Questions from the Field - Breathwork Facilitator Q&A
Your questions, answered
I recently asked aspiring and existing breathwork facilitators on Instagram if they had any burning questions for me. The response was brilliant. Rather than cramming my thoughts into 15-second sound bites, I wanted to give these important topics the proper breathing room they deserve on Substack. Some common threads emerged that make this a particularly timely piece to write.
Disclaimer: Every answer here reflects my personal perspective and experience. Now, let's dive in.
Q: How do I go about finding my niche?
This is my absolute favourite question because it touches something I feel passionately about. First, I believe breathwork itself is enough of a niche that we don't need to go hunting for sub-niches where perhaps none naturally exist. Despite the recent boom, we're still in the early days of this space, and there's space for everyone doing authentic work.
But here's the deeper truth: you are your niche. This might sound clichéd, but I mean it wholeheartedly. As a practitioner, educator, or facilitator, your unique voice and approach are what matter most. If you eventually develop a specific focus - breathwork for athletes, for trauma resolution, for new mothers - it will likely emerge from what you authentically connect with and care about, not from market research.
You become a niche of one by knowing exactly who you are, why you do this work, and how you uniquely approach it. There's absolutely room to be inspired by mentors and guides you admire, but if you're trying to be a photocopy of someone else, you're unlikely to reach your full potential.
As the saying goes: "If the path in front of you is clear, it's probably someone else's." Naval Ravikant puts it beautifully: "Escape competition through authenticity." Become the absolute master of being yourself as a practitioner - that's how you'll do your best, most meaningful work.
Q: How can I stay focused on the actual work instead of needing to become a content creator too?
Let's be clear about something we often forget: businesses thrived for a long time without social media. The era of the content creator/founder/coach hybrid is a recent phenomenon. If you don't feel drawn to this aspect of modern business building, that's completely valid - but you'll need to find alternative paths to reach your audience.
This might mean building through referrals, teaching at local studios, and really leaning into the 'analog' expressions of your work. It's challenging and requires genuine mastery, impact, and patience - but it's absolutely possible. One of the most powerful healers I work with has no social media presence, yet I regularly refer clients to her because she's simply that exceptional at what she does.
However, marketing is an inevitable part of building any business. As someone who has built an audience through both social media and in-person experiences, I'm personally an advocate for using social platforms intentionally and strategically. They're powerful tools for discovery, education, and connection - but they remain just that: tools that help share your work and mission with the world.
The key is authenticity in whatever approach you choose.
Q: How do you build a scalable business in health and wellbeing?
This is a massive question that deserves more than a few paragraphs, but I'll share the fundamentals that I believe matter most.
Relentless consistency comes first. I've shown up to move the dial on my goals in some capacity nearly every day for the past seven years - even when "showing up" means taking a rest day. This has never felt like a chore, even during difficult periods, because I'm deeply connected to my 'why.' Purpose and consistency combined are the fundamental building blocks of anything meaningful in this work.
Patience is equally crucial. Many people spend 3-4 years earning a degree they might never use, yet if I told them it could take 3-4 years to establish themselves in breathwork, they'd give up. Every event I've hosted and course I've launched has taught me something about direction, what works, what doesn't, and what aligns with my values. Life and work are constant course-correction exercises - you only learn by starting.
Boundaries become essential as you grow. When you gain clarity through that process of course correction and deep self-knowledge, saying no to opportunities that don't align with your vision becomes easier - even when they seem exciting. This isn't natural for me; I get FOMO and want to do everything. But the clearer I've become about my 'why' and vision, the easier boundary-setting has become.
Regarding scalability: this is entirely personal. What does scale mean to you? For some, it's online courses reaching global audiences with minimal hands-on involvement. For others, it's five deeply transformative retreats per year with smaller groups. We're often sold the dream of mass scale while forgetting it isn't for everyone.
It all returns to knowing yourself and what you want to achieve. For me, it's been a hybrid model: digital offerings for broad reach and in-person experiences for depth and richness. The most scalable business is the one that's sustainable for you over time.
Q: How do I hold space for others while protecting my own energy?
This question signals a highly attuned practitioner. It's easy to throw ourselves into service and facilitation with the best intentions, only to find ourselves exhausted and depleted, wondering what went wrong.
It's not your job to become a martyr, giving so much of yourself in supporting others that you can't hold yourself or show up in your personal relationships. Know where your role and responsibility begins and ends - maintain these boundaries and avoid getting lost in a saviour complex.
This is about energetic hygiene and effectively holding space while maintaining healthy separation between where others end and you begin. My friend Alice Law shared a mantra I use before working with clients: "What's mine is mine and what's yours is yours." I combine this with visualisations and personal practices to create a protective layer that allows me to show up fully without absorbing too much.
Working with your own healers, mentors, and therapists is essential for maintaining energetic hygiene. Finally, doing your own inner work and supporting your nervous system health ensures you can provide a solid, steady foundation for everyone you work with - including yourself.
Q: Where should I begin with teacher training certifications?
Where to begin indeed. The breathwork industry's boom has brought a wide range of certifications - the good, the questionable, and everything in between.
First, get clear on what type of breathwork resonates with you and what you want to share. Experience different styles and facilitators. Certifications vary depending on whether you're interested in functional breathing, performance applications, respiratory science, or conscious connected breathwork.
In my opinion, any quality training should include in-person and/or live coaching elements where possible. We work with people, and beyond knowledge, you need experience actually facilitating for others.
For conscious connected breathwork specifically, I believe good training should span 6-12 months minimum (part-time/hybrid format) and focus on three pillars: theory and education, personal development and integration, and regularly practised and assessed facilitation skills.
I'll be sharing details about my own training programme later this year.
Q: Is the wellness space saturated?
It's certainly busy, but as I mentioned earlier, there's space for people doing genuinely good work. In my opinion, much of the wellness industry isn't fit for purpose—the mass-market, commodified landscape doesn't actually support people in 'being well.'
I believe we're due for a significant shift in how this industry operates. When capitalism meets mental health, strange things happen, and we need a reset.
The opportunity exists for practitioners who prioritise depth over trends, authenticity over algorithm optimisation, and genuine transformation over quick fixes.
That's all for this instalment, but if you have more questions, leave a comment and I'll address them in future pieces!