BreathHoldWork® is a BreathWork and BreathHoldWork meditation and performance program developed by Erwan Le Corre.

The program is a very unique learning experience that will enable you to discover and harness an UNTAPPED physical and mental, and emotional POTENTIAL that exists within all of us. This is no less than a Personal Transformation program. You will achieve more than reducing your respiratory rate and holding your breath for several minutes, you will also achieve an improved version of who you are, of how you see and live your life.

*BreathWork is the mindful practice of breathing.
*BreathHoldWork is the mindful practice of breath-holding.

The top reported benefits of practitioners of BreathHoldWork are improved physiological health, enhanced emotional resilience, increased mental clarity, and boosted exercise performance.

Breath-centered practices and meditations can be found in many religions including Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Shamanism, and Sufism, as well as in many ancient disciplines such as Yoga, Qigong, and most martial arts. Breathing methods and exercises have been traditionally used to alter consciousness for spiritual purposes, self-discovery, and healing. 

Breathwork is an umbrella term said to have been coined by Stan Grof in the early 1970s and covers a wide range of exercises, methods, and programs typically blending traditional and modern approaches to the practice of breathing.

BreathHoldWork® is a term coined by Erwan Le Corre in 2021 to describe the mindful practice of breath-holding mostly in its static form (while maintaining a still position), but also in its dynamic (while moving) form. BreathHoldWork is typically done on land but can also be done while the body is immersed underwater, ensuring a safety protocol is strictly followed.

While there is no universal definition of the concept of meditation, it is commonly accepted as a mindful practice in which an individual will train their mind to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, or pain and to achieve a mentally clear, emotionally calm, and peaceful state by using diverse techniques that enhance attention and awareness. 

Typically, meditation is done in a stress-free context with slow, mindful breathing used to calm down the nervous system. Such a practice is very beneficial and a part of the BreathHoldWork Meditation, but what sets the BreathHoldWork Meditation apart is twofold:

First, holding one's breath will quickly trigger physiological, psychological, and emotional stress that the mind is forced to address.

Secondly, since the breath is held, slow breathing cannot be used to calm down the nervous system, forcing the mind to find other ways to remain calm.

Even people who have extensive experience with meditation and/or breathwork training will be quickly challenged to maintain stillness, centeredness, clarity, and composure of the mind because of the intensity of the internal stress they experience.

As with any other form of meditation, it is not only possible but also fundamental, to maintain stillness, centeredness, clarity, and composure of the mind during BreathHoldWork practice, however new understanding and specific techniques must be acquired.

The BreathHoldWork® e-course is for everyone and anyone seeking:

• The optimization of their physiological health through the self-regulation of breathing patterns both during practice and after practice.
• The improvement of their mental clarity and emotional well-being.
• The enhancement of their sports/fitness/athletic performance.
• The acquisition of essential conceptual knowledge on a complex, fundamental and fascinating topic.
• The mastery of meditation in a new and powerfully effective way.

No, no experience or prior training is required. The practice is safe, progressive, and enjoyable for novices, breathwork and/or meditation aficionados, and athletes alike.

Erwan Le Corre is founder of MovNat,  "Godfather of Natural Movement" and author of "The Practice of Natural Movement". Erwan holds a US National Record in static breath-holding with a 6 minutes 46 seconds performance. His personal best currently sits at 8 minutes 03 seconds.

Here's an overview of what will be covered in the BreathHoldWork® Meditation Master Class.

• Breathing practice using varied techniques.
• Meditation, visualization, and self-hypnosis techniques.
• "Dry" (on land) static breath-holding drills and sequences on both full and empty lungs.
• Non-nerdy insights about the physiological, neurological, and physio-psychological aspects of breathing and breath-holding. In other words some cool, fascinating scientific stuff!
• Progressions throughout the course, with each new week bringing novel exercises and insights.
• Instruction on exercises to do during and between video modules.

The BreathHoldWork Meditation Master Class is a pre-recorded e-course divided between 4 modules, with each module containing 30+ videos, and totaling over 10+ hours of material.

The course can be viewed on any device - such as a computer, tablet or smartphone - by accessing your account on BreathHoldWork.com. The course contains progressive, drip style modules added every 2 weeks for 8 weeks.

Upon purchase you’ll have access to the first Module and a practice program. Two weeks from purchase, the second module will be unlocked with a new practice program, and so on until the fourth and final module is unlocked.

Each video lesson is between 1-20 minutes long and combines brief lectures with instruction of specific techniques and exercises. There is an average of 2.5 hours of video content for each of the four course modules.

During the lessons, practice time is required to develop understanding and experience through breathing and breath-holding exercises. Additional 15-30 minute long daily practice sessions are strongly recommended between lessons.

The beauty of the e-course is that you can go at your own pace, play/pause/rewind, and review each lesson as many times as you want.  There's no limitation of time to complete the course, which can be completed in more than 8 weeks since you'll have access to a digital copy of it forever.

No specific equipment is required for the course. You will need a comfortable place to sit, kneel or lay down, such as a mat, a futon, a bed, or a couch.

It is optional yet recommended to have a sleep mask (for a mindful practice), a nose clip (to help with holding air in your lungs), and/or a pulse oximeter (to monitor your oxygen blood level), which are inexpensive and may aid you in your practice. All three items can be acquired for less than $100 in total.

We also recommend keeping a notebook or journal to take notes and track your progress.

The e-course will lead you through the fundamental knowledge and practice of breath-holding and meditation while holding one’s breath.

You can expect to:

• Reset your reflexive breathing pattern to a much slower respiratory rate at rest, boost your cellular respiration as well as rewire your nervous system, bringing energy levels, positivity, and focus to your day-to-day life that you've never experienced before.
• Discover practical methods to release anxiety and negativity while rebalancing your nervous system and emotional state which will enable you to experience profound relaxation.
• Acquire an in-depth understanding of the physiological and neurological impact of breathing, breath-holding, and mindfulness.
• Ultimately, and even though it isn't the primary goal of the BreathHoldWork Meditation, you may break a personal record for the longest time you've ever held your breath.
  At the end of the program students typically multiply by two to four their maximum breath hold time compared to what they could achieve before the course.

Absolutely not. The beauty of the BreathHoldWork® meditation is that you'll start at a level that is very comfortable to you, which often makes the holds surprisingly motivating and enjoyable. You will learn powerful, effective mental techniques to steadily increase your trust and relaxation in the breath-holding experience. As your experience, trust and relaxation improve, the level of challenge will increase through gentle progressions. This is to ensure that your individual level of challenge is neither too easy nor too hard, but adapted to your personal ability at any given time.

No, it is quite the contrary. Prolonged breath-holding is known to activate beneficial physiological and neurological adaptations, starting with improved cellular oxygenation.

Brief bouts of mildly decreased blood oxygen level boost the body to strengthen its ability to oxygenate. Brain oxygenation is also increased. The brain is extremely effective at protecting itself and the reason why blood oxygen level may slightly decrease for briefs amounts of time is because the brain starts receiving more oxygen than any other organ or body tissue when we hold our breath.

No, the course is only accessible through your BreathHoldWork® account. You must be logged in to your BreathHoldWork® account and connected to the internet to access the course.

The course covers a wide range of information, techniques, and practices. Once you've completed the course you’ll be fully equipped with all you need to greatly improve relaxation and hold time from a meditation standpoint.

For anyone looking to break personal breath-holding records, there will be a BreathHoldWork Performance e-course or we will have an option for individual online coaching and programming.

The course is $495.00 USD.

No, never practice BreathHoldWork while immersed in water unless you are under the supervision of a person qualified and properly to respond in an emergency.