I found breathwork in a time of complete and utter burnout. This was in 2021 when I was a hairstylist in San Francisco, constantly adjusting and readjusting to the reality of salon life during the pandemic. I loved my work and my clients, but I was really struggling with how to set and hold boundaries — both in my business and my personal life.
To be honest, I had never even heard of boundaries. Literally. I had none. Pair that with 24/7 anxiety, a nervous system in constant overdrive, and my lifelong pattern of trying to fix everything for everyone? I was exhausted. Overwhelmed. I had nothing left.
Then, I came across a breathwork retreat. Even though I had no idea what breathwork was, I had this feeling that I just had to be there. I’d always shown up so beautifully for my clients, I told myself. Now how beautifully could I show up for myself?
At that retreat, I tried breathwork for the very first time. The somatic and mental effects washed over me immediately. “Oh my god,” I remember thinking. “Is this what it feels like to not be anxious?” I wasn’t nervous about what I was about to say, or what I’d said 10 minutes ago, or something I’d said 10 years ago. I felt at peace. Calm. Present.
By the end of the retreat, my entire world had changed. Colors looked brighter, sharper. I felt at home in myself in a way I couldn’t ever remember feeling. I could take a deep breath without the weight of the world on my shoulders.
When I arrived home and my husband, Brian, picked me up from the airport, I asked him if I seemed different. “You do,” he replied.
“Good,” I said. “Because I feel different.”
From there, I dove headfirst into my breathwork practice. I started by working with a coach, and after almost a year of one-on-one work, I began to facilitate my own sessions. I went to workshop after workshop, wanting to experience and learn as much as I could. I got trained and certified as a trauma-informed breathwork facilitator, then followed it up with another certification in somatic breathwork. I completed a program to become a certified life coach. There was so much to learn, and I couldn’t get enough. (I still can’t!)
Throughout my training, I found my own personal style of breathwork practice — one that’s rooted in science and spirituality.
The science of breathwork is all about our nervous systems, and how breathwork helps us create new neural pathways, which leads to new patterns and behaviors. The spirituality of breathwork is in the power of visualization. This practice taps into the power of manifestation, and is an influential tool for healing and transformation.
When science and spirituality overlap? That’s when we can make lasting changes in our lives.
And that’s exactly why I founded Well-Vie. I’ve experienced that lasting change in my own life, and I want to help you create it for yourself.
As Well-Vie was born into the world, my life continued to change and evolve in the most beautiful and unexpected ways. In 2023, Brian and I sold everything we owned and moved to Paris (yes! France!) with our dog, Hank. I travel back to California regularly, which means that I offer wellness retreats and workshops all over the world. I also get to continue to show up as a hairstylist for my amazing, loyal clients in San Francisco — and I’ve recently started seeing hair clients in Paris. I feel so lucky to call these two amazing cities home.
My heart is filled with love and gratitude for everything, big and small, that happened in order to shape me into exactly who I am today. It brought me here, to this point where I can say with absolute certainty that I am in my soul’s purpose and my life’s work. Thank you for being a part of it.
Oh, and as for my boundaries these days? They’re firm, yet soft. Structured, but flexible. Formed with knowledge, yet open to change. Just like me.
À bientôt,
McKenzie