A Teacher Will Appear When One is Ready to Listen

Breathe with James on Wanderlust TV every Thursday as he takes over the LIVE studio to host "Breathwork for Resilience".

James supports people in moving beyond the conditioning of the mind into an embodied and heartfelt space. After years of practicing meditation with teachers all over Europe, he came across a workshop on conscious connected breathing and knew in his first session that he had found the tool he wanted to share here. Now he spends his time teaching people how to use the power of their breath to alleviate emotional issues, improve their physical health, and connect them to a deeper self-image.

How did you start practicing breath work?

I had practiced meditation for years and when I came back from a silent retreat in Wales, I ended up doing a Conscious Connected Breathing workshop in a yoga studio in London on a Sunday afternoon. I didn't know what it was who the teacher was and I've never been to the yoga studio, but something inside of me told me I had to be there. It blew my mind and in that first session I knew I had found the tool I wanted to share here.

How did your practice develop when you switched from student to teacher?

I don't think the transition from student to teacher changed my practice. I still see myself very much as a student and the transition in the way I teach is better reflected in the growth and journey I am on than the transition from student to teacher. For example, I am including neuroscience and manifestations in my classes right now because I've done that in my personal practices as well.

Her class is called Breathwork for Resilience. Are there certain techniques students should learn to build resilience?

We use the breath as a vehicle to create a mild stress response in the body and better equip the body to deal with stress on a daily basis. These techniques are usually quite quick and often involve using the mouth to breathe to create this activation in the body.

What essence do you hope to gain through practice beyond just watching someone on a screen?

I'm not trying to transfer anything. I only teach one practice that I believe has the ability to greatly improve a person's mental and emotional state. When someone resonates with my energy and the energy of the practice, it is amazing.

What would be the only advice you could give to the Wanderlust TV streamers to deepen the connection with an instructor during online training?

Listen to which teachers they resonate with and spend more time practicing among them and listening to them through things like podcasts. I firmly believe that the relevant teachers will appear in your life if you are willing to listen to what they say and be guided by what they say.

Morning or evening exercise – is one more beneficial than the other?

No It depends on what you need and where you are right now. If you want to generate energy in the body to start the day, your practice will be very different from when you want to relax at the end of the day.

Is there a person, past or present, who made you study and ultimately teach breathwork?

My first mentor, Alan Dolan. It was his breathing workshop that I stumbled into for the first time. An amazing breath worker and an even more amazing person.