Apnea Survival’s Breath FX Elemental Breathing Instructor Certification can be delivered privately and remotely using a flexible blend of online, live zoom, video or in person face to face training .
Master THE ART OF AUTONOMIC CONTROL
Master the foundations of functional breathing and autonomic control
The Apnea Survival, Breath FX Elemental Breathing Instructor Certification is a transformative, globally recognised program designed to deepen your understanding of functional breathing and contrast training while exploring the natural forces that sustain us. Developed by Apnea Survival creator Jason Rice, this certification blends personal mastery with professional expertise, equipping you to inspire, guide, and teach others.
Through the lens of the Apnea Survival Five Elemental Pillars of Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Ether, you’ll learn to connect with your innate intelligence and tap into the wisdom of the elements. By mastering breath control, cold water immersion, and deliberate heat exposure, you’ll help yourself and others achieve resilience, clarity, and balance.
Who is this course for?
This certification is ideal for anyone seeking to transform their personal and professional approach to breathwork and stress resilience, including:
- Coaches and wellness practitioners.
- Surfers and aquatic athletes.
- First responders and trainers.
- Anyone looking to enhance their life with breathing techniques and stress management tools.
Course overview
The Breath FX Elemental Breathing Instructor Certification is a land-based program combining functional breathing, breathing retraining, the invigorating challenge of cold water immersion, and the grounding power of deliberate heat exposure. This holistic approach emphasises connecting with elemental forces to develop resilience, mental clarity, and psychophysiological well-being.
- What’s Included:
- 40 hours of online content accessible 24/7.
- Live zoom presentations (16 hours in total) with Jason Rice.
- Complimentary access to the Surf Apnea Online Workshop.
- Flexible learning options to suit your schedule.
What you’ll learn
Functional breathing retraining to:
- Optimise Breathing Patterns: Master the science of breathing to stabilise the nervous system, reduce stress, and enhance lung function.
- Regulate the Autonomic Nervous System: Use breathing to influence your autonomic nervous system and vagus nerves to support performance, recovery and deep relaxation.
- Teach Biomechanics and Biochemistry: Use breathing retraining techniques to guide clients from dysfunctional to functional breathing improving overall health, performance and their ability to manage stress.
Elemental Breathing
Breathing retraining is a foundational component of the Breath FX Elemental Breathing Course, designed to address dysfunctional breathing patterns and replace them with sound, functional mechanics. This transformative approach improves overall well-being, performance, and recovery.
- Identify dysfunctional breathing: Learn tools to assess and recognise suboptimal breathing patterns that can affect physical and mental health.
- Train sound breathing mechanics: Develop techniques to guide clients in adopting efficient biomechanical and biochemical breathing habits.
- Improve chemosensitivity: Enhance the body’s sensitivity to carbon dioxide, which supports better oxygen delivery, improved breath control, and overall performance.
- Enter states of deeper relaxation: Use breathing retraining to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting restorative states and reducing anxiety.
- Enhance sleep quality: Teach breathing techniques that optimise oxygen delivery and promote relaxation, supporting better sleep and recovery.
Breathing retraining is not just about improving mechanics, it’s a tool for life. By addressing the root of dysfunctional breathing, this practice empowers you and your clients to experience:
- Better physical resilience and performance.
- Heightened focus and emotional regulation.
- Deeper, more restorative sleep.
- A greater ability to handle stress and enter sates of deep relaxation and recovery.
Altitude Simulation Training (IHHT)
- Oxygen efficiency: Teach tools to optimise oxygen usage in high-stress environments.
- Adapt to low oxygen: Guide intermittent hypoxic training to build endurance and resistance to breathlessness.
Contrast Training (Cold Water and Heat Exposure)
- Cold Water Immersion: Lean into the element of Water in its purist form, to build mental and physical resilience. Teach clients to breathe through discomfort and handle stress more effectively using cold water immersion.
- Deliberate Heat Exposure: Tap into the power of Fire to promote stillness, grounding, detoxification, improve circulation, and develop focus through sauna and heat training techniques.
- Contrast Training: Learn to guide others in combining cold and heat exposure to access heightened states of mental awareness, deep relaxation and recovery.
Elemental breathing and tapping into innate intelligence
At the heart of the program lies the Apnea Survival Elemental Pillars, an integrative philosophy that ties the wisdom of the elements—Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Ether into every technique. By embracing these pillars, you’ll help clients reconnect with their innate intelligence, unlocking resilience and calm through breathwork and environmental immersion.
Practical prerequisites / assessments
To ensure a high calibre of instruction and hands-on proficiency, participants must demonstrate their mastery through practical prerequisites and teaching demonstrations. These essential elemental experiences solidify your understanding and capability to lead others, ensuring you are fully prepared to teach with confidence and clarity
All practical assessments must be filmed unedited and in real time and submitted via pCloud upload
BFX
- Conduct a breathing mechanics assessment
- Perform a BOLT test
- Perform a Maximum breathlessness test
- PPT Slide presentation
Cold Water Immersion
- Deliver CWI safety briefing
- Deliver nervous system reset 1 x round
- Maintain a relaxed composure and breathing for 3.30 in water 1-3 degrees C or less
- Complete 5 consecutive rounds 1min CWI / 1 minute rest in water 1-3 degrees C or less
- Respond to hypothermia (adverse CWI reaction)
Deliberate heat exposure
- Perform 1 x Contrast training session as per AS template
Online training & assessment requirements
- Multiple-choice theory exams – complete all with at least an 80% pass mark for each.
- Teach-backs and presentations (via video, Zoom, or in-person).
- Physiology, pool-based drills, and functional breathing assessments.
- Written case studies.
Become a guide in elemental wisdom
The Breath FX Elemental Breathing Instructor Certification prepares you to lead others on a journey of transformation, improving their breathing, regulating their stress response, and tapping into the elemental forces that create balance and strength.
Are you ready to breathe deeper, master the elements, and guide others to do the same? Join us on this journey to ‘Become Your Own Dolphin’ and explore the profound wisdom of the breath and the elements.
Gear Required
- Swimmers
- Towel for the ice bath
- Wear comfortable loose clothing
- Cushion, pillow or bolster to sit on
- Hand towel
- Hydration