Ed's Story
I am a certified Oxygen Advantage Functional Breath Coach on a mission to help one million individuals transform their lives through the power of breathwork.
​
Like I did for myself.
​
I had been aware of the powers of breathwork since my teenage years when I was using my breath to maximise my performance on and off the football pitch.
​
However, it wasn't until the Global Lockdown in 2020 that I had the opportunity to delve deeper.
​
Around five years ago, I used to spend 95% of my waking day either anxious or stressed.
​
I was drinking too much, smoking too much, working a 9-5 that I had no passion in, getting minimal sleep, and doing no exercise at any point during the week.
​
If you could create a formula that would undoubtedly lead to both mental and physical burnout, the list above would provide some pretty good foundations for these two diseases to take control.
​
And of course, it did.
​
My anxiety levels were massively increasing and as someone who’d never really experienced anxiety, I craved “normality”.
​
As I look back at this period of my life, it may sound strange but I am truly grateful for it.
It made me realise that my habits were destroying me and that things needed to change ASAP.
​
I knew it was time to take action.
​
There is one quote that has stuck with me from this period in my life:
‘No one is coming to save you. You are 100% responsible for your life.’
​
So I decided to save myself.
​
Why Breathwork?
​
I started looking everywhere for a way to switch my habits and take control of my life again.
And the more I searched, the more I was coming back to breathwork.
​
I was first properly introduced to conscious breathing or breathwork during my teenage years and more specifically, playing high-level soccer in the UK.
​
My coach introduced me to a simple and easy breathwork technique.
​
He outlined that when we stepped on the pitch, we caught eye contact with our direct opponent and practised three slow and calm cycles of the technique.
​
Lo and behold, the technique worked as expected as an on-demand kill switch for any stress or pre-match anxiety.
​
It allowed my mind to be free and focus on the game.
​
To be present and forget all my worries off the pitch.
​
From that moment onwards, I was hooked on the power breathwork had on me.
I would be so nervous and about to start a big game.
​
Then, after a few cycles of practice, I’d be in the zone.
​
I knew there was more to this and other ways breathwork could enhance my life outside of the football pitch.
This is where I discovered how I could use breathwork to help manage my stress and anxiety, help me sleep better, and improve my athletic performance both on and off the pitch.
​
The beauty of breathwork is that all that needs to happen is for me to take conscious control of my breath.
​
That may be me stopping on the platform waiting for the train and doing a cycle of box breaths.
​
Stuck in traffic practicing some Physiological Sighs.
During a run noticing the rhythm and depth of my breathing.
​
Anything as simple as the examples above is breathwork and that is the beauty of it.
​
Through these years of personal practice and a deeper understanding of the power of breathwork, in September 2023, I became a certified Oxygen Advantage Functional Breath Coach to achieve my goal of helping 1 million individuals transform their lives using the power of breathwork.
​
Breathwork is now one of the key parts of my and all my client's day.
​
But let’s be honest.
​
It’s all well and good showing my wins.
​
The real question is, will breathwork work for you?
​
Luckily you are in the right place to find out.
​
​
Ed's Threads
See below for a selection of Ed's most useful Twitter threads around breathwork, high performance and self-development.
How to Stimulate the Vagus Nerve
How to Stimulate the Vagus Nerve The Power of Humming Breathwork
A Sleep Hack to Help You Fall Asleep in Seconds
Make sure to drop me a follow if you enjoyed these threads!