Ciaran McKeown BA, MA Counselling & Psychotherapy, FBPI

Ciaran McKeown learnt Buteyko in the early 2000s as a way of managing his asthma and anxiety. Impressed by the efficacy of the method he worked with his brother Patrick McKeown to incorporate it into his breathwork training and therapy sessions for over 15 years. During this time he has taught students with a diverse range of abilities and needs through voluntary and paid classes.

A registered counsellor and Samaritans volunteer, Ciaran believes that to be a good teacher, personal experience matters just as much as professional proficiency. He says that both are what enable you to relate to your students and find solutions that fit them.

For new students to the Buteyko method, particularly those who suffer from anxiety, he advises that they experiment with the exercises and treat the techniques as being a way to discover their breath rather than be overly demanding of themselves. At least for the first couple of weeks. This is why he prescribes every student with a unique plan.

What is Ciaran up to now? He currently teaches students and practitioners through one to one online and face to face classes.

Janet Williams – Masterton, North Island

Janet’s career in the natural health field began in 1996, studying therapeutic and remedial massage followed by Bowen Therapy in 2000. Since then she has gained diplomas in Therapeutic Massage, Bowen Therapy, Pregnancy Massage and Buteyko Breathing Method. Continued training and education is a major part of Janet’s commitment to providing a continually improved service to her clients. Many courses over the years have been completed including many specialised and advanced Bowen courses as well as Neuromuscular Therapy, Manual Lymphatic Drainage, Foot Joint Mobilisation, Micro-massage (Acupressure), Soft Tissue Release, and Bach Flower Remedies amongst others.

In 2016 in Sydney, Janet trained as a Buteyko Breathing Instructor with Patrick McKeown and returned to Sydney in 2017 to learn the Oxygen Advantage.

As well as practising Bowen Therapy, Janet’s focus is now more on teaching the Buteyko Breathing Method and looking forward to incorporating the Oxygen Advantage. These techniques have all become globally recognised respectively for their amazing benefits.

Address: Natural Therapy Options, 36b Bannister Street, Masterton, 5810.
Phone: +64 027 427 5287
Email: [email protected]

Wintergreen – Wellington

Wintergreen, at 74, began to seriously use Buteyko to improve her athletic breathing. In a blink of an eye, she became an instructor. She is a Naturopath with 45 years experience working with severe physical disabilities. She is also the Director for a New Zealand Charitable Trust, Common Knowledge, that houses Birthing Better Childbirth Preparation online courses … a skills-based approach to all births developed by hundreds of fathers and mothers with worked with Wintergreen from the early 1970s.

She spends part of the year in the Wellington area of New Zealand, the other time in diverse traditional communities. Her personal experience with Buteyko convinced her this method must be shared far and wide. She believes all of us need skills rather than go to a instructor to be fixed. Buteyko breathing reminds our body that once we breathed in and out our nose in a calm and relaxed manner. It may take patience and frequent reminders to change the learned bad breathing habits but the journey is well worth it with huge, positive results.”

Phone: 640223551131
Email: [email protected]

Scott Townsend – Hamilton, New Zealand

Scott’s passionate about empowering you with simple and powerful tools that are right under your nose, your breath.

Scott’s studied the breath for over a decade and trained with world-leading breathwork experts such as Wim Hof, Dan Brule, Stig Severinsen, and Patrick McKeown.

Having had the experience of working with thousands of people of all ages and stages, Scott has developed a training approach that is both simple and profoundly effective.

Scott is based in Aotearoa, New Zealand but works online globally with people from around the world that want to decrease stress and anxiety, improve performance and focus, sleep better and increase energy. In addition to working 1-on-1 with clients, Scott has a lot of experience working with groups and in the corporate environment.

Breathe better, live better.

Website: www.o2coach.co
Phone: +64 22 4066 713
Email: [email protected]

Mark Hunter – Queenstown, New Zealand

Mark is a E-RYT 500, Yoga Medicine® Registered Therapeutic Specialist and Remedial Therapist based in Queenstown, New Zealand. With 27 years experience as a health practitioner and educator, Mark has a life long passion for many aspects of health and wellbeing.  His work is a combination of teaching yoga to both group classes and one on one, running a remedial therapy practice using myofascial release. 

A major focus of both his yoga teaching and his remedial therapy work is based on improving breathing function as he sees this as underlying many health dysfunctions.  Breath impacts posture and posture affects breathing, so he uses his extensive knowledge of anatomy and physiology to address both function and structure. 

Mark’s current yoga students and clients are mostly 40+ years, with the oldest ‘student’ being 90. His main Buteyko focus is on adults, continuing his speciality with older age groups. Within these groups the main areas are, as well as improving overall health, working with insomnia, sleep apnea, stress management and anxiety. 

Contact details: 
email: [email protected]
website www.movingtostillness.com

Bec Clark – St Martins, Christchurch, New Zealand

I have always been naturally drawn to health and wellbeing and breath work. I have been studying Tai Chi and Qigong and the ancient Chinese Daoist Philosophy for over ten years and in recent years I have started to teach it. I have always felt that there is a strong connection between the breath and the practice of Tai Chi and Qigong.

This journey led me to the Buteyko Method after seeing Patrick McKeown on a YouTube discussion.  I knew that there was something powerful and unmistakable about this technique and it has certainly benefited my health and wellbeing.

During my adult life I have practiced meditation and the inner thought process of the human beings and how we feel inwardly responding to subtle chances from lifestyle to diet. I’m a huge believer in what you put into the body is what you’ll get out and how the body responds especially with diet. The human body is quite remarkable and always willing to teach us if we choose to listen.

I was a mouth breather as a young kid, I have a high pallet and not much room in my mouth. Nose breathing was never talked about; in fact, I don’t think anyone ever gave it one thought 40 years ago.

At the age of 13 years I was in line for Orthognathic jaw surgery, but opted out.  My jaw would have been wired shut and unfortunately, I missed out on discovering the benefits that would’ve bestowed me had this happened, as I would have been forced to breathe through the nose.

For many years I have suffered from tinnitus, low blood pressure, and dysfunctional breathing along with common ailments that come with mouth breathing.  But I have had amazing results with the Buteyko method. It’s extremely effective and it works.

I became accredited with a certificate in Buteyko Clinic method training in 2022. I feel excited to share this with as many people as possible.

Contact details:
30 Parklands Drive
St Martins
Christchurch
New Zealand
0211699900

Ruth Hamlin – Auckland

Since gaining a degree in psychology years ago, Ruth has felt passionate about mental health and how it cannot be isolated from physical health. The mind affects the body, the body affects the mind, and underpinning everything is the breath.

It’s incredible how we can use simple breathwork to affect our mental and physical state leading to better sleep, less anxiety, better exercise performance and much more. After training with Patrick McKeown and learning about the effectiveness of the Buteyko breathing methods Ruth wants to share this powerful toolkit. She believes that here is something that everyone can benefit from learning, whether they suffer from asthma or health issues that don’t at first appear to stem from breathing dysfunction.

Based in Auckland, Ruth is available for groups or one-to-one in person and online consultations for both adults and children.

Contact Ruth at:
Web: Breathebetter.co.nz
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +64 (0)22 023 4070

Danika Dwyer – Auckland

Danika is a certified yoga therapist, and Buteyko breathing instructor, who has spent almost 20 years helping people with chronic illness, including cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory, and mental health conditions using the holistic framework of yoga therapy. This form of mind-body medicine combines physical practises, mindfulness, breathing practises, meditation, and positive psychology to promote complete health of body, mind and spirit.

Danika observed that despite the diverse backgrounds of her clients – they all had dysfunctional breathing patterns, despite sometimes being yoga practitioners themselves. When these patterns were corrected her clients improved rapidly. Realising just how fundamental correct breathing is to health, Danika explored other breathing techniques including the Buteyko Breathing method. Employing a range of breathing techniques allowed Danika to resolve her own lifelong struggle with chronic asthma, and accelerated the progress of her yoga therapy clients.

Being an avid reader of research in areas such as respiratory health, yoga therapy, nutrition, clinical exercise, behavioural psychology and manual therapy, she incorporates the latest evidence-based techniques into her programs. She brings a unique combination of strong intuition, and rigorous analysis to every session, and to every program, so that her clients can lead healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives.

She sees clients both in person and international clients online. She likes to work with adults with chronic health conditions.

Contact details:
Breathing to Heal Clinic
Auckland, New Zealand
Website: www.breathingtohealclinic.com
Email: [email protected]

Rohan Reid – Auckland

After experiencing the transformative benefits of Patrick McKeown’s teachings for herself, Rohan certified as a Buteyko breathing instructor, to share this knowledge with others. She has a special interest in women’s breathing, particularly postpartum and helping busy parents integrate breathing practices into their day-to-day lives, to improve sleep and reduce stress.

Rohan’s professional background, before moving into the breathing field, is in PR and communications and she is a trained journalist. Her main focus is on creating informational resources and she is also available for group and one-to-one sessions.

Breathe with Reid

Auckland, New Zealand

E: [email protected]

Nicky Hewett – Blenheim, Marlborough, South Island

Nicky is a Breathing and Wellbeing Coach and teacher of Yoga and Classical Ayurveda based at the top of the South Island, New Zealand.

With more than 20 years of personal practice and professional teaching experience in Asia and New Zealand, Nicky brings a practical, warm, and spiritual approach to her teaching.

Breathing is the cornerstone and foundation of everything she shares whether working 1:1, with small groups, in person in her Blenheim clinic, online, or in company settings. She works with students both locally, throughout New Zealand, and internationally.

At present, Nicky’s focus with the Buteyko Method is introducing it in company settings and to small groups as short courses and workshops, as well as applying these tools in Yoga classes and in private coaching.

Nicky is committed to supporting clients and students to improve their overall physical and emotional health, especially regarding quality sleep, reducing stress and anxiety, learning how to relax, and connecting to a deeper sense of purpose and meaning in their lives.

Contact details:

Email: [email protected]
Website: www.yogamarlborough.nz

Telephone or What’s App: +64 21 0259 2428
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogamarlborough/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YogaMarlborough
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nicola-nicky-hewett-a005a827
Google My business link: https://g.co/kgs/vTWLo73