and I close my eyes. In a poetic, hypnotic monotone, he
tells me to let go of any tension in my body. He then asks
me to place my hand belowmy navel and start to breathe.
As instructed, I inhale gently frommy diaphragm,
pushing my belly into my hand. At the top of the breath,
Dolan reminds me not to pause, and instead to exhale
gently with an uncontrolled and natural exhalation as if
trying to fog a mirror.
It takes time and concentration to achieve the steady
rhythm of circular breathing, but I’m soon sinking.
Thirty minutes in, I amwell on my way towards a deep,
relaxed sleep state, with Dolan supervising. “Come
back,” he prompts if he notices my breathing changing.
By the end of the 90-minute session, I feel like I’m on
another planet. Mystical music plays on an iPad and I am
virtually hallucinating. Behind my eyelids, there is the
“With panoramic
volcano sunsets visible
from the sky-blue
swimming pool and
pink, flowering cacti in
the garden, it’s certainly
an idyllic setting”
troupe of followers, from CEOs to OAPs, secretaries to
soldiers, are to be believed.
Known as the Breath Guru, Dolan is an authority on a
technique called Transformational Breath which, he
claims, infuses the body on a cellular level with much-
needed oxygen and energy (aka, chi, prana or
electromagnetic energy). It might all sound distinctly
New Age, but he insists there’s serious science involved
– and people are listening. Right now, his methods are
hot property in Hollywood, with a host of A-listers
swearing by them as a means to curb anxiety, assist
with sleep disorders and even cure allergies.
Is this just another fad from La La Land, I wondered?
Or could it be the cure for our multiple modern
maladies? Having never heard of the technique before, I
was sceptical – but I just I knew needed help. So, I bit the
bullet and booked a flight to Lanzarote, where Dolan
lives, to spend some time on one of his retreats.
These are pretty full-on, with intense acupressure,
deep bodywork and muscle massage, as well as
breathing practice, so to guarantee that everyone gets
ample attention, the numbers are limited to four at any
one time. I’m nervous on arrival, but it seems I’m very
much a typical attendee – 90% of
his clients are white-collar
professionals. My companion
over the three days is a
60-something Dutch GP with
chronic asthma. Together we
stay in the white, hillside village
of Nazaret. Surrounding us, the
elemental reds, blacks and
browns of the prehistoric
Lanzarote landscape feel like a suitably backdrop for
such an otherworldly experience, but it’s Dolan’s place
that is particularly special. With Lanzarote’s panoramic
volcano sunsets visible from the Jacuzzi, a sky-blue
swimming pool and shady veranda, a shaggy dog with
the same name as me and pink, flowering cacti in the
garden, it’s certainly an idyllic setting. I can’t help but
wonder, though, is this to be a case of style over
substance? And I’m soon to find out.
On day one, I’m summoned to a small, plain room for
the first of eight treatments, comprising of six intense
90-minute breathing sessions with Dolan and a pair of
two-hour dynamic-release body massages with
60-something, Sydney-native Dennis. I lie back on a
mountain of pillows. The air is sweet with the smell of
burnt sage. Dolan sits in the lotus position in front of me
TAKE A BREATHER
01
The idyllic setting
for Dolan’s retreats
02
With his dog, Louis
03
Lanzarote’s volcanic
rock gives a suitably
otherworldly feel
T H E B R E A T H G U R U
L A N Z A R O T E
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