Brian Mackenzie: Mastering Breathwork for Peak Performance
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In this episode of The Align Podcast, Brian Mackenzie joins us for a discussion on the science of breathwork and its performance enhancing effects. We explore the ways in which C02 tolerance can be a game-changer for your health, as well as Brian’s techniques for nasal breathing. We also discuss big wave surfers, their ability to stay calm in chaotic situations, and ways this impacts their mental state. We round up the conversation with ways to navigate internal noise, and how we can all build a better mindset when it comes to health and wellness.
Brian Mackenzie is an innovator and pioneer in developing and applying custom protocols to optimize human health and performance. His work harnesses and integrates respiratory (breathing), movement, strength & conditioning, and endurance-based training approaches to elicit unprecedented positive results. His protocols and programs have been used to accelerate and raise mental and physical performance in world-class Olympic and professional athletes, first responders, musicians, actors, top executives, elite military operators, the tactical firearms community, prisoners in institutions, and the health of people suffering from chronic and pathological issues.
Brian’s work is voluntarily and repeatedly subjected to rigorous 3rd party scientific testing, re-testing, and improvement, at top institutions. He has been contracted, and his work is involved in research projects at Stanford University School of Medicine, California State University Fullerton, San Francisco State University, and the UFC Performance Institute.
Brian is himself a highly accomplished practitioner. He completed Ironman (Canada, 2004), the Western States 100-mile, and The Angeles Crest 100-mile runs using adapted training protocols he developed to improve performance. He is the co-founder of The Art of Breath, a division of SH//FT that teaches a principles-based approach to breath & performance. Brian has also co-authored the book Power Speed Endurance, The New York Times Best Seller UnBreakable Runner, and UnPlugged, which assesses the integration of emergent technology and human performance. He has voluntarily integrated and invested his programs at varying California State Prisons, including San Quentin, Pelican Bay, and Corcoran, with tremendous success. His programs have been featured in Outside Magazine, Men’s Health, Runners World, Triathlete Magazine, Men’s Journal, and periodicals such as The Economist. Brian and his protocols have been featured in 2 of Timothy Ferriss’ New York Times bestselling books, including: “The 4-Hour Body” and “Tools of Titans” and Scott Carney’s New York Times best-seller “What Doesn't Kill Us.”
His clients have included: Ari Emanuel, Kelly Starrett, Tim Ferriss, U.S. Military (Navy, Army, Marines - including elite units), varying Law Enforcement Agencies, Canadian Military (CANSOF), Jon “Bones” Jones, Laird Hamilton, Tia Clair Toomey (5X CrossFit Games Champion), Rich Froning Jr. (4X CrossFit Games Champion) and many others.
Brian is the Founder & Creative Director of SHIFT, Co-Founder and President of The Health and Human Performance Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to researching how breath and innate tools can optimize and help health and human performance.
What we discussed in this episode:
00:00 An introduction to breathwork
05:35 The Wim Hof breathing method
12:22 Are you overbreathing?
18:20 Can breathwork induce a psychedelic experience?
22:28 How to let go of old energy patterns
31:18 Lessons from fasting
35:34 A strategic approach to balancing work and health.
42:55 How free divers stay calm underwater.
47:17 How to develop C02 tolerance
51:58 How hyperventilation affects breathing
59:12 How to navigate internal noise
01:01:29 Nasal breathing for structural health and Native American history
01:10:39 How surgery fixed Brian’s breathing issues
01:14:44 The concept of the microcosmic orbit.
Learn more about Brian Mackenzie
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