From the stressful hallways in medical units in the military as a U.S. Navy independent duty hospital Corpsman during the Vietnam Era, to the tranquil retreats of India and Mexico, Dan Brulé’s life has been characterized by the art and power of breathing. What began with him rescuing lives as a U.S. Navy independent duty medical technician during the Vietnam War has evolved into a lifelong mission of awakening and transformation. His early experiences watching the fragility and resilience of the human body instilled in him a strong understanding of breath as the link between life and vitality, a lesson he would carry throughout his career.
Following his military service, he trained thousands of people in lifesaving skills such as a CPR and First Aid instructor, while also pioneering holistic approaches to self-esteem and youth development. However, it was his discovery of Rebirthing in 1976 that changed his trajectory, turning his attention from rescuing lives in crisis to assisting individuals to truly live fully, consciously, and spiritually.
His path crosses nations and cultures, from Kriya Yoga in India to Medical Chi Kung in China, and from Western biofeedback to Rebirthing and Holotropic Breathwork. He is now acknowledged worldwide as a pioneer of Breath Therapy, helping spiritual seekers, educating professional breathworkers, and demonstrating that the most basic act of breathing can result in deep transformation.
From Saving Lives to Awakening Consciousness
Dan’s path to becoming a breathwork pioneer began far from the wellness retreats and corporate seminars where he now teaches. He originally trained as an X-ray technician before serving five years in the US Navy during the Vietnam Era as an independent duty medical technician, deep sea diver, and medical rescue specialist. Those years gave him intimate knowledge of the body’s fragility and resilience and the critical role breath plays in bridging life and death.
After his military service, he worked as a CPR, First Aid, and Emergency Medical Technician instructor for the American Red Cross and American Heart Association, training over 5,000 people in lifesaving techniques. He also served as founding president of the New England Self-Esteem Council and Director of Youth Education for the Council on Alcohol, demonstrating an early commitment to holistic healing that transcended conventional medical approaches.
The turning point arrived in 1976 when he discovered Rebirthing, what he came to call “Spiritual Breathing.” The revelation struck him with force: instead of coming upon people who were dead and breathing life back into them, he could work with people already alive and help them become even more alive. “It felt like the same work but happening a few steps up the ladder. Almost always more fun, and on some levels even more important,” he says.
East Meets West in the Breath
Dan approaches breathwork not as a trendy wellness practice but as an ancient art requiring serious study. His educational journey reflects his depth of commitment. He majored in Human Development and Learning at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, graduating in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Education.
A year later, he designed and completed a Master’s Program in the Healing Arts at Lesley University in Cambridge, focused specifically on “The Breath as A Tool for Health Growth and Change.”
His quest for knowledge took him far beyond American institutions. In 1980, he traveled to India for the first time, where the legendary immortal yogi master Babaji, described in Paramhansa Yogananda’s famous “Autobiography of a Yogi”, initiated him into Kriya Yoga and Kundalini Yoga, giving him the name Guchu Ram Singh. He continues to guide spiritual seekers throughout India on annual adventures, maintaining this connection to his roots.
In 1985, Master Hu Bin invited him to China to study and practice Medical Chi Kung at the Academy of Chinese Medicine in Beijing. He learned Prana Yoga from Swami Rama and completed biofeedback training at the Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania. He studied Breathing Coordination with Carl Stough at the Stough Institute in New York and lived in the Osho community in Oregon, participating in the original Breath Therapy Program at the Rajneesh International Meditation University.
He traveled extensively with Leonard Orr, founder of the Rebirthing movement, and Stan Grof, founder of Holotropic Breathwork. This synthesis of Eastern wisdom and Western science became his signature. He emerged as a master of Prana Yoga (the Hindu Science of Breath) and Chi Kung/Qigong (Chinese medical breathing exercises) and established himself as one of the originators of Breath Therapy.
He was first among the original group of internationally Certified Rebirthers, and he now leads the worldwide Spiritual Breathing Movement while training and certifying professional breathworkers.
Building Bridges Between Worlds
His book – JUST BREATHE: Mastering Breathwork for Success in Life, Love, Business and Beyond, is published by Simon & Schuster, with a foreword by Tony Robbins, is an International Bestseller now available in 15 languages.
Dan’s vision extends beyond individual transformation to cultural connection. In 1990, he founded One Sky International to foster business, educational, and cultural exchange between the USA and USSR. He attended the First International Free Breathing Conference in Moscow, where the response proved so strong and enthusiastic that he moved his practice to Russia. There, he worked closely with the Academy of Sciences and leaders in the world peace and human potential movements, training over 500 medical doctors and psychotherapists. And he coached members of the Russian Olympic wrestling, rowing, judo, and triathlon teams.
His work has taken him to remarkably diverse venues: the Open Centre in London, Aurora College in Canada’s Northwest Territories, the National Conservatory of Music in Estonia, the Catholic University and San Pedro Federal Penitentiary in Bolivia, the Bashkir State Medical Institute in Ufa, the Kripalu Yoga Center in Western Massachusetts, and the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Cancun, Mexico.
In 2000, he organized the One Sky International Life Skills and Healing Arts Institute. From 2001 to 2003, he served as Chairman of the Massachusetts South Coast Hospitals Group’s Cardiovascular Health Committee and Youth Risk Behaviors Task Force, helping design and implement cutting-edge science-based community health promotion and disease prevention initiatives. He later co-founded Baja Bio Sana in Los Cabos, Mexico, an intentional community, teaching and learning center, permaculture demonstration site, and eco-chic resort retreat that are serving as home to the worldwide Breathwork Training Movement.
The Missionary Who Found His Mission
Dan describes himself more as an artist than businessman, more missionary than entrepreneur. His personal and professional lives have never felt separate, his office, lab, studio, and healing center have almost always occupied his home. “Being a teacher of Breathwork is not a job or career or hobby or profession. And it’s not a role I play. It is who and why I am. It is a calling. It is my life’s mission and purpose,” he explains.
This dedication shows in his remarkable consistency. He has published an article or report on breathing every month since June 1976 without missing a single month, a nearly five-decade streak of sustained contribution to the field.
Yet he also understands the importance of renewal. He takes mini recovery loops throughout each day and builds full day “reboots” into almost every week. He takes two-day recovery breaks nearly every month and goes on month long vacation-retreats almost every year. He has taken two yearlong sabbaticals for personal study, practice, healing, and growth over the past thirty years.
“Many people see me as being on a permanent vacation. But I am always studying and practicing and writing,” he notes with a laugh. When he travels to new countries for work, he makes time before and after to rest, explore, and absorb local culture and traditions.
Pandemics as a Teacher
The COVID-19 pandemic forced Dan to reinvent his approach. He shifted focus to virtual training and online coaching sessions, discovering surprising results.
“I sometimes generate more revenue in a month through our online work than what comes from my live trainings,” he reveals. The pandemic pushed him to develop online courses that now provide a major source of steady income while reaching more people than ever before.
More importantly, COVID made the entire world conscious of breathing. “That negative disruption turned out to be a positive blessing,” he reflects. The crisis demanded that he deepen and broaden his own knowledge and skills, inventing new ways of sharing and teaching that have strengthened his work.
Wisdom from the Trenches
Dan identifies passion and persistence as his core strengths, along with an inborn desire to help, teach, heal, and uplift others. Even when he could barely pay rent or support his family, he refused to abandon his calling for a “regular job.” “I trusted that if I did what I truly loved and was meant to do, that the money would follow. And sooner or later, it always did,” he says.
He acknowledges his weaknesses too, living more like a creative maverick than an organized planner, starting too many things at once, doing everything himself instead of building systems. “On several occasions, my success became a real problem, and I learned many lessons the hard way,” he admits.
His advice to aspiring leaders comes from hard-won experience: Walk your talk and keep your word. Being a good student makes you a good teacher. Focus on creating value instead of making money. Develop mental toughness and conquer stress and fear. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out, everyone has something unique to offer. Take reasonable risks. Fail forward. Be humble. Ask for help.
“Every great achiever has a coach, a mentor, or several of them. Surround yourself with positive people. And don’t let your own mind trick you into giving up when the going gets tough,” he emphasizes.
The Simplest Truth
Dan’s mantras capture his philosophy: “Open and Expand! Relax and Let go!” “Breathe in. Breathe out. Move on!” He reminds students that “there is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future” and that “every breath can be a prayer, and every breath is a blessing.”
“The simplest things in life, the most basic things in life, always turn out to be the most powerful. And what could be simpler and more basic than breathing?” he reflects.
He believes that returning to basics accelerates advancement, comparing it to how the greatest musicians practice scales before they perform. “It’s a good idea to start over from the beginning, fresh and new, from time to time. Practice Zen, beginner’s mind. No matter what your age, tend to your inner child and let him or her have a say in how you live your life and in the work you do,” he says.
As Brulé continues training professional breathworkers, speaking at conferences, and guiding spiritual pilgrims to India, his passion remains the same: playing a part in people’s spiritual awakening, physical healing, emotional growth, and psychological transformation. “The fulfillment that comes from turning people on to the power and potential of breath and breathing is total,” he says.
From that first miraculous resuscitation at nineteen to training hundreds of thousands across the globe, Dan Brulé has spent his life proving that the answer to our deepest challenges might be simpler than we think, as simple, in fact, as taking a breath.
To connect with Dan Brulé and explore his insights, you can follow him on https://www.instagram.com/danbruleofficial?igsh=MmVjbGdpMDhsMHhu, engage with his updates on https://www.facebook.com/DanBruleBreathmastery, or connect professionally via https://www.linkedin.com/in/danbrule?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app or visit www.breathmastery.com
