Just Breath. As a Founder, a Father, a Husband, an adult child caring for a post-stroke parent, a soccer player, and a (struggling to get restarted) Jiu Jitsu practitioner - I find myself frequently stressed out, looking for focus, drained of energy, in need of…lots of things.

Back in 2015, a friend introduced me to a character named Wim Hoff - who, in addition to being a practitioner of some zany feats of human physical tolerance and endurance, is a major proponent of using the breath to effect the body and mind. 

I was initially attracted by his physical stunts - but came back around to him during the early days of the COVID-19 Pandemic and tried his core breathwork technique for the first time. It felt like someone had opened new door in my mind, that also had major impacts on my body.

I struggled for years to build a meditation habit to varying degrees of success. When I discovered breathwork, I realized that I was achieving a lot of what I wanted from meditation - mental clarity, focus, flow activation, emotional release, better energy, recentering. 

For me, it was also a more predictable and concrete practice, that unlike meditation always seemed to land flush. It also purported to have additional benefits (like alkalizing the blood, reducing CO2, encouraging the production of red blood cells, white blood cells, and EPO. 

I’ve since experimented beyond Wim Hoff. From “Breath of Fire” to “Box Breathing” - dozens of tecniques, all with unique purpose and benefits. I’ll write more about this in the near future - because its had a profound impact on my life, and I want to share it.

Later this week I’ll be doing breathwork 13,000 feet about sea level on the peak of Acatenango Volcano in Guatemala. I’ll be sure to share that experience as well.