Holistic Breath Academy Certification Review (2026)
Holistic Breath Academy review. Bianca Harris's 10-week online breathwork practitioner training from Los Angeles, the $2,800 price, and what it leaves out.
Holistic Breath Academy (HBA) is a Los Angeles breathwork school founded by Bianca Harris. Before HBA, she founded WIPPWellness, a creative wellness community in Toronto, and she describes herself as a holistic breath coach for Nike, with brand work for companies including Shopify, Google, and Adidas. Her bio says she has practised breathwork for more than 15 years, “with formal certification under traditions rooted in the rich Vedantic and Tantric lineages of the Himalayas.” It does not name the teacher or school.
The school teaches what it calls Holistic Breathwork™, which it describes as a framework rather than a single technique: classical pranayama, Taoist, Buddhist, Tibetan, and Sufi breathing, modern methods, chakras and the subtle body, nervous system regulation, and trauma awareness. HBA describes itself as founded and led by a woman of color, with an explicit aim of making wellness spaces more inclusive. The school says it has certified more than 100 practitioners.
HBA is a good-value introduction to a wide range of breathing traditions, with a welcoming community. As a professional certification, it is thin: ten weeks, very little supervised practice, no published assessment, and an “accredited” label with no accreditor behind it.
How the Training Works
The current program is the Breathwork Practitioner Training. The September 2026 cohort runs for 10 weeks:
- Weekly live class on Zoom, Tuesdays from 5:00 to 8:00 PM Pacific
- Daily guided practice of about an hour, pre-recorded by Harris
- In-person training days in Los Angeles, livestreamed and recorded for remote students
- Guest teachers covering yoga philosophy, sound, chanting, neuroscience, and adaptive yoga
- A 200-page course manual and recordings on the school’s Teachable platform
The curriculum has 16 modules, from the history of breathwork and the anatomy of breathing to sound, the energy body, session structure, boundaries, emotional release, and trauma literacy. The school says students learn more than 50 techniques. No prior breathwork experience is required.
The main website still describes an older version of the course: six weeks, Monday classes, and a September 2025 start date. The enrollment pages on Teachable carry the current details, so use those.
Practice and Certification
The site lists no client-session requirement, no case studies, and no exam. The course ends with a “Closing Integration and Practicum Review,” where students reflect, get feedback, and practise “leading short breathwork segments in community.”
That is enough to start guiding friends or adding short practices to a yoga class. It is not much preparation for running full breathwork sessions with paying clients. Programs like Breath Mastery and the AIR School of Breathwork require 25 to 30 documented client sessions.
Holistic Breath Academy Cost
The September 2026 practitioner training costs $2,800: a $400 non-refundable deposit plus a $2,400 balance. The school has advertised a $2,300 early-bird price, and promotional codes appear on its course pages.
Paying in instalments costs more. The two-, three-, four-, and six-month plans each add up to about $3,220, around $420 more than paying in full, and the 12-month plan comes to about $3,930 including interest. If you choose a plan, you owe every payment even if you stop the course.
There are no refunds. If you cannot attend, you can ask to defer to a later cohort, subject to space. The school offers two scholarships per course.
Accreditation
The homepage promises an “Accredited Certification” that is “recognized worldwide,” but it does not name an accrediting body. What the school does have is continuing education recognition from Yoga Alliance: its course pages say the training is “eligible for Yoga Alliance Continuing Education (YACEP) hours.” That is useful if you are a registered yoga teacher who needs CE hours. It is not accreditation of the training as a breathwork qualification, and the certificate is issued by HBA alone. Our accreditation guide explains the difference.
We found no independent reviews of the program, only testimonials on the school’s own pages.
Pros and Cons
What works well
- Broad survey of traditions - Pranayama, Taoist, Buddhist, Tibetan, and Sufi breathing alongside modern methods.
- Daily practice built in - About an hour of guided practice every day of the course.
- Inclusive community - A school that puts representation in wellness at the center.
- Mid-range price - $2,800 paid in full, with two scholarships per cohort.
What doesn't
- Unnamed accreditation - "Accredited" and "recognized worldwide," with no accreditor named.
- Little supervised practice - Short practice segments at the end, no client sessions or exam listed.
- No refunds - Deferral only, and instalment plans cost more and must be completed.
- Founder's training not named - No teacher or school given for her own certification.
Holistic Breath Academy Market Comparisons
Holistic Breath Academy vs. SOMA Breath
SOMA Breath sells a $497 Facilitator Program for leading its ready-made journeys and a $4,497 Instructor Certification (95 hours) for designing your own sessions. Choose SOMA for a cheap first step, a structured method, and a large international community. Choose HBA for a broader survey of breathing traditions and a small, community-led group.
Holistic Breath Academy vs. Liquid Breathwork
Liquid Breathwork runs a 12-week live online cohort for $1,497, capped at 15 students, and states openly that its certificate has no outside accreditation. Choose Liquid Breathwork for a lower price, a gentle single method, and plain wording about accreditation. Choose HBA if you want a wider range of techniques and Yoga Alliance CE hours.
Holistic Breath Academy vs. Breath of Gold
Breath of Gold costs $4,997 for a four-month, trauma-informed online certification with continuing education approval from Yoga Alliance, NASM, and AFAA. Choose Breath of Gold for a longer program with broader, named approvals. Choose HBA for a lower price and more emphasis on traditional breathing practices.
Who This Is For
- Yoga teachers - You want breathing techniques for your classes and Yoga Alliance CE hours.
- Personal practitioners - You want a guided, daily deep dive into breathwork traditions.
- People seeking an inclusive space - Representation and community matter to you.
Who Should Pass
- Aspiring professional facilitators - Look for programs with supervised client sessions in our best certifications guide.
- People who need real accreditation - The certificate is issued by the school alone.
- Anyone who may need a refund - Enrollment is final.
Holistic Breath Academy Verdict
Holistic Breath Academy offers an engaging, broad introduction to breathwork, from classical pranayama to modern methods, with daily practice and a community many students clearly value. For a yoga teacher who wants new tools and CE hours, $2,800 is a reasonable price.
As a professional certification, it promises more than it shows. Ten weeks with short practice segments at the end is not a facilitator apprenticeship, the “accredited, recognized worldwide” claim has no accreditor behind it, and the founder’s own breathwork training is not named. The refund and instalment terms also favor the school.
Bottom line: A good personal and yoga-teacher training at a fair price. If you plan to see paying clients, choose a program with supervised practice and a named accreditation, or plan to build that experience yourself afterwards.
Still deciding? Take our 2-minute quiz to find the certification that fits your goals and budget.
Other independent US schools we have reviewed
- One Breath Institute: a GPBA-accredited online training with a year of business coaching (price not published)
For the full picture, see our guide: Breathwork training in the USA.
Other independent online schools we have reviewed
- Breathing Space: the most affordable GPBA-certified 400-hour route we have found in the UK, fully online (from £2,700)
- Embodied Breath Academy: Rebirthing-based training from Bali with 30 required client sessions (AU$5,500)
- One Breath Institute: a GPBA-accredited online training with a year of business coaching (price not published)
- Sacred Breath Academy: a gentle, ceremonial 400-hour conscious connected breathwork training led by founder Kaya Leigh, mostly self-paced online ($4,444)
- Seven Directions: a GPBA-accredited, ceremony-rich 10-month training with an unusually strong guest faculty (about £4,450 all in)
- The Whole Health Project: a $429, 35-hour self-paced breath coach training with a trauma-aware module, from two yoga teachers based in Bali and London
- Transcend Breathwork Academy: a Clarity-rooted, GPBA-listed online practitioner training from Vancouver with 25 practice sessions and a business module ($5,550)
For the full picture, see our guide: Best online breathwork certifications.