The Shift with Ava Johanna

In the final part of Create The Shift, Ava Johanna walks through exactly what it means to be trained in the SHIFT Breathwork Method inside the Academy of Breath. What you learn, how the two containers - in person vs online - work, what changes for the facilitators who walk through it, and why the art of space holding sits at the foundation of everything instead of being an afterthought.

What's inside the certification:

• the seven stage architecture for guiding deep transformational journeys
• the full spectrum of breath, from calming to activating practices
• musicality, breath to beat, voice instruction, and sequencing
• trauma aware space holding for the moments that matter most
• how to weave breathwork into the modality you already practice
• live teaching, live calls, and a one to one onboarding call with your support coach
• the music vault and Cash Catalyst business training

Two roads. Piece it together alone over years, or walk the trained path over 800 people have already walked.

The Academy of Breath certifies in two ways. The twelve week online certification, and the seven day in person immersion in Mexico at Playa Viva, capped at ten spots.

Payment plans available on both.

Get $500 off and access to our extended 6 month payment plan for only $350/month here: ENROLL TODAY

You've already been called. It's time to get trained.

In part two of Create The Shift, Ava Johanna guides a 20 minute taster of the SHIFT breathwork journey using the seven stage architecture at the center of the SHIFT Method. Coherent breath into circular breath into a theta meditation, sequenced to move through all three stages of transformation in a single session.

Twenty minutes. You go first.

Find a quiet space. Sit or lie down. Headphones if you have them. Do not listen while driving.

What you feel in this journey is what you'll be trained to create in someone else.

Before you press play:

• practice seated or lying down, somewhere you won't be interrupted
• increased sensation, warmth, tingling in the hands, and lightheadedness are all normal
• you can return to a slow natural breath at any time
• consult your provider first if you are pregnant, or have cardiovascular, respiratory, or seizure related conditions

You just felt in twenty minutes what most people chase for years. Now imagine holding that for someone else, with the architecture to know exactly where you're taking them and why.

That's the certification.

The Academy of Breath is the training behind the method you just experienced. The full seven stage architecture, breath to beat and musicality, voice and sequencing, and trauma aware facilitation for the moments when big emotion rises in your room.

If you felt it, that's the pull. Every alumni says the same thing when asked what to do with it: Trust it.

Get on the waitlist and be first in line when doors open: academyofbreath.org/waitlist

This is Part 1 of our 3 Part Create The Shift Masterclass series available for listening until July 26th at 11:59pm.

In part one of this three part series from Create The Shift, Ava Johanna breaks down the bottom up model behind the Shift Method: why top down work bounces off, and the three nervous system patterns that show up in every coaching, therapy, and healing practice.

Each one maps to a stage of transformation and each one has a specific way through.

If you've been watching your clients loop and quietly wondering whether you're the problem, this episode will reframe everything.

What you'll learn:

• why patterns live in the nervous system, not the prefrontal cortex
• the three stages of transformation and the wall inside each one
• how to read a client's default nervous system state before you choose a tool
• why a body in survival cannot grow, and what that means for your sessions
• the window of tolerance and why capacity is the real goal instead of calm
• how to get the body out of the past when everything looks good on paper, but you still don't feel safe to receive the beauty of life

Your Next Step:

The Academy of Breath is a certification in the full SHIFT Breathwork Method. Seven stage architecture, the complete spectrum of breath, trauma aware space holding, and how to weave this into the work you already do. Over 800 facilitators certified. Recognized by Yoga Alliance and the International Breathwork Foundation.

Doors open July 27th at 6am EST. Go to academyofbreath.org/waitlist and choose your container.

Get started inside The Academy of Breath: www.academyofbreath.org/waitlist

Erica Reilly was the burnt-out corporate marketing girl hanging on by a thread. She took breathwork for herself — had no idea it would become her life. During the three-month AOB certification, she moved from San Diego to Tennessee on intuition alone. By the end, she was starting a coaching practice. Today, she's an intuitive coach for female leaders, host of the "Let's Glow" podcast, and the woman helping entrepreneurs and authors access the courage to make bold moves.

This is a conversation about what happens when you stop people-pleasing and start listening to your body. And how breathwork becomes the grounding tool that allows channelers and intuitive people to actually show up in the 3D world.

You'll hear:

• Why intuition gets muddied when you're living out of alignment (and how breathwork clears it)
• The physicality of breath as the anchor for intuition
• How courage got activated (and why nobody talks about this)
• The client story: Instagram deleted, 111K followers gone—then she opened a brick-and-mortar store and sold out in 15 minutes
• Why the illogical steps are where the magic is
• Breathwork as both anchor and amplifier for intuitive/channeling work
• The special sauce: helping women tap into their own intuition instead of texting the group chat
• Identity activation and the next-level version of self
• Why this training is for everyone—whether you plan to become a practitioner or just want to become the best version of yourself

Perfect for: Female leaders, entrepreneurs, corporate escapees, anyone with strong intuition who needs grounding, channels/energy workers, people wrestling with identity shifts.

Connect with Erica:

Podcast: Let's F*cking Glow (all platforms)

Instagram: @erica__reilly

TikTok: @erica__reilly

Get started inside The Academy of Breath: www.academyofbreath.org/waitlist

Bella Solanot quit her job mid-certification. She had barely 1000 Instagram followers, no clear plan, and a boat-cabin moment looking at the AOB landing page thinking, "I'm supposed to do this." Three years later, she co-founded a global movement (Out of Our Minds), built a massive Substack, started a podcast, got married, and is writing her first book. This is how breathwork becomes your anchor through the most uncertain times of your life—and how it stays your anchor when everything suddenly clicks into place.

This conversation goes deep on quantum leaps, soul alignment, and why heart coherence is the tool that changes everything.

You'll hear:

• Why Bella joined AOB on pure soul knowing despite ego hesitation (and what she'd say to anyone on the fence)
• The certification as both anchor AND amplifier during the scariest entrepreneurial leap
• How to receive intuitive guidance but actually land in the new reality (the rubber band metaphor)
• Heart coherence as the practice that moves her through every expansion
• Breathing into the heart as "opening a phone line to Source"
• Why nothing is a problem when you can mine the gold through presence and breath
• The vibrational frequency of AOB: excellence + integrity + heart-centered service all woven together
• How she's woven breathwork into her teaching—"drawing pictures with breathwork" to anchor concepts in the body
• The quantum leap narrative: declaration → discomfort → alchemize through breath → new reality

Perfect for: Entrepreneurs making big leaps, creatives channeling big visions, anyone learning to trust their soul over their ego, people building mission-driven movements.

Connect with Bella:

Instagram: @bellasonanot

Podcast: Out of Our Minds

Get started inside The Academy of Breath: www.academyofbreath.org/waitlist

Lizzy Parsons owns a thriving spa in Victoria, BC for 20 years. She was already facilitating guided meditation facials and energy healing. But she had a secret: severe asthma as a child had left somatic trauma in her body around breath itself. When breathwork came into her life, something unlocked—not just physiologically, but spiritually. On the AOB retreat in Mexico, she did cardio-based movement for the first time without her inhaler. She realized she'd spent her entire life avoiding things she might actually love.

This is a story about breaking the patterns you didn't even know were patterns, and how integrity breeds the confidence to step into your full vision.

You'll hear:

• How extreme asthma created somatic trauma and lifelong avoidance patterns
• The retreat breakthrough: moving without fear for the first time
• Why confidence in breathwork work comes directly from deep learning and integrity
• How AOB certification gave her permission to reach strangers (not just loyal clients)
• The ripple effect of showing up aligned: a stranger event planner offering to open doors
• Why "one bold move a week" is the antidote to a lifetime of "I can't do that"

Perfect for: Spa owners, estheticians, wellness entrepreneurs, anyone running multiple businesses or identities who wants to weave them together intentionally.

Connect with Lizzy:

Instagram: @pauseresetupgrade or @theheavenspa

Offerings: Monthly PRU circles | Breath by Sunset workshops | Bold Soul event (Sept 12, 2026 — women's networking + breathwork integration)

Get started inside The Academy of Breath: www.academyofbreath.org/waitlist

Before AOB, Ashley was copy-pasting other teachers' classes, feeling like an imposter in a saturated yoga market. She had the skills but no authentic voice. AOB changed that. Now she's a yoga teacher, somatic facilitator, one-on-one coach, retreat leader, and the creator of a stunning affirmation deck—each offering rooted in her own embodied truth.

This is about what happens when you stop chasing someone else's version of success and start building yours from the inside out.

You'll hear:

• Why yoga 200-hour trainings miss the depth of breath work (and what AOB fixed)
• How a single 45-minute breath journey gave one long-time student the clarity to restructure her entire life
• The difference between teaching a class and curating a full-body experience
• How Ashley incorporates art, music, and somatic inquiry into movement
• Her new affirmation deck for facilitators (based on the yamas and niyamas) and why it's more than affirmations
• What it means to build "expanded capacity" and why it's worth the effort

Perfect for: Yoga teachers, movement facilitators, somatic practitioners, anyone building a signature offering or struggling to find their authentic voice in a crowded field.

Connect with Ashley:

Instagram: @ashleyallard

Website: ashleyallardyoga.com

Offerings: Studio classes (Massachusetts) | Online movement community (free) | Private one-on-one coaching | Transformational retreats | Affirmation deck for facilitators

Get started inside The Academy of Breath: www.academyofbreath.org/waitlist

Bailey Sineni was a competitive cheerleader at Alabama, miserable despite external success. She was burnt out, traumatized, and completely disconnected from herself. Years later, scrolling late at night, she saw an AOB post. Her body said yes before her mind caught up. Today, she's teaching high school cheerleading teams that breathwork is the mental performance tool no one is talking about.

This is a full-circle story about healing your own trauma and then using that healed capacity to transform an entire industry that desperately needs it.

You'll hear:

• Why youth sports culture pushes perfection over presence—and how that backfires
• The moment Bailey realized breathwork was the missing piece in mental performance training
• How teenagers are using breath as their "way out" during panic, pressure, and crisis
• The story of an athlete in a car crash who channeled "inner breath by Bailey" to stay calm
• Why sports teams need therapists who understand the nervous system
• The ripple effect of one person's healing work

Perfect for: Sports coaches, athletes, therapists, anyone working with high-performance cultures or youth development.

Connect with Bailey:

Instagram: @breath_by_bailey

Website: baileysineni.com

Offerings: Mental performance training for high school + college cheerleading teams | Clinical therapy

Get started inside The Academy of Breath: www.academyofbreath.org/waitlist

When you're a therapist, breathwork isn't just another tool—it's the difference between talk therapy and transformation.

Claire Calfo was midway through grad school, teaching Pilates in a disembodied way, feeling lost. Then AOB came into her life through a friend's recommendation, and everything shifted. In this conversation, she shares how breathwork became the throughline connecting her work as a therapist, movement facilitator, and retreat leader—and why therapists especially need this training.

You'll hear:

• Why an unregulated therapist cannot hold space for dysregulated clients
• How breathwork creates a powerful before-and-after ritual in therapy sessions
• The retreat moment when a mom who hadn't cried in 10 years broke open during a breath journey
• What shocked her most about AOB (hint: the deep female friendships and accountability)
• The permission framework that helped her share authentically online

Perfect for: Therapists, counselors, somatic practitioners, anyone in the helping professions who knows talk therapy needs a body-based complement.

Connect with Claire:

Website: calmwithclaire.com

Instagram/TikTok: @calmerwithclaire

Offerings: In-person women's groups (San Francisco) | Portugal retreat (October)

Get started inside The Academy of Breath: www.academyofbreath.org/waitlist

In this episode, Ava sits down with Alex Loeb, AOB graduate and Pilates instructor, to explore how movement professionals can leverage breathwork to create transformational experiences—not just classes.

In a saturated fitness market, how do you actually stand out? Alex discovered the answer: breathwork. After four years of personal practice, she brought breath into her Pilates studio, created Pilates X Breath, and launched Empower and Restore — a community for women with chronic illness.

You'll hear:

• Why Pilates is the perfect gateway into somatic practice and nervous system literacy
• The difference between teaching a class and curating an experience
• How emotional safety in a facilitation space changes everything
• What surprised Alex most about the AOB training (hint: it wasn't just the techniques)
• How to stand out in your industry by bringing your whole self to your work

Perfect for: Movement professionals, coaches, facilitators, and anyone building a brand through embodiment.

Connect with Alex:

Instagram: @alexloeb (one word)

Classes: Activate House, Bird Rock & North Park locations (San Diego)

Tuesday mornings at North Park | Thursday nights at Bird Rock (Pilates X Breath format)