Present-Moment Breathwork Practice
Quiet the future and past to return attention to the present
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 96%
Alex Kutsishin describes a morning practice built around breath awareness, present-focused affirmations, and nonjudgmental acknowledgement of thoughts. He begins by noticing his breathing and affirming that he is here, present, safe, and accepting of himself. When a task, fear, or reminder appears, he thanks the thought rather than trying to suppress it, postpones action, and returns attention to the moment. He says this gradually quiets the mental habit of predicting the future or replaying the past. The practice is followed by a shower, yoga, a walk, a run, or another physical activity. Its mechanism is repeated attentional redirection: notice the breath, acknowledge distractions without resistance, and return to present awareness until the noise settles.
Origin
Extracted from Coffeez for Closers. Alex Kutsishin described the breathwork and meditation practice he had followed every morning for nearly a year, after more than a decade of practicing breathwork.
Core principles
- 01Attention can return to the breath without suppressing thoughts
- 02Incoming thoughts can be acknowledged without immediate action
- 03Past and future thinking compete with present awareness
- 04Consistent practice matters more than complexity
How to run it
- 1
Create a quiet block
Reserve uninterrupted time and settle into the practice before the day's work takes over.
Pro tip Alex places the practice before 9:00 in the morning, after breakfast with his children.
- 2
Notice the breath
Put attention on breathing without trying to force a special pattern. Use simple affirmations to anchor attention in the present.
Pro tip Keep the anchor simple enough to repeat whenever attention wanders.
- 3
Welcome distractions
When tasks, fears, or memories enter awareness, acknowledge them and decline to act on them immediately. Do not make the thought wrong or demand that thinking stop.
Pro tip Treat a recurring thought as information about what feels important, not as an instruction to leave the practice.
Watch out Trying to suppress every thought turns the practice into another struggle.
- 4
Return and move
Bring attention back to the present until the mental noise quiets, then transition into physical movement such as yoga, walking, running, or another workout.
Watch out Do not treat a quiet mind as an instant result; Alex says mastery takes years.
In the wild
Alex has breakfast with his children, then spends about an hour on breathwork and meditation while his wife takes them to school. He follows it with a shower and usually yoga, walking, running, or another workout, completing the sequence before 9:00.
→ The routine gives him a repeatable transition from family breakfast into present awareness and physical activity.
During meditation, Alex may remember that he needs to make a phone call or send a contract. Rather than stopping the thought or acting on it, he acknowledges it, thanks it, says not right now, and returns to being present.
→ The reminder is recognized without allowing it to take over the practice.
Common mistakes
Trying to stop every thought
Alex explicitly allows thoughts to arrive. The practice is to acknowledge them without following them, not to force the mind blank.
Expecting immediate mastery
A simple method is not necessarily easy; Alex says he has practiced breathwork for more than a decade.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for people who want a structured morning practice for presence and self-awareness.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for anyone seeking a one-time shortcut rather than a practice developed through repetition.
From the transcript
“my breath work typically is just noticing my breath nothing else just noticing it and then affirmations I am here I am here now I…”
“I don't want the thoughts to stop coming in”
“to get to this moment you got to shut out the future and the past”
From the episode
Revolutionizing Mortgage Lending ft. Alex Kutsishin
Alex Kutsishin