Master your stress in minutes — using only your breath
Master practical breathing techniques that dissolve stress and sharpen mental focus in minutes a day. No experience needed — just your breath and the willingness to feel better.
"I don't want to give you a routine to follow — I want to give you a skill you'll actually reach for when everything feels like too much."— Mary Johannsen
What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Perform at least 5 distinct breathwork techniques (box breathing, 4-7-8, physiological sigh, and more) from memory
- Instantly down-regulate a stress or anxiety response using breath in under 3 minutes
- Build a consistent 10-minute daily breathwork practice from scratch
- Use activating breath patterns to sharpen pre-work or pre-performance focus
- Understand the nervous-system science behind why each technique works
- Design a personalised breath protocol tailored to your own stress triggers and daily rhythm
How it works
A school that adapts to you
This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.
We learn your level
A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.
Lessons adapt as you go
Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.
Your AI coach keeps you moving
Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.
The curriculum
What's inside your school
5 modules · 16 lessons
The Breathing Body — Science & Self-Awareness
Establishes the essential physiological and neurological foundation before any technique is introduced. Learners build body awareness and understand why breath is such a powerful lever — making every subsequent technique more meaningful and memorable.
- 1.1Your Breath on AutopilotIncluded
- 1.2The Nervous System in Plain EnglishIncluded
- 1.3Breathing Mechanics — Build a Strong FoundationIncluded
Core Calming Techniques — Your Emergency Toolkit
Introduces four evidence-backed down-regulation techniques in a deliberate order: from the most structured and widely known (box breathing) to the fastest-acting (physiological sigh) to the most subtle and HRV-optimised (resonance breathing). By the end, learners can reliably neutralise a stress or anxiety response in under 3 minutes.
- 2.1Box Breathing — The Navy SEAL ResetIncluded
- 2.27-8 Breathing — The Nervous System SedativeIncluded
- 2.3The Physiological Sigh — 5-Second Stress ReliefIncluded
- 2.4Extended Exhale & Resonance BreathingIncluded
Activating Breathwork — Sharpen Focus & Ignite Energy
Shifts gear from down-regulation to up-regulation. Learners acquire energising and focus-sharpening techniques — completing the full palette of 5+ distinct breathwork patterns required by the outcomes — and understand the distinct neurochemical and CO₂/O₂ mechanisms that make activating breath patterns work differently from calming ones.
- 3.1Breath of Fire & Bellows Breath — Instant ActivationIncluded
- 3.2Cyclic Hyperventilation (Wim Hof-Style) — Controlled Power BreathingIncluded
- 3.3Nasal Breathing for Sustained Cognitive PerformanceIncluded
Building Your Daily Practice
Bridges technique knowledge and real-world consistency. Learners design, test, and troubleshoot a structured 10-minute daily breathwork practice, and build flexible micro-practices for when life gets in the way — ensuring the habit survives beyond the course.
- 4.1Designing Your 10-Minute Morning ProtocolIncluded
- 4.2Micro-Practices for Busy SchedulesIncluded
- 4.3Tracking Progress & Troubleshooting ObstaclesIncluded
Personalised Breath Protocols — Your Custom Toolkit
The capstone module. Learners synthesise everything — science, techniques, habit architecture — into a bespoke, written breath protocol tailored to their specific stress triggers, energy rhythms, and life demands. The final lesson ensures the practice grows with the learner rather than stagnating.
- 5.1Mapping Your Stress Triggers & Energy RhythmsIncluded
- 5.2Designing Your Personal Breath ProtocolIncluded
- 5.3The Long Game — Sustaining & Evolving Your PracticeIncluded
Who it's for
Is this you?
The Burnt-Out Professional
You're high-functioning on the outside and running on empty on the inside — box breathing and the personalised protocol module give you a reset you can actually fit between meetings.
The Anxious Parent
When the household is chaos and your nervous system is already fried, the 5-second physiological sigh and micro-practice techniques are the fast relief you can use right now.
The Overwhelmed Student
Pre-exam dread, late-night overthinking, scattered focus — the calming toolkit and nasal breathing for cognitive performance are built exactly for the pressures you're navigating.
The Performance-Minded Athlete
You already train your body hard — activating breathwork like Breath of Fire and cyclic hyperventilation will sharpen your pre-performance mental state and recovery.
The Restless Night-Owl
If your mind refuses to switch off at night, the 4-7-8 technique and extended exhale practices in the calming module are the evidence-backed wind-down tools you've been missing.
The Curiosity-Driven Beginner
You've heard about Wim Hof or box breathing and want to understand the real science — this studio gives you the full picture, from nervous-system basics to building your own custom breath protocol.
Questions
Frequently asked
Your teacher
A note from your teacher
Mary Johannsen
If you're reading this, there's a good chance you already know something is off. Maybe it's the low-grade tension that follows you through the day. The scattered feeling when you sit down to focus. The 2 a.m. loop of thoughts that won't quiet down. You've probably tried things — apps, habits, advice from well-meaning people — and some of it helped a little, but nothing stuck, because nothing felt fast enough or simple enough to actually use in the moment you needed it most.
I've been there. And what changed everything for me wasn't a new morning routine or a productivity system. It was the realisation that I was carrying around the most powerful stress-regulation tool on the planet at all times — and I had no idea how to use it intentionally. Your breath is the only part of your autonomic nervous system you can directly, consciously control. That's not a wellness platitude; that's physiology. And once you understand it, really understand it, you can use it to shift your mental and physical state in minutes — sometimes in seconds.
That's what I built this studio to teach. Not breathwork as a spiritual practice (though it can be that too, if you want), but breathwork as a practical skill — the kind you can pull out at your desk, in the school pickup line, before a difficult conversation, or on the worst morning of a tough week. We start with the science because when you understand why box breathing slows your heart rate or why a double-inhale followed by a long exhale deflates a panic response so fast, you trust the technique. You actually use it. And then we build, step by step, toward a practice that's genuinely yours — mapped to your stress patterns, your schedule, and your goals.
There's no performance required here. You don't have to clear your mind or sit in silence or be good at anything. You just have to breathe, and pay attention, and let the techniques do what they're designed to do. I'll walk you through every single one — when to use it, how it feels in your body, and what's happening under the hood. By the end, you won't be dependent on this course. You'll have your own toolkit, your own protocol, and the understanding to keep evolving it for the rest of your life.
Come as you are. Bring your breath. Let's start there.
— Mary Johannsen
Start your journey today
Join get instant access — learn at your own pace with an AI coach in your corner.
- 5 modules, 16 lessons
- AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
- Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
- Your own AI learning coach
- Learn on any device, at your pace
- Full access for as long as you're subscribed