Yet most have never been taught how to breathe efficiently or strategically beyond the occasional box breathing or to “deep breath” before the snap. But that’s only about 0.3% of their day.
The way your athletes breathe at rest, driving to the facility, in meetings, sleeping, and throughout everyday life influences their biochemistry, biomechanics, and psychophysiology - and how they perform when it matters most.
Research suggests that up to 90% of athletes have dysfunctional breathing patterns.
The Overlooked Performance System.
It’s one of the most overlooked, trainable systems in athletic performance.
Biochemistry
The Science of Better breathing
One system. Three pathways to performance.
- Improve CO₂ tolerance and oxygen delivery
- Better tolerate breathlessness during high-intensity efforts
- Delay fatigue
- Recover more efficiently between repeated efforts
Biomechanics
- More efficient breathing patterns
- Respiratory muscle function
- Core and spinal stabilization
- Movement efficiency
Psychophysiology
- Autonomic nervous system regulation
- Composure under pressure
- Focus and decision-making
- The ability to downshift after competition
- Sleep and recovery
They recover faster between efforts
01.
Improved CO₂ tolerance means they can play longer before they’re bent over, hands on their knees, gasping for air — and catch their breath faster before the next series.
They have more left late in games
02.
More efficient breathing and oxygen delivery means less wasted energy — helping athletes maintain their legs, speed, and intensity deeper into the fourth quarter.
They reset faster after mistakes
03.
Better control of their physiological stress response means a dropped ball, bad call, or missed assignment doesn't follow them into the next play.
They stay composed when emotions run high.
04.
Knowing how to regulate adrenaline means they can stay amped enough to hit hard and compete — without frustration turning into a stupid penalty, sideline blowup, or loss of focus.
They recover when the work is over.
05.
Learning how to intentionally downshift means practice or the game doesn't follow them to bed — supporting deeper sleep and better recovery for tomorrow.
They can regulate anywhere.
06.
Because breathing requires zero equipment, athletes can reset and recover on the sideline, in the locker room, on the team plane, in a hotel room, or at home.
Your athletes don’t need another random breathing exercise they’ll never use.
Beyond Box Breathing...
They need an arsenal of breathing techniques—and the know-how to use the right one at the right time, based on what their body needs and the demands of training, competition, recovery, travel, media, and a long season.
The breathing strategy that helps an athlete recover and catch their breath between high-intensity efforts isn’t the same one they need to settle adrenaline after a bad call.
The way they breathe to prepare their body to perform is different from how they breathe to downshift after a night game, fall asleep, and recover for tomorrow.
Functional breathing training teaches athletes how to use their breathing strategically to:
PERFORM → RECOVER → REGULATE → FOCUS → SLEEP
From driving to the facility, stretching and warming up, to the field, sideline, locker room, team plane, and lying awake in a hotel at 2am — they know how to use their breathing for what their body needs in that moment.
No equipment. No appointment. Just a tool they can use anywhere.
Bring better breathing into your team’s performance + recovery strategy
Ways to Work Together:
Recovery Downshift Sessions
For the days your athletes’ bodies are done working — but their nervous systems haven’t gotten the memo.
Guided breathwork, visualization, meditation, and sound healing help athletes intentionally come down from the physical and mental demands of training, competition, rehab, travel, and constant evaluation.
Athletes walk away calmer, mentally quieter, and shifted into a state that better supports rest, sleep, and recovery.
Ideal for training camp, recovery days, high-load training periods, post-travel, rehab groups, or throughout the season.
Team or Position Group | In-Person
01.
Team Breathing Optimization Training
Four weeks of progressive breathing training.
Athletes learn how to improve breathing efficiency and CO₂ tolerance, recover faster between efforts, regulate adrenaline under pressure, downshift after competition, and integrate breathing into warm-ups, training, competition, recovery, travel, and sleep.
4-Week Team Program | Team or Position Group
What the 4 weeks look like:
WEEK 01 — BUILD THE FOUNDATION
WEEK 02 — ADD MOVEMENT
WEEK 03 — PREPARE TO PERFORM
WEEK 04 — APPLY IT UNDER PRESSURE
The Goal:
02.
2-Day Team Accelerator
Athletes learn how breathing influences performance and recovery, identify where their own breathing may be holding them back, and apply personalized techniques within the movements, routines and competitive situations specific to their sport
The training is seamlessly woven into existing warm-ups, training blocks and recovery routines, with no lengthy additional sessions required.
Two focused days give athletes the understanding, personalized tools and hands-on practice needed to begin using their breathing more strategically during training, competition, recovery, travel and sleep.
Team or Position Group
03.
DAY 01 - UNDERSTAND, ASSESS AND OPTIMIZE
DAY 02 - PREPARE AND PERFORM
30 DAYS - INTEGRATE AND PROGRESS
Built to compliment your staff
This work isn't designed to replace your strength and conditioning staff, athletic trainers, medical team, sports psychologists, or performance professionals.
It gives athletes another practical tool to support the work you're already doing — connecting physical preparation, recovery, and psychological skills through their physiology.
Because your staff can't be next to them every time their heart is pounding, their breathing gets chaotic, they can't settle after a mistake, or they're lying awake in a hotel room after a night game.
You already have experts supporting their bodies and minds.
But their breathing is always with them.
Teach them how to use it.
I work across the NFL, MLB, MLV, and collegiate sports, helping athletes use functional breathing and nervous system regulation to support performance, recovery, sleep, focus, and composure under pressure.
I hold a Bachelor's and Master's in Psychology and am an Oxygen Advantage® Advanced Functional Breathing Instructor, Certified Life Coach, Certified Emotional Intelligence Coach, Certified Trauma-Informed Coach, and Breathwork & Sound Healing Facilitator.
I also spent 10 years married to a World Cup-winning professional rugby league player, giving me a firsthand understanding of the demands athletes carry during competition, through injury and rehab, at home, and across the course of a professional career.
Today, I bring that combination of science, psychology, functional breathing, and real-world experience in elite sport into teams as a complement to the performance systems and professionals already supporting their athletes.
Functional Breathing & Regulation Coach for elite athletes and teams.
Hi, I'm Marisa.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not exactly. Traditional breathwork is used in Recovery Downshift Sessions to support relaxation and recovery. Functional breathing training focuses on improving how athletes breathe throughout every aspect of their daily existence — including sleep — and applying it strategically to performance.
It’s designed to complement it. Breathing intersects with physical performance, recovery, and psychological regulation, giving athletes another practical tool to integrate into the systems your staff already has in place.
Very little. The goal is to integrate breathing into what athletes are already doing — warming up, training, recovering, traveling, and sleeping — rather than adding another lengthy protocol.
No. Once athletes understand how to use their breathing, they have a tool available on the field, sideline, team plane, hotel room, training room, or at home.
Yes. Programming can be tailored to your sport, position groups, schedule, and priorities — including endurance, recovery, sleep, focus, and composure under pressure.
It depends on your team’s needs. Performance Breathing Workshops provide an introduction, Recovery Downshift Sessions support deep recovery and regulation, and Elite Edge Breathing Optimization provides progressive functional breathing training over four weeks.
Bring Functional Breathing To Your Team
Your players are already breathing 20,000+ times a day. Let’s turn it into an untapped advantage for your team.
Your landing place for the most overlooked advantage in performance, recovery, and inner peace: regulation.
Guided breathwork and state-shifting meditations to help you manage stress, regulate adrenaline, recover more fully, and minimize your lose-your-sh*t moments—on the field, in the boardroom, and beyond.
Just five minutes can help you feel calmer, clearer, and more grounded.
Download the App
Release. Relax. Recover.
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