Every claim on this site is grounded in
published research

The Resilience Profile is an educational self-assessment designed to bridge lived experience with evidence-based breathing and regulation practices. It was developed through my clinical training across Oxygen Advantage, HeartMath, and trauma-informed coaching methodologies, combined with systematic review of the published research cited throughout this site.

 

The assessment evaluates four independent dimensions of nervous system regulation:

Breathing Function measures the patterns that shape how your autonomic nervous system operates — nasal vs oral breathing, breathing rate, upper-chest vs diaphragmatic movement, and CO₂ tolerance indicators. The questions draw on respiratory physiology research (Zaccaro et al. 2018, Ma et al. 2017) and clinical breathing assessment principles from the Oxygen Advantage and Buteyko traditions.

 

Stress-Recovery Balance captures how well your system shifts between activation and recovery. This domain draws on the neurovisceral integration model (Thayer & Lane 2000), HRV research (Porges 2007, Laborde et al. 2022), and autonomic regulation literature. It assesses whether recovery is matching demand — not just whether you feel stressed.

 

Sleep Quality is treated as an active regulator of next-day capacity, not a passive indicator of how things went. This reflects Sullivan et al. (2018), who demonstrated that sleep quality moderates the effectiveness of emotion regulation strategies, and Palmer & Bower's (2023) meta-analysis showing sleep loss directly reduces emotional regulation capacity.

 

Self-Regulation Capacity evaluates the conscious ability to influence your own state — including interoceptive awareness (Mehling et al. 2012), emotional recovery patterns, and the capacity for flexible engagement with difficulty rather than suppression or avoidance (Grol & De Raedt 2020).

 

Each domain is scored independently and displayed as a separate dimension of the regulation picture. The domains are interconnected — breathing patterns influence stress recovery, sleep shapes next-day regulation, and interoceptive awareness underpins the capacity to use breathing as a deliberate tool — but the assessment treats them as distinct measurements rather than components of a single score.

 

The assessment generates one of four regulation profiles based on domain patterns, each with specific practice recommendations drawn from an evidence-informed intervention framework spanning seven progression levels. Questions use symptom-first language and focus on lived experience rather than technical knowledge. The instrument is designed to be trauma-informed throughout — describing current states rather than assigning fixed identities.

 

The Resilience Profile has not undergone formal psychometric validation (test-retest reliability, criterion validity, or factor analysis). All four domains rely on self-report, and research demonstrates that self-reported physiological experience maps imperfectly onto measured physiological states (Psohlavec et al. 2025). The assessment is most useful as a starting point — a structured way to understand current patterns and identify where breathing-based interventions are likely to have the most impact.

 

For deeper evaluation, a practitioner-led session adds functional breathing assessment, wearable HRV data review, and clinical observation that self-report cannot capture. The assessment is designed to work both as a standalone educational tool and as the first stage of a guided process.