How Breathwork Rewires Anxiety and Boosts Stamina

This episode of my podcast, Let’s Go Win, features breathwork pioneer Anthony and it may completely change how you think about the most basic function of your life.

If you are alive, you are breathing; But you are probably not breathing well.

Anthony calls breath “the most democratic thing in the world.” No one is excluded. No special equipment. No membership required. Yet most people overlook it completely or worse, believe they do not deserve the peace and power it provides.

His story explains why.

The boarding school moment that changed everything

At seven years old, Anthony was lonely at boarding school homesick, isolated, feeling like he did not belong. A boy handed him a paper bag and told him to breathe into it.

He took about 20 breaths.

What happened next altered his life forever.

He described it as the closest thing to a near death experience a child could have. The suffering that felt overwhelming moments earlier dissolved. The problems that felt enormous shrank into context. He felt connected to something vast something beyond school, beyond rejection, beyond loneliness.

In that moment, he realized: Belonging exists in the breath.

That experience became his compass. Even when others misunderstood him. Even when he felt like the outsider. Breath was always available.

Breathwork is simple and that is why people dismiss it

One of the biggest misconceptions Anthony addresses is this:

If it’s this simple, it can’t be powerful.

We chase complexity. Expensive solutions. Overly engineered systems.

But breathwork is not flashy.

It is consistent. It is quiet. It works.

Anthony was actually one of the first people to bring breathwork to the internet over a decade ago not because of a master business plan, but because illness forced him to stop traveling. With no other option, he started leading online sessions from home.

Twelve participants became twenty four. Then forty eight. Now, hundreds breathe together weekly.

Sometimes restriction births expansion.

Why nose breathing matters more than you think

Anthony and the host discuss the book Breath by James Nestor, which explores the science behind nasal breathing.

Here are the key insights:

• Mouth breathing can distort facial structure over time

• It reduces stamina

• It increases risk for sleep apnea and snoring

• It weakens immune response

• Nose breathing stimulates nitric oxide production, which supports oxygen delivery and healing

Anthony shares a simple example: walking uphill.

Breathing through the mouth gets him halfway exhausted; Breathing through the nose? Slower pace. Double the distance.

Performance improves when the breath is measured.

Even elite athletes benefit from nasal breath control during high intensity training.

Anxiety, trauma, and the breath

Anxiety is not just a “mental problem.”

It is a breathing pattern.

Short breath. Shallow chest movement. Rising tightness in the throat.

Anthony references Gestalt therapy founder Fritz Perls, who observed that if you breathe fewer than six times per minute, you cannot maintain anxiety.

Longer exhales signal safety to the nervous system.

But Anthony makes an important distinction:

You can treat anxiety symptoms with breath. But deeper healing requires relationship with trauma.

Trauma, he says, does not disappear. It becomes a teacher if you turn toward it instead of numbing it.

Through breath, you regain agency instead of reacting, you create.

Add a “C” to react. You get create.

That space between stimulus and reaction is one breath long.

The power of conscious connected breathing

There are many techniques box breathing, alternate nostril breathing, dynamic breathwork.

But Anthony emphasizes something more foundational:

Just choosing to breathe consciously is half the work.

When you connect breath without pause ..inhale to exhale, exhale to inhale, like waves you begin to shift chemistry.

Dynamic breathing followed by breath holds:

• Adjusts oxygen and carbon dioxide levels

• Sends a surge of oxygen into the frontal lobe

• Alters perception

• Creates bliss-like clarity

That “reset” many people chase? It often begins with intentional oxygen deprivation followed by reoxygenation.

But here is the real takeaway:

Even one conscious breath can redirect your entire trajectory.

From first inhale to final exhale

Anthony frames breath in a profound way:

Your first inhale was your first act of independence. Your final exhale will be complete surrender.

In between those moments, you repeat that cycle roughly 25,000 times a day.

Agency. Surrender. Agency. Surrender.

We rarely notice it.

But every breath gives you a choice:

• Fight the moment

• Or flow with it

The flow state people chase in business, sports, creativity?

It begins with the breath.

Why this matters for leaders, parents, and high performers

Breath is not spiritual fluff.

It is practical performance intelligence.

Before reacting in a heated meeting breathe. Before your child spirals during competition guide them to slow, nasal breaths. Before responding emotionally one breath.

That pause changes electron flow in the brain. It creates choice.

You become creative instead of reactive.

Key takeaways

• Breathwork is universally accessible and profoundly powerful.

• Nasal breathing improves stamina, immunity, and long-term health.

• Anxiety is directly linked to shortened breath patterns.

• Trauma does not need elimination it needs relationship.

• One conscious breath can interrupt reactivity and create new outcomes.

• You practice agency and surrender 25,000 times daily whether you realize it or not.

If you feel overwhelmed, reactive, anxious, stuck, or disconnected you do not need a complicated strategy.

You need a breath.

This was an episode of Let’s Go Win with Anthony, a pioneer who has spent decades exploring one truth:

The miracle you are searching for might already be moving through you.

And it is free.

Watch the full episode on Youtube