About Leif Bjelland | Breathwork Facilitator & Founder of Heroic Breath

I am Leif Bjelland—breathwork facilitator, TEDx speaker, and founder of Heroic Breath. I help busy people with busy minds find ease, clarity, and self-compassion through sound-driven breathwork journeys.

My background is anything but typical. For nearly two decades, I was known as a master artisan baker—founding Le Petit Outre bakery in Missoula, Montana and earning a James Beard Award nomination. I chased flow through business, snowboarding, and ultra-endurance cycling—including finishing the 1200km Paris-Brest-Paris, the world’s oldest bike race.

But the more I achieved, the more disconnected I felt. I hit burnout. I got sober. And I discovered that the deepest transformation isn’t about pushing harder—it’s about turning inward fully.

Breathwork became that path. I trained with the Neurodynamic Institute and experienced first-hand how breath and sound can regulate the nervous system, quiet the mind, and reconnect us to a deeper intelligence within.

Now, I guide others through this work—people who feel overwhelmed, stuck in their heads, or quietly running on empty. Heroic Breath is a journey back to self—one that meets you exactly where you are and helps you breathe into the version of yourself that’s been waiting underneath it all.