a missionary for the breath my entire life. Breathwork has always been my passion (pass-I-on), and it became my profession (profess-I-on). In fact, I have been teaching breath and breathing exercises, techniques, and meditations, for healing and growth, self-improvement and spiritual development since 1970.
I have studied every ancient and modern school, style, approach, and method there is, and I have met every living master I could find, in India, China, Europe and Russia over the last 50 years.
Whenever I heard about someone who was teaching breath, I ended up breathing down their neck or kissing their feet! So far, I have travelled to 67 countries and as a practitioner, I have had my hands on over two hundred and fifty thousand people.
My fascination with breath and breathing began in kindergarten in Catholic school, when I heard our pastor talk about how “God took the dust of the earth and formed the body of man; and breathed into the nostrils of man the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Something about the idea that God was breathing into us excited me to no end. I couldn’t understand why everyone wasn’t excited! In fact, I must have become too excited, too animated, because I can remember the nun tapping me on the head to calm and quiet me. And I remember the Monsignor pushing on my shoulders to get me to sit down in my chair.
Something was awakened in me that day, and it set me on my life’s mission. Soon I was organizing breath holding competitions in the school yard, and playing hyperventilation games with my friends until we were overcome by strange and wonderful feelings.
I got the wind knocked out of me more times than I can count. I had several near-drowning experiences as a young child and as a teenager, and I drowned and needed to be resuscitated when I was in the military.
My first job was as an x-ray technician, and one of the most common x-rays is a chest x-ray. When you take a chest x-ray, you tell the patient to “take in a deep breath and hold it.” I gave those same instructions to several thousand people, and very quickly I realized that everyone seemed to do something different.
I watched the muscles they used, the expression on their face, what they went through to take a deep breath—what they thought was a deep breath. And it was as if the breath itself began to speak to me.
I could see that their relationship to life and their relationship to their body was reflected and expressed in their relationship to their breath. I began to read breathing patterns like some people read palms, or handwriting, or body language.
I began to formally teach and practice Breath Awareness and Conscious Breathing when I learned CPR and resuscitated someone for the first time in 1970. What a miracle! To come upon someone who was clinically dead, with no pulse, with fixed and dilated pupils. And to breathe into them and within a few minutes watch them blink and come back to life!
Who would not want to do that every single day of their life? And, when we love something, life seems to offer us many opportunities to do it. I would be at the beach, and someone would drown. I would be in a restaurant, and someone would choke on food. I would be on an airplane, and someone would have a heart attack.
I even joked that I was bad luck, because it seemed like people were dropping like flies around me, just so I could do what I loved to do! In fact, in my career as a CPR Technician and Paramedic, I resuscitated 19 people, and between 1970 and 1980, I trained more than 5000 CPR Technicians for the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association.
I spent 5 years in the military during the Vietnam Era and worked in Special Operations as a Medical Deep-Sea Diver and Underwater Rescue Specialist. And I held the record for breath-holding. There was no formal training for this. We simply kept pushing ourselves and each other to go further and further.
After the military, I enrolled in the University of Massachusetts, majoring in Transpersonal Education and Human Development and Learning. I earned a Bachelor of Science in education and business in 1984.
From there I went on to complete a master’s program in the Healing Arts at Lesley University, called “Breath as a Tool for Health, Growth and Change.”
I have published an article or report on breath and breathing every single month since June 1976. By 1980, I had the largest collection of books and audio video materials on breathwork in the world.
In those days teaching breathwork was extremely unusual. The medical and scientific community laughed at the idea of breathwork as a healing modality. They called what I did “New Age woo-woo!” I felt like a voice crying out in the desert. No one would listen. People would say “Breathing Shmeething!” “We all breathe. What’s to learn?”
It takes great courage or pure stubbornness to be a pioneer in a field, or to walk your own path in this world. For the first 10 years, I didn’t make a penny. I paid to study, travel, and teach. I gave away my knowledge and skills. I was a missionary for the breath, and so I had to find other ways to earn money and support my family, for example marketing advertising.
In the late 80’s that began to change. I was earning money—which I poured into more learning and travel.
Today, what I teach is backed by countless medical studies that prove the efficacy of Conscious Breathing. And there is no doubt that Breathwork delivers all the benefits of meditation and mindfulness training, and much more!
The practice of conscious breathing produces significant improvements in asthma, blood pressure, anxiety, stress levels, chronic pain, depression, the full range of emotional and psychological problems, trauma relief, sleep disorders, addictions… and the list goes on!
For several years in a row, Breathwork has been the leading trend in wellness globally. Everyone from Oprah to Hillary Clinton to Hollywood stars and performing artists have jumped on the breathwork bandwagon! It is now a legitimate career path and for many, a very lucrative profession. All I can say is it’s about time!
During the pandemic, the popularity of breathing exercises and the number of people who teach Breathwork exploded. And a new format for teaching breathing was born: Online Breathwork Training.
I’ve had many ups and downs and have made many mistakes throughout my life, learning many lessons the hard way. I have created and destroyed many relationships and several breathing communities, and I have tarnished my reputation on more than one occasion.
Through these experiences I found out who my real friends were, and I discovered what cannot be taken away, and what is most important in life.
I have also had many profound insights and breakthroughs, and I have created and developed many unique methods and approaches that have proven to be life changing.
Today, my students, clients, and associates include children of all ages, bus drivers, housewives, medical experts and leading psychotherapists, yoga teachers, bodyworkers, corporate executives, first responders, college professors, Olympic athletes, elite martial artists, Navy SEALS, life coaches and celebrities like Tony Robbins.
What about you?
Have you explored the power and potential of Breathwork? If not, what are you waiting for? The benefits are immediate and lasting. And for most people, the practice is life changing!
If you’d like to learn more, please visit www.breathmastery.com and become a Breath Mastery Subscriber to get free training and to receive my monthly newsletter and Breath and Breathing Report.
I offer an online course called The Fundamentals of Breathwork.
Over 2500 people have taken the course so far. And the feedback has been mind-blowing! You can find that course here: https://www.o2collective.com/breath-mastery-fundamentals
I also have an App called “Breath Tech”
You can download it from the Appstore and at: www.breathtechapp.com.
It’s a complete Breathwork Training that takes you step by step, from student to novice to expert to master!
It includes:
The Cornerstones of Breath Mastery:
Breathing for Mindfulness
Breathing for Relaxation
Breathing for Energy
The 8 Paths in Breathwork:
Body Wise: Physical health
Heart Intelligence: Emotional Wellbeing
Business Edge: Breathing at Work
Go for the Gold: Sports Performance
Be Your Best: Personal Growth
Making Magic: Breathing for Creativity
Helping the Helper: Support for Healing Professionals
Soul Source: Spirituality and Connection
Basic Exercises & Everyday Breathing:
Establishing a Rhythm, Diaphragmatic Breathing, Nose Vs Mouth Breathing, Effort to Energy Ratio, Three Breathing Spaces and the Full Yogic Breath, Coherent Breathing, Infusing Every Cell, Morning Rituals, Standing in Line/Stuck in Traffic, Boredom and Distraction, Busy Mind, Headache Breath, Hangover Breath, and much more…
I also train and certify Breathwork Teachers, Coaches, and Practitioners. In fact, I have one of the oldest and most comprehensive Breathworker Training Programs for self-motivated, inner directed, and service-oriented people in the world.
If you would like to become a certified Breath Mastery Teacher, Coach, or Practitioner, contact office@breathmastery.com.
Wishing you much luck and many blessings on your path,
Dan
August 2023
