Hello, my name is Dan Spayde

I didn’t arrive at this work through theory alone. I arrived through lived experience—through loss, long years in service, and a persistent search to understand the disconnect between the mind and the body.

I lost my father two days before my sixteenth birthday. That loss shaped how I moved through the world—driven, vigilant, and often disconnected from my internal experience. For years, I lived almost entirely in my head. I was overweight, chronically stressed, and largely unaware of my breath, even as I built a life centered on responsibility and service.

That search for grounding took me far beyond my familiar world. I traveled extensively, including time in North Korea, China, Malaysia, Colombia, Japan, and other countries. While each place offered perspective, the deeper realization was that the disconnection I was trying to resolve wasn’t external—it was internal.

Alongside that personal search, I’ve spent 19 years in Fire and EMS, working in high-acuity environments with prolonged exposure to trauma, suffering, and death. I’ve also worked in juvenile correctional settings, where I was trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and supported young people navigating complex behavioral and emotional patterns. Over the years, I’ve served as both an EMS and fire instructor, teaching others how to operate effectively under pressure—often without being taught how to come back into their bodies afterward.

Breathwork became the turning point. Not as a fix or a performance, but as a practical, grounded way to regulate my nervous system, reconnect with my body, and restore awareness that had been lost through years of survival-based functioning. This work helped me integrate what couldn’t be processed cognitively alone—physically, emotionally, and relationally.

Today, my work is informed by lived integration. I approach this work with care, boundaries, and respect for readiness. I don’t offer escape or forced transformation. I offer a structured, intentional space to reconnect with the body and nervous system—especially for those who have spent years carrying responsibility, pressure, and unprocessed experience.

Outside of this work, I’m grounded by my family. My wife, Lori, is an emergency room nurse, and we’ve been together for over fifteen years. We’re raising our sons, Danny and Tyler, in a life shaped by service, realism, and a deep respect for nervous system health, presence, and balance.

This work is offered selectively and intentionally, because depth matters—and not every approach is right for every stage.