Radical Agency: How Breathwork Supports Real Inner Change - Giovanni Bartolomeo

Dec 29, 2025

Giovanni Bartolomeo, founder of Elemental Rhythm Breathwork and co-founder of the Personal Development School, discusses how breathwork fosters real inner change. He shares his transition from a high-pressure entrepreneur to a heart-led leader and the emerging practices blending breath, music, and movement. Giovanni explains how breathwork empowers individuals to self-heal, avoiding dependency, and highlights the importance of integration after psychedelic experiences. He also offers practical advice for daily breath practices to enhance resilience.

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ANECDOTE

The Wake-Up Moment

Giovanni recounted a life-crisis moment seeing his grandfather's hands and realizing his life lacked meaning.
That recognition launched his search into philosophy, psychedelics, and deeper practices.

ANECDOTE

Rebirth Through Breathwork

Giovanni recounted meeting Wim Hof, training in breathwork and having an out-of-body rebirth-like experience.
That breathwork session sparked tears, relief, and a conviction to learn and teach the practices.

INSIGHT

Breathwork As A Transformation System

Giovanni argues breathwork and plant medicine are vehicles to shift rigid mental frameworks and access subconscious material.
He emphasizes breathwork opens states and integration practices (visualization, inquiry) change beliefs for lasting transformation.

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In this episode of The Psychedelic Podcast, Paul F. Austin speaks with Giovanni Bartolomeo, founder of Elemental Rhythm Breathwork, about how breathwork can support meaningful personal change and deepen integration after psychedelic experiences.

Find full show notes and links here: https://thethirdwave.co/podcast/episode-336/?ref=278

Gio shares his journey from high-pressure entrepreneurship into a more grounded, heart-led approach to life and business. He reflects on how Elemental Rhythm emerged through years of breathwork practice, somatic exploration, and deep work with plant medicine, eventually evolving into a system that blends breath, music, movement, meditation, and guided inquiry.

Together, Paul and Gio explore why accessible practices like breathwork can cultivate real agency rather than dependency, how preparation and integration shape long-term change, and what it means to take responsibility for one's own growth in both spiritual and entrepreneurial contexts.

Giovanni Bartolomeo is the founder of Elemental Rhythm Breathwork, where he shares breathwork resources and trains others to facilitate breathwork-based transformational coaching. A lifelong entrepreneur, Gio's own journey through self-discovery led him to create a grounded, embodied approach to personal and professional transformation. Today, he teaches workshops, trainings, and retreats internationally.

Highlights:

From serial entrepreneur to inner-led leadership
Growing beyond inherited belief systems
How Elemental Rhythm emerged through plant medicine work
Breathwork as a tool for agency and clarity
Preparation and integration in psychedelic work
Empowerment versus dependency in facilitation
Responsibility as a cornerstone of transformation
Ethical questions in entrepreneurship and healing spaces
Insights from the Microdosing Practitioner Certification beta
Daily breathwork and nervous system resilience

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