Breathwork Course

We're Ryan and Shelby, and we run Liquid Breathwork training: three days in person (24 hours, up to 20 students per cohort) or the 12-week online cohort on its own, from $1,497. From 2027, the in-person training includes the online cohort at no extra cost.

What Is a Breathwork Course?

Intro courses teach box breathing, 4-7-8 breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, and extended exhales for stress, sleep, anxiety, and focus. Deeper courses add conscious connected breathing, somatic Breathwork, trauma-informed facilitation, music sequencing, consent, touch ethics, and integration support.

Breathwork Course vs Breathwork Training

Most schools use the two words for the same thing. When we say training, we mean you guide real people while an instructor watches.

Path	Best For	What It Should Include
Intro Breathwork course	Your own stress, sleep, or focus practice	Box breathing, 4-7-8, safety basics, a daily routine
Online Breathwork course	Learning on your own schedule	Technique, nervous system basics, practice prompts
Breathwork facilitator training	Private sessions or group circles	Facilitation, contraindications, ethics, integration
Breathwork teacher training	Classes at yoga studios, retreats, or offices	Sequencing, group leadership, safety, teaching skills
Somatic Breathwork training	Body-based emotional work	Nervous system awareness, trauma-informed support
Liquid Breathwork training	Leading deep sessions for others	3 days in person or 12 weeks online, RN-taught clinical science, mentorship

What Should a Good Breathwork Course Include?

Technique Variety

Coherent breathing, breath holds, circular breathing, pranayama-inspired patterns, and recovery breath each do a different job. Slow nasal breathing can calm the nervous system. Conscious connected breathing can bring up emotion, memory, or altered states. Breath holds can shift carbon dioxide tolerance. A good course tells you which to pick for a client who can't sleep and which to skip for one who is pregnant.

Nervous System Science

The syllabus should name the autonomic nervous system, sympathetic and parasympathetic states, vagal tone, carbon dioxide tolerance, and respiratory alkalosis. When someone starts tingling or trembling, the facilitator should know what is likely happening and keep the person safe without diagnosing.

Safety and Contraindications

If a course skips contraindications, walk away. The list should include pregnancy, cardiovascular conditions, uncontrolled high blood pressure, history of seizures, recent surgery, severe asthma or respiratory conditions, glaucoma or retinal issues, acute psychiatric instability, recent trauma without proper support, and substance use or altered-state vulnerability.

A trained facilitator screens for these, modifies the practice, refers out when needed, and stays inside scope of practice.

Trauma-Informed Facilitation

The student consents, sets the pace, and decides how far to go, with grounding when needed. Nobody gets pushed to breathe harder or perform a release.

Live Practice and Feedback

In our experience, nobody learns to hold space from a video. In the room you learn to spot someone dissociating, bracing, or dropping into surrender while an instructor watches.

Online Breathwork Course: Is It Enough?

Online works for personal practice and rarely for guiding deep sessions. Anatomy, contraindications, sequencing, and ethics teach fine online. Reading another person's breath and body in real time does not, so look for live practice with feedback. Ours runs two ways: three days in person with hands-on practice, or a 12-week online cohort with live weekly group calls. From 2027, the in-person training includes the online cohort.

Breathwork Facilitator Training vs Breathwork Teacher Training

A Breathwork teacher explains techniques and leads classes: a Tuesday yoga studio slot, a retreat morning, a corporate lunch session. A facilitator also holds space for emotional release, altered states, somatic processing, and integration. Both need a clear line where Breathwork ends and therapy, medicine, or clinical care begins.

Who Is a Breathwork Course Best For?

A basic course fits beginners working on stress or sleep, and athletes working on recovery. Breathwork facilitator training fits people who will breathe with others: yoga, meditation, and sound healing teachers, massage therapists, nurses, counselors, retreat leaders, and coaches.

What Makes Liquid Breathwork Training Different?

Ryan McBurney, founder and lead facilitator, has 8 years in this work. Shelby Von Oepen, RN, BSN teaches alongside him, and her 14 years of nursing add a layer of clinical safety. In-person cohorts cap at 20, and every student facilitates with feedback, and mentorship continues after the in-person training. Liquid Breathwork has 72 students enrolled.

Surrender-Based Breathwork vs Cathartic Breathwork

Cathartic trainings push for a "breakthrough" with loud music and forceful breathing. We teach surrender-based Breathwork and never coach anyone to force emotion. A session might bring tears or nothing dramatic at all.

How Much Does a Breathwork Course Cost?

Short online Breathwork courses run under $100, deeper ones a few hundred dollars. Professional Breathwork facilitator training runs $1,000 to $10,000 or more, set by hours, in-person time, and mentoring. Liquid Breathwork training starts at $1,497. The online cohort is $1,497 early bird through January 1, 2027, then $1,797.

Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Breathwork Course

1. How many total hours are included, and how many in person?
2. Is there live practice or only prerecorded content?
3. Who teaches the clinical science, and what is their license?
4. How many students are in each cohort?
5. Is the method cathartic, surrender-based, therapeutic, or performance-based?
6. Does it fit my current scope of practice?
7. How many times will I facilitate while an instructor watches?

Frequently Asked Questions