“It was pretty much the best and worst day of my life.”

On the latest episode of the Oxygen Advantage® podcast, Patrick is very happy to welcome breathwork colleague, OA Instructor, surfer and star of popular Australian reality show Bondi Beach, Mr. Dean ‘Deano’ Gladstone.

Admitting he shares a similar story to Patrick’s, Dean explains that he struggled with asthma from a young age, even being hospitalized at the age of nine. The only times he felt relief from symptoms was when he went swimming regularly. Any extended length of time away from the pool and Dean’s symptoms would return.

Dean had stopped swimming prior to being hospitalized and was sent back swimming by his doctors. Despite regular continuing issues with his asthma, Dean stayed extremely fit and reached an incredibly high level in swimming, reaching an Australian national ranking of 2 in the 400m swimming event at the age of 18.

But even at an admirable fitness level, Dean still struggled with his breathing. He was regularly ill and would often go on a course of antibiotics prior to a swimming event as he knew the high levels of stress and competition would negatively affect is health.

Becoming a plumber after school, Dean found that dust would regularly affect his breathing and coupled with his exercise, he suffered chronic fatigue. Around the same time, he discovered yoga which was his first foray into “regulation of the breath”.

His life took a massive turn when he was violently assaulted in an unprovoked attack in his 20’s where he received spinal damage and had his four front teeth knocked out. It is a day he describes as “pretty much the best and worst day of my life.”

The attack destroyed his health. It led to anxiety and post-traumatic distress, he started suffering skin irritation and was scratching himself to the point of bleeding at night. He needed to make a change so he and started looking at holistic alternatives. Since then Dean has not looked back and has gone on to become a yoga instructor, Buteyko instructor and Oxygen Advantage® instructor.

He now works with people from all walks of life from children needing to improve their asthma to high level athletes looking for that 1% improvement. Thanks to Dean, this is a very interesting podcast with an enlightening life story that you should enjoy.

More about Dean and his upcoming courses can be found on DeanoGladstone.com.

More about Patrick and OA can be found at OxygenAdvantage.com.