Interview With Dan Brulé, Breath Therapist

Dan Brulé's Three Steps to Breathing Properly

1. Awareness: learn to observe the breath at different times and situations ( develop the practice of meditative awareness).
2. Relaxation: learn to engage the exhale–use it to release tension.
3. Breath control: learn the basic series of breathing exercises and techniques.

Invisible Mentor: Dan Brulé, Breath Therapist

Company Name: Breath Mastery

Website: http://www.breathmastery.com 

Part One: Introduction

Avil Beckford: In a couple of sentences, tell me a little bit about yourself.

Dan Brulé: Breathwork is my passion (pass-I-on) and my profession (profess-I-on). My spiritual/yogi name is Guchu Ram Singh. I was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts; spent 12 years of Catholic school (still recovering!); did five years in the US Navy as a medical rescue specialist and a deep-sea diver. After the military I trained paramedics and First Aid and CPR instructors. Got hooked on breathing at birth, and have been teaching it for all of my adult life.

Avil Beckford: What’s a typical day like for you?

Dan Brulé: I just spent four months on my farm and in my gardens in Los Cabos, MX… A typical day there: up at 5:30 or so, watch the sunrise while soaking in the nearby hot springs… graze the gardens for breakfast… been digging a well, caring for the orchard… enjoying my hammock… campfires at night… hanging out with students, friends… lots of alone time. When traveling, I am in a different time zone every week or so… it’s a blur… Meeting people, doing sessions, seminars, workshops, practitioner/coach trainings… non stop mostly… going with the flow.

Avil Beckford: How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?

Dan Brulé: I love what I do… I see profound spiritual awakening and transformations every day in my work. Everywhere I go I am showered with love and gratitude, and so motivation is not really an issue!

Avil Beckford: If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you now know, what would you do differently?

Dan Brulé: I would listen more and talk less; I’d be more patient with people, I’d start thinking long-term much earlier, and I would use a wrench instead of my teeth to loosen nuts and bolts.

Avil Beckford: Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

Dan Brulé: Both my mother and father gave me unconditional love, support and freedom to walk my own path, which allowed me to break out many boxes that most people get locked into early in life.

Part Two: Career

Avil Beckford: How did mentors influence your life?

Dan Brulé: Deeply, profoundly! I’ve been blessed with more than my share of wonderful teachers, guides, and models!

Avil Beckford: What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

Dan Brulé: Who we are and what we are capable of is far greater than anything we have been taught or can even imagine. In a very real sense, we are unlimited beings.

Avil Beckford: An invisible mentor is a unique leader you can learn from by observing them from a distance. In that capacity, what is one piece of advice that you would give to others?

Dan Brulé: There are certain aspects of breathing that you have never observed; these points are like doorways to a new reality, a new consciousness, to inborn creative powers and self-healing abilities. Develop the habit of observing your habits and reactions in various situations and during different activities.

Avil Beckford: What kind of leader are you? What’s your leadership philosophy?

Dan Brulé: Natural, confident, innovative, independent, edgy, and unpredictable.

Avil Beckford: What big steps did you take to succeed in your field? What is one step or action you have consistently taken that has contributed the most to your success?

Dan Brulé: The biggest step was getting out of step with the mainstream, the masses, the social norms, the urge to conform. Constantly daring to follow my heart and intuition, regardless of what others think or say, expect or demand.

Part Three: Life

Avil Beckford: Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Dan Brulé: Ignoring, alienating, deliberately antagonizing some of my peers in the breathwork community. It’s better to have friends rather than enemies, supporters rather than detractors. But it forced me to create my own methods, approach and style—to find or create revolutionary out-of-the-box solutions to some universal human issues and problems.

Avil Beckford: What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Dan Brulé: The decision to walk away from a very lucrative project/company after several years of hard work. It allowed me the time and space to re-invent or re-discover myself and to take my art to a new level.

Avil Beckford: What are three events that helped to shape your life?

Dan Brulé:

1. The birth of my first son.
2. My near death experience in the military.
3. Meeting the famous immortal yogi called Babaji in the flesh.

Avil Beckford: What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Dan Brulé: Working with Russian wrestler Alexander Karelin after his gold medal win in the 1992 Olympics; contributing to a 10-year study with the Academy of Sciences in Russia; developing a breath centered approach to healing clinical depression.

Avil Beckford: What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

Dan Brulé:

1. You can’t teach a cat to bark.
2. Some people are just not ready to change (no matter how much they say they are).
3. Lack of money is rarely the real reason that people don’t do what they want.
4. Starting over can often take you further than pushing forward.
5. Breathing patterns are like fingerprints: every physiological, psychological, emotional and spiritual state has a corresponding breathing pattern or quality, and when you change one, you change the other.

Avil Beckford: If trusted friends could introduce you to five people (living or dead) that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what would you say to them?

Dan Brulé:

1. The Buddha: What have you learned since you left your body?
2. Whoever built the pyramids: What planet are you from?
3. Nelson Mandela: How did you manage to remain so kind and compassionate given all that “they” did to you and to your family?
4. Jesus: Where were you for the first 30 years of your life, where did you go? Who did you study with?
5. That blind kid who unscrambles a rubix cube in 30 seconds: Dude, like how do you do that?

Avil Beckford: Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?

Dan Brulé: Handbook to Higher Consciousness by Ken Keyes. It was my first introduction to a modern western approach to ancient eastern wisdom.

Avil Beckford: You are one of the 10 finalists on the reality show, So, How Would You Spend Your Time? Each finalist is placed on different deserted islands for two years. You have a basic hut on the island and all the tools for survival; you just have to be imaginative and inventive when using them. You are allowed to take five books, one movie and whatever else you take has to fit in one suitcase and a travel on case. What would you take with you and how would you spend the time? The prize is worth your while and at this stage in the game there really aren’t any losers among the 10 finalists, since each are guaranteed at least $2 million.

Dan Brulé:

Two Years

I would fish and swim, bird watch, play, explore, meditate, and of course practice breathing.

Five Books

1. An encyclopedia of medicinal herbs and edible plants.
2. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand (it’s thick and I haven’t read it yet).
3. A book on stars and planets, the night sky.
4. Bill Mollison’s book on permaculture (Permaculture: A Designers' Manual, Introduction to Permaculture).
5. Encyclopedia of jokes.

Avil Beckford: What excites you about life?

Dan Brulé: Meditating, making love, making music, creative visualization—letting my imagination go wild, doing nothing.

Avil Beckford: Complete the following, I am happy when…..

Dan Brulé: I am happy when I wake up in the morning… I am happy when I play a part in someone’s healing and growth, when I contribute to their success… I am happy when those I love are happy… I’m happy when the sun shines and when it rains. I’m happy when I have one of those “ah ha” moments! I’m happy when I visit a new country for the first time. I’m happy when I write big numbers on my bank deposit slips!

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