Kym Burls - Breathwork Practitioner

Wellbeing at work is getting more attention than ever.

However, what that unfortunately often looks like is a monthly team cake, a day off or a motivational speaker at a team meeting.

What’s missing are practical skills to help employees in their day-to-day work.

That’s where nervous system regulation tools come in.

After 6 months of roadtesting, I’ve finalised the ‘Nervous System at Work’ program— a series of evidence-informed, breathwork-centred workshops designed to support teams to:

> Manage stress more effectively
> Maintain focus and clarity
> Recover better across the workday
> Stay composed under pressure

These sessions are practical, grounded, and immediately applicable in real work environments.

Importantly they complement broader wellbeing initiatives that may already be in place.

While not my usual Instagram content, it’s something I’m proud to have created.

So, if you’re exploring ways to further support your team’s wellbeing and performance, I’m always open to a conversation.

Deeper breathwork practices intentionally increase activation in the nervous system.📈

These breathing patterns stimulate activity, and heighten emotional intensity, making what we’re experiencing internally feel more vivid and tangible.

But activation itself isn’t the goal.

From a nervous system perspective, growth doesn’t come from staying in a high activation state

It comes from your system learning to flexibly move into activation and then return to regulation again.📉

Without that return to baseline phase, activation simply reinforces stress patterns rather than transforming them.

Activation can create the experience.
But remaining well-regulated allows the nervous system to learn from it.

I think a lot of people are exhausted from trying to “fix” themselves through intensity.

More tools.
More breakthroughs.
More catharsis.
More rigidity.
More perfection.
More, well, more.

For a long time that was the cycle I found myself in too.

The shift?

Understanding that not only does the nervous system change through learning, but that:
1) Learning depends heavily on repetition, predictability, and capacity
2) What you learn depends heavily on the state you’re in, and
3) We learn best from manageable difference — not overwhelm.

That doesn’t make the change process flashy.
But it does make it sustainable.

Which for me, is what’s important.

What if your behaviours, reactions, habits, and emotional patterns aren’t separate issues at all?

What if they’re all connected by the same underlying threads?

Over time, your experiences begin layering together.

Stress.
Tension.
Thoughts.
Protective behaviours.
Emotional responses.

Like a tightly wound ball of string, each repetition reinforces the pattern and pulls the whole thing tighter.

Eventually, changing one part affects the others — because they’re connected.

This is where different breathwork approaches can work… but each in very different ways.

Functional breathwork works by gradually loosening the string.

Focusing on regulation, physiology, nervous system tolerance, and slowly changing baseline patterns over time.

Somatic breathwork works by cutting into the string.

Creating direct access to what’s stored within the pattern so it can be experienced, processed, and worked with directly.

Different mechanisms.
Different outcomes.
Different applications.

But both can help loosen what’s been unconsciously held together for years.

Not sure which end of the thread to pull? DM me and let’s chat.

Shout out to for the insight.



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People often compare functional and somatic breathwork as though one is more effective than the other.

When actually they’re just working at different ends of the same pattern.

Functional approaches often focus on regulation, physiology, tolerance, and gradually changing baseline patterns over time.

Somatic approaches often focus on emotional processing, stored activation, embodied experience, and direct access into the pattern itself.

Different mechanisms.
Different outcomes.
Different applications.

But both can help loosen what’s been unconsciously held together for years.

Not sure which end of the thread to pull? DM me and let’s chat.

Shout out to for the insight.

FunctionalBreathwork

Clocked off work, but still feel “on”?

Most people think stress is about what happens in the moment.
But what can matter more is the after bit.

If activation is never followed by downregulation, the body slowly adapts to a new baseline of staying “on”.

This is where transition rituals that help the body recognise “the demand is over now” come in handy.

Try this simple after work reset for a week and notice what changes.

Tried following breathwork videos, podcasts or social media posts… but either didn’t know where to start, or dropped off after a few weeks?

You’re definitely not alone.

What I’ve learned — both personally and through working with clients — is that most people don’t need more information.

They need to take action with the right structure, direction and support.

That’s a big part of why I created the Functional Breathing Reset.

A guided 4-week process designed to help improve how your system responds, recovers and regulates day to day.

And for the first time, it’s available IN-PERSON and ONLINE — meaning you can go through the process from anywhere in the world.

Importantly, this isn’t a generic self-paced course.

The program begins with a personalised 90-minute assessment to understand your current patterns and set the direction based on what’s actually relevant to you.

Simple daily practices.
Clear progression.
Guided support.

If you’ve been spending more time “on” than settled lately, this was built for exactly that.

> Hit the link in my bio if you’re ready to take action.
> Or DM me if you’re unsure whether it’s the right fit for you.

Breathwork can generate profound insights.💡

People often leave sessions with sudden clarity about relationships, behaviour patterns, or long-standing emotional themes.

These moments can feel like breakthroughs — and sometimes they are.

But insight alone rarely produces lasting change.

From a neuroscience perspective, understanding something cognitively doesn’t automatically update the nervous system.

This is why many people have the same realisation again and again — yet find themselves repeating the same behaviours.🔁

Insight may illuminate a pattern.

But integration — through practice, embodiment, and repetition — enables you to change it.

During their breathwork session a client shared:

“I’m feeling so much joy.”

And I’m here for it.

Not simply in a ‘warm fuzzy feeling’ way, but because it’s a recognition of a feeling within, that adds rather than subtracts, as part of the growth process.

Often we focus on removing, on letting go of, and while that can be helpful, it creates space…

…And without something to fill that space, it can often get refilled with past patterns.

That’s why I’m here for the joy.
For the acknowledgment of the positive.
For celebrating the glimmers within.

✨✨✨

Most people stay at the level of adjusting their breathing rate.

Slow it down, feel a bit calmer, move on.

And there’s nothing wrong with that—it works. But it doesn’t necessarily change the underlying pattern.

That’s where breathing depth comes in. And this is also where things stop feeling as straightforward.

Because when you begin to reduce breathing volume slightly, the response isn’t likely calming to begin with. It can feel agitating. Like you need more air. Like something is off. Like you should correct it.

That response is the pattern revealing itself.

It isn’t something to force through, and not something to avoid either. Just something to understand and gradually work with.

Over time, that edge settles. And when it does, the breath becomes lighter, quieter, and far less reactive—without needing to control it.

That’s the difference between a temporary shift… and a more lasting change.

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If you’ve noticed this in your own breathing, or would like some tips for breathing depth, reach out. I’m happy to point you in the right direction or offer a few things to explore.