History, Passion and Partnership
Highlights of Our History
Our 501c3 non-profit status was approved in January 2013 and BreathLogic was born. Our founding board member Jeffrey Brown created the name BreathLogic. A few highlights over the years include:
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BreathLogic team members providing presentations in numerous schools, universities, corporations, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, NGO’s, and community centers.
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We conducted a twenty-one-day program, "Relax, Revitalize, Refocus" at Park Nicollet Brookdale Clinic. The program included lunch 'n learns for the staff and "Yoga On and Off the Wall" exhibits for the patient clinic areas.
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We created an innovative program at the Lee Carlson Bridgeview Drop-in-Center for adults with serious and persistent mental illness in Fridley, MN. The BreathLogic team led the participants to artistically explore and design the word "B-R-E-A-T-H-E." Additionally, aromatherapy, meditation, music, movement, creativity and laughter enhanced participation.
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We cultivated a nurturing partnership with the non-profit organization, Girls in Action. BreathLogic provided Breath Literacy mentoring and empowerment for underserved girls of color, Native Americans, Asian and Somali communities. We created training manuals for their leadership training. BreathLogic team members provided experiential classes at St. Paul’s Washington Technology Magnet School, Patrick Henry/ Cooper High Schools, Somali Community centers, and elementary children dealing with ADHD and Autism Spectrum at Harvest Preparatory in Minneapolis.
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BreathLogic took a four-week version of their program "Relax, Revitalize, Refocus, Reset" for the University of Minnesota library staff as both lunch 'n learns and after-work hour sessions.
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We published a downloadable "Pre Op Post Op Breath Meditation" CD which is available on Amazon.com.
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We attended the 2017 & 2018 University of West Virginia’s conferences in Jekyll Island, GA on Distance Learning Administration with the vision that someday the best way to teach Breath Literacy globally would be on-line. Little did we foresee the COVID ZOOM world being the future.
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In 2018 Laurie taught in Athens Greece at the Near East South Asia (NESA) Council of Overseas Schools leadership conference.
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International trainings and retreats around the globe include Guatemala, Ukraine and the 2019 International Integrative Nursing Symposium in Galway, Ireland, which resulted in our teachings being shared in The Netherlands and Iceland.
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In 2020 Laurie provided breakout sessions via Zoom for the NESA leadership conference in held in Athens, Greece.
Passion, Vision and Partnership
The history of BreathLogic is wrapped up in the shared passion, vision and friendship of Laurie Ellis-Young and Nancy Chakrin. It is best summarized by these excerpts from Nancy’s Chapter 26 “From Adversity to Success” in the book Unlocking the Secrets of Successful Women – Minnesota Women Share Tips and Strategies for Achieving your Goals and Living Your Dreams by Joan Kennedy.
Nancy reminisces:
"For my sixty-fifth birthday in 2008, I accepted Laurie Ellis-Young's invitation to attend an annual wellness/yoga/ breath retreat in Guatemala. This adventure was stretching far beyond my comfort zone for a topic I knew nothing about that was taking place in a third-world country. Nonetheless, I needed a vacation so I took the leap to this photographer's paradise.
I was fascinated to learn that Laurie was the founder of Breathe The Change LLC and was an internationally recognized speaker, yoga teacher, group facilitator, a SHIFT peace ambassador and pioneer in teaching optimal breathing.
Attending this retreat turned out to be one of the five best decisions that I ever made in my life. This experience changed both our lives. I was most impressed by Laurie's phenomenal, peaceful teaching style, her calming voice and compassion for others. I encouraged her to share her gifts with the world, but she really disliked the idea of marketing, so I stepped up to the plate. I love doing marketing and promotion.
Upon returning to the States, I designed her first Breathe The Change business card, and then began coordinating her many workshops, retreats, corporate lunch-and-learns, conferences and presentations in medical, educational and business centers.
In Guatemala, I had photographed Laurie and her friend, Jen Gori, doing morning yoga. Little did we know that one of those photographs would be the cover on our 2010 book, FRIENDSHIP: The Art of the Practice, by TRISTAN Publishing. For this book we did yoga photo-shoots in several locations: Hawaii, Arizona, Colorado, the National Parks and other locales of beauty during day and night. Photos included solo and partner poses with women ages 10 to 100. Inspirational friendship quotes accompanied each pose.
We jumped for joy when Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MIPA) awarded our book a gold medal in the Arts category. In conjunction with our book, we produced experiential traveling photography exhibits called "Yoga ON and OFF the Wall," which have been displayed in over 35 medical and wellness centers in the Upper Midwest.
Feeling the desire to expand our work on a more global level, I applied for and was awarded The University of Minnesota's 2012-2013 Buckman Fellowship for Leadership in Philanthropy. My fellowship proposal was based upon an innovative (multi-lingual/multi-cultural) Minnesota Breath Awareness integrative medicine pilot program in partnership with Park Nicollet Health Service.
Recognizing that stress can be an impediment to my own creativity and the fact that stress is a global epidemic, I researched statistics of how breath practices and mindfulness empower and heal. Having experienced it myself, I found that my own breath could lower my blood pressure, curtail panic, and allowed me to decline dental anesthesia. With a goal of changing mainstream medicine’s routine office visits, our plan was to create a "Breath Awareness Global Initiative Tool Kit" that would empower staff and patients to utilize the breath to lower blood pressure and promote healing.
From the year-long fellowship program, I acquired the wherewithal to co-found the non-profit BreathLogic® to educate and inspire "Breath Literacy" locally and globally in healthcare, educational, NGO and corporate settings. I have taken great delight in helping my co-author/yogini model focus her dreams of bringing "The Power of Breath" workshops to many corporate, educational and healthcare organizations."
MISSION
BreathLogic's mission is to teach Breath Literacy locally and globally, alleviate suffering
and expand world peace.
VISION
BreathLogic's vision is for humanity
to breathe together and create a
world of wellness and peace for all.
Changing the world through the power of breath
by teaching people how to breathe better and together
BreathLogic is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to global Breath Literacy and world peace.
