Many of the students in our Phoenix Breathwork certification training are yoga teachers.
What Is Yoga Teacher Training?
Yoga teacher training prepares you to teach yoga classes. Most people start with a 200-hour program covering asana, sequencing, anatomy and philosophy, plus hours of practice teaching. It isn't built to teach you how to guide emotional release.
What Is Breathwork Training?
Breathwork training teaches you to run a breathing session for one person or a room full of people. Slow breathing calms the body. Faster connected breathing activates it and can bring up strong emotion. Training should cover physiology, contraindications and consent before music and session design.
Our breathwork teacher training has had 55 students so far.
Breathwork vs Yoga Teacher Training: The Core Difference
A yoga teacher talks and cues for most of a class. A Breathwork facilitator stays mostly quiet and watches the room.
| Category | Yoga Teacher Training | Breathwork Training |
|---|---|---|
| Primary doorway | Movement and posture | Breath and nervous system |
| Main skills | Sequencing, cueing, alignment | Facilitation, safety, emotional regulation, integration |
| Body focus | Muscles, joints, mobility, posture | Nervous system, breath patterns, sensations, emotions |
| Scope risk | Physical injury, over-adjustment | Emotional flooding, contraindications, trauma activation |
| Integration need | Moderate | High |
Is Breathwork Training Easier Than Yoga Teacher Training?
No. Yoga teacher training asks you to memorize sequences and teach them to a room. Breathwork facilitator training asks you to stay grounded while someone gets angry, laughs, shakes, or goes completely still, and to know when to step in.
Who Should Choose Yoga Teacher Training?
Choose yoga teacher training if you want to teach vinyasa, hatha, yin, restorative, power, or hot yoga classes in studios, gyms or on retreats.
Who Should Choose Breathwork Training?
Choose Breathwork facilitator training if you want to lead Breathwork workshops or add breath sessions to a practice you already run. It draws yoga teachers, massage therapists, meditation teachers, sound healers, counselors, nurses, and wellness coaches. You don't need a flexible body.
Breathwork Training for Yoga Teachers
You may have learned nadi shodhana, kapalabhati, ujjayi, sama vritti, or bhramari in yoga teacher training. Facilitating a full Breathwork session is a different skill from teaching pranayama, because someone may move into emotional release or altered awareness. Training lets you lead standalone Breathwork circles and stay steady when a student starts crying mid-class.
It can also count as continuing education. Yoga Alliance® asks Registered Yoga Teachers for 30 training hours every three years, and our Phoenix intensive is 24 live hours, so one weekend covers most of a three-year cycle. The logging steps are on our Breathwork continuing education for yoga teachers page.
Breathwork Training for Massage Therapists and Bodyworkers
Massage therapists already see emotion surface on the table. Breathwork gives them a way to work with that release without adding more hands-on pressure.
It pairs with myofascial release, craniosacral therapy, reiki, and sound healing. Our guide to Breathwork training for massage therapists covers scope and safety on the table.
Breathwork Training for Counselors, Coaches, and Wellness Professionals
Counselors and coaches add Breathwork for clients who can talk through a problem but still carry it in the body.
Keep it inside your scope of practice. Breathwork is not a substitute for licensed mental health care, emergency medical care, or trauma therapy when those are needed.
How Long Does Breathwork Training Take vs Yoga Teacher Training?
Breathwork training ranges from weekend workshops to multi-month programs. We cap our cohort at 6 because you learn to hold space by practicing it while someone watches and gives feedback.
| Training Path | Hours | Best Fit |
|---|---|---|
| Weekend Breathwork intro | 10-30 | Personal growth, basic exposure |
| 200-hour yoga teacher training | 200 | Teaching yoga classes |
| Liquid Breathwork training | 24 in person | Guiding Breathwork sessions |
| Advanced yoga training | 300+ | Career yoga teachers |
How Much Does Breathwork Training Cost vs Yoga Teacher Training?
Yoga teacher training often costs $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the school and whether it runs as a retreat. Liquid Breathwork training is $1,497.
Is Breathwork More Trauma-Informed Than Yoga?
It depends more on how the facilitator was trained than on the practice. A trauma-informed facilitator understands consent, titration, dissociation, and when to refer someone out.
Our surrender-based method lets the body set the pace. We don't push anyone toward catharsis.
Safety and Contraindications in Breathwork Training
Breathing patterns change physiology fast, so a facilitator has to tell normal responses from red flags.
Breathwork may not be appropriate, or may need medical clearance, for people with: pregnancy, seizure history, serious cardiovascular conditions, uncontrolled high blood pressure, recent surgery, severe asthma or respiratory instability, history of psychosis or certain psychiatric conditions, detached retina or glaucoma risk, and significant trauma instability without clinical support.
Shelby Von Oepen, RN, BSN, adds a clinical safety layer to our training. Before you enroll anywhere, ask how the program screens for contraindications and how many of its hours are in person. Our curriculum is on the Liquid Breathwork facilitator training page.
Can You Do Both Yoga Teacher Training and Breathwork Training?
Yes. Some retreats pair a yoga class with a Breathwork session. Each training covers only its own practice, so to teach both safely, take both.
Breathwork vs Yoga Teacher Training FAQ
Is Breathwork training better than yoga teacher training?
Neither. Pick yoga teacher training to teach yoga classes and Breathwork training to lead breath sessions.
Do yoga teachers need Breathwork training?
Only if they want to run conscious connected Breathwork sessions. Teaching yoga classes doesn't require it.
Does Breathwork training count as Yoga Alliance continuing education?
It can. Registered Yoga Teachers log Liquid Breathwork training with Yoga Alliance through the Subject Matter Expert pathway. Liquid Breathwork is not affiliated with Yoga Alliance.
Who teaches Liquid Breathwork training?
Ryan McBurney, founder and facilitator, and Shelby Von Oepen, RN, BSN, who brings 14 years of nursing experience. They teach every part of the training together.
See the Full Liquid Breathwork Curriculum
Cohort dates for both formats are listed on the training page.
See the Full Training