Niraj Naik, Leading Breathwork Expert: Using Breath to Transform Health and Build Thriving Business

“Through the breath, we can control our state of energy to change the emotion. Getting into a rhythmic breathing state allows us to harmonize every single function of the body to be coherent so that we can move from low to high energy emotions.” – Niraj Naik

Niraj Naik is the man who took pranayama techniques, self-composed music, diet, lifestyle tips, and advice, and combined these ingredients to create SOMA Breath. Plus, this holistic health expert, ex-pharmacist, entrepreneur, and professional musician concludes that the stress and anxiety of modern living is the main cause of poor health and illness. The cure? Breath.

Niraj Naik: from community pharmacy to international breathwork instructor

For seven years, after graduating from university, he worked as a pharmacist in the United Kingdom. The day-to-day busy schedule and intense stress accumulated and resulted in autoimmune disease — ulcerative colitis, which was so severe that he had to quit working and became housebound for a year.

Declining surgery and experimental drugs, Niraj opted for pranayama. A Sanskrit word, translating to ‘breath control’— Prana means breath or life force, and Ayama means to control. When using various techniques, a person is going to ‘control’ their breathing. Hence, by committing to the practice of Pranayama along with adopting a new diet and some lifestyle changes, Niraj was able to beat his illness, which doctors found hard to believe. 

Impressed, motivated, and flowing with newfound energy, Naik penned a curriculum consisting of all the best he discovered and experienced—establishing the SOMA Breath, a methodology that incorporates modern science, music, and dance with an ancient style of breathwork.

Now trendy and thriving, SOMA Breath is both an online school and a community consisting of students and professional instructors from all around the globe. From Europe to Asia, the unique and engaging curriculum is conducted at wellness centers, resorts, and festivals and rapidly growing online since the introduction of pandemic-related restrictions globally.

What is SOMA Breath and how does it work?

SOMA incorporates the old and the new—traditional breathing techniques and modern science to bring the mind and body together to create a union of harmony and internal peace. With an increase in energy levels, practitioners can reach an elevated state of living.

Using core Pranayama methods, SOMA Breath makes it easier and accessible to anyone who would like to benefit from them. With the addition of Naik’s rhythmical meditation music, this entertains and influences brainpower, which combines with yogic principles to maximize the strength of breathing concerning mind and body. All these help a person to fight and prevent varieties of problems arising in the body.

So how does it typically works? Firstly, it starts with the SOMA awakening; this is carried out by movement. Apart from SOMA, this is a great way to activate the body and the hemispheres of the brain. Secondly, after the awakening, chanting is used to activate various energy centers in the endocrine system as well as in the body. Next, a breathwork meditation session consisting of rhythmic breathing is carried out by either lying down or sitting. This period also includes breath retention with empty lungs. All this enables the body to get in touch with the fundamental parts of the brain. Finally, positive visualization is experienced to master admirable qualities, or to simply relax. The result of this SOMA Breath is feeling calm, collected, and refreshed.

Sparking a global movement for breath

SOMA Breath was founded as a global, holistic school and community that combines various breathing techniques based on Pranayama with music, dance, and meditation that even the busiest person in modern society can access and enjoy. Their mission is to empower people with knowledge, tools, and techniques to make positive and lasting changes in their lives.

The breathwork techniques taught in SOMA Breath are the core Pranayama sequences that have the most scientific evidence to support their function. With an understanding of how each breathwork techniques work, SOMA Breath instructors have the skills to arrange the breathwork techniques into a personalized sequence to meet their individual objectives. There is no one size fits all, and that’s been a key factor in SOMA Breath’s widening success and impact.

Since SOMA Breath was founded in 2016, thousands of SOMA Breath practitioners have reported total life transformation results such as healing chronic pain or illness, managing stress and reducing anxiety, increasing confidence and self-esteem, and awakening to their soul’s purpose and authentic self. 

The SOMA Breath tribe is not led by a single “guru”, not even Naik himself. From the very beginning, Naik wanted to make sure that everyone had an equal opportunity to empower themselves with this knowledge to reclaim their own wellness. That’s why anyone in the SOMA Breath tribe can train to become an instructor. Today, SOMA Breath has over 800 instructors leading SOMA Breath workshops around the world.