The Story of Breathe School

We never know where to begin this story. Did the story begin when founders Kat & Bodhi first saw each other at Dan Brule’s (their fave author’s) mind-body mastery training? Or when Kat attended Bodhi’s Art of Breath workshop and he noticed her ‘Breathe’ tattoo on her foot? Really, it all started when founders Kat & Bodhi were on opposite sides of the world and both had a vision.

Bodhi had been sitting in meditation (Vipassana) battling his mind for 5 days straight, 10 hours each day when he received a clear vision of both of them standing on stage in front of 500 teenagers and teachers standing around the outside with a sign behind them reading ‘Breathe Project’ in big blue lettering – the tag line said “for the community, from the community”. He was then shown how it was going to work, who was going to come on board and why it was Kat and he doing it together. After the 10 days meditation, Bodhi had the clearest feeling in his heart and mind about Breathe Project and nervously called Kat to tell her about the vision. Kat had been trekking in the Himalayan Mountains of India and what she said once she heard his vision still blows him away today “Oh that’s funny, I wrote something similar to that just a few days ago”.

After that conversation, Kat & Bodhi brought together the Art of Bodhi’s teaching and the Science of Kat’s health degree, to form Breathe Project and help schools integrate Mindful Breathing as a part of their daily wellbeing. What started as a crowd funding initiative soon had them quitting their day jobs, selling up their belongings, moving out of their home and hitting the road in a campervan, going school to school right across Australia and New Zealand, sharing ‘Just Breathe’ and the simple power of mindful breathing – opening hearts and minds and transforming schools. Since 2015 Breathe School has worked in almost 200 schools and helped over 100, 000 people with stress, anxiety and suicide.

They quickly realised this wasn’t just about schools. The message rippled out beyond the education system. Breathe Project was their (first) baby, but as their lives changed and they grew together as a family with daughter Taya, they emerged as Breathe School training others to continue the mission in their own fields – setting Mindful Breathing free, into the hands and hearts of other practitioners, teachers, social workers, and leaders of wellbeing.

In July 2021, after 6 years of working together as business partners and co-teachers across Australia & New Zealand, Kat & Bodhi decided it was time to come back to their roots to their our own whānāu (family) and hand the torch of Breathe School on to a new leader. It wasn’t immediately clear who this would be, but they had faith someone would be there to answer the call. Cue, Breezy.

Breezy, or Breanna, was one of the first Graduates of the Breathe School Mindful Breathing Teacher Training held in New Zealand and someone that Kat & Bodhi wanted to hire for the Breathe Project team years ago. When she first expressed her interest, they felt like ‘she is THE perfect person for this’.

Breanna first met Kat & Bodhi after a vision of her own. After working in corporate Melbourne for 9 years, whilst completing a degree in Politics & Human Rights and volunteering for International Development organisations she was completely burnt out. She knew it was time for change both inside and out. So she drove north to the Sunshine Coast to complete her yoga teacher training for the pure joy of it and to create a life that was “light, bright & breezy”. She knew only one family when she arrived who provided a safe place to land. Within days Breanna had answered an add online from a couple looking for a roommate and first met Kat & Bodhi in their home one sunny morning for breakfast. Since then, their journeys have ebbed and flowed in many ways to inevitably arrive in the sale of Breathe School from Kat & Bodhi to Breanna in August 2021. Kat & Bodhi held their last training together in November 2021, teaming up with Breanna as she stepped into the leadership of Breathe School.   

As we all know, humanity went through one of its greatest collective challenges during 2020 and 2021. Never has there been more vital time to share the wisdom and power of Mindful Breathing with the world. And so, the Breathe School story continues. The rest is still unwritten.