The Next Chapter in Breathwork: Why I’m Training in Functional Breathing

Breathwork changed my life.

But I didn’t come to it through curiosity or a wellness trend—I came through collapse.

After years in high-stakes corporate roles, coaching others through pressure, and pushing through my own, I lost my hearing.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

It was sudden. And it forced me to listen—to my body, my nervous system, and everything

I’d been ignoring.

Breathwork as Medicine

I found breathwork during a time of deep emotional burnout. SOMA Breath was my entry point to a formalised practice—an experiential system that gave me the tools to guide others back to feeling in the way I had been for years. It helped me soften, surrender, and regulate in a way that nothing else had. It was love at first breath!

Where years of mindset work gave me frameworks, breath gave me access—to emotion, presence, and purpose.

SOMA Breath was the perfect medicine in that chapter: musical, rhythmic, mystical. It woke up parts of me I didn’t even know had shut down. It was breath as medicine, mystic, and mirror. It is a cornerstone of my practice, one I love to teach to individuals, with groups and at Festivals.

But like any deep transformational path, I eventually felt the pull to evolve again. Not because SOMA Breath stopped working—but because I had changed. And I needed to explore breath from another perspective.

Lee Harris once said:

“If you’re getting all your sustenance from one source, you’ll end up malnourished.”

That stuck with me. It’s just as true for learning and teaching as it is for nutrition.

Why Oxygen Advantage Became the Next Chapter

Now, I’m grounded. More embodied. Still deeply committed to the inner journey—but also serving people who aren’t just navigating emotional release… they’re navigating performance.

That’s when Oxygen Advantage entered.

Founded by Patrick McKeown—who trained under Buteyko and created both Buteyko Clinic International and Oxygen Advantage—this method is precise, practical, and deeply rooted in respiratory physiology.

No music. No mysticism. Just measurable, functional breathing science.

Where SOMA Breath taught me to feel and reconnect to rhythm, OA is helping me guide others to find their own entry point into breathwork—especially those who may never attend a healing circle or lay down with a blindfold on.

This approach teaches:

• How to breathe less, not more

• How to build CO₂ tolerance and energy regulation

• How to create physiological space for smart, steady action—not emotional reaction

It’s not just healing—it’s high performance through breath.

Why This Matters for My Clients

The truth is, many high performers are dysregulated.

Not in obvious ways. But in the micro-moments:

• Reactivity in hard conversations

• Brain fog by 2pm

• Irritability after back-to-back meetings

• Sleep that’s shallow, even when the hours are long

And we keep trying to fix these issues with mindset tools—productivity systems, journaling, positive affirmations.

All helpful. But incomplete.

Because if your nervous system is dysregulated, all that work is sitting on a cracked foundation.

Breath as the Operating System

What I’ve come to realise is this: breathwork isn’t just a tool—it’s the operating system.

Everything else—your mindset, your leadership presence, your energy, your ability to connect—is an application running on top of it.

SOMA Breath gave me access to feeling and transformative change, reconnecting me to my yogic roots and my love of helping others to discover this in themselves-it's a complete operating system that I love to share.

Oxygen Advantage gives me a new language. One that resonates with a different group of people - those navigating the boardroom, the gym, or the inner war of overthinking. It’s a different framework for many of the same tools—and it helps people access them in ways that feel safe, structured, and measurable.

What You Can Gain from Functional Breathing

Whether you’re a leader, coach, creative, or high performer, functional breathing offers practical, science-backed benefits:

✅ Sharper mental focus and executive function

✅ Better sleep quality and recovery

✅ Reduced reactivity and increased stress resilience

✅ Improved emotional regulation and communication

✅ Sustainable performance under pressure

✅ Tools that can be applied quietly, in real time, in real life

This isn’t meditation. It’s physiological self-regulation—and it works.

If You’re Curious

If you’ve always pushed through—driven by adrenaline, caffeine, control, or pure will—you don’t have to wait for collapse to change.

If you’ve mastered mindset but still feel scattered, wired, or like you’re constantly operating on a short fuse… try breathing differently.

This isn’t about slowing down.

It’s about tuning in.

And becoming someone who leads from regulation, not reaction.

I’m still walking that path. And now, I help others do the same.

Let’s talk about breath, nervous system resilience, and what real high performance could feel like.

👤 About the Author

Tim Snell is a Coach, Consultant, and Breathwork Facilitator specialising in transformation through breath, nervous system intelligence, and leadership coaching. A SOMA Breath Master Instructor and Oxygen Advantage trainee, Tim works with individuals and organisations to build resilience, clarity, and presence—one breath at a time.

Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you click and purchase from SOMA Breath or Oxygen Advantage, I may receive a commission at no cost to you.