DAN BRULÉ’S BREATH MASTERY FUNDAMENTALS WORKBOOK INFO ON FLIP CHARTS Breath Therapy Basics: 1. The breathing system needs to be healed. It needs to be restored to its full free natural functioning. 2. Once the breathing system has been healed or restored, it becomes a therapeutic tool. The Breathwork Mantra: 1. Open and expand (inhale) 2. Relax and let go (exhale) 2 Breath Mastery Fundamentals TABLE OF CONTENTS Breath Mastery Fundamentals Day 1 .................................................................................................................. 4 Module 1: Open and Expand, Relax and Let Go & Breath Therapy .................................................................... 5 Module 2: The Student-Teacher Relationship & Freedom and Safety .............................................................. 13 Module 3: Breath Awareness & Conscious Breathing ......................................................................................... 17 Module 4: The Principles of Breath Therapy ........................................................................................................ 22 Module 5: Conscious Breathing and Two Core Techniques ............................................................................... 26 Module 6: Sigh of Relief and Yawning ................................................................................................................... 32 Module 7: Formula of Transformation .................................................................................................................. 38 Module 8: The 3 Cornerstones of Breathwork ..................................................................................................... 41 Module 9: The Basic Series and the Triangle Breath ........................................................................................... 45 Module 10: Nose & Mouth Breathing .................................................................................................................... 55 Module 11: Diaphragmatic Breathing ................................................................................................................... 62 Module 12: Eight Paths in Breathwork .................................................................................................................. 67 Breath Mastery Fundamentals Day 2 ................................................................................................................ 70 Module 13: Three Questions to Ask a Client......................................................................................................... 71 Module 14: Getting Caught up in the Complexity of a Practice ......................................................................... 74 Module 15: The Three Convergences in Breathwork; Consciousness and the Mind ...................................... 77 Module 16: Balance in your Breathing Practice ................................................................................................... 85 Module 17: Chinese Medical Breathing Exercises ............................................................................................... 88 Module 18: Zen and the Art of Breathing ............................................................................................................. 95 Module 19: Sufi Breathing .................................................................................................................................... 100 Module 20: Shamanic Breathing Exercise ........................................................................................................... 105 Breath Mastery Fundamentals Day 3 .............................................................................................................. 107 Module 21: Vivation: The Skill of Happiness ....................................................................................................... 108 Module 22: The Four Dimensions of Awareness ............................................................................................... 119 Module 23: Internal Awareness ........................................................................................................................... 126 Module 24: Cycles and The Hero's Journey ........................................................................................................ 134 Module 25: Q&A ..................................................................................................................................................... 139 3 Breath Mastery Fundamentals BREATH MASTERY FUNDAMENTALS DAY 1. BREATH MASTERY FUNDAMENTALS MODULE 1. Open & Expand, Relax & Let Go & Breath Therapy 5 MODULE 1: Open & Expand, Relax & Let Go & Breath Therapy 6 Breath Mastery Fundamentals MODULE 1: Open & Expand, Relax & Let Go & Breath Therapy 1. The first three days are the Foundation Course 2. The next three days are an Advanced Training 3. The next step after that is a One-Year Practitioner Program 4. The step after that is the Apprenticeship Program (Training Trainers) The world needs more breathworkers. Breathing is the next major key skillset that high performing individuals need to have. Breathwork is the new yoga! It is modern meditation. Breathing is waking up in the mass consciousness; in our collective consciousness. Conscious breathing is the transformational tool of our day. I believe there is an angel of breath alive on the planet because we are at a huge turning point. Global changes are taking place. There is an acceleration, an intensification. We are on the verge of an evolutionary leap in consciousness, in human potential. As we approach that shift, things get very intense and the breath is a perfect tool for dealing with that intensity. If there is one theme that has been universal for the more than 40 years I have taught Breathwork, it is that change is the common denominator. People are intuitively drawn to the breath when they: • Desire change. • Are about to go through a change. • Are recovering from a change. • Are in the middle of change. Breathing is the ideal tool, a bridge or force for navigating change. When you change the way you breathe, you change something so primal and fundamental that the effects carry over onto every other level of your being. If you are trying to change something in yourself and you haven’t explored your ability to change your breathing patterns, this is the first place to start. If you can’t change your breathing patterns and breathing habits, good luck trying to change anything else! But if you can change something as primal and fundamental as your breathing, then changing anything else suddenly becomes easier. Breathwork defined: “Breathwork is the art and science of applying breath awareness and conscious breathing as a tool−a force, a bridge−for health, growth and change in body, mind and spirit.” 7 Breath Mastery Fundamentals MODULE 1: Open & Expand, Relax & Let Go & Breath Therapy Breathwork is an art and a science. We have quite a bit of poetic or creative license because it’s an art. And applying the scientific approach to Breathwork helps to ensure that what we do actually works. For example, I have trained members of elite special forces, hostage extraction and anti-terrorists teams. If Breathwork didn’t work, they would have no interest in it. When the work involves life or death situations, no one is interested in woo-woo, philosophical stuff. People who work in high stakes, life or death situations, are trained to breathe. The average person is left to their own devices. I consider this to be unfair, because what happens in the boardroom is often just as important as what happens on the battlefield or in the bedroom, in the kitchen, the ring, the playing field or the classroom. We all deserve the same advantage. The synopsis of my book, JUST BREATHE, is based on the idea that the high states and extraordinary abilities that we normally associate only with the great masters, saints, gurus, mystics and the legendary warriors of modern and ancient times—those same abilities and high states are accessible to anyone. (And not necessarily through years of practice or training that involves very high risks.) I assure you that it is not necessary to meditate in a cave for 20 years, or crawl through the desert on your knees for 100 miles, to achieve enlightenment. Those ways and methods might have worked in the past, and for some people, but we live in different times. Time itself seems to be accelerating. Evolution is accelerating and so must be the methods that we use and turn to. I honor and respect the ancient traditions, but it is not my job to preserve them. In fact, very often, my job is to destroy them, rebuild or reshape them to suit the needs of our time. I have been kicked out of many schools and have outgrown almost every teacher I’ve found. I have been ostracized and I have voluntarily bailed out of a number of communities. I like that and I have no problem with it. It’s something that suits me. One of my favorite teachers was Swami Rama. For those of you who are in the practitioner program, his books are required reading: The Science of Breath and The Path of Fire and Light. He was my pranayama teacher for a time. Swami Rama was very dogmatic/traditional and he reminded me of my Catholic school teachers, although he came from India. It was his job, his mission, to preserve a tradition; to stay pure to a tradition, to embody that tradition and to pass it on in a pure way. That is not my job. I learned a lot from him and