Breathwork · Mindfulness · Movement
Slow, deliberate breathing changes measurable things. CO₂ tolerance, vagal tone, how fast you recover from stress. I've practised and taught this for twenty years, and I publish everything I know for free on YouTube. Below you'll find four ways to learn, from free videos to training with me live. Take only the depth you need.
01 Choose your depth
Everything I teach rests on the same foundations. What changes is how much structure you want, and how much of me you want alongside you. Start free, go deeper when it helps, step back when it doesn't. Nothing here is a funnel.
All the core teaching, free. A new YouTube video most weeks, a 15-day breathwork course by email, and the weekly BreathNotes letter. For many people this is enough, and that's a good outcome.
Practice with people around you. A calm community, two signature courses, a library of 100+ guided sessions, and weekly live classes. The structure that turns techniques into a daily habit.
Explore Breath Rituals →All six of my courses in one enrolment, from Breathwork Foundations to the Hormesis Method. Self-paced, no subscription, yours to keep. The deepest self-study path I offer.
See the six courses →The closest we get to working together. Five weekly live sessions in a small group, personal coaching and feedback on your practice, and a daily challenge between sessions. Seats stay limited so the coaching stays personal.
Join the next cohort →Not sure? Start free. If the practice helps, the right depth becomes obvious on its own.
02 Try it now
This pacer breathes at the rhythm I use to settle my own nervous system. Four seconds in through the nose, a short hold, six seconds out.
The long exhale is the point. It nudges the vagus nerve, and heart rate follows within a breath or two. You don't have to believe that. Just try five rounds and notice what your shoulders do.
03 Why it works
Breathing is the one autonomic function you can steer on purpose. That makes it a handle on systems you normally can't reach, and the research on how is surprisingly clear.
Exhaling slower than you inhale activates the vagus nerve, the main brake on your stress response. Heart rate drops within a couple of breaths. It's the fastest lever you have on your own state, and it works mid-meeting, mid-argument, mid-race.
The urge to breathe comes mostly from rising CO₂, not falling oxygen. Training your tolerance raises the point where your body sounds the alarm. That shows up as steadiness, in cold water, hard training, and stressful rooms.
Slow breathing around six breaths a minute raises heart-rate variability, a marker of how flexibly your nervous system shifts between effort and rest. Practised daily, it improves sleep, recovery, and the quality of your attention.
Ancient breathing traditions found all of this by feel, centuries before the instruments existed to measure it. I teach both sides, and when they disagree, I say so.
04 Start free, by email
A short lesson each morning for fifteen days. Breath awareness first, then the techniques, then a routine that fits your life. Most lessons take under ten minutes.
One specific idea per week, with the mechanism before the practice. Plus invites to occasional free live breathing sessions I don't announce anywhere else.
05 About
I spent twenty years teaching traditional martial arts before breathwork became my main work. Somewhere along the way I noticed the old breathing practices and the new nervous-system research were describing the same thing in different languages, so I built my teaching where they overlap. I call that method Hormetic Breathwork.
Since then I've guided thousands of students and coaches through practices that strengthen focus, emotional steadiness, and presence. Not by escaping stress, but by training the body to meet it.
I'm not a guru and I'm not selling transcendence. I'm a practitioner who is a few steps ahead on the same path, sharing what holds up when you test it.
— Kitaro
06 From students
“My ever-present waves of anxiety and depression are gone almost entirely. I have a new level of awareness now; I practice daily.”
“Kitaro's course has been a fantastic way to grow my skills at centering and grounding myself. Approachable, self-paced, and easy to use.”
“I recently completed Kitaro's Master Breathwork and Mindfulness Course, and it has been a transformative experience.”
“Kitaro's breathwork courses have been invaluable in helping me maintain a mindful and disciplined approach to working from home.”
07 When you're ready
Watch free, practise with the Breath Rituals community, own the courses, or train with me live for five weeks. And if you never buy anything at all, watch the videos and breathe well. That's a good outcome too.
Questions? I'm one email away · kitaro@kitarowaga.com