RhythmReset
RhythmReset® is structured breath training. Rhythmic breathing, the same sequence every time, built on physiology rather than atmosphere. It's physical. You'll be breathing actively for most of it.
We climb the nervous system, then we bring it down. You can't reset something that was never activated, that's why we climb first.
The work happens in the holds.
In the holds you'll want to breathe. That's carbon dioxide rising. You have plenty of oxygen, the want shows up long before the need.
We're training your nervous system to sit with that signal instead of obeying it. Every time you come through the other side, your body updates what it believes is safe.
What changes in your brain
During breath practice the amygdala, the part that runs your alarm response quiets down, and the prefrontal cortex becomes more active. That's the part of you that makes decisions rather than reactions.
The connection between those two strengthens with practice. That's the physical basis for not getting hijacked: the deciding part of your brain gets a stronger line to the alarm part.
The slow round at the end does something else entirely. Slow breathing on the resonant frequency of your cardiovascular system — heart and breath synchronise, and heart rate variability climbs. HRV is the marker athletes track for recovery, and one of the clearest signs a nervous system is working well.
Slow breathing has also been shown to improve sleep quality in people with chronic insomnia.
I'm constantly under pressure to always be better. What struck me about RhythmReset® was that it didn't trigger more stress in me, which honestly surprised me.
I genuinely believe this method is for anyone with a demanding everyday life, which is basically everyone.
It gave me that sense of calm without leaving me flat. I felt alert and clear, but settled on the inside. That combination is rare.
Sofia Jakobsson, professional footballer
And your chemistry
GABA is your brain's brake, the neurotransmitter that slows things down. Low levels are associated with anxiety. One controlled study found a 27% increase after yoga practice, against no change in the control group.
Cortisol goes the other way. It drops. That's the hormone that stays high in people who never quite finish recovering from anything.
Oxytocin and endorphins both rise in controlled trials of related practice. That's the part people describe as feeling good afterwards without being able to say why.
Why athletes care about this
Breath holds drop your oxygen for a short time. Your body reads that as a signal and releases erythropoietin — the hormone that tells your bone marrow to make more red blood cells.
More red blood cells means more oxygen reaching muscle and brain. Better performance, faster recovery, and the clear-headedness people notice on the way home.
It's the same signal that makes altitude training work. You're getting it in an hour, on a mat, at sea level.
Where it came from
None of this is new. Breath practice is part of yoga ‘pranayama’ and the holds have a name in it ‘kumbhaka’ Patanjali wrote about them around 200-400 BCE.
What's changed is that we can measure it. CO2 tolerance, EPO, heart rate variability, what happens in the amygdala. The tradition knew it worked. The instruments explain why.
When I started teaching breathwork it was inspired by the Wim Hof style, very activating. People loved it. But I kept meeting people who found it too intense, so I built RhythmReset.
It isn't go hard or go home. It's meeting yourself right at your edge and moving it a little at a time, on your own terms.
The last part is a sound bath. It works like a meditation, and most people drift off.
Where to practise
Soul of Yoga, Encinitas -Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4pm.
Also available for teams, groups and retreats, or one-to-one.
Before you book
Breath holds and paced breathing aren't right for everyone. If you're pregnant, or you have uncontrolled high blood pressure, epilepsy or a seizure disorder, a heart condition, or you've had recent surgery. Check with your doctor first, and tell me before we start.