My journey as a certified Breath Science Practitioner began where many parents find themselves: overwhelmed, anxious, and stuck in survival mode. After years of battling chronic stress and anxiety, building a relationship with my breath didn’t just calm my body. It gave me back my presence. That transformation inspired me to leave a 15-year career in education, train under Martin McPhilimey, and found Breathe Better, Live Better to help other parents regulate themselves so they can show up for their kids.
I specialize in functional breathing, nervous system regulation, emotional resilience, and the science of co-regulation. My work is deeply personal. I know how it feels when stress and anxiety become part of your identity. I know how it feels when parenting turns into pressure instead of connection. I combine evidence-based breath science with lived experience to create a grounded, holistic path forward for families.
I’m a happily married single parent 50 percent of the time. My wife works 24-hour shifts as a firefighter. When she’s gone, I’m fully responsible for our twins’ emotional world. That means how I breathe, how I respond, and how I recover all directly shape their developing nervous systems. I don’t get it perfect, but I take that responsibility seriously. I am their co-regulation.
One parent I worked with came to me after losing his father to cancer while feeling completely burnt out at work. He was barely sleeping, constantly anxious, and reacting poorly to even the smallest stressors. He knew he wasn’t showing up the way he wanted to for his son. Within weeks of starting the program, he felt more grounded. He began sleeping again, managing his emotions with greater clarity, and most importantly, he felt more present at home. What surprised him most wasn’t just how much calmer he felt. It was how his son responded to that shift, too. When we regulate ourselves, our kids feel it. That is the power of co-regulation in action.
I stay at the forefront of breath science through weekly study with fellow Lead Practitioners and monthly masterminds with Martin McPhilimey. I’m currently completing my mindfulness meditation teacher training and will soon begin advanced studies in behavioral psychology and its relationship to breathing, stress, and parenting.
My turning point came after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. What followed was years of unexplained anxiety, endless doctor visits, and dead ends. A popular breathwork practice only made me feel more anxious until I discovered functional breathing. It helped me calm my body, rewire my nervous system, and become the present, grounded parent I wanted to be.
Today, I’m a father, a husband, and a guide for other parents who want to raise resilient kids by starting with themselves.
We all take breathing for granted until we realize it is the foundation for everything. When we breathe better, we live better. And when parents breathe better, their children grow up feeling safer, stronger, and more connected.
