Martin McPhilimey MSc MRes - Scientific Consultant

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Martin McPhilimey MSc MRes - Scientific Consultant

Chronic stress is a global health crisis affecting individual and collective performance. Day after day.

🧠 Build Regulation, Resilience & Recovery
🫁 Breath Science • Nervous System • Sleep
🎓 Founder
👇 Coaching & Training Enquries
🧘‍♂️ http://martinmcphilimey.com With coaching, you can turn stress into success for high performance with the enthusiasm, motivation and energy to take action towards your goals. Imagine the level of performance you could reach by waking up each morning feeling calm, alert and ready to tackle your day. Reclaim confidence in your capacity for action by learning the methods helping stressed-out busy professionals, anxious leaders and burnt out go-getters stand out from the crowd by regaining control of their focus, energy and productivity.

15/12/2025

Here’s one for the surfers 🌊

It’s a bit of a chicken and egg question in surf performance:

Are elite surfers great because of superior genetics?
Or is their ability cultivated through training, breath control, and nervous system adaptation?

The answer is almost certainly both.

Years in the water shape breathing mechanics, CO₂ tolerance, and stress regulation, allowing surfers to stay calm under pressure, recover faster between waves, and perform in highly unpredictable environments. At the same time, genetics may influence lung capacity, chemoreceptor sensitivity, and hypoxia adaptation — all key components of functional breathing.

Breath science helps us understand how repeated exposure to waves, wipe-outs, and breath holds trains the respiratory system and nervous system to work together more efficiently over time.

👉 Share this with or tag your surf friends below

14/12/2025

The goal should always be about teaching the brain it's safe, not tolerance!

11/12/2025

The Story Behind a World Premiere: Chemistry of Memories

Earlier this year, .rader attended one of my lectures on trauma and PTSD, where I presented an updated scientific exploration of the brain’s response to trauma through the lens of predictive coding. This session provided Sage with a robust framework that aligned directly with his practice, prompting him to invite me for deeper discussions.

Those conversations sparked a creative vision: integrating evidence-based breath science and neuroscience with music composed from scientific principles. When art and science converge, pioneering innovation emerges.

Yesterday, we unveiled Chemistry of Memories to members of my community and registered participants.

The response exceeded our expectations, with attendees reporting profound insights, somatic sensations, and experiences reminiscent of those observed in conscious connected breathing—yet achieved solely through simple nasal breathing.

No intensity required.

No catharsis demanded.

Only a foundation of safety, rooted in rhythm and synchrony.

The nervous system does not adapt through intensity; it thrives on predictability and subtle novelty. Here, melody and syncopation generate prediction errors, opening windows for emotional and memory reappraisal. This approach leverages the brain’s malleability, offering therapeutic opportunities without the risks or contraindications associated with high-ventilation breathwork.

I firmly believe this marks the dawn of a transformative era. The artist in me yearns to share this experience widely; the scientist in me wishes to test our hypotheses rigorously.

Time will reveal the outcomes, but we remain at the forefront—crafting novel concepts from first principles: evidence-informed, mechanism-integrated, and often unprecedented in the field.

If you wish to join this movement, consider enrolling in the by commenting “community” below.

07/12/2025

A common question we get is:

“I’ve already done breathwork or breath coaching certifications… what more will I learn with the School of Breath Science?”

The honest answer?

It’s difficult to show without experiencing the training yourself — and I intentionally don’t reveal everything, because what makes the certification unique is the depth, structure, and integration built into it.

But here are a few insights into why the Breath Science Certification sits on a completely different level.

👇 Comment “BSC” or drop us a DM today for the full course breakdown, dates, and pricing.

03/12/2025

A study by Walsh et al. (2025), published in Physiological Reports, suggests that breath holding during sprints increases cardiac demand, overriding the dive response, whilst muscle oxygenation and lactate remain unchanged with free breathing.

Post-exercise HR was lower, and BP was elevated during the breath-hold trial, indicating delayed parasympathetic rebound.

Denaturation rates were similar across muscles. However, anticipation of exercise causes significantly elevated ventilation and CO2 production before breath holding, suggesting psychological factors are in play.

Practical takeaways.

- swimmers can use short-duration breath holds to reduce drag, but avoid them in prolonged or low intensity sessions

- Active recovery, such as light exercise, should be performed following apnea events to help stabilise the heart and blood pressure.

- build progression into breath-hold length to avoid anticipation

- In multi-bout sessions (e.g., swim sets), alternate breath-hold and free-breathing reps to mitigate residuals; for competition, simulate race-specific holds (e.g., 50 m freestyle) in dry-land ergometry to build confidence without aquatic risks.

01/12/2025

Happy 2nd anniversary to my wife, .gypsea .

A little story about how we met and our journey so far:

A friend recommended that Delphine listen to my podcast. By chance, she tuned into an episode where I spoke openly about my past relationship, what I’d learned, and what I wanted moving forward. She messaged to say she’d never heard a man express himself so honestly.

Naturally, I checked her photos and asked if she wanted to catch up.

Weeks later, we went for a coastal walk, talked for 2 hrs straight and grabbed my favourite chocolate peanut smoothie from Yelo Cafe. From there, we became good friends. Both freshly single, neither of us rushed into anything. Despite my attempts to hit on her, she politely friend-zoned me. I accepted it… But deep down, I knew there was more.

My housemates kept trying to set us up—inviting her over, getting her to my birthday, dropping hints nonstop. By Christmas, the dynamic shifted.

A few months later, she told me she planned to leave Australia to do conservation work in Bali. We agreed to keep seeing each other, but go our own ways when she left. I told myself that if she asked, I’d consider joining—but I didn’t want to interfere with her vision.

Our relationship kept deepening. One day at the beach, she asked if I’d ever consider coming with her. I told her yes—if our visions aligned. I already had a vision board, so I checked it… and everything matched. The life I wanted, the woman I was looking for, the values that mattered—all aligned with us.

So I said yes.

I quit my safe career, told the Australian government I was leaving during a pandemic, and off we went—travelling through Asia, Europe and the UK. Our relationship grew deeper; my business flourished; the vision unfolded.

Fast-forward to today: 2 years married, an 18-month-old daughter, and living 5 mins from the most beautiful beaches in Western Australia. We’re living our dream—supporting each other, embracing love and challenge, holding space for each other’s ideals and flaws.

I never thought I’d get married, but with Delphine, I knew there was no one else I wanted to spend my life with.

Here’s to the rest.

I ❤️ you, Delphine.

25/11/2025

Last week at the Journal Club, we reviewed a narrative review exploring how our modern environment impacts sleep. It was a substantial, densely written paper, but it offered outstanding insights and practical tools for improving sleep, well-being, and overall health by auditing and adjusting our surroundings.

I’ve already integrated these findings into our community discussions and shared them with practitioners studying at the school. This has enabled them not only to assess their own sleep environments but also to conduct similar audits with clients who need support.

I want to extend my appreciation to the authors for bringing this research together and making it accessible through open access. This allows practitioners like myself to transform science into actionable strategies, ultimately supporting a more informed, evidence-based approach to health, well-being, and performance.

Which environmental change do you feel would make the most significant difference to your sleep?

Comment below with the one you think would have the most impact, and let’s discuss why.

Address

Yokine, WA

Website

http://schoolofbreathscience.com/, http://www.martinmcphilimey.com/

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