We want to see people come alive and thrive this lifetime. To excel beyond limitations and expectations. To love their life and live with connectedness to self, others and the world around them.
The Mission:
To integrate Mindful Breathing into as many schools, organisations and systems as we collectively can around the world. Taking a break from technology, thinking and ‘go go go’ mode. Helping alleviate stress and anxiety, while building a daily habit of peace and calm.
Breanna Mann
Director & Facilitator
Breanna has been guiding people to connect deeply with themselves since 2018. With over 500 hours of training in yoga, meditation, mindfulness and self-enquiry practices, she brings a wealth of wisdom to her teaching.
Breanna is skilled at following the energy of group dynamics. This, along with her kind heart, playful nature and depth of listening, creates a safe and fertile environment for vulnerability, connection, growth, and laughter.
Bodhi Whitaker
Co-Founder & Facilitator
Bodhi Whitaker has been teaching the ‘power of breath’ for over a decade. From his first ‘free workshops’ in libraries across the Sunshine Coast, to Wanderlust Festivals, U.S Tech Start-ups, Teacher Trainings and over 200 schools. Bodhi has a knack for engaging audiences, with overflowing passion and enthusiasm for life, and people bringing their gifts to the world. Bodhi is a loving and dedicated father, partner, surfer, musician and warrior of light. Below all of this, Bodhi is a man, who somedays knows how infinite he is, and other days forgets.
Julia Balassopoulos
Facilitator
Julia Balassopoulos, a trailblazing elite athlete turned breath master, brings a unique blend of athletic prowess and profound expertise in breathwork to the forefront. With five years of dedicated practice and extensive study in the realm of breathwork, Julia has emerged as a world-class leader and speaker, she passionately champions the transformative power of intentional breathing. As a deep purpose leader, she fully embodies her mission of regulating the breath of the planet.
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.
- December 3rd, Kat & Bodhi raised $14,400 via crowd-funding to launch, sold 80% of their belongings, moved out of their home into a camper-van and hit the road hopping from school to school.
- August 2nd, completed the first East Coast Tour with 61 schools from Hervey Bay to Melbourne. Nailing 2 x WIN News stories along the way and being featured in multiple newspapers and magazines.
- June 27th, Breathe Project gifted $25,000 from an angel investor, after working with 100 schools, to run a high level evaluation.
- October 3rd, two booked out school tours in Mackay and Cairns dedicated to suicide prevention.
- November 12th, worked with Aboriginal communities in Western Australia.
- January 22nd, Breathe Project hires it’s first ‘official’ employee (School Coordinator).
- March 2nd, launch of the Online School with a Primary School Video Series.
- March 14th, booked out the first NZ School Tour.
- June 11th, the exciting news of Kat being pregnant.
- October 22nd, launched the Online Academy for teachers and leaders.
- November 16th, Bodhi flew to California (US) to work with Flowstate Collective at GoGuardian who impact 6 million US kids daily with their technology.
- April 10th, after 4 months off with new daughter, Taya, Kat & Bodhi flew to Christchurch to help bring more peace and calm among the schools, after the Mosque shootings.
- June 28th, teaching and learning at Bali retreat with Sacred Earth Music.
- October 30th, Breathe School is launched, with Teacher Trainings, Online Academy.
- February/March, Bodhi launched into his keynote speaking with two conferences in New Zealand.
- March 5th, the first Mindful Breathing Teacher Training at Mana Retreat in the Coromandel of New Zealand, which was a big success.
- April 3rd, Kat launched her teenage girl online resource, collaborating with 17 other experts.
- July 16th, due to COVID, the first Teacher PD to be held online via Zoom with Galilee School, Canberra, which was still highly effective.
- November, the first Mindful Breathing Teacher Training held Online.
- July, Kat & Bodhi decide to begin their next chapter as a family settled in New Zealand and hand the leadership of Breathe School on to one of their first Graduates, Breanna Mann.
- August, official transfer of leadership and ownership of Breathe School completed.
- November, Kat, Bodhi and Breanna host the Mindful Breathing Teacher Training Online – Kat & Bodhi’s final training together for Breathe School.
- April 2 day Professional Development Teacher Training for 9 youth workers at Galilee School in Canberra
- June-July Breathe School back doing face to face workshops in schools, beginning with a 5 week VCAL program exploring Mindful Breathing, navigating failure, knowing your values, practicing gratitude and dealing with difficult emotions.
- July 13-17th face to face Teacher Training in Yiruk Wamoon Victoria
A Thank You Letter from Founders,
Bodhi Ashah Whitaker & Katherine Tucker.
As we journey forward into new territory and approach the next stage of expansion, we would like to take a moment to honour all of the people that are with us already, walking beside us. We feel a deep appreciation for those who funded us to even begin (through crowd-funding), as without you we may have never been in one school. We want to thank all of the families that have welcomed us into their homes, cooked us a meal and got us into their school. We would like to embrace all of the kids, teenagers and teachers who have welcomed us into their school, right from the beginning. To all of the news reporters, magazine editors and podcast hosts, thank you and ‘shakas’. Lastly, all of those who have mentioned Breathe Project/School or Kat & Bodhi to their friends offline or online, shared our videos, posts, helping spread our message and work further. We honour you as we take the next leap and fly with trust.
Connect
We would love to hear from you. Please connect with us below.