Your Breath Shall Set You Free 

 
By Niraj Naik 
 
 
About Niraj 
 
Niraj Naik first discovered the power of breath 
after finding peace and solace in a sauna after 
a hard days work from his highly stressful 
career as a community pharmacist, when 
frequently visiting a wellness center called 
Nirvana in his home town of Reading, England. 
He instinctively began to extend his exhalation 
and even make toning sounds with his voice that would bring him into a deep meditative 
state. To the surprise of other members of the spa, he was able to stay in the sauna for 
many times longer than everyone else, up to 45-1hr at 90c+ temperatures. 
 
Eventually he escaped the pharmacy as he was promoted to the head office of one of 
the largest supermarket chains in the UK to carry out his novel healthy shopping list 
system for delivering essential life saving information to patients on diet, nutrition and 
holistic health. This is when he was first branded as ‘The Renegade Pharmacist’ as the 
corporate management felt the idea was too ‘risky’ and could conversely impact profits. 
 
The fear of going back to his old job standing on his feet all day dishing out pills as a 
pharmacist overwhelmed him and he ended up housebound for nearly a year with an 
autoimmune condition called Ulcerative Colitis and depression. He was left with the 
option of being a guinea pig for a new untested drug or having his colon removed. 
 
A dear friend Swami Ambikananda came to the rescue and told Niraj that he now has a 
new gift, and that if he chose a third path of using holistic techniques of ayurveda, yoga, 
meditation and breath/pranayama to heal himself without medication or surgery he 
would become a great role model to others. 
 
This is when he learned the ‘extended exhalation’, breath retention and chanting/toning 
techniques, that became the catalyst for his cure. He went back into the sauna and 
revisited his own instinctive methods for relieving stress and combined his own style of 
self hypnosis/visualization techniques that helped to rapidly heal his mind, body and 
spirit. 
 
Swami’s prophetic vision came true as Niraj quickly became known around the world for 
his website TheRenegadePharmacist.com, creating some of the most viral articles of all 
time related to health and spiritual growth. He then became the host of Wim Hof events 
after teaming up with the real life super human yogi, Wim Hof, who shares a lot in 
common with Niraj and also has extensive scientific studies proving the power of 
breath retention and breathwork methods for influencing your physiology and immune 
system. 
 
Niraj furthered his study by training with Dr Prakash Malshe, a doctor using traditional 
yoga and pranayama techniques with his patients in Rishikesh, the birthplace of yoga. 
From this his gained a great understanding of the medical application of yoga and the 
science behind why certain pranayama techniques can influence the physiology for 
healing and heightened states of consciousness. 
 
This helped Niraj form the curriculum for Soma Breath, a system based on the 
traditional yogic practices before they were altered by modern day practitioners of yoga 
from which this new field of breathwork has emerged, who have either made yoga more 
dogmatic or have misunderstood it’s real truth and the real breathwork that is contained 
in the ancient practices of pranayama. 
 
Now Soma Breath is being taught at wellness centers in Niraj’s second home of the 
magical island of Koh Phangan, Thailand. He has launched a successful teacher 
training that is proving to be very popular, with his first students already creating and 
facilitating their own paid workshops, and even showcasing their new skills at festivals. 
 
Soma Breath is now spreading across the world with training centers in Europe, USA 
and Asia, including a online training platform and community that helps people learn 
and grow through his ‘Tribe Intelligence’ model. 
 
Niraj’s belief and vision is to create a holistic school that does not rely on one single 
guru. The tribe/community is the guru, and using social community building tools where 
the tribe/community can network and support each other in the tribe, new wisdom, 
knowledge and skills can be vetted collectively by the tribe and added to the overall 
Soma Tools For Life system, meaning as the tribe grows, so do you. 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
Breath Works 
 
“So I just finished a breathing class with Niraj Naik. It was the single most weirdest, 
most spiritual, most amazing moment of my life… Full stop.” Andy, Bali. 
 
That was it, the final confirmation I needed. Breath really works... 
 
I had just facilitated a Soma Awakening breathwork experience at a friend’s villa located 
in Uluwatu, Bali. Participants experience a profound transformative and psychedelic 
journey that is stimulated by a combination of hypnosis, tribal rhythmical music and 
pranayama breathwork techniques. 
 
A short hypnotic induction leads to the participant setting an intention that arises 
through the awareness of their true core desire. For Andy his wish was to experience 
proof in the existence of a spirit world through a religious experience.  
 
Andy claims he was the least likely candidate to be taking a class like this, let alone get 
the result he did. The son of a preacher, Andy, rebelled throughout his life against the 
religious views of his family and became a devout pro-scientific atheist in the process. 
He really wanted to prove his disbelief in anything remotely spiritual wrong.  
 
Then after just one session of a Soma Awakening, Andy had became an instant convert. 
 
I also became a full convert to the power of breathwork after successfully using simple 
pranayama techniques taught to me by Swami Ambikananda, a well respected yogi 
from England to help me heal a chronic autoimmune condition when the drugs had 
stopped working. 
 
The continuous miracles I have witnessed or been a part of creating since that time 
have been an ongoing testament to the profound power of breathing and this sparked 
my interest into discovering exactly why and how it works. 
 
The Awakening 
 
We live in a time where we desperately need creative minds and visionaries to join 
forces and solve the immense problems that face humans. The financial system, 
healthcare, and the environment are suffering because of a broken system. 
 
The schooling system has educated generations out of this creativity and crushed 
billions of souls in the process. Humans have become robotized and turned into 
obedient servants, propping up a corrupt economic system that is gradually destroying 
our planet. 
 
Most people are experience life through a sleeping trance and to change things they 
must wake up! 
 
There was a time however where things were different, a time in our ancient history that 
we can learn a lot from… 
 
The Legend Of Soma 
 
The legend of Soma tells of a sacred ritual that the ancient Rishis would indulge in 
during the Golden Age of the Vedic tradition. In this time period the population was 
much smaller and resources were more abundant. People lived peacefully and 
harmoniously.  
 
This legendary ritual is thought to have involved the ingestion of a psychedelic plant. 
The identity of which has still not been confirmed by historians. It is claimed to be a 
mysterious and magical ritual that would allow the Rishis to commune with the Gods 
and have direct divine downloads of wisdom that would aid the betterment of society. It 
is also thought to be the same ritual that would allow the Rishis to create superhuman 
powers, overcome death and lead to immortality.  
 
This sounds far fetched, however new emerging science is beginning to back up many 
of the claims held in our spiritual past. 
 
Substance To Spirit 
 
These inspirational visions would go on to inspire the verses of the Rig Veda, an ancient 
text that forms the origins of yoga, ayurveda, tantra, hinduism and buddhism. However 
according to legend at one point in time Soma ran out. This forced people to go inward 
in order to seek new ways to get to the same ecstatic states that allows connection to 
the divine. 
 
The side effect of this was the realisation that we possess our own version of every 
single drug or medicine that exists in nature and that breath control is the method for 
awakening your ‘inner pharmacy’ 
 
Scientifically Soma could be described as a method to ingest a quantity of DMT and 
other psychoactive chemicals that would sustain for long enough inside the brain to 
produce visionary and psychedelic effects.  
 
This molecule is found in very small amounts in your body and we naturally produce 
tryptamines like melatonin and serotonin that are structurally very similar. It has been 
hypothesised that either DMT or a combination of tryptamines are released when you 
dream, and just before you die, to explain the reason for the vivid dream like 
hallucinations and experiences similar to ‘near death’ you get after consuming DMT in 
larger amounts. This is why it has been regarded as the ‘spirit molecule’. 
 
Spirit To Science 
 
Breathing practices are important to yoga, tantra and shamanic cultures. The latin root 
of the word ‘spiritual’ actually means ‘to breathe’ and the original rituals of modern 
organized religions have a breathwork component to them as they are believed to lead 
you closer to God. 
 
An ancient pranayama breathwork technique called ​Nisshesha Rechaka Kumbhaka ​or 
holding your breath beyond the comfort zone for a short period of time, creates a 
physiological state known as intermittent hypoxia that involves brief periods of lower 
than normal blood oxygen levels.  
 
If properly practiced according to legend, this breathwork ritual will lead to eternal youth 
and immortality by producing Amrita, the nectar of Gods. Amrita is closely linked to 
Soma, and it has been suggested that Soma also exists in the body and may even be 
another name for DMT. 
 
Perhaps Amrita is in fact the movement of somatic stem cells around the body? Stem 
cells have the power to turn into any other cell and are found in greatest number when 
you are in the womb as an embryo, a time when you exist in a state of hypoxia, as the 
oxygen levels in the womb are about 10% of the outside world. 
 
Once you are born the stem cells hide away in places of low oxygen such as bone 
marrow. New treatments are emerging that extract stem cells from your body, for hope 
one day they can be used to recreate organs and can cost upwards of $20,000.   
 
However ​new research​ shows that ​intermittent hypoxic training​, where you create brief 
periods of low oxygen levels, can produce almost instantaneous results by actually 
stimulating stem cells to come out of their niches and move around the body and to 
places where they can heal and regenerate healthy cells for your organs. 
 
This form of therapy has been used by ​Russian doctors​ for decades to treat a number 
of diseases such as coronary heart disease, and even to improve recovery time from 
injury and athletic training. Stamina and endurance is also enhanced as intermittent 
hypoxia stimulates the production of new muscle tissue, red blood cells and even blood 
vessels. 
 
Using a combination of scientifically proven breathwork techniques, rhythmical and 
euphoric music, guided meditation and imagery I have developed a remarkable process 
for reaching heightened states of consciousness and ecstatic bliss. It has even been 
described as a ‘psychedelic orgasm on DMT’ by a modern shaman.  
 
Through a more therapeutic variation of this same process, the layers of your mask peel 
away and reveal your true nature. This is similar to the way early pioneers of 
psychedelic therapy, such as Timothy Leary did using LSD to treat various problems 
conventional forms of therapy could not touch.  
 
You connect deeply to who you really are. Through this awareness comes the path to 
truth.  
 
Through this profound truth you learn exactly the difference between what is good for 
you and what is no longer serving you anymore.  
 
You can remove negativity and attachment to the past, fully embrace the present and be 
at your very best every single day. 
 
This is evolution of Soma Breath. 
Your Breath Shall Set You Free.. 
 
Do you know what the meaning of ‘spiritual’ really is? 
 
It comes from the latin root of the word ​spiritual​, that is to breathe. 
 
Inspire means to breathe in 
 
Conspire means to breathe together… 
 
Many cultures throughout history have breathed together in some ceremonial way, and 
sacred rituals involving breathing are a common thread between priests and religious 
leaders of various religions. 
 
Before 1386 the word “conspire” simply meant to breathe together. After the word 
“conspiracy” was born, the root word “conspire” took on a new meaning – to plot 
something wrong, evil or illegal. 
 
Modern definition of ​conspire​ : 1. To agree together, especially secretly, to do 
something wrong, evil, or illegal; 2. To act or work together toward the same result or 
goal. -Dictionary.com, 2010 
 
The power of breathing together as a group practice was hidden for centuries due to the 
misdirection of a powerful word. 
 
Could the reason for this misdirection be because they just assumed that weird people 
meeting up to do weird rituals must be up to something no good?  
 
Especially if those people eventually became the more healthy and prosperous 
members of society...  
 
However modern science now shows us that when we breathe together in a certain way, 
some very interesting and positive things happen, especially to your heart, feelings and 
emotions. 
 
In fact breathing together may be the one thing that can solve the root cause of a lot of 
the problems of society - disconnection and social isolation creating anxiety and 
depression on an epidemic scale. 
 
Here’s why… 
 
In Thailand I lead breathwork ceremonies inside a giant meditation pyramid. To anyone 
from the outside looking in, (for example a recent TV crew filming a new show with the 
famous British comedian, Russell Howard, who wanted to experience a Soma 
‘Awakening’, who claimed it was the best piece of filming in years!), we must all look 
incredibly strange...  
 
Sat in a circle, facing each other, moving hands up and down to conduct each long 
rhythmical inhale and exhale to beat driven trance inducing music, with the inevitable 
symphony of orgasmic bliss emanating from the choir of breathers, this is a typical 
Soma awakening breathwork ritual.  
 
New friendships, new loves, intimacy and deep connections arise from this magical 
ritual. Soma has no doubt made an impact on the members of our spiritual community 
in Srithanu, a small village located on the east side of the island of Koh Phangan. 
 
Back in 2010 my life could not be more different. I was housebound, sick and depressed 
with a chronic illness called ulcerative colitis. For a number of years prior to this I felt 
incredibly socially isolated and disconnected. I had increasingly become more and more 
disillusioned with the way society had become in the England, especially my career as a 
pharmacist working in a very corrupt and broken system. Standing on my feet dishing 
out pills all day long like a Big Pharma robot slave, I was surrounded by moody, 
miserable and negative people, and a boss who only really cared about the profit we 
made that day. I was in living in a sleeping trance with a perfectly programmed 
existence, that by no means was serving my best interests. 
 
My life revolved around the familiar pattern of wake up, drink coffee, drive in traffic to 
work, more coffee, complain a lot, work for hours in a robotic soulless way with little or 
no breaks, listen to endless natter and gossip about the latest show on the TV and 
some new celebrity who I had never heard of, eat Mcdonalds for lunch, pizza for dinner, 
drink coffee, sleep late, party hard and consume a lot of alcohol and recreational drugs 
at the weekends to escape from the madness and misery my life had become. I felt I no 
longer fitted into the culture I grew up in and I feared immensely that may be this is all 
that life had to offer. I had no idea the impact of this fear until much later... 
 
The positive side to the story is that it was through the sickness that I first discovered 
the potential of simple breathing exercise to relieve stress and even heal conditions 
ruled out as incurable by conventional medicine. The doctor pretty much told me to shut 
up and keep taking the meds, when I asked whether there was any cure for colitis. 
However the side effects had taken their toll and the last option remaining was to 
surgically remove my colon. By sheer fate a now very close friend of my family, and a 
world renowned yoga teacher, Swami Ambikananda, came to the rescue and taught me 
some very simple pranayama breathing exercises and simple lifestyle changes based 
on yoga and ayurveda.  
 
I really felt the power of these breathing exercise when finding peace and solace in a 
sauna after a hard days work. I would frequently visit a wellness center called Nirvana in 
my home town of Reading, England. I instinctively started to extend my exhalation and 
even make toning sounds with my voice this would bring me into a deep meditative 
state. To the surprise of other members of the spa, I was able to stay in the sauna for 
many times longer than everyone else, up to 45 mins at 80 - 90C+ temperatures. I felt 
the normal meditative state was expanded inside the sauna. I had a closer connection 
to my soul and spirit. The sauna was my church and I had become a true sauna addict. 
 
Within a few months I was back on my feet at full health. Within a year I was living on a 
tropical island doing what I love for a living! Looking back on my healing journey, I 
believe the pranayama breathing exercises were the major catalyst to my recovery.  
 
This motivated me to delve deeper into researching exactly how and why something as 
simple as breathing could make such a profound shift in my life. 
 
Yogi Ramachakara in the acclaimed book on yogic breathing, ​‘The Science Of Breath’ 
written in 1903, talks extensively about how and why ‘rhythmic breathing’ is the secret 
to attaining physical, spiritual and even psychic mastery according to the master yogis 
on India. 
 
Swami Rama​ in 1969 baffled scientists by stopping his heart beat for 17 seconds. He 
even managed to raise the temperature of one side of his hand up by 10 degrees, and 
the other side down by 10 degrees by willpower alone. This proved for the first time, 
under controlled conditions, we can consciously influence our autonomic nervous 
system.  
 
However these are just impressive displays that appear like magic and should not to 
distract you from what more in possible. What Swami Rama was trying to show us is 
that by learning yoga and pranayama we can actually reclaim control over our 
physiology and psychology. We can become liberated and not only live longer more 
healthy lives, free from diseases, but also create a closer connection to the divine. 
 
In more recent times, a close friend and mentor of mine, W ​ im Hof​ ‘The Ice Man’, also an 
accomplished yogi, broke several world records and also shocked scientists by being 
able to stay in ice for 2 hrs without his core body temperature changing. He was also 
able to withstand the effects of an e-coli infection by willpower alone. He then went on 
to prove for the first time during a scientific experiment that you could train others to do 
the same. 
 
Heart Math Institute​, a group of scientists who have done a lot of great research on the 
effect of breathing on physiology, ran another very interesting study called Achieving 
Collective Coherence. 
 
They discovered that people who breathe together in a special rhythm create a 
phenomenon known as collective coherence. 
 
According to Heartmath, when we are in a coherent state, virtually no energy is wasted 
because our systems are performing optimally and there is synchronization between 
heart rhythms, the respiratory system, blood-pressure rhythms, etc.  
 
Among the many benefits of personal coherence are increased composure, more 
energy, clear thinking, enhanced immune-system function and hormonal balance. 
 
Why You Should Breathe Consciously 
 
Breathing is the only physiological function that is involuntary or voluntary. You can 
consciously control your breath or ignore it and let your body breathe on its own. You 
cannot live without breathing so by letting go of conscious control your breathing falls 
under the control of your most primitive part of your brain that deals with survival. This 
is the realm of your unconscious mind where emotions, thoughts and feelings, of which 
we may have little or no awareness become involved and can disrupt the rhythm of your 
breath. This means your breath can become discoherent and irregular when you lose 
conscious control over it.  
 
Have you ever driven a car all the way home and hardly notice or even remember much 
of the journey. This is because a familiar route has become an autopilot habit. However 
if you completely let go of all conscious control, or even drive under the influence of 
alcohol, you may not see that child suddenly run across the road… 
 
Breathing is much the same in the fact that if you let go of conscious control of it by 
taking it for granted, or if you live your life under the constant influence of distraction, 
noise and ignorance, your erratic breathing and thinking may also land you in grave 
danger. 
 
However if you put your attention on your breathing, you can also turn conscious 
breathing into a positive habit.  
 
By consciously focusing on your breath you stimulate the cerebral cortex. The cerebral 
cortex is the largest region of the cerebrum in the mammalian brain and plays a key role 
in memory, attention, perception, cognition, awareness, thought, language, and 
consciousness.  
 
Through the power of intention and certain breathing exercises that you are about to 
learn, you will be able to stimulate the growth of new brain cells in this region of the 
brain for enhanced brain function. 
 
Make conscious breathing a daily meditation practice and your breath shall truly set you 
free… 
 
Nose Breathing vs Mouth Breathing 
 
We are never taught how to breathe and it is very common for people to shallow breathe 
through their mouths, especially under times of stress. 
 
What happens when you breathe through your mouth? 
 
Breathing through the mouth usually only fills up the upper lobes of the lungs which 
have more sympathetic nervous system receptors and has a more stimulatory response 
in the body that can release stress hormones. 
 
This may have evolved to help us under times of great exertion and stress, when greater 
volumes of oxygen may be needed, along with a boost in our sympathetic, flight or fight 
response. 
 
When you work out intensely you will naturally breathe through both your nose and 
mouth to bring in more oxygen to supply your muscles demands. However under times 
of emotional stress you may also breathe through your mouth more when in fact you do 
not need the excess oxygen as you are not physically active. This can lead to 
unnecessary extra stress on the body and more stimulation of the sympathetic nervous 
system than is actually required. 
 
What happens when you breathe through your nostrils? 
 
Your energy levels are directly linked to the function of your lungs as this is where 
oxygen is absorbed into the body. They extract oxygen from the air primarily on the 
exhalation. 
 
As your nostrils are much smaller than your mouth, the rate of air flow into your lungs is 
reduced. Air exhaled through your nose creates extra back pressure and the air is 
retained for longer inside your lungs. This gives more time for oxygen to be absorbed 
into your bloodstream.  
 
Breathing through your nostrils also filters, cleans and conditions the air so that you 
breath higher quality air into your lungs.  
 
As nostril breathing also warms the air, it flows into the lower part of the lungs where 
there are more parasympathetic receptors. This helps you stay calm and relaxed. If you 
are competing in sports, by simply breathing through your nostrils, you can stimulate 
the parasympathetic nervous system to maintain more focus. In some cases you will 
need extra oxygen and so breathing through both your nostril and mouth at the same 
time will ensure you do not over stimulate your sympathetic nervous system. 
 
Where Intention Goes, Breath Flows... 
 
When you have erratic thoughts or are in a low emotional state such as fear, anger or 
anxiety your breathing become erratic, and so does your heart rhythms.  
 
However when you are in emotional states like passion and joy, the number one factor 
for being in ‘flow’, your breathing becomes more smooth, consistent and rhythmical, and 
your heart rhythms become more ‘coherent’.  
 
By changing your attention to creating a more positive intention by focusing on 
gratitude, forgiveness or a scene of success rather than failure you can create 
coherence. 
 
However by simply bringing your attention to your breath, and breathing more 
consciously you can change the quality of your emotions and heart rhythms. 
 
The way we measure the quality of heart rhythms is by measuring a factor called heart 
rate variability, HRV. 
 
What Is Heart Rate Variability (HRV) ? 
 
You may not be aware that your heart beats at a slightly different pace all the time, 
meaning the distance between one beat and the next is constantly changing. The 
variability of the change in the interval between each individual heart beat can be 
measured as Heart Rate Variability (HRV) 
 
You can tell a lot about your performance and health just by monitoring your HRV over 
the course of a day. 
 
Your heart rate fluctuates throughout the day as your heart adapts to changes in your 
physiology, energy and stressors. If it was totally consistent, it is a sign you heart 
cannot adapt to stress anymore, and you are about to die!  
 
So heart rate variability is a measure of how much your heart rate fluctuates, i.e the 
difference in the interval time between each heartbeat should continuously change, 
indicating a sign that your heart is very adaptive and resilient to stress.  
 
According to ​Dr Alan Watkins​, a medical doctor and neuroscientist who uses HRV 
extensively to improve performance and productivity, there are now some 19,000 
published scientific papers that explore the different aspects of HRV and it can be used 
for the following:. 
 
• HRV can predict illness and death crucial for succession planning 
• HRV quantifies energy levels and levels of dynamism crucial to performance 
• HRV is intimately linked to brain function crucial to effective decision making 
• HRV relates to individual identity which is highly relevant to authentic leadership 
 
How HRV is related to breathing. 
 
When you inhale, you stimulate the sympathetic nervous system and your heart rate 
goes up. When you exhale, you stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and your 
heart rate goes down.  
 
Therefore through rhythmic breathing you can create cardiac coherence because 
rhythmic breathing results in your heart rate varying in a consistent way with each 
breath, which is a more efficient use of energy.  
 
Eliminate The Pause 
 
The easiest way to ensure you begin to breathe with rhythm is to eliminate the pause 
between each breath. It is often this pause that creates irregular breathing patterns that 
leads to incoherent HRV patterns. Keeping your breath smooth, connected and circular 
with no pause is the foundations for effective rhythmic breathwork.  
 
However there is a point when holding your breath for a certain length of time 
(Kumbhaka) can be the key to unlocking your superhuman potential. We will discuss 
this in depth later. 
 
The 3 Factors For Heart Coherence 
 
1. Rhythm​ - Your ratio of inhale to exhale should be consistent. For example 4 
seconds in, 4 seconds out or 4 seconds in 8 seconds out continuously is 
consistent. However if you breathe 2 seconds in, 4 seconds out, then 3 seconds 
in and 8 seconds out, and so on, it is not smooth and consistent. So breathe to a 
rhythm - breathe in beats! 
2. Smooth​ - Your breath should be a smooth flow in and out. There should be no 
breaks or stutter to your breath. An easy way to ensure this is to breathe in 
through your nostrils (you should always breathe in through your nostrils and 
avoid mouth breathing as much as possible) and breathe out through your nose 
or your mouth, however when you breathe through your mouth, purse your lips a 
little so that your exhale is slow and smooth. Imagine making the sound of an 
ocean wave and bring your awareness to the sound your breath makes. 
3. Intention​ - Coherence of your heart rhythms is influenced by your emotions. It is 
much harder to get into flow states and coherence if you are feeling down or your 
mind is clouded by negative thoughts. A simple way to solve this is to bring your 
awareness to something you are truly grateful for e.g a loved one, something you 
love to do, the delicious meal you just ate. The sense of gratitude has been 
proven in various studies to change your emotional state from low to higher very 
fast! 
 
 
 
What Is The Optimum Breath Rate? 
 
This is really dependent on the result you are looking for.  
 
1. Heart Coherence:​ S ​ tudies show​ that HRV is increased most by breathing at a 
rate of 5 or 6 breaths per minute (5 seconds in, 5 out) with an equal I:E 
(inhale:exhale) ratio. However coherence still occurs with any ratio as long as 
you breathe rhythmically. One of the goals of pranayama is to bring your normal 
day to day breath rate down to at least 5 or 6 breaths per minute, or even half 
that. According to yoga - longevity is dependent on your breath rate - the less you 
have to breathe, means the more efficient your physiological functions are, and 
so less the impact of oxidative stress, and the longer you live! 
2. Flow States:​ Heart coherence and getting into flow using your breath depends on 
rhythm, smoothness and intention. An active breath rate of 6-10 breaths per 
minute is adequate for creating the higher energetic states needed for positive 
emotions like passion and joy. ​Passion​ is the number one predictor of flow and 
peak performance. More rapid breathing should always be followed by breath 
retention (kumbhaka) in order to bring the physiology back into balance. 
3. Rest & Digest:​ ​Studies show​ that by extending the exhale time e.g breathing in an 
I:E ratio of 0.5 results in a more of a relaxation response reporting increased 
relaxation, stress reduction, mindfulness and positive energy compared to just 
slowing down the breathing rate. Your parasympathetic nervous system switches 
on which controls your rest and digest mode. Do a few rounds of this before and 
after eating to avoid indigestion. 
 
The Ideal I:E Ratio (Inhale:Exhale) = 0.5 
 
According to the Yoga sutras, the ideal way to breathe is with a ‘​slow rechaka​’. Rechaka 
means expiration in sanskrit. The ideal ratio is your exhale being double your inhale time 
= 0.5. This ratio is also shown in studies to be the optimum time needed for increased 
relaxation, stress reduction, mindfulness and positive energy. This can be explained 
physiologically as exhalation stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system. You also 
absorb most oxygen on your exhale, so this also adds to the increase in positive energy.  
 
When you breathe in this ratio, the conscious focus and effort required to extend the 
exhale stimulates the cerebral cortex. This is a very important region of the brain that 
deals with things like thought, awareness, memory, attention and language. By bringing 
your attention to slowing down your exhale, your thoughts become more focused, your 
parasympathetic nervous system is switched on and your emotions become more calm. 
 
Directed Neurogenesis 
 
Neuroplasticity is the concept that your brain can change. Neurogenesis is the ability for 
the brain to grow new brain cells. Numerous studies, especially on stroke victims who 
have brain damage, now proves that your brain can regenerate and repair damaged 
areas. However new emerging research shows us that it is even possible to self-direct 
neurogenesis and intentionally grow new brain cells in the areas desired. 
 
Dr Jeffrey Schwartz​, a leading researcher of brain dysfunctions, and Wall Street Journal 
science columnist, Sharon Begley, together did great research on a phenomenon of 
self-directed neuroplasticity. In 1989, while treating patients with obsessive compulsive 
disorder (OCD), using a therapy based on Buddhist ‘Mindfulness’ meditation, he 
discovered that patients were able to reshape their brains to diminish or remove 
obsessions.  
 
In 1995 Alvaro Pascual-Leone at the National Institute of Neurological and Stroke, had a 
group of volunteers practice a fiver-finger piano exercise, and another group who simply 
think about practicing the piece, using mental visualizations of practicing each note at a 
time. He discovered that those performing the mental rehearsal produced as big a 
change as the actual movements! 
 
With Soma Breath you will learn how to use the power of intention + visualization 
combined with the physiological effects of breathwork meditation to stimulate and 
self-direct brain growth in areas that would be appropriate to you. 
 
A Soma Breath coach is expertly trained in facilitating directed neurogenesis. 
 
The Butterfly Effect Of Coherence 
 
What ​Heartmath​ also discovered is that by simply being in the presence of coherent 
people you can become coherent and vice versa. 
 
Like the ‘butterfly effect’ one small change in coherence in a person could make a great 
shift in coherence across the world. 
 
The more coherent our world is, the better for all of us. 
 
Each of us is capable of achieving, increasing and maintaining our personal and social 
coherence. 
Music Is The Language Of The Soul 
 
Quantum science shows we are all connected in some way on an energetic level. 
 
Thoughts and emotions affect your hearts electromagnetic field, which affects our 
environment. 
 
Music also has a m ​ easurable physiological effect​ based on whether you resonate with it 
or not, and music that resonates with you has the ability to light up all areas of your 
brain and boost low alpha brainwaves associated with optimum cognitive function. 
 
Listen to two pieces of music, one you love and one that you really hate… 
 
How do you feel after listening to each one? Do you feel contracted or expanded? Do 
you want to relax and enjoy or run away? 
 
When we have high vibrational emotions like love and passion, we produce coherent 
frequencies in the electromagnetic field that radiates from the heart - like listening to a 
piece of music that you love. 
 
Low vibrational emotions like fear and hate produces discordant frequencies - like a 
piece of music where every note is out of tune. 
 
We intuitively know which vibrational state we are in by simply tuning into the emotions 
we feel. 
 
When we radiate high vibrations by choosing to feel love, we shift our frequencies into 
coherence. 
 
Every individual thought, intentions and emotions and what we feed energetically 
impacts our environment which affects the collective vibrations on a global level. 
 
By simply breathing in rhythm to music that is beautiful and soothing to you, we can 
create a natural state of physiological coherence. 
 
This physiological state of coherence will rub off on others around you by simply being 
in their presence - this is the power of collective coherence at enhancing the 
consciousness of the entire planet. 
 
Kumbhaka - The Secret Tool Of The Super Human Yogi’s 
 
Life is a series of inhales and exhales. Your thoughts are excited by breath. When you 
press pause on your breath, you press pause on life itself. Your mind becomes still and 
your thought files reassemble. You go into the deepest meditative state. It is like 
pressing defrag on your computer when it becomes slow and cluttered in order to make 
it run faster. Pausing your breath is your personal defrag button if done in the right way. 
Your brainwaves drop into low alpha and you become more at one with your 
subsconscious mind. Your power of intention and self hypnosis is dramatically 
increased when you pause your breath. This pause is called ​Kumbhaka. 
 
In yoga there is another way to pause your breath called N ​ isshesha Rechaka 
Pranayama​. This means ‘hold your breath beyond the comfort zone’. When you hold 
your breath for long enough, you trigger a positive stress response in the body so that it 
adapts to a low oxygen environment. This leads to the production of more red blood 
cells, new blood vessels, and even dormant parts of your brain waking up. It has an 
overall strengthening effect over your body.  
 
The mechanism for this can be explained by the fact holding your breath lowers oxygen 
levels in your body and creating a state called intermittent hypoxia (brief periods of low 
oxygen). Russian scientists trying to improve athletic performance in the 1970s 
discovered the numerous health benefits of this state when they noticed that when 
people when up to high altitudes with low oxygen for brief periods of time they would 
report an improvement in the symptoms of a variety of chronic health conditions such 
as hypertension and chronic inflammation. They now have clinics in Russia where 
intermittent hypoxia is simulated using machines and are used to treat a variety of 
chronic health conditions as well as improve performance.  
 
A mechanism to explain the health benefits is the ‘awakening’ of stem cells in the body, 
that can only survive in hypoxic conditions. So the systemic hypoxia created by 
kumbhaka enables the movement and proliferation of stem cells to areas in the body 
that require healing. They can also be directed towards the growth of new stronger cells 
in areas such as your heart and brain. 
 
A side effect of this process is generating heat in the body. It is actually the same 
technique used by Himalayan yogis to survive extremely cold conditions. 
 
Getting the dose of kumbhaka correct is very important. Also the use of certain yogic 
energy locks are important to avoid the energy generated by hypoxia from disrupting 
other physiological functions. Too much hypoxia for too long can lead to more harm 
than good. Too little and it will not work at all.  
 
Charming The Snake  
 
At first when you practice Kumbhaka you may experience a strong sense of fear when 
holding your breath as we are all so conditioned into feeling an urgency to breathe. This 
fear response is initiated in your reptilian brain, a region of the brain we have in common 
with birds and reptiles.  
 
The reptilian brain is the most primitive part of the brain and will instinctively trigger you 
to breathe much sooner than you actually need to. It is driven by the need to survive at 
all costs. It controls the body's vital functions such as heart rate, breathing, body 
temperature and balance. It deals with sexual urges and the instinctive drive to 
procreate. It gets angry in response to danger, and most of all it deals with fear. If you 
imagine you have 3 different people inside one brain, your reptilian brain is the horny, 
hungry and fearful one. It likes to take revenge and get angry, however it would rather 
run away than fight, but fight to the death it shall if it mean your survival depends on it. It 
is also the reason why you may choose survival and security over following your more 
‘risky’ passions. 
 
The second region of the brain to evolve is the limbic system. It is driven by the need to 
fulfil desire and satisfy hunger. The main structures of the limbic brain are the 
hippocampus, the amygdala, and the hypothalamus. It deals with emotions, desires and 
our value judgements. Memories of positive or negative experiences in early life creates 
imprints and conditioning that leads to hard-wired habits programmed deep into your 
limbic system. Most of our subconscious behaviours are formed in this region of the 
brain. Both the reptilian and limbic system are core components of the subconscious 
mind. 
 
The third and most evolved region of the brain is the neocortex also considered the 
‘human’ part of the brain as it is what really distinguishes us from other animals. It is 
driven by the need for connection and belonging. This region of the brain deals with 
reasoning, imagination, creativity and problem solving. It is where the higher intellectual 
functions reside and it is consider the seat of compassion and forgiveness. It oversees 
the rest of the brain and it moderates the impulsive and instinctive responses of the 
reptilian and limbic brain. This region is the seat of the conscious mind. 
 
Under perceived stress we are in a struggle for survival, it is our reptilian and limbic 
regions of the brain that dominate. The fundamental drivers are money, sex and 
food/fuel. When any of these areas of life go off balance your reptilian brain is switched 
on and you are at risk of making very irrational decisions or actions. 
 
Here is how to charm the snake and bring your life back under conscious control using 
kumbhaka. 
 
A pulse oximeter will show you that you actually have a lot more oxygen than you 
perhaps thought. For most people, unless you have a serious lung problem such as 
COPD, your SPO2 levels are usually around 97-100% and remains that high even after 
holding your breath for 30-45 seconds, the time on average you will feel the first urge to 
breathe again.  
 
To trigger the positive stress response that brings the positive health benefits of 
kumbhaka you need to reach a ​target of 85% SPO2​ or less, that requires you to hold 
your breath around 1min:30s or more. To really experience the full benefits of 
kumbhaka your breath retention time needs to be 2-3 minutes to give enough time for 
the stem cells to proliferate and move around the body. 
 
You may now be wondering how do you hold your breath for that long? Surely that’s 
impossible and you would die! However learning how override this sense of fear and 
being able to calm the reptilian brain you can liberate yourself from an overactive 
protective instinct of the subconscious mind. 
 
It is actually very possible to hold your breath for several minutes. The current world 
record is 24 minutes, set by Aleix Segura Vendrell from Barcelona. The method free 
divers like Aleix would use is to breathe pure oxygen first to eliminate as much carbon 
dioxide as possible from the body.  
 
It is your carbon dioxide levels that signals your brain to breathe again, not the lack of 
oxygen. The yogis somehow knew this thousands of years ago and so would use rapid 
rhythmic breathwork to breathe in more oxygen and to breathe out as much carbon 
dioxide as possible before practicing kumbhaka. This ‘tricks’ your brain into allowing 
you to hold your breath for even longer. 
 
 
 
 
Reprogramming The Subsconscious Operating System With Conscious Breathwork. 
 
When you learn to consciously override the first urge to breathe, a sense of peace and 
calm will wash over you like a wave of good feelings, as you realise you did not die! 
Eventually with further practice you will reimprint a less impulsive fear response. This 
means that your instinctive hardwired response to fear is reprogrammed and calmed 
down. Imagine that your subconscious mind is like the operating system of a 
supercomputer. It gets programmed with a set of conditioned beliefs and habits that 
are like ‘apps’ or ‘imprints’ wired into ‘circuits’ that are your subconscious minds ‘go-to’ 
instructions on how to respond or act. These bio-circuits influence your decisions, 
actions and interactions throughout life.  
 
Irrational vs Rational Fear & Why It’s Not Your Fault 
 
For example, you want to cross a busy road: Your hardwired instruction in the circuit of 
your reptilian brain that deals with your survival responds: cars = danger, body 
immediately responds with an instinctive command of stop, look and wait till the road is 
safe to cross. However in some people you may have overridden this instinctive 
command by playing a game of dare as kids and not getting hit by a car. A new imprint 
would replace the old and the child may now be less careful when crossing the road 
again. This could end in tragedy. In some cases a learned response to fear is very 
rational and can save our life. 
 
It is when fear become irrational that it causes obstacles in our life. A classic example is 
the fear of public speaking. In many cases people really want to speak in public as it 
would help their career a great deal, however they feel paralysed by the fear response 
that overwhelms them when making an attempt to. This then makes them believe they 
can never talk in public and they will instinctively avoid doing so at all costs, hampering 
their potential for success in their career or business.  
 
Panic attacks, excessive sweating, losing train of thought, forgetting words and even 
stuttering are common reactions that you may notice when you see a person on stage 
trembling with fear.  
 
This same example also applies to the extremely common fear of approaching a person 
of the opposite sex that you are really attracted to for the first time. It is considered an 
irrational fear because you are not going to die!  
 
So why does your body react in this way?  
 
FOFO (The Fear Of Feeling Out) - The Most Dangerous Epidemic Spreading Across The 
World. 
 
Back in the time of our tribal ancestors if you were rejected by the tribe it would mean 
no one would want your babies. Something as trivial as not being able to dance could 
end in rejection. If you were born a lighter or darker skin color than everyone else, such 
as an albino, or if you were much smaller or weaker than other members of the tribe you 
would most likely be excluded, and off on your own you would go.  
 
Unless you were a real ‘renegade’ and managed to create your own competing tribe 
elsewhere, you would get outcasted, fail to pass on your genes, and would inevitably die 
a fast and painful death. The fear of this ever happening is perhaps the greatest fear of 
all and it still drives a lot of human behaviour to this day.  
 
It seems we have moved on a lot since those tribal ancestral times, but has it really? 
The fear of feeling out or excluded is still a driving factor of a lot of human behaviour. 
The human need for belonging, connection and love is perhaps the greatest human 
need of all and is hardwired deep into the bio-survival circuit of the reptilian brain.  
 
Just think back on your own life at how many things you did, decisions you made, 
events you did or did not attend, books you did or did not read, clothes you would wear 
or would never dream of wearing simply to fit into the culture you felt most attracted to. 
Marketing and advertising is all designed to create cultures within cultures, and to lose 
the deep seated fear of feeling out, to get you to the buy stuff that makes you feel more 
‘in’. 
 
Depression and anxiety is a serious epidemic around the world. A big reason for it is this 
growing movement towards becoming tribal cultures again. You may be at risk of 
depression if you feel you have been excluded by your current ‘tribe’ because for 
example you do not earn as much money anymore and you can’t afford to go to the 
same places as them, or perhaps you do not feel connected anymore to your 
workmates, peers, friends or even family. Perhaps you turned vegan, but they still eat 
meat, or you do yoga but they now think you are a weirdo for doing it and so on. Until 
you discover a new ‘tribe’ that makes you feel more ‘in’ then you may suffer from 
depression or anxiety, especially if it is your own family who are beginning to exclude 
you. 
 
However you can actually respond better to change and become adaptive by controlling 
this primal fear response.This can help you prevent this fear manifesting into something 
much worse like chronic disease and depression. Instead of overacting and letting this 
fear take over your life you can learn to ‘charm the snake’, get back into your ‘flow’ and 
find or create a new ‘tribe’ that lives by your values.  
 
It is this irrational fear that makes you consume things you do not really want, or 
conform against your own will just to fit ‘in’, or never be able to speak in public or freeze 
at the sight of a person you admire. This is not really you - it’s the reptile, and by 
charming the snake and making it your friend, it can help you significantly lead a more 
happier and fulfilled life. 
 
As crazy as it sounds it is by learning simple breathing exercises that you can actually 
become cool and calm when bombarded with negative comments, insults or even 
rejection. You can become a liberated superhuman! 
 
How To Control FOFO 
 
Fear and hard core survival instincts are hardwired within the first few interactions of 
your life and they are the hardest of all to shift. Higher yoga rituals are designed to 
reprogram these and conscious breathing is the first reprogramming tool of the yogis. 
The reprogramming power is especially enhanced if you turn the practice of kumbhaka 
into an active meditative process using visualization and incantations. This is an 
extremely effective way to charm the snake, as your reptilian brain does not respond to 
words and logic - it prefers pictures, images and symbols. 
 
You may be familiar with the sensations and side effects of fear - Sweating, blushing, 
inability to think straight, freezing up, or even making a crazy instinctive reaction that 
ends in embarrassment, such as saying the wrong thing or getting into an unnecessary 
fight. 
 
Strong emotions such as fear shuts down your cerebral functions as your 
limbic/reptilian brain takes control. Instead of directing blood flow to activities like 
thinking or contemplating your brain is aimed solely towards your survival under any 
cost.  
 
Fear leads to physiological changes that prepare you to be more efficient in a 
dangerous system. Your brain becomes hyper alert, your pupils dilate, your breath 
capacity increases, breathing gets faster. Your heart rate increases and so does your 
blood pressure. Blood flow to your muscles increases, however blood flow to organs 
that deal with digestion decreases or even stops completely as they are not as 
important when you need to escape danger. 
 
The ‘Off Switch’ For Stress 
 
The human species has not evolved to fit the current societal pressures. In our 
ancestral past this fear response would be a valuable protection mechanism in the 
threat of danger from wild animals or invading tribes. However in today’s time, instead 
of wild beasts or warriors attacking us, it is our boss at work, deadlines, taxes and bills 
to pay. These emotional stressors creates the same physiological response and unlike 
animals who have an off switch for stress, humans do not. Many of us wallow in an 
ocean of stress hormones, and unless we do something about it, the stress will 
inevitably lead to disease of even kill us.  
 
Often poor digestion is the result of less blood flow to the digestive organs due to the 
flight or fight response being switched on for too long. Poor digestion is a major cause 
of chronic disease, low energy and poor performance.  
 
Unless you learn to control the stress response it can wreak havoc over your health and 
life!  
 
However the good news is that by breathing rhythmically and practicing kumbhaka are 
two tools that helps us to consciously turn off stress and charm the snake. 
 
Rhythmic breathwork followed by kumbhaka is also the magical process for creating 
the Soma within.  
 
We discuss the science and the method of kumbhaka in more depth in the Soma 
Awakening Protocol. 
 
Why Is AUM The Sacred Sound Of Creation? 
 
According to the ancient yogic texts, AUM or OM is considered the sacred sound of 
creation. If you take a closer look at exactly ​what happens physiologically​ when you 
make this sound, it may well be the most simple ‘creative’ tool available.  
 
The yogis are not the only people to chant single tones like AUM. The tibetan monks, 
tuvan throat singers of Mongolia and various other tribal cultures sing in single tones. 
When you make a single tone sound for an extended length of time you are naturally 
extending the exhale. You stimulate the cerebral cortex which in turn also calms down 
the hypothalamus and even pain receptors. This may explain why people scream or yell 
when they get hurt too!  
 
Making a single tone stimulates the vagus nerve, your brainwaves produce more alpha 
and theta waves, and this is the state hypnotherapists like to get their subjects into as it 
is the time when suggestions work best. Through the power of intention and 
visualization you can stimulate the creation of new brain cells in the cerebral cortex.  
 
AUM is actually 3 sylables, A-U-M pronounced Ahhh, Ooooh and Mmmmm. Each of 
these tones creates a vibration in a different area of the body.  
 
Ahhh = Stomach/Abdomen  
Ooooh = Heart/Chest/Throat  
Mmmm = Brain/Pineal/Pituitary Gland 
 
Through this toning sequence you can vibrate and stimulate the endocrine glands and 
energy centers of each of these areas of your body. This has the power to create, 
restore and revitalise the cells and organs important for your optimum living. However 
the higher tones of Mmmm that stimulates your higher corticol functions and glands of 
the pineal and pituitary. Toning also has the power to alter consciousness and your 
ability to create reality itself. 
 
By combining rhythmic breathwork, kumbhaka, harnessing sexual energy and toning 
you now how a powerful process for awakening your creative, manifesting and 
brain/congnitive enhancing power! 
 
The Soma AUM Meditation 
 
When you chant AUM, it naturally makes you do the extended exhalation, where you 
breath out longer than you breath in. 
 
This has the effect of switching off your sympathetic nervous system and activating 
your parasympathetic nervous system. 
 
With this exercise will flow naturally into the alpha state and your third eye chakra will 
begin to be activated. This is where your pineal gland is located. 
 
In many ancient cultures the pineal gland is considered to be “the seat of the soul”, and 
this scientific AUM meditation can be used to enhance the activity of the pineal gland. 
 
This allows you to connect with the divine and the universal consciousness. 
 
Deep meditation in this state enables you to receive divine inspiration, heightened 
creativity and divine knowledge. 
 
Soma Sauna 
 
Saunas were first utilised some 4000 years ago and much research has been carried 
out as to the health benefits. A sauna is one of the top methods utilised to flush toxins 
from the body as it causes you to sweat profusely, forcing toxins such as heavy metals 
to the surface of your skin.  
 
A deep sweat is a great way to release toxicity from the body which has built up from 
exposure to various environmental elements such as pollution and also chemicals 
which are commonly found in refined foods we consume.  
 
Saunas have even been found to burn calories and aid in weight loss due to your body’s 
elimination of toxins, which in turn increases your metabolism. Saunas have also been 
found to greatly reduce the stress hormone cortisone, which has been linked to weight 
gain. 
 
Studies also show that due to increased blow flood, endurance has been found to be 
increased in athletes who regularly use saunas. A recent finding also shows that saunas 
promote a natural hormone called HGH (human growth hormone), which is vital for 
maintaining healthy tissue, organs and muscles which rapidly degenerate with age.  
 
HGH is also necessary for strong sexual health into good age, therefore sauna are 
powerful for supercharging your sexual energy. 
 
Going to a sauna and steam for me is akin to going to church. I have developed my own 
sauna meditation ritual based on simple pranayama breathwork exercises and 
visualization techniques to reach altered states of consciousness.  
 
During this ritual a deep meditative state with a surge of low alpha and theta wave 
activity is achieved where I can consciously control my autonomic nervous system and 
influence the powers of the brain stem.  
 
If you believe in the law of attraction and ‘manifesting’ I believe this ritual is the key 
factor for my own ability to create the reality I want. 
 
 
What Happens When You Breathe Together 
 
If you watch a baby in their mother’s arms you will see how the baby’s breathing syncs 
to the mothers. You will also notice if you are spending a lot of time with one person 
that your breathing pattern will match theirs. Forms of therapy such as NLP and 
hypnotherapy model this phenomenon and the therapist will alter their breathing 
patterns to match their clients to create instant rapport.  
 
If you are on a date and want to create instant rapport, or if you want to experience 
deeper connection during love making, simply breathe together in the same rhythm or 
match your rate of breath to theirs. 
 
Studies have also shown that couples tend to naturally sync their heart and breath 
rhythms together, it’s a sign of love and connection. 
 
By breathing to a rhythm together as a group we can create a harmonious vibe between 
each person as our heart rhythms synchronise, and this helps create rapport and a 
stronger bond between the group.  
 
This is the power of collective coherence at creating a better community for all. 
 
Soma Awakening experiences are greatly enhanced as a group. The connection, 
friendships and bonds created by breathing together is what makes this such an 
important tool for building community. 
 
Science Of Immortality & Becoming Superhuman 
 
In a famous book by Yogananda called Autobiography of a Yogi he shares miraculous 
stories of superhuman yogis who have become immortal who live in the mountains of 
the Himalayas. It seems super far fetched but it may be a real truth that can be 
explained by having a deeper understanding of yoga and its effect on your physiology 
and stem cells. 
 
Stem cells are cells that can turn into any other cell. They are a hot topic right now with 
a big drive towards the research on how to harness the potential of stem cells to regrow 
new tissues, replace damaged cells and even brand new organs.  
 
Stem cells are only active in hypoxic environments. There are a huge number of stem 
cells when you are still in your mother’s womb. They rapidly divide and grow into the 
cells that create intelligent life. The womb is a very hypoxic environment meaning 
oxygen levels are around 10% of normal oxygen levels in the atmosphere (more like the 
top of Mount Everest). As soon as you are born they hide away in hypoxic areas of your 
body called niches as you get exposed to higher oxygen levels. Bone marrow is where 
they are commonly found and they are usually extracted from here during very 
expensive stem cell transplant operations costing upwards of $20K. Other niches are in 
the tissues of organs where stem cells are surrounded by a ring of normal cells that 
consume all the oxygen and create a hypoxic environment in the middle.  
 
So the theory goes if we can activate our stem cells we should be able to live longer 
disease free lives as we can keep regenerating healthy cells and replace old ones. 
 
In Pranayama, the breathwork component of yoga, the most revered breathing 
technique is called Kumbhaka. This involves different types of breath retention or 
simply holding your breath either in (puraka) or out (rechaka). Through the process of 
yoga, by steadily increasing your retention times, it is claimed you can reach a state of 
eternal bliss called samadhi and become immortal. 
 
What happens when you hold your breath? 
 
When you hold your breath you build up CO2 and deplete O2 in your blood stream. 
 
The longer you hold your breath you become ‘hypoxic’ which is a state of very low O2 
levels in your blood. 
 
If it continues for too long the lack of O2 will have serious consequences as we need O2 
for life to exist.  
 
However short periods of hypoxia also known as intermittent hypoxia has been shown 
in various studies to be beneficial to health. 
 
This is where the magical effect of intermittent hypoxia kicks in. 
 
Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) - A Medically Approved Therapy With 
Instantaneous Health Benefits 
 
New research shows that intermittent hypoxic training, where you create brief periods of 
low oxygen levels, can produce almost instantaneous results by actually stimulating 
stem cells to come out of their niches and move around the body and to places where 
they can heal and regenerate healthy cells for your organs. 
 
This form of therapy has been used by Russian doctors for decades to treat a number 
of diseases such as coronary heart disease, and even to improve recovery time from 
injury and athletic training. Stamina and endurance is also enhanced as intermittent 
hypoxia stimulates the production of new muscle tissue, red blood cells and even blood 
vessels. 
 
Medical clinics use expensive equipment for IHT making the cost of this treatment in 
the thousands, however The Soma Awakening Protocol creates the same effect using 
the power of just your breath! 
 
Uses & Contraindications Of IHT 
 
IHT improves mitochondrial function and can enhance athletic and sports performance. 
 
IHT can be beneficial for the treatment of a wide range of degenerative diseases, 
including: 
 
● chronic heart and lung diseases 
● hypertension 
● asthma and chronic bronchitis 
● liver and pancreatic diseases 
● anxiety and depression 
● iron-deficiency anaemia 
● lack of energy and fatigue 
 
IHT is contra-indicated in case of: 
 
● acute somatic and viral diseases 
● chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD-II and COPD-III) 
● chronic diseases with symptoms of decompensation or terminal illness 
● individual intolerance of oxygen insufficiency 
● cancer, unless IHT is prescribed by a doctor 
● people with epilepsy, pacemakers or heart arrhythmias, unless treatment 
(including IHT) is under direct medical supervision. 
 
What Happens During Intermittent Hypoxia? 
 
All the effects of hypoxia are generated through the now well-documented 
“Hypoxia-Inducible-Factor-1”. These effects are primarily to help you survive lower O2 
environments.  
 
It seems that inducing hypoxia through breath-holding creates a positive stress 
response by turning on your survival mode in the way extreme temperatures from 
saunas and ice baths do too. 
 
● Increase in red blood cells through the production of EPO 
● Produces growth factors that lead to development of new blood vessels. This 
happens even in heart disease so can help prevent heart failure. 
● Induces Nitric Oxide Synthase that has a variety of positive effects on cell 
tissues. Nitric Oxide helps protect cells from oxidative stress and also stimulates 
vasodilation. It may even help erectile dysfunction as it is involved in the 
vasodilation needed to erect the penis. 
● It induces Tumor protein p53 also known as the ‘guardian of the genome’ that 
protects the DNA of a cell and prevents cells from turning into cancer cells. 
● Stem cells can only survive in hypoxia. Stem cells are abundant in fetal 
circulation where O2 is low. They disappear from the circulation soon after birth. 
They survive in various locations called ‘Niches’ in the body such as bone marrow 
in adulthood. The amount of stem cells in the body reduces with age. It is 
possible that stem cells may migrate from bone marrow to various tissues where 
they stimulate repair and growth of new cells by just a few minutes of hypoxia a 
day (intermittent hypoxia). This could benefit many degenerative disorders 
including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s 
 ● It has shown in rat models to stimulate neurogenesis in the brain by the 
proliferation of neural stem cells that can also help memory, cognitive function 
and even act as an anti-depressant. 
 
Hypoxia & Stem Cells 
 
It has been shown in rats that the number of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) in the 
peripheral blood increases by as much as 15 folds by hypoxia. 
 
It is also well recognised that stem cells retained their self renewing properties when 
cultured in hypoxic environments of 2% oxygen compared to 20% in normal air, 
 
Bone marrow stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells have low numbers of of 
mitochondria, and are more adapted to anaerobic survival rather than oxygen rich 
environments. 
 
 
Oxidative stress 
 
Studies have shown that oxidative stress is a major factor in causing degenerative 
diseases like Parkinson’s and osteoarthritis. 
 
This could be as result of stem cells staying locked in ‘Niches’ by excess oxygen in the 
blood. 
 
Is Carbon Dioxide Toxic? 
  
In normal amounts carbon dioxide is not at all toxic. It diffuses from your cells into your 
bloodstream and from there out via your lungs and is always present throughout your 
body. 
 
You would have to inhale large quantities of CO2 for a prolonged period of time to 
causes any harm to the body. This duration would be much much longer than what you 
would expect during intermittent hypoxia. 
 
Diseases That May Be Treated By Intermittent Hypoxia 
 
“Low dose” Intermittent Hypoxia training may be a simple, safe, and effective treatment 
with considerable therapeutic potential for multiple clinical disorders is receiving 
increasing support from experimental and clinical studies. 
 
Type 2 Diabetes 
 
This debilitating illness has reached epidemic levels around the world. The current 
methods of treating it are with drugs that include stimulating insulin release from the β 
cells by sulfonylureas, stimulating peripheral utilization of glucose by biguanides, and 
reducing insulin resistance using thiazolidinedione derivatives. 
 
These medications require constant use and their effect diminishes over the time 
meaning higher doses and more need to be taken, This can lead to all kinds of nasty 
side effects. 
 
Often extremely restrictive carb free diets need to be employed if a patient wants any 
chance to reverse or manage the symptoms without relying on medication. 
 
However human embryonic stem cells can be directed to turn into cells that produce 
insulin. Mice have been seen to regenerate β-cell mass after losing 70%–80% of it. 
 
Coronary artery disease 
 
When blood vessels providing blood flow to the heart die or are blocked, this reduced 
blood flow can result in a heart attack. A popular surgery is known as a bypass. Blood 
flow is redirected to the heart by creating an artificial blood vessel. Stents are 
sometimes used to widen the affected blood vessels too. 
 
However In recent years scientists have been looking for ways to see if the body can 
create ‘natural bypasses’ by the formation of coronary collaterals. 
 
When narrowing of coronary arteries is gradual by atherosclerosis it has been shown 
that coronary collaterals form naturally to improve blood flow. 
 
It is thought tissue hypoxia leads to the formation of VEGF that stimulates the growth of 
these new ‘natural bypasses’ 
 
Patients with sleep apnea and hypoxic spells have also been shown to create coronary 
collaterals naturally. 
 
Dr Buteyko hypothesised that sleep apnea, asthma and other disorders that reduce the 
amount of oxygen in the blood was actually the body attempting to create a hypoxic 
environment. 
 
The Buteyko method actually works by creating intermittent hypoxia, which makes 
perfect sense as to why it has such incredible results at curing asthma and sleep apnea. 
 
Osteoarthritis 
 
As we age normal wear and tear on the joints causes cell damage and if your rate of cell 
repair is lower than the rate of damage you get the disease known as osteoarthritis. 
 
Scientists are trying to harness stem cells, multiply them in culture and then put them at 
the site that needs recovery. 
 
Hypoxic conditions have been shown to increase hypoxia-inducible transcription factor 
HIF-2α that leads to growth of stem cells in osteoarthritis patients. 
 
Parkinson’s 
 
Parkinson’s arises from the loss of dopamine producing brain cells from the substantia 
nigra portion of the brain. Symptoms include trembling, loss of gait, posture and low 
moods. 
 
The use of stem cells to regrow these particular brain cells is currently being 
investigated. 
 
Autoimmune Conditions 
 
Autoimmune diseases such as ulcerative colitis, Crohns, asthma and arthritis result in 
an increase of inflammation at the areas affected by the disease. Cytokine plays a 
major role in the development of inflammation. 
 
In experiments with rats induced with a form of rheumatoid arthritis that were treated 
with intermittent hypoxia, it was shown to have a powerful anti-inflammatory effect, by a 
cascade of effects that lead to the inhibition of cytokines. 
 
The Buteyko method also has many years of anecdotal evidence of people recovering 
from a variety of chronic autoimmune conditions. Now the Wim Hof Method also boasts 
similar success stories from its users. 
 
Being a past sufferer of an autoimmune condition I believe the cause and treatment is 
probably more complicated than simply holding your breath. 
 
Factors such as poor digestion, poor lifestyle choices, leaky gut, emotional and physical 
stress are to be taken into account for the progression of many chronic diseases not 
just autoimmune. 
 
However intermittent hypoxic training may offer some relief of symptoms and be part of 
a wider protocol that takes into account the other lifestyle factors. 
 
Memory + Cognitive Function 
 
In this highly competitive and busy world people are always trying to get the edge on 
their ability to think sharper, faster and with better memories. 
 
The field of nootropics has grown widely in the last few years with attempts to create 
complex smart drugs and vitamin formulations with the aim to boost cognitive function. 
However an over looked natural nootropic may lie in simply holding your breath. 
 
Neural stems cells have been shown in studies to proliferate in the brain under hypoxia 
leading to neurogenesis and the growth of new brain cells. Memory has also been 
shown to be improved in studies with rats. 
 
Other studies have shown its ability to heal brain lesions that would be caused during 
degenerative diseases like Alzheimers, Dementia and Parkinson’s. 
 
Intermittent hypoxia causes vasodilation and also increases blood flow to the brain. 
Could combining certain yoga postures such as inversions and headstands with 
intermittent hypoxic training be a powerful method to improve cognitive function? 
 
Releasing The ‘Soma’ Within 
 
Could Soma be the same molecule as DMT found in entheogens, and what is 
responsible for creating the spiritual and visionary states described by the ancient 
rishis? Did they figure out how to release it through breath control, and could this 
mechanism explain why I have also experienced and witnessed many of my clients 
having a psychedelic trip after a Soma Awakening? 
 
Dr. Steven Barker has been extensively involved in studies involving the endogenously 
produced hormone dimethyltryptamine (DMT) since 1976. He writes “I think DMT may 
primarily be synthesized in the lung during specific physiological states; controlled 
breathing, such as occurs in many meditative practices, extreme physical exertion, 
hyperventilation, near-death changes in respiration rates, hypoxia, etc. DMT synthesized 
in the lung would go directly to the brain, by-passing the metabolic destruction that 
would occur from liver metabolism. “ 
 
It is unsure exactly what is the full explanation for the spiritual visionary experiences 
possible through breathwork, however this is my brief explanation for why Soma 
possibly works: 
 
With deeper practice and extended length of the Awakening session to around 60 
minutes to 1hr you can create an effect that may be explained by the release of Soma or 
DMT in the body. 
 
During extended sessions the rhythmic breathwork phase is significantly longer - up to 
30 minutes. This supercharges the nervous system and may stimulate the production of 
DMT in the lungs. 
 
After several cycles of breath retention you can bring your SPO2 levels down to 50% and 
less. You can lengthen your breath retention times to 3mins +. At this point perhaps 
your reptilian brain is tricked into believing that you are about to die, and it prepares to 
do so by releasing the same molecules that are triggered when you die?  
 
Rick Strassman theorizes that DMT is responsible for creating the ‘white light at the end 
of the tunnel’ experiences commonly reported by survivors of a ‘near death’ experience.  
 
The awakening of sexual energy may enhance the psychedelic experience by 
stimulating the production of dopamine, serotonin and other tryptamines. 
 
The rhythmic breathwork followed by brief pauses in breath is similar to the breathing 
patterns associated with rapid eyeball movement sleep (REM) which is when your brain 
is most active during the different phases of sleep and your dreams are most intense.  
 
What I have noticed during Awakening sessions is that people go into a similar state to 
REM sleep while still conscious for 30 seconds to a minute. With eyelids shut, their eyes 
would seem to rapidly move around in different directions. Then after a few moments 
they would safely return back to consciousness and report remembering intense 
visions, total loss of time and space, or absolutely no memory of what happened, and 
sometimes all three! 
 
Using brain mapping we studied the brainwaves of participants who had experienced a 
full Soma Awakening. Interestingly gamma waves were significantly boosted during the 
peak intensity of the rhythmic breathwork phase. Gamma is associated with peak 
brainwave activity usually only seen in experienced meditators such as the Dalai Lama. 
Moments of inspiration and profound clarity are associated at the gamma brainwave 
level. 
 
An alpha-theta cross was observed during the breath hold phase that is associated with 
the brain resolving a lot of information. This may explain why participants feel more of a 
sense of peace and clarity after a Soma Awakening. It is also similar to the resolutions 
and the feeling of spiritual cleansing after consuming a DMT containing entheogen like 
ayahuasca. 
 
However at present all DMT research is either theoretical or done using rat models. The 
sheer fact that DMT does not last a very long time in the body, and the lack of funding 
for this kind of research means that research in humans in currently lacking. 
 
The Magical Power Of Incantations  
 
You may be familiar with the children’s stories of witches and wizards casting magic 
spells to heal the sick or even put curses on people. 
 
The witches of folklore did actually exist in real life, and the used ‘incantations’ to 
influence changes in people. 
 
Incantations = affirmations combined with high energy emotional states. When you give 
a hypnotic command to your subconscious mind, in the form of an affirmation of 
suggestion it is more likely to create a change that if you are in a low energy state. 
 
Why You Get Stuck With Manifesting 
 
The usual way to practice the law of attraction involves creating a mental visualization 
or even a vision board of what it is you want to manifest. However most people fail at 
making this work.  
 
The problem with just imagining the things that we want is that we get great positive 
feelings imagining what we want, but underlining them are often these murky feelings - 
it is these feelings that are really holding you back. You need to clear these first.  
If all you do is focus on creating a big image of what you want, then all you do is create 
more thrust which in turn creates more drag - this contaminates the vibrational 
message going out to the universe.  
 
So how do you get rid of this? How did you know u had a bad feeling in first place?  
 
The Law Of Orgasmic Attraction 
 
The law of attraction is about taking the randomness out of life. It is about attracting the 
life you want, becoming the person who you want to be, not the person you were 
programmed to be. 
 
This programming occured at a time when you had no defenses, u had no idea what 
was going on and you had no tools to help you. 
 
So it’s not your fault. But it is your responsibility to deal with it.  
 
Every single thing human beings to do is because of a feeling. So to be aware of exactly 
how you feel is the secret to manifesting your dream life. 
 
The peak of all human feelings is right at the moment of orgasm. 
 
By understanding the law of orgasmic attraction, you will finally be able to make the law 
of attraction work for you. 
 
The law of attraction states that you will attract into your life what is in harmony with 
your dominant thoughts. However the reason why things like ‘manifesting’ fails for 
people is because no one told you what your dominant thoughts actually are. 
 
What Are Your Dominant Thoughts & Feelings? 
 
Your dominant thoughts are little fragments of conscious thought that play on an 
endless loop. They are stored as emotions in your body that manifest as feelings. They 
run as programs all the time. The thoughts you are actually aware of are transient and 
they come and go all the time. However what is stored in your body on endless loops 
are constantly running and you add layers and layers on top of them because no one 
told you how to let them go. Even if you knew how to remove them, the layers keep on 
adding, so it is very important to regularly do some ‘house cleaning’ and maintenance.  
 
You are not broken, the feelings you have are just a sign that your neurology that is 
designed to protect you, make sure you survive and pass on your genes at all costs, did 
it exactly how it was programmed. The feelings are just warning signs.  
 
However if left unchecked they may manifest as common ailments like chronic pain, 
indigestion, heartburn, headaches, tightness in chest and muscle cramps. You may also 
feel ‘contracted’ in a situation rather than ‘expanded’. 
 
Elevate Your Orgasmic State 
 
The highest emotional state for change is the state of orgasm. The most revered occult 
rituals is called sex magic. It is the art of transmuting and harnessing the power of sex 
magic to invoke powerful change and transformations. 
 
Studies show that the fastest way to enhance neuroplasticity is 20 mins of intense 
orgasms. This high vibrational state releases oxytocin (bonding hormone). This is the 
primary hormone for amplifying and enhancing neuroplasticity.  
 
The right dose of oxytocin in your system allows much faster rewriting of old imprints 
and overlaying of new imprints in its place. Neuroplasticity is the speed and facility with 
brain creates neurons and pathways.  
 
Neuroplasticity = brain change. All esoteric traditions from Buddhist meditation to Sufi 
whirling are methods to invoke brain change and to free yourself from the imprints that 
occured at 0-7 years. 
 
Breathwork + Sex Magic 
 
By simply modelling the way you breathe just before and during an intense orgasm, you 
can invoke the same emotional state as if it was a real orgasm, to the point where you 
may actually have a very intense orgasm.  
 
Through Soma we elevate your state through rhythmic breathwork, sexual energy locks 
and music combined to create the most powerful transformational change. 
 
Is There Such A Thing As Free Will? 
 
According to yoga, we are not born with true free will, it is something we have to earn 
and the process of yoga is designed to cultivate the sense of it, and if we never reach it, 
it will give us a sense of peace and acceptance with the fact we are just conditioned 
robots living in a robotized world constructed by other robots. 
 
Think about all the things that had to happen for you to be reading this right now. You 
may have been recommended this by a friend, or you may have responded to an advert. 
Before that event occured in space and time, your friend had to have learned about this 
somehow and the website that the advert was placed on that you responded to had to 
be created by someone. The computer that the website was programmed on had to be 
invented by someone at some point in history.  
 
The very fact that you were born at all is a miracle, because a lucky sperm found a lucky 
egg at some point in space and time. So really you are the net result of a lot of love 
making going back millions of years, with the chances of you even existing being 1 in a 
quadrlillion!  
 
Just imagine how different your life would be if you were a little bit taller, or shorter, or a 
completely different race or color? What if you were born a different sex Imagine if you 
were brought up speaking russian rather than english, how different would your life have 
been?? 
 
You could say that life is the product our collective and cumulative responses to 
external influences, and the external response to your physical traits, that we have 
absolutely no control over.  
 
Your response to a situation begins with a feeling. Everything human beings do is 
because of a feeling.  
 
But where do those feelings come from?  
 
The more you meditate on this question, you can contemplate that a feeling arises 
because of a physiological change that occurs in the body that is then interpreted by the 
brain as an emotion.  
 
What is it that makes this physiological change?  
 
An electrical impulse in the neurology of the body is what initiates the muscles into 
action.  
 
But where does that electrical impulse come from? 
 
By using the analogy of a computer, you can assume that just like a computer we have 
both a software component (your mind) and a hardware component (physical body). 
 
The software just like a computer can be programmed, and it is those programs that 
drives instinctive and habitual behaviour. These programs also called imprints are 
recorded memories based on how to respond to situations in order to stay safe, and 
they are wired and stored into your physical hard drives.  
 
Most of these imprints occur in the earliest part of our lives 0-7 years, and according to 
yoga and other schools of mysticism and magic, they are almost impossible to shift. 
 
Now for a moment imagine that the entire universe is a hologram projecting out into 
time and space from one single source of vibrational energy. Everything that exists and 
will ever exist is happening right here and right now. This is what quantum physics tells 
us about the mystery of our universe.  
 
Our brain stem located deep in the center of the most primitive part of the brain, called 
the reptilian brain, is designed to filter out all of the information from reality that 
bombards us everyday and to prevent us from becoming overwhelmed by it. It is these 
filters that defines our perception of reality. 
 
But what creates these filters in the first place? 
 
The imprints that occur between 0-7 years old are what shapes these filters. The 
conditioning from events after this age merely add layers on top. 
 
Unless we learn to change our filters, we will merely be existing in a sleeping trance like 
robots acting out hardwired imprints or ‘meta-programs’ 
 
Soma Awakening is designed to help you wake up out of this sleeping trance by 
discovering your true will. 
 
Imprints & Meta-programs 
 
Your unconscious mind is hardwired to believe familiarity = safety. So your unconscious 
mind does whatever it is programmed to do, even though a better behaviour may exist. 
An example of this is smoking cigarettes for comfort. There are much more healthy 
ways to get a feeling of comfort but if it is not familiar or not yet formed into a habit, 
cigarettes will remain as your go-to mechanism for stress relief.  
 
These hardwired imprints or programs first appeared in your life at a time when the 
awareness of good/bad evil/no evil spiritual/not spiritual did not exist. It was either 
familiar or it wasn’t. As soon as you were born the most familiar thing to you was your 
mother’s nipple that you sucked, that gave you an immediate sense of relief and 
comfort. This action satisfied your first feeling of ‘hunger’, one of the earliest primal 
drives that comes from your reptilian brain, the part of your brain that only cares about 
your survival. A cigarette by the sheer fact that it has a nipple like shape that you suck 
and what gives a small dose of stress relief by the action of nicotine, acts an easy and 
familiar replacement for this early imprint that obviously is not available when you grow 
older. 
 
However the earliest instinct for survival of all is your breath. The first thing you do 
when you are born is to take a big inhale, your first big gasp for survival. It may now not 
be a surprise why people, especially when stressed, instinctively put more force on the 
inhale, and have so much remaining tension in their chest when they exhale, as they find 
it hard to let go of the air, as though it is the last breath they will ever take. It is quite 
common to notice people holding their breath after an inhale when they are feeling 
tense, and then freaking out when told to hold their breath with no air in the lungs. 
 
By modulating our responses to these early imprints, by correcting our breath, releasing 
and letting go, we can begin the process of true liberation from these early life imprints. 
 
Soma As A Form Of Psychotherapy 
 
The greatest mistake of most forms of therapy is the reductionist model of separating 
body from mind. You have talk therapy, psychoanalysis, regression therapy, all different 
models just focusing on one area - the software. To really make therapy work fast you 
must engage both the software and the hardware. You must engage the body!  
 
Soma actually means ‘one body’, ‘one mind’, ‘one collective consciousness’ in Greek. 
Soma is the understanding that the universe is holographic and that you are a 
manifestation of the vibrations that emit from this holographic universe.  
 
You are the net result of everything that was, is and will ever be. You are both the 
hardware and the software. Your are Soma! 
 
Engaging The Body To, Reprogram The Hardware & Software 
 
The hardest imprints and traumas to clear are from your inner womb experience, to birth 
and then first 6/7 years of your life. Higher yoga practices were designed to clear this 
past traumas and negative conditioning so that you can become free and liberated. 
 
Soma also includes higher yoga rituals designed to clear negative imprints and help you 
break free from the past, so you can be more present, in the flow, liberated with the 
power to create your own reality. 
 
The rhythmical breathing phase hyper-oxygenates the body, bringing in more oxygen 
and blowing out more carbon dioxide than normal. This alters the pH of the blood 
stream and creates a stronger electromagnetic field and current to flow through the 
body. The effect of this is an elevation of your vibrational and emotional energy.  
 
Through a higher vibration and emotional quality, negative emotions can be released 
and cleansed from the body, and the ability to attract and manifest your intentions is 
increased. 
 
This type of ‘diaphragmatic’ breathing also moves the largest lymph gland in the body 
creating a powerful cleansing effect. 
 
Before the breath retention phase you extend your exhale with deep vocal toning. This 
allows you to tap into the power of the vagus nerve, switch off stress and connect with 
your subconscious mind during the breath retention phase. 
 
Life is a series of inhales and exhales, and when you pause your breath you press pause 
on life. Your quality of thought is also linked to breath. Erratic breathing leads to erratic 
thinking. Smooth consistent breathing leads to coherent thought – this has been shown 
by studies from Heart Math Institute. 
 
When you pause your breath during the breath retention phase, you press pause on life. 
This allows you to go into the deepest meditative state possible where you can connect 
with your subconscious mind. 
 
Using the power of affirmations, visualization techniques and self hypnosis you can 
program your subconscious operating system to influence your autonomic nervous 
system. 
 
The activation of sexual energy throughout the process and the gradual progression of 
the experience through repetition of the routine over a 1hr duration creates a strong 
gamma wave stimulation and heightened ecstatic states of consciousness. 
 
Powerful emotional releases can occur, negative imprints from the past can be cleared, 
and what we call ‘divine downloads’ that are moments of deep insight and moments of 
inspirations makes this experience truly unforgettable. 
 
With a trained Soma Breath Coach you can upgrade your subconscious operating 
system and liberate yourself from negative imprints, belief system and past traumas 
that may hold you back from success, health, wealth and happiness. 
 
 
3 Pillars Of Soma Breath - One Mind, One Body, One Force 
 
One Mind​ - Supermind - your very best thinking has got you to where you are today. This 
thinking is conditioned by the information you consume every day, the people who you 
communicate with the most frequently, your last 5 messages on FB, your workmates, 
lover or partners. They shape and condition your current reality and future path, so you 
must be really careful of who you let into your close circle, if you truly want to be 
successful in anything you do.  
 
This is why smart people are drawn to mastermind groups to collectively learn and 
share from people smarter than themselves, however it’s the people closest to you who 
have the most influence and this is your ‘Supermind’. So as a member of Soma Breath 
we feed your mind with the most up to date information, we bring you up when you are 
feeling down. We give you tools to reprogram and upgrade your thoughts. We support 
your crazy ideas and ambitions with love and constructive criticisms. Our community 
becomes your upgraded ‘supermind’. 
 
One Body​ - Super Human - The old paradigm is that you are a victim of your genes, 
chronic diseases can only be treated through medicine and that your brain cannot 
change. This paradigm also seperates mind from body, one of the greatest mistakes of 
our time. However the new science disproves all of this. Your mind and body are one. By 
studying real life superhumans, people who have reversed disease, and who have 
trained themselves from nothing to high level athletes, we have created a series of 
protocols for becoming truly ‘super human’. You will learn how to reach optimum states 
of health, physical fitness at the same time exercising your creative imagination and 
exploring your full human potential. 
 
One Force​ - Super Charge. Emotion is energy in motion and passion is the number one 
predictor of success and flow. Passion also rubs off when you are around passionate 
people. Sexual energy is the highest life force energy. We all possess it, but we are not 
trained on how to properly use it. Dogmatic religions and the cultural hypnosis has 
degraded it and suppressed it for too long. Sexual energy can be cultivated and 
transmuted into passion and creative energy, when you breathe in a certain rhythm. The 
first thing you will learn to do as part of our Soma community is to cultivate this energy 
and respark your passion. Then your path to success gets supercharged with an 
unstoppable life force. 
 
 
Useful Tools For Breathwork 
 
The recommended tools (not essential) for breathwork are: 
 
1. Pulse Oximeter - This device measures oxygen saturation of your blood (SpO2) 
as well as your heart rate. Normally this device is used by people who have 
difficulties breathing so that they can monitor their oxygen levels as extreme 
levels of chronic hypoxia can cause serious issues in the body. However we can 
also use it to measure intermittent hypoxia that we will be generating using the 
special technique called Longevity that can prolong your life. It can also measure 
your heart rate so that over time you can monitor how your resting heart rate 
drops as you become fitter and healthier. 
2. HRV chest strap + HRV app - This will help you monitor your heart rate variability. 
Your heart rate variability indicates how adaptive and resilient your body is to 
stress. A high reading on the sweet beat app that is between 70-100 is a sign of a 
good heart health, whereas a low reading around 40 and lower is a sign you are 
struggling with stress. Your score should improve gradually over time as you 
follow the techniques in this course. 
3. Mala beads - I use these to help me count the number of reps for certain 
breathing exercises. 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
Breath Control - Awakening Your Inner Pharmacy 
 
This guide will give you back the power to activate your own inner pharmacy and create 
your own medicines at will!  
 
For a long time we have been educated into believing that we have no control over our 
autonomic nervous system, that our mind is separate from our bodies and that drugs 
and surgery are the only options for treating disease.  
 
Having cured myself from a chronic illness I know from personal experience that this is 
not the real truth.  
 
The reality is that our body is a super intelligent system designed to self heal using its 
own pharmacy of medicines that cost nothing and are naturally side effect free!  
 
Everything has been broken into small bite sized chunks to make it as easy as possible 
to learn and understand. Do not skip an exercise, follow in the sequence it has been laid 
out, as each step has been logically structured to help you create the perfect daily 
routine. 
 
Mastering each of these techniques will prepare you for the advanced component of 
this course for releasing the ‘Soma’ within, based on an ancient ritual that I have revived, 
which can extend your life, give you profound visions and a psychedelic connection to 
your higher power. 
 
Breathe In Beats 
 
If your HRV is tight and regular, like a dance music beat, then you are in coherence. If 
however it’s value is chaotic and fluctuates a lot, it is a sign you are under stress, have 
low energy or an illness. 
 
As breathing influences HRV, if you breathe to a consistent rhythmic beat you will 
quickly get into coherence. 
 
1. Breathe In Heart Beats 
 
This is the most simplest method ever for getting into coherence super fast. 
 
1. Sit comfortably in an upright position with your back straight. 
2. Put your finger on your pulse and start counting your own natural heart beat. 
3. Do full diaphragmatic rhythmic breathing to the count of 6 beats on the inhale 
and 6 beats on the exhale for 5 minutes. 
4. If your resting heart rate is around 60 bpm, then the frequency of each breath 
cycle will be 0.1hz. As your heart would beat on average at 1 second per beat if 
it’s 60 BPM. Entraining your breath to this frequency is the sweet spot for 
coherence. 
5. You can also change the I:E ratio to 4:8 or 6:12 or gradually increase the exhale 
time till you are comfortable with it.  
6. Use a heart coherence monitoring app and you will see that you quickly get into 
coherence. 
 
2. Breathe In Drum Beats: 
 
The same as above, but instead of using your pulse, use music that is around 120bpm 
or 60bpm. If you breathe in a 4/4 time signature, adjusted if you are breathing to music 
that is half tempo at 60bpm, then you will breathe in and out for 4 seconds, as each beat 
is 1 second.  
 
Use an I:E ratio of 0.5 = 2 beats in and 4 beats out to uplifting beat driven music at 
120bpm. You will quickly switch from sympathetic to parasympathetic and experience a 
feeling of euphoric bliss wash over you. 
 
The Rhythm Of Life 
 
In 2011, ​students at Brazil’s Federal University of Minas Gerais​ mined tempo data from 
the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the Billboard 200 album chart, and the Million Song 
Dataset for a tempo visualization project. They found that from the 1940s until our 
current decade, the average tempo of our most popular songs fluctuated no more than 
5 bpm, hovering between 117 bpm to 122 bpm. 
 
Styles of dance music such as house music that are rooted in african rhythms are 
naturally timed to around 120bpm. African drummers would play hypnotic rhythms that 
were instinctively coherent with optimum heart rhythms, and used these combined with 
breathwork to get people into altered conscious states. All music production software 
are by default set to 120 bpm. A healthy natural resting heart rate is around 60 bpm. 
 
There are 60 seconds in a minute. By breathing in beats you would have 1 breath per 
second and this tempo quickly creates coherence. So this explains why 120/60 bpm is 
the natural rhythm of life. 
 
By experimenting with different tempos of music, i.e higher and lower you can create 
different physiological states. Higher BPMs of 130-140 will lead to more energy and an 
ecstatic feeling, but can also create more stress, anxiety and even panic in the body so 
should be used appropriately and with caution. Changing the breath rate to a time 
signature of 8/8 will create a much more meditative relaxed state or 2/4 will be a more 
faster ecstatic state.  
 
But the key is to breathe rhythmically - ‘breathe in beats’ and doing it to music makes it 
a lot more fun! 
 
Breathe-Work In Beats - A Fun Conscious Coherence Rhythmic Breathing Exercise 
 
1. During the day,for example while working on your laptop, or when doing stuff 
around the house, put on some beat drive music that resonates with you at 
around 100-120 bpm - deep house or tribal music would be an adequate choice. 
2. Bring your awareness to the rhythm of the music and begin to consciously 
breathe in beats with either 2:4 or 4:4 ratio to the 4/4 rhythm, slow, smooth and 
consistently.  
3. Do this for a few minutes, then gradually bring your awareness to your work. With 
practice your breathing with sync to the music on autopilot, with small 
fluctuations when you get an inspired thought. Whenever you lose focus on your 
work, bring your awareness back to your breath and breathe in beats. With this 
method your work or task will more easily flow. With regular practice your brain 
will change and rhythmic breathing will become a positive automatic habit. 
4. You can use an HRV app that measures coherence and see how long you stay in 
coherence even when bringing your awareness back into the work as a way to 
monitor your progress! 
 
 
How To Enhance The Power Of Breathwork Meditation 
 
Darth Vada Breath  
 
Also known as Ujayi pranayama, this is an enhancement for breathe in beats, however it 
should be used for slower breathing tempos. The method is to constrict your throat and 
make a sound a bit like Darth Vada from Star Wars, or a hissing sound as though you 
are steaming up a mirror, as this considerably slows down the rate of airflow in and out 
of the lungs.  
 
This has the effect of dramatically increasing carbon dioxide levels at the same time as 
increasing oxygen uptake. You will feel a warming tingly sensation all over your body. It 
is considered a magical breathing practice by himalayan tibetan monks as it has such a 
dramatic effect on your physiology. It also generates heat in the body. 
 
Breathing In Beats followed by one or more of the following breathwork meditations are 
a powerful ways to enhance the brain changing, physiological and spiritual effects of 
breathwork meditation, especially when performed inside a sauna. 
 
Soma AUM Meditation 
 
Step 1: 
 
1. As we begin this exercise make sure that you are aloud to be not disturbed. 
2. Relax all the tension from the top of your head to the end of your toes. 
3. Sit yourself in a position so that your back is allowed to remain upright, but not 
uncomfortably so. 
4. Place your hands face up, unfolded on your lap.  
 
Step 2: 
 
1. Slowly take a deep breath now, as your relax the tension around your eye brows, 
relax the tension around your throat, your shoulders, torso, back and chest. 
2. Now take a slow deep breath, and as you exhale, release all the tension in your 
body. 
3. Bring your awareness from any past point, or from any future point, which you 
believe is happening at a time which is not now, and realize that all is now, all is 
folded in to one eternal now moment. 
4. Close your eyelids, and again release all the tension in your body with one big 
exhalation. 
 
Step 3: 
 
1. Now take a deep diaphragmatic breath, making sure your abdomen rises as you 
breath, for a count of 4 seconds. 
2. On your out breath chant the sacred chant Aum with the full syllables focusing on 
Aaaa, then Uuuuu, then Mmmmm - feeling and enhancing the vibrations on each 
region of your body with your intention. 
3. Now repeat this exercise again for 5-10 minute. Breath in Chant Aum. Then 
observe how you feel more relaxed and calm the end of it. 
 
Step 4: 
 
1. For next 7 minutes visualize yourself healthy, happy and vibrant. Really clearly 
picture yourself in full health, free to do all the things you always wanted to do. 
2. Imagine the scene in great detail. 
3. What would you be wearing? What would you be doing? Who would you be doing 
it with? 
4. Have fun and really try to bring up the emotions of what it would be like to be 
free, happy and healthy. 
5. You can then keep repeating the mantra and the visualizations or just fall into a 
nice relaxed deep sleep full of wonderful dreams. 
 
You may use this at any time to help you reduce stress and anxiety, but if you begin to 
visualize the things that you want to create into your life you can do this after you have 
chanted AUM. 
 
 
Soma Toning 
 
Repeat the same meditation as above but play around with different tones that vibrate 
on different areas of your body. You will notice that higher pitches and more humm like 
sounds will vibrate your face and head. Lower pitches and more Haaaa like deeper 
tones will vibrate lower regions of your body like chest and abdomen.  
 
The secret is to find the tone that resonates with you most. It will be the one that when 
sung will give you a euphoric rush or pleasurable tingly sensation all over, and an 
instinctive feeling that this is your ‘tone’. 
 
Soma Cleansing Breath/Extended Exhale 
 
This is one of my favorite breathing exercises. You can use this throughout the day as a 
way to get into focus, or relax and relieve tension in the body. It works by improving 
oxygen absorption into your lungs, then promoting uptake into your cell tissues by 
raising carbon dioxide levels, which in turn also promotes vasodilation and improved 
blood circulation. By slowing the exhale down it can also help you focus and 
concentrate better by preventing your mind from creating erratic thoughts. 
 
1. Take a slow, full and complete inhale. 
2. Purse your lips as though you have a very small straw in your mouth. 
3. Blow the air out slowly as though you are blowing air through a very small straw. 
4. You can also hold your breath for a few seconds as you are exhaling, this will 
extend the exhale time creating an even deeper relaxation response. 
5. Repeat several times for 10-15 minutes or longer. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
BreathPharma - Pharmaceutical Application Of Breathwork 
 
‘5 Breathing Exercises To Make Your Own Medicines’ 
 
I have taken the 5 most scientifically validated breathwork techniques based on 
pranayama, that can be used to prevent and treat common ailments and symptoms that 
if left untreated can lead to more serious consequences. This is my method for you to 
reduce the dependency on pharmaceutical drugs long term. 
 
REST/RELAX 
 
What is this method used for? 
 
RELAXATION: Use this method whenever you are feeling anxious or stressed, or simply 
want a wave of good feelings wash over your mind and body.  
GETTING INTO FLOW: It will also help you get more into a calm ‘flow’ state that will help 
you prepare for an important meeting or event where you need to be relaxed and not 
stressed. DIGESTION: You can also use it to help digest your food better as it switches 
on your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest), and switches off your 
sympathetic (fight or flight), so you can do this before and after eating a meal.  
SLEEP: You can also use it before you want to sleep to get to sleep more easier. 
 
 
How to do the method: 
 
1) Sit in a comfortable place.   
 
2) Take a quick inhalation through your nose or mouth.  
 
3) Purse your lips and gently breathe the air out of your mouth very slowly as though you 
are breathing out through a straw. Do not tense your muscles while doing this - be as 
relaxed as possible.  
 
4) Imagine as the air is flowing out that a wave of relaxation is flowing down your body 
from top to bottom.  
 
5) Repeat the process several times for around 5 - 10 minutes a day. The longer the 
duration the deeper the effect at lowering your blood pressure and heart rate. 
 
6) You can also hold your breath for a few seconds before repeating the next round, 
gradually increasing the breath hold time each time you repeat for an even deeper effect 
 
 
ENERGY 
 
What is this method used for? 
 
ENERGY BOOST: It will raise your metabolism slightly and will give a shot of adrenaline 
for more energy. 
MOOD LIFT: Dopamine and serotonin will also be produced that can elevate your mood. 
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY: The adrenaline boost will also release natural steroids that have 
and anti-inflammatory effect on the body. 
RAISE BODY TEMPERATURE: When combined with breath holding you can actually 
induce a fever like response in the body that can suppress infections. It can also help 
stay warm in cold climates or ice baths. 
 
CAUTION: It may also raise your blood pressure slightly, but then cause a drop in heart 
rate and blood pressure. Use with caution and very gradually if you suffer from very high 
blood pressure. 
 
How to do the method: 
 
1. Sit comfortably in an upright position with your back straight. Contract tightly all 
the muscles you would use when holding in your urine. This means contraction 
the sphincter muscles, or the perineum as tight as possible.   
2. Contract as long as you feel comfortable and watch your heart rate go up on your 
monitor by around 20-30 BPM. When you relax, you will then observe a drop in 
heart rate even below your normal resting heart rate for a few minutes as your 
nervous system has a reset.  
3. If you hold your breath in while you contract your muscles it will enhance the 
effect and you will also feel a rise in body temperature. 
 
LONGEVITY 
 
What is the method used for? 
 
CARDIAC HEALTH: Improves circulation due to vasodilation and growth of new blood 
vessels. 
BRAIN HEALTH: Blood flow is improved to organs that use up a lot of oxygen like your 
brain. This may even lead to activation of dormant parts of the brain, improving 
cognitive function and memory. 
ANTI-AGING/LONGEVITY: May activate stem cells into circulation for regenerating cells 
in your body. 
ENDURANCE: Improves fitness and stamina as you produce more red blood cells, new 
blood vessels and increase blood flow to your organs. 
RAPID TARGETED HEALING: Combined with additional visualizing exercises you can 
invoke a healing response in your body for quicker healing times. This is also very useful 
if you have cut or grazed your skin. 
 
 
How to do the method: 
 
1. Do this in the morning on an empty stomach. 
2. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Place the pulse oximeter on your finger 
tip if you are using one. 
3. Inhale fully through both nostrils filling up your lungs completely with oxygen. 
You can get more oxygen into your lungs by imagining your nostrils are in your 
back as your lungs are actually located in your back. Imaging breathing into your 
back and expand your chest fully, including your abdomen that should rise first.  
4. Then as you get to the top of your inhalation, just simply let go and exhale with 
no force letting the natural weight of gravity let the air out. As you get to the 
bottom of your exhalation, breathe in fully again, so you create a continuous 
connected rhythmical breathing pattern. Imagine your lungs are like bellows, 
breathing in more oxygen to make the fire burn brighter. Do 20-30 repetitions 
until you feel tingly or light headed. You will see your SpO2 rise up to 99 or even 
100% signalling you are fully saturated with oxygen. 
5. After the final exhalation, hold your breath with absolutely no air in your lungs for 
as long as you possibly can. By making a hissing sound you can completely 
remove all the air from your lungs. It may feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but you 
will get used to it as you practice. 
6. At around 1-1:30 minutes of holding your breath you will notice your blood 
saturation begins to drop fast. Go gradually and slowly at first till you are able to 
comfortable drop your saturation below 90%. This is usually enough to trigger the 
positive stress response in the body. Around 80% is when the magic starts 
 happening with your stem cells. The more advanced technique I call Soma is a 
ritual that will get your saturation down even lower to 50% and below. 
7. When you can no longer hold your breath, take a quick inhalation, then quickly 
exhale again and repeat, by making a hissing sound to remove all the air from 
your lungs. This will further bring your oxygen levels down. You can repeat this a 
few times for as long as you feel comfortable. 
8. Do at least 2 rounds of the full sequence above that consists of continuous 
breathing followed by breatholds each morning on an empty stomach. 
9. During the breath holding phase you will go into a deeply relaxed meditative 
state. Use this time to visualize stem cells moving around your body and going to 
the areas where you want new cells to be generated or healing to occur. 
10. ADD ON: When you can no longer hold your breath, you can perform energy on 
your final inhalation and tightly squeeze the area you want to send the generated 
energy for healing and rejuvenation to. You can then hold your breath on the 
inhalation for as long as you feel comfortable. 
 
 
DETOX: 
 
What Is The Method Used For? 
 
TOXINS: You can remove stagnant gases from the digestive system. 
CONGESTION: You can clear nasal and sinus congestion. 
ENERGY: This is an energizing breathwork. 
 
Instructions: 
 
1. Do this first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. 
2. Sit in a comfortable upright position with your back straight.  
3. Inhale fully through both nostrils. 
4. Force the exhalation through both nostrils while at the same time pulling in your 
belly. Your belly will go back naturally to a normal position and by the natural 
force of gravity you will inhale a small volume of oxygen again. Then immediately 
force the exhalation through both nostrils again.  
5. Keep repeating this continuously for around 20 - 30 reps. You can use your mala 
beads or fingers to count. 
6. You may feel heat in your body and a tingly sensation around your head. This is a 
sign of energy building up inside. 
 7. You can perform the breathold component of Longevity at the end of the reps, 
followed by Energy on the final inhalation. 
 
 
CLEANSE 
 
What Is The Method Used For? 
 
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM: Kill off bad bacteria and promote the growth of good bacteria. 
Cleanse the stomach and intestines with oxygen. 
STOMACH ULCERS: Oxygen kills Helicobacter Pylori that is linked to causing stomach 
ulcers, so you can recover faster and without medications. 
EASE ACIDITY: Oxygen helps relieve the pain from excess acidity and indigestion. 
APPETITE SUPPRESSANT: Drinking oxygen satiates the appetite leaving you feeling full 
up. 
 
Instructions: 
 
1. Do this in the morning only on an empty stomach or on your fasting days. 
2. Kneel in a comfortable position with your back upright. Make sure the muscles of 
your abdomen are very relaxed. 
3. Take a small inhalation then jut your neck out, while making a beak shape with 
your lips. This will open your esophagus and allow air to flow into your stomach.  
4. Slowly drink the air into your stomach. You may hear or feel a gurgling sensation 
from the air entering your stomach. 
5. Once you have taken in an adequate quantity of air, immediately swallow and 
drop your neck down so that your chin nearly touches your chest. Hold this 
position in a relaxed manner without force. Visualise the air moving down your 
esophagus and into your stomach. Keep your abdominal muscles very relaxed. 
6. Repeat this process a few times till your belly fills up with air. You may even get a 
pot belly as a lot of air can enter into your stomach. 
7. Once you feel you have taken in enough air, staying with your knees on the floor, 
lean forward so that the top of your head now touches the ground. Your 
abdomen will now be slightly higher than your stomach as your in an inverted 
position. This will allow the air from your belly to flow into your intestines to 
cleanse and nourish them. 
8. You can now repeat this process a few times throughout the day if you are 
fasting throughout the day. 
 9. After a few hours you will pass the air out of your anus naturally without any 
odours. 
 
 
Soma ‘Awakening’ Protocol 
 
Who’s It For? 
Perfect for everyone regardless of age, race, color or religion. If you can breathe, you 
can awaken! 
 
How It Works 
A high intensity training for your soul and spirit. A sequence of therapeutic breathwork 
techniques combined with brainwave music and guided meditation that awakens you 
and your clients to their full human potential. 
 
Benefits 
A multisensory meditation experience that can awaken dormant parts of your brain, 
improve circulation and fitness, promote healing, transmute sexual life force energy and 
help to manifest your intentions and take your meditation practice to the next level. 
 
Naturally Simulates Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT)  
 
IHT training is a medically approved treatment that can enhance sports and athletic 
performance as well as treat a variety of degenerative diseases, including low energy, 
fatigue and depression. It has positive instantaneous effects on energy and mood. 
 
STEP 1: Creative Visualization 
 
Your journey through life can be described as a series of dots that mark important 
milestones, such as a book you read, a chance encounter, a conversation you had or a 
course you decided to study. 
 
We help you achieve your first ‘dot’ or milestone towards your dream life targets using 
the APD (average perfect day) guided meditation technique . APD is a method that uses 
the power of your creative imagination to create a vision, feeling and sense of clarity 
about your dream life targets. We then chunk these goals down into realistic and 
achievable milestones. 
 
The Awakening is a powerful intention setting breathwork practice that will help create 
unstoppable momentum, motivation and drive to reaching your first ‘milestone’ towards 
your average perfect day. 
 
 
STEP 2: 21 Day Breathwork Meditation Protocol 
 
This transformative breathwork technique supercharges you into a state of passion, 
flow and determination by raising your emotional energy to that of high self esteem and 
confidence.  
 
Peak performance coaches recognise that passion is the number one factor for 
success. 
 
This technique is also a powerful self hypnotic tool for seeding your intentions deep into 
your subconscious mind, programming your brain stem to tune into the frequency of 
reality that is essential for you to reach your dream life targets. 
 
Be prepared for a life full of positive surprises and synchronicities when you begin your 
journey of awakening to your full human potential. 
 
Week 1: Initiation Phase 
 
20 minute guided audio breathwork meditation in downloadable audio format prepares 
you for the deeper practices. 
 
Week 2: Awakening Phase 
 
40 minute guided audio breathwork meditation awakens your ‘inner pharmacy’ 
strengthening, healing and nourishing your body with vital oxygen while giving you the 
therapeutic benefits of intermittent hypoxia. 
 
Week 3: Soma Phase 
 
60 minute guided audio breathwork meditation releases the ‘Soma’ molecule from 
within giving you bliss, connection and the peak human experience.