From Survival Mode to Sustainable Success Through Breathwork – An Interview with Rosanna Holmström

Rosanna Holmström is a breathwork facilitator, public speaker, and cybersecurity professional. She guides leaders, founders, athletes, and individuals recovering from burnout to shift from survival mode into clarity, resilience, and sustainable energy.

Rosanna Holmström, Breathwork Facilitator and Public Speaker

Who is Rosanna Holmström? Introduce yourself, your hobbies, your favourites, you at home and in business. Tell us something interesting about yourself.

I’m someone guided by curiosity and a deep desire to experience life fully. From a young age, I carved my own path: travelling solo across the world, moving to Australia and New Zealand to study and work, and repeatedly choosing the unfamiliar just to see who I could grow into.

Saying yes to what scared me has always been my way of expanding, learning, and meeting myself more deeply.

Movement and nature are my grounding forces. I feel most alive when I’m training, hiking, surrounded by animals, or spending time outdoors. Physical exercise has always supported my well-being; it clears my mind and reconnects me with my body.

I also live in contrasts. As much as I love self-development, inner exploration, and practices that regulate the nervous system, I equally love the loud laughter, the dancing at events, the mischievous humor, the wine-filled evenings with friends. Those moments of joy and connection light me up just as much as any inner work ever has.

Breathwork became the thread that brought all these parts of my life together: the grounded, introspective side and the playful, expansive one. Today, my work is about helping others reconnect with themselves in a way that feels real, embodied, and empowering, so they can live with authenticity and dare to dream big.

What inspired your transition from high-pressure industries like tech and cybersecurity into the world of breathwork and nervous system mastery?

I never transitioned. I chose to live in both worlds.

I believe you can be deeply rooted in a high-pressure industry and still be committed to nervous system mastery. We don’t need to choose between performance and well-being; we just need balance, awareness, and the right tools. For me, breathwork became the bridge between these worlds. It allowed me to succeed in demanding environments without losing myself.

Can you describe the moment you realised that breathwork is not just a wellness tool but a foundation for sustainable high-performance?

The realisation came when I combined breathwork with physical training. During my Athletic Breathwork Coach certification, I began applying breathwork principles to martial arts, strength training, and conditioning, and the effects were undeniable. My recovery and endurance improved, my focus sharpened, my stress tolerance changed.

It became obvious that breathwork wasn’t just a “wellness practice.” It was physiology. Presence.

And it transformed how I approached both my body and my work.

How do you bridge the gap between fast-paced corporate environments and the inner work leaders need to perform at their best?

I remind leaders that being present and regulated doesn’t make you less productive, it makes you unstoppable.

Most high achievers fear that slowing down means losing their edge, but it’s the opposite. When they regulate their breath and nervous system, they access clarity, emotional intelligence, grounded decision-making, and a level of performance they can actually sustain.

Breathwork becomes the tool that lets them perform without sacrificing their health, relationships, or identity.

What are the most common nervous system challenges you see in executives, teams, and professional athletes?

Chronic stress, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and a deep disconnect from their own bodies.

Many high performers unknowingly suppress emotions because they fear that feeling will make them weaker or slower. But when they finally give space to what’s inside, through breathwork or other practices, they release tension, gain clarity, and feel more regulated than they have in years.

It’s like watching someone step into a completely new version of themselves.

How does breathwork support clarity, grounded decision-making, and long-term resilience in high-pressure roles?

Breathwork shifts the body out of survival mode.

When the nervous system settles, the prefrontal cortex, the part responsible for decision-making and focus, comes back online.

Slow breathing increases HRV, stabilizes emotions, reduces reactivity, and makes it easier to stay calm under pressure. Leaders make better decisions not because they “try harder,” but because their physiology is supporting them instead of fighting them.

You’ve recently taught at Yale University and guided breathwork at the Nobel Prize Dialogue. How do these experiences reflect the growing scientific and academic recognition of your work?

Lecturing at Yale and guiding breathwork at the Nobel Prize Dialogue showed me something very clearly: the scientific and academic world is far more ready for this work than many people assume.

At the Nobel Prize, introducing breathwork to a room full of researchers and physicians wasn’t about “selling” a technique. It was about letting them feel what regulation actually is. Many told us afterward that the practice left them noticeably more focused, calm, and present for the rest of the day. That kind of shift speaks louder than theory.

At Yale, the engagement from the World Fellows, people responsible for decisions that impact countries, industries, and communities, showed me that leaders are actively seeking tools that help them stay grounded under pressure. They weren’t skeptical; they were curious, reflective, and willing to explore.

These experiences confirmed something I’ve felt for a long time: breathwork is moving into academic and scientific conversations not because it’s trendy, but because it genuinely supports human performance and wellbeing in measurable ways.

What makes your approach to breathwork and human presence unique compared to other modalities in the industry?

I live in two worlds: The high-performance tech world and the wellness/spiritual world.

This duality gives me a unique understanding of what modern humans actually need. I don’t approach breathwork from a place of judgment or telling people to “quit their job” or “change their whole life.” Instead, I start with the body.

My approach is:

Let’s regulate your breath first. Let’s release what you’ve been carrying. Let’s get you grounded and clear, and then you decide what you want for your life from that place.

It creates authentic transformation, instead of escape.

For organisations or teams struggling with burnout, conflict, or low focus, how does your work create measurable and lasting change?

The first shift is awareness.

People realise they’ve been operating in survival mode for years, sometimes decades.

After a breathwork session, they feel what regulation actually feels like. They feel lighter, clearer, softer, more grounded. When they experience this, it becomes real. They understand that well-being isn’t abstract; it’s physical, measurable, and accessible.

That lived experience changes behaviour far more than any motivational speech or productivity strategy ever could.

What is the first shift you encourage leaders to make if they want to move from survival mode to sustainable peak performance?

Start with your breath. Notice your breathing pattern: Is it shallow? Rushed? Mouth-breathing? Tense?

If the breath is dysregulated, the nervous system is dysregulated. And from there, every system in the body suffers: sleep, focus, immunity, hormones, emotional regulation.

Leaders must understand: If your nervous system isn’t steady, your leadership won’t be either.

How do you tailor your sessions differently for executives, athletes, and high-stress technical teams?

Each group has different stress patterns, but the underlying physiology is the same.

Athletes often struggle with performance anxiety and difficulty downshifting after high-intensity efforts. Their bodies stay in fight-or-flight even after the game or fight is over, which affects recovery and long-term performance.

Executives tend to face chronic stress, unstable cortisol levels, sleep issues, decision fatigue, and emotional overload. Their breathing patterns are often shallow and dysregulated.

High-stress technical teams usually experience cognitive overload, reactivity, screen-based stressors, and difficulty accessing presence.

Each protocol is designed around the person’s unique nervous system responses, with the shared goal of restoring regulation, strengthening resilience, and supporting clear, grounded focus.

For someone ready to elevate their wellbeing, clarity, and leadership presence, what is the best way to start working with you and experience this transformation firsthand?

For individuals, the best place to start is joining one of my in-person breathwork classes in Stockholm, or an online session if you’re elsewhere.

For organisations, I begin with a scientific lecture combined with a practical breathwork experience. These 75-90 minute sessions are powerful and often transformative.

For athletes, I offer tailored 8-12 week programs where I guide them closely through breathwork for performance, recovery, and mental resilience.

If you’d like to explore any of these options, you can reach me at breathewithrosie@gmail.com, through breathewithrosiee.com, or on Instagram @breathewithrosie.

Follow me on LinkedIn for more info!

Read more from Rosanna Holmström