Dan Brulé
One of the most significant teachers on my own path with the breath — and one of the people who helped turn breathwork from a fringe subject into a global language.
The courses I recommend
Mastering The Breath
Dan Brulé’s core programme: how to breathe, what breathwork actually is, and which protocol suits which moment.
Read the write-up →The Legacy Collection
Seven of Dan Brulé’s programmes in one bundle — the widest version of his teaching, for people who…
Read the write-up →Breath & Body
An eight-module programme on the relationship between breathing and the physical body.
Read the write-up →Breath & Beyond
The spiritual half of Dan Brulé’s work: conscious connected breathing, mantra, subtle energy and the states that open…
Read the write-up →Field Picks · teachers and courses I know, learn from, and am willing to put my name behind
Some teachers we know from a book.
Some from a video.
And some whose work gradually enters the way we ourselves work.
Dan Brulé belongs, for me, to the third group.
I study Dan's work myself, and his influence on the way I look at breathing today is significant. Not because he invented breathing, and not because I think any one person holds the only truth in the field, but because he has spent more than five decades connecting ancient breathing traditions, physiology, practical training, states of consciousness and work with completely different kinds of people.
And that is exactly what I value in him.
Not a "magic technique".
Not one breath that supposedly suits everyone.
But Breath Mastery — knowing the breath deeply enough to know when, why and how to use it.
Dan has taught breathwork since the 1970s, has written several books on the subject, has run workshops and trainings around the world, and has worked over the years with elite athletes, military personnel, therapists, yoga teachers, executives, business people, meditators, and people who simply wanted to understand better the thing they have been doing from the moment they were born until the last moment: breathing. The course's source material states more than 250,000 students in 67+ countries.
Dan Brulé at a glance
- Name — Dan Brulé
- Field — breathwork · Breath Mastery
- Experience — more than five decades of study, research and teaching
- Background — US Navy medical diver, student of breathing traditions around the world
- International study — yoga, pranayama, Qi Gong, Western and Eastern breathing traditions
- Author — Just Breathe and other books on the breath
- Audience — hundreds of thousands of students worldwide
- Flagship course — Mastering The Breath
- Why he is in Field Picks — I study his work myself and apply some of its principles in my own breathwork
Why they are here
Field Picks is not meant to be a place where I collect every link that pays a commission.
If it were only an affiliate directory, I would have no interest in it.
What I want to build here is a library of teachers, courses, tools, books, systems — and things I actually know.
In Dan Brulé's case the connection is even more direct. I am a student of his work. Part of the way I think about breathing today — as a family of tools rather than one protocol — gained its depth through studying with him.
An illustration made for this site, not a documentary photograph.
So he is here. Not because I think every marketing claim on his page should be believed, but because there are decades of experience and serious teaching material there that are worth knowing.
Why his approach speaks to me
There is a great deal of breathing content around now. Some of it is excellent. And some of it looks like this:
- "Do 4–7–8 and it will heal everything."
- "Breathe through the nose only."
- "Get more CO₂ out."
- "Do 30 strong breaths."
- "Activate the vagus nerve."
Dan comes from a less narrow place. He looks at the breath as a system of variables: rate, depth, inhale, exhale, holds, mouth or nose, tension in the body, focus, movement, emotional state, context.
And that speaks to my own way of working. Because if there is one thing I have learned from working with people, it is that there is no single "correct breath" any more than there is a single correct method.
The tool has to serve the person.
Breath Mastery — more than learning a few more exercises
The term Breath Mastery is, for me, one of the keys to understanding Dan's work.
You can learn ten breathing exercises from YouTube. You can save another twenty reels on Instagram. But mastery starts somewhere else. It starts when you understand what rate does. What a long exhale does. What a hold does. What fast breathing does. What CO₂ does. What happens when we breathe under pressure. What happens when we change the breath deliberately. And when it is better not to change it at all.
That is also one of the reasons Mastering The Breath is in my Field Picks. Not because it is "another breathwork course", but because it tries to build a language.
Dan Brulé and his influence on the breathwork at Quantum Healing Field
Almost 90% of my work today involves breathing in one form or another.
Sometimes it is only a few minutes of regulation. Sometimes the breath is the way into meditation. Sometimes it prepares someone for BQH. Sometimes it joins work with the body, trauma and integration. And sometimes it becomes a whole session in itself.
That is also why I rebuilt the breathwork page on this site, where I explain the difference between conscious breathing, slow breathing, extended exhale, connected breathing, circular breathing, rebirthing, pranayama, box breathing, breathing in tantra and other methods.
And here, on Dan's page, we stay with the teacher and his courses. That is the right division: our service page is the breathwork authority page, Dan's page is the provider page, and Mastering The Breath is the course itself.
The course
Mastering The Breath — the flagship course I study myself
The main course I currently recommend from Dan Brulé's work is Mastering The Breath. It is built as a comprehensive digital programme that starts from the fundamentals and goes on to techniques, protocols, physiology, practice, states of consciousness and integration.
According to the current course material, the programme includes 6 modules and 35 sub-modules, 120+ video lessons, 45+ guided audio practices, 25+ video/animation practices, 42+ illustrations and learning frameworks, two full breathwork sessions, three worksheets and a certificate of completion.
And this matters a great deal to me: it is not a course where you watch Dan talk for an hour and then get on with your life. There is a lot of practice in it.
What you get
- 6 core modules — the path runs from meeting the breath to building a personal practice and integration
- 120+ video lessons — relatively short lessons, each focused on one idea, technique or distinction
- 45+ audio practices — guided practices you can put on and follow
- 25+ animation practices — breathing exercises with a visual rhythm, for people who learn better by seeing
- 2 full sessions — the source material includes two complete practices of around 45–60 minutes
- 42+ illustrations and frameworks — a significant part of the course is built on visual explanation rather than words alone
- 3 worksheets — mainly in the more advanced parts, where you begin to build and combine exercises
- Certificate of completion — on finishing the lessons and practices the provider offers a Certificate of Completion. This is a course-completion certificate, not a medical licence and not a clinical qualification.
The six modules
Module 1 · Introduction To The Breath — meeting the breath again. This is where Dan tries something interesting: getting us to stop taking the breath for granted. The module deals with the relationship between breathing patterns, arousal, the nervous system, emotional state, attention and habit. It also goes into heart rate variability, regulation, interoception and the way changing the breath can affect inner sensation.
The original page uses some very strong claims here — some of them too medical for me — so I present it differently: not "the breath heals everything", but the breath is one of the variables we can change voluntarily, and therefore worth understanding.
Module 2 · How To Breathe — not one "correct breath", but building an understanding around patterns, rate, depth, holds, nose and mouth breathing, and what happens when you change them.
Module 3 · Understanding Breathwork — moving from the idea of an "exercise" to a wider understanding of breathwork as a field. Why do different methods create different experiences? What is the difference between calming work and activating work? And what are we doing when we change the breath deliberately?
Module 4 · Breathwork Protocols — here you start working in a more structured way with different sequences. The aim is not just to know another technique, but to understand which tool is used in which state.
Module 5 · Breath Mastery — building a personal language with the breath. This is one of the parts of the course idea I like most. Instead of staying a student following instructions, you begin to understand how to combine principles and build a practice to suit a purpose. The course worksheets live in this area and allow you to experiment and build personal exercises.
Module 6 · Implementation & Integration — turning knowledge into practice. Because a breathing course that does not enter your life is another course sitting in a user account. The last part is meant to connect all the knowledge to practice: when to use what, how to practise, how to get breathing into a real day.
What Dan Brulé teaches about "correct breathing"
One of the interesting parts of the Shut Up & Breathe bonus is precisely the idea that there is no single formula called "correct breathing". The material deals, among other things, with physical tension, over-breathing, the importance of carbon dioxide, the Bohr effect, nitric oxide, deliberate sighing, and different ways of using the breath according to the situation.
That connects exactly to the approach I want to bring to our own breathwork page: do not turn one technique into a religion. Learn the map.
The bonuses that come with Mastering The Breath
The source material currently presents five main bonuses.
- Shut Up & Breathe — another digital book by Dan setting out his basic principles for breathwork
- Breath & Breathing VIP Newsletter — access to the newsletter where he continues to send techniques, ideas and protocols
- Breath Hold Challenge with Stig Severinsen — a seven-day breath-holding challenge led by Stig Severinsen, freediving world champion and Guinness record holder
- Exclusive Support Line — access to the support team around the course
- Community Group — a community of students progressing through the programme together
What well-known people in the field say about Dan
I do not like building a page on celebrity endorsements alone, but in this case they do give interesting context.
"Breath is the ultimate key to your well-being… & Dan Brulé is the master to show you how. I love his teaching & it's made a huge impact on my life."
Tony Robbins
"Dan Brulé is a true master & deeply inspiring."
Mark Divine, PhD, retired Navy SEAL commander, founder of SEALFIT
"If you have the chance to train with Dan, I highly endorse all his work. He is truly a master of breathwork."
Stig Severinsen, four-time freediving world champion, Guinness record holder
"He weaves together breathing physiology, psychology & spirituality in uniquely practical ways that most anyone can learn."
Peter M. Litchfield, PhD
And what do the course's students say?
Here there is a great deal of material. The line that recurs in the reviews is not only "it changed my life", but things far more interesting to me: the course is well built; there is a combination of theory and practice; the explanations are short and clear; it is easy to return to the material; there is a wide range of techniques; and even people who have already studied breathing find new material in it.
For example, Csilla Gal describes the course as one of the best learning experiences she has had, and Jossie Angeles, already a certified circular-breathing facilitator, wrote that she was looking for a broader picture of techniques and breaths and found it in the course. Martina Esberger Chowdhury highlights the clear structure, the short lessons and Dan's breathing demonstrations.
Those are the reviews I would put at the top. Not the one promising that trauma vanished overnight.
Price, access and guarantee
At the time the material was checked, Mastering The Breath is offered at $97. The provider's page states a total value of $2,120 and frames that as a 95.4% discount; that is the provider's valuation, not an independent valuation by Quantum Healing Field.
The package currently also includes immediate digital access, lifetime access under the provider's terms, future updates of the course version, a 60-day refund guarantee under the provider's terms, and support and community.
Prices, bonuses and policies can change, so before buying it is always worth checking the current terms on the provider's page.
What they teach
His story starts long before breathwork became a trend
One of the things I like about his story is that he did not start as a brand.
By Dan's own account, his childhood included a simple moment in a Catholic school where he heard the story of the "breath of life" from Genesis, and the idea that life enters the body through the breath stayed with him. Later, as a US Navy medical diver experiencing situations where breathing became very concrete — including near-drowning — the curiosity turned into a deep occupation.
From there he went on to explore almost every possible direction. Qi Gong teachers in China. Yogis in India. Dojos. Monasteries. Western and Eastern work. Breathing for performance. Breathing for meditation. Breathing for states of consciousness. Breathing as a tool for everyday life.
He describes more than fifty years of study moving between methods, schools, traditions and approaches, trying to understand not only "how to breathe" but what different kinds of breathing do, and why.
The art, the science and the spirit of the breath
One of the things that most characterises Dan Brulé is that he does not stay in one camp.
Not only physiology. Not only yoga. Not only meditation. Not only performance. And not only spirituality.
He connects several worlds. For me, that is both the advantage and the place where discernment is needed.
When Dan talks about CO₂, the Bohr effect, nitric oxide or over-breathing, those things can be checked with the tools of physiology. When he talks about prana, Spirit, altered states or "spiritual breathing", that is already experiential and spiritual language.
I love both worlds. I simply do not mix them as though they were the same kind of knowledge.
If breathing has gone from something that happens on its own to something you want to understand
That, for me, is the point where Dan Brulé becomes interesting.
Not when someone promises that breathing will solve every problem. But when you stop thinking of it as the background to life and start seeing how much information, habit and pattern sit inside that simple action.
We do it roughly every moment. When we are stressed it changes. When we fall asleep it changes. When we are excited it changes. And when we learn to work with it consciously, we get a tool that is with us almost everywhere.
Maybe that is why I keep studying the field. And maybe that is also why Dan has kept teaching it for more than fifty years.
Get to know Mastering The Breath →
Dan Brulé's books
Over the years Dan has written several books and booklets around the breath, the best known being:
- Just Breathe — Master Breathwork for Success in Life, Love, Business and Beyond
- Shut Up & Breathe
- A Formula for Transformation
- The Principles of Breath Therapy
- Zen & the Art of Breathing
- Stress & Breathing
- A Brief Introduction to Chinese Medical Breathing Exercises
- The Art & Science of Breathwork
- Spiritual Breathing
What they do well
He teaches judgement, not tricks
The thing I keep returning to in his material is the part about when not to push: how to read a body that has had enough, how to tell a release from a strain, when a slow quiet breath is the right answer and the big cathartic session is simply the wrong tool.
Almost nothing else in the field spends time there, and it is the part you need most if you are ever going to do this with another person.
Breadth almost nobody else has
Pranayama, Russian medical breathing, Middle Eastern and Asian practices, conscious connected breathing, breath-holding, spiritual breathing. He spent five decades collecting these from the traditions they belong to rather than rebranding one of them.
That is why his teaching can answer which method, for whom, and when — a question a single-method training structurally cannot answer.
It is a library, not a workshop
A weekend intensive gives you an experience and a handout. This is material you work through at your own pace and come back to in three years when someone in front of you presents something you have not met before. Lifetime access and free updates are part of that, and you cannot re-attend a weekend when you need it.
The price, which is the part that does not make sense
All of these are his own published figures. Private coaching with him is $10,000. A week-long training or retreat is $8,000 a person. A day of corporate training is $10,000–$12,000. Much of the video inside Mastering The Breath was recorded at a six-month practitioner training that people paid $2,500 to attend.
That same material, as a programme you keep: $97. All seven programmes together, the Legacy Collection: $397.
I am not going to pretend to explain it. What I can tell you is that the discount runs under a limited-time banner, and that a price like that is a decision someone makes and can unmake.
What to weigh before you commit
The sales page promises things this site does not
I am recommending the teaching. I am not recommending the marketing around it, and you should see it before you meet it.
His pages describe breathwork as "a natural alternative to therapy/medication". They say it will "greatly lower your risk of sickness or disease" and help you "live up to 5 years longer". Breath & Body has a module called "Breathwork For Weight Loss & Disease" and says conditions "can even be healed entirely" by retraining your breathing.
Quantum Healing Field does not make any of those claims and does not endorse them. Breathing well is good for you, it affects the nervous system in measurable ways, and it is not a treatment for disease and not a substitute for medication. If you take medication, keep taking it. If something needs diagnosing, that belongs with a doctor.
If you want someone to promise you that breathing will "heal" an illness, erase trauma or replace medicines — that is not how I want to present it here. The provider's original page uses some of that phrasing. I do not.
The numbers on his own pages disagree with each other
One page says 100,000 students in 100+ countries; another says 300,000 in 75+; the current course material says 250,000 in 67+. One lists 50+ video lessons and its own FAQ says 150+.
None of this changes whether the teaching is good. It does tell you the pages were written to sell rather than to be precise, which is worth knowing before you read any specific figure as a promise.
It is self-paced, in English, and nobody is waiting for you
There is no live cohort, no scheduled call, no teacher who notices you stopped. Lifetime access is a real advantage and it is also the reason unfinished online courses exist. If you only finish things with a date and a room, a live training is the better buy even at ten times the price.
Breathwork has real contraindications
Strong breathing practices are not for everyone. If you are pregnant, or you have a cardiovascular condition, epilepsy, severe asthma, retinal detachment, uncontrolled high blood pressure, a history of psychosis, or you are in an acute phase of post-traumatic stress — get professional advice first, and go slowly.
I earn a commission
Field Picks is the recommendations and curation area of Quantum Healing Field. This page includes affiliate links. If you buy through one, I may receive a commission from the provider at no extra cost to you. I study Dan Brulé's work myself, and the recommendation here is based on my familiarity with the material and not on the size of the commission.
Who this suits
Anyone who wants to understand breathwork beyond a handful of exercises
Yoga and meditation practitioners who want to widen their breathing vocabulary
Coaches and facilitators who want to understand the tools they already meet
Anyone curious about the connection between breath, body, energy, focus and state of consciousness
Beginners — it is built so you can start from the basics
People already working with breath, who can choose where to go deeper
Common questions
Who is Dan Brulé?
Dan Brulé is a teacher and author in the field of breathwork, active since the 1970s. He has taught hundreds of thousands of students over the years, written books on the subject and run trainings and workshops around the world.
What is Breath Mastery?
It is the name Dan uses for a broad approach in which you do not learn only one technique, but develop an understanding of different breathing patterns and how to use them according to the situation and the goal.
What is Mastering The Breath?
It is his main digital course, built from six modules and including more than 120 video lessons, dozens of audio and video practices, full sessions, illustrations and worksheets.
Do I need previous experience?
No. The course is built to start from the fundamentals and progress gradually.
Is there a certificate?
Yes, the provider offers a Certificate of Completion to anyone who completes the materials and practices. It is a completion certificate, not a therapeutic licence.
How long do I have access?
According to the terms shown in the current material, the purchase includes lifetime access and future updates of the course.
What does it cost?
The price shown in the current material is $97. The price and the bonuses may change, so check the provider's page at the time you sign up.
Is there a guarantee?
The provider's page currently shows 60 days for a refund in line with their policy.
Is this a practitioner training?
I would not present it that way. The course gives a Certificate of Completion. Dan has run deeper trainings over the years, but Mastering The Breath itself should be presented here as a comprehensive learning course.
Does breathwork replace medical or psychological treatment?
No. Breathwork can be a complementary practice for wellbeing, awareness and personal practice, but it is not a substitute for medicine, psychotherapy or clinical respiratory care.
Why does Nitzan recommend Dan Brulé?
Because I study his work myself. The recommendation here is not based only on marketing material or on an affiliate commission, but on my familiarity with the way he teaches breathwork and Breath Mastery.
Some links on this page carry a commission arrangement, marked individually beside each pick. Commission does not decide what is listed here, or in what order.
The room he actually works in
An interview about the years working with Tony Robbins — the part of his history that explains the reach.
Where to go from here
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All Field Picks
Teachers and courses I have learned from myself. Affiliate links are marked as such.
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My own training and studies
Where I trained, with whom, and what each certificate actually covers.
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Sessions I offer
Every session I offer — what happens in it, who it suits, and how long it takes.
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