Who Is Ava Johanna? Academy of Breath & Breathwork Certification, Explained
Ava Johanna is the founder of The Academy of Breath™ and author of Your Vision Board Life. She overcame homelessness as a teenager and burnout in corporate marketing before building a multi-million dollar breathwork education brand. Her 12-week certification has trained 800+ facilitators worldwide, is recognized by Yoga Alliance and the International Breathwork Foundation, and spans modalities from calming techniques to activating circular breathwork. She also coaches wellness entrepreneurs on growing to $50K/month via paid ads and organic content.
| Company | Academy of Breath / Ava Johanna Inc. |
|---|---|
| Flagship framework | Academy of Breath Certification |
| Niche | Breathwork |
| What they sell | 12-week Academy of Breath certification, Advanced Practitioner Training ($10K), Foundations Course ($179), Breathwork Course self-study, business coaching for wellness entrepreneurs |
| Reported pricing | Foundations Course: ~$179; Advanced Practitioner Training: $10,000 (as of June 2026, academyofbreath.org); 12-week certification: price gated behind inquiry form |
| Platforms | @avajohanna Instagram (~54K, as of June 2026), @iamavajohanna Instagram (backup, ~1K, as of June 2026), @iamavajohanna TikTok, @iamavajohanna YouTube |
| Website | academyofbreath.org |
Career and rise
Note on disambiguation: there is an @avayohanna on Instagram — a different person. This profile covers Ava Johanna the breathwork educator — founder of The Academy of Breath™ and author of Your Vision Board Life — whose primary Instagram is @avajohanna and whose educational brand operates at academyofbreath.org.
The version of the origin story Ava Johanna tells publicly begins with homelessness as a teenager. It continues with trauma, substance abuse, a DUI at 19, and a turning point she describes as the first moment she felt safe in her body: the first time she attended a yoga class in San Diego. The arc from that class to a multi-million dollar breathwork certification brand took roughly ten years, moved through corporate marketing burnout, a blog called Kicking Asana, and a pandemic-era vision she describes with unusual specificity.
The corporate phase came first. After discovering yoga and completing teacher training within six months of her first class, she found herself back in a marketing company in San Diego, working 12-hour days. The symptoms were specific: deteriorating eyesight, migraines every other week, and the kind of physical breakdown that often signals a nervous system under sustained stress. When her doctor proposed antidepressants, she asked for natural alternatives — breathwork and nutrition. She was already teaching yoga on the side at studios including Alo Yoga and Bandier in Los Angeles, but the income from in-person instruction was insufficient and the constraints were structural: she could only teach bodies in the room.
The bridge between in-person instructor and online educator was the Kicking Asana blog and Instagram account, launched around 2016–2017. Instagram's yoga community was growing fast, and the account accumulated 20,000–25,000 followers before she pivoted away from the Kicking Asana identity. She left corporate employment in December 2015 to pursue the wellness and coaching work full time. The podcast followed in 2018: The Alchemized Life, a show she hosted for over 200 episodes before retiring it to focus on new products and the Mindful Masters app.
The Academy of Breath was born in the first week of the pandemic in 2020. Johanna has described the origin in multiple interviews: she was in daily meditation and prayer when she had a vision of herself on a stage leading tens of thousands of people through breathwork. The first cohort of the Academy launched in June 2020 with 64 students. By multiple documented sources, the program has now certified over 800 facilitators across multiple cohorts.
By 2025–2026, the brand encompasses the certification, an advanced practitioner track, a Foundations self-study course, business coaching for wellness entrepreneurs, a published book, and the Mindful Masters app. Her Instagram (@avajohanna) has approximately 54,000 followers as of June 2026, where her stated focus is "helping wellness service providers grow to $50K/month with paid ads and organic marketing."
The Academy of Breath method
Ava Johanna's central pedagogical argument is that breathwork has been unnecessarily siloed — either in extreme athletic modalities (Wim Hof, box breathing as a performance hack) or in spiritual settings inaccessible to mainstream audiences. The Academy of Breath occupies the middle ground: science-forward enough to attract practitioners who want to work with coaching clients and healthcare-adjacent professionals, and spiritually grounded enough to address the embodiment layer that purely physiological approaches omit.
The 12-week certification covers eight distinct breathing techniques spanning calming to activating on the nervous system spectrum. The curriculum sequence moves through:
- Physiological foundations: how different breath patterns affect the autonomic nervous system, CO2 tolerance, and stress response pathways
- Neuroscience layer: the research basis for each technique, positioned so graduates can explain the mechanism to clients who need a scientific frame before engaging with the practice
- Spiritual and somatic integration: the experiential dimension of breathwork — what practitioners describe as the non-ordinary states accessible through circular breathwork and two-part breath — taught alongside trauma-awareness protocols
- Teaching and sequencing: how to construct a breathwork session, cue safely, hold space for diverse nervous system responses, and structure music and pacing
- Business of mindfulness: a component Ava added to the 12-week track explicitly because she identified the business literacy gap as the primary reason skilled practitioners fail to build sustainable practices
The Advanced Practitioner Training adds Yoga Nidra, Tummo breathwork, quantum embodiment meditation, trauma-informed facilitation with guest doctors and trauma specialists, and supervised practice teaching across a 6-month container capped at 15 students per cohort.
The certification carries dual recognition: Yoga Alliance continuing education credits for registered yoga teachers, and International Breathwork Foundation accreditation. Both are meaningful signals for practitioners building a professional credential stack.
Programs and pricing
| Program | Format | Reported Price | Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations Course | 6-module self-study | ~$179 | academyofbreath.org, as of June 2026 | Entry-level personal practice; not a professional certification |
| 12-Week AOB Certification | Live cohort, online | Not publicly listed (inquiry required) | academyofbreath.org/inquire, as of June 2026 | Yoga Alliance + IBF recognized; 500–800+ graduates reported |
| Advanced Practitioner Training | 6-month live cohort | $10,000 (payment plans to 1 year) | academyofbreath.org/advanced-practitioner-training, as of June 2026 | Max 15 students; two retreat experiences included; next cohort September 2026 |
| In-Person Mexico Retreat | Retreat + certification | ~$4,000 | academyofbreath.org/2026-retreat, as of June 2026 | Includes lodging, meals, certification tuition, 2 months of support |
| Business coaching (wellness entrepreneurs) | Not publicly detailed | Not publicly listed | avajohanna.com, as of June 2026 | Focused on scaling to $50K/month with ads and organic |
Pricing on the flagship 12-week certification is not displayed publicly and requires submitting an inquiry form. All prices should be confirmed directly at academyofbreath.org before any enrollment decision.
Content engine teardown
Ava Johanna's distribution strategy is built around a bifurcated identity: the breathwork practitioner on one account, the wellness business strategist on another. Her @avajohanna Instagram (~54K) is explicitly positioned for wellness service providers — the bio states "grow to $50K/m with paid ads & organic marketing," which is a B2B framing within a consumer wellness aesthetic. The @iamavajohanna handle functions as a backup account. Her YouTube channel (@iamavajohanna) carries longer-form content. TikTok (@iamavajohanna) extends the reach.
The podcast, The Alchemized Life, ran for over 200 episodes and generated a substantial backlink and citation profile across the wellness space before she retired it. The decision to retire a 200+ episode archive in favor of the Mindful Masters app is a meaningful strategic signal: she is moving toward a community model rather than a broadcast model.
Her content hooks fall into two main categories: personal transformation narrative (the homeless teenager to multi-million dollar founder arc surfaces regularly and converts discovery traffic into invested readers) and tactical business advice for coaches and wellness practitioners (ads, organic strategy, offer architecture). These two modes serve different audience segments but funnel toward the same credential purchase decision.
The hook coaches can extract from her engine: the personal transformation narrative is not treated as backstory but as the recurring proof point. Every piece of content implicitly argues "this is possible" by showing someone who was further from it than most viewers currently are. The breathwork practice is positioned as the mechanism — not a nice-to-have but the enabling technology for the outcomes she describes.
Reception and track record
The Academy of Breath has certified over 800 facilitators across multiple cohorts since its June 2020 launch — a documented number from multiple interview sources. The Yoga Alliance and International Breathwork Foundation recognitions are verifiable third-party validations that distinguish AOB from unlicensed breathwork certificates that lack industry-standard backing.
An independent third-party review from a 2022 graduate (holistic health and wellness coach Michèle, at bewell-michele.com) describes the program as content that is "super accessible and actionable" without being "too much woo-woo," highlights the variety of techniques taught, and credits breathwork integration with catalyzing business growth. The review is positive without reservation; no criticism was offered.
No Reddit threads, Trustpilot reviews, or major-outlet controversies were identified during research for this profile. Ava Johanna's work has been covered by outlets including Frenshe, Raw Beauty Talks, Goss Magazine, and featured in multiple wellness podcasts including The Human Design Podcast and Out of Our Minds. Her book Your Vision Board Life is available on Kindle (Amazon, ASIN B0F19WS2B8). No regulatory filings or legal actions involving Ava Johanna or Academy of Breath were found.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Academy of Breath certification?
The Academy of Breath is a 12-week online teacher training blending neuroscience, spirituality, and the business of mindfulness. It prepares students to teach breathwork and meditation professionally. Upon completion and document submission, graduates receive a certificate recognized by Yoga Alliance (CE credit for registered yoga teachers) and the International Breathwork Foundation. The certification program price is gated behind an inquiry form at academyofbreath.org — confirm current pricing directly before enrolling.
How much does the Academy of Breath cost?
The Foundations Course (six self-guided modules) is priced at approximately $179. The Advanced Practitioner Training is listed at $10,000 for the 6-month program (payment plans available up to one year). The flagship 12-week certification price is not publicly displayed and requires an inquiry. All pricing as of June 2026 — verify at academyofbreath.org.
Is Ava Johanna legit?
Ava Johanna is a verifiable, well-documented public figure: founder of a multi-million dollar brand, author of a published Kindle book, 800+ certified graduates, podcast host (The Alchemized Life, now retired), and frequent guest on wellness podcasts. Her certification holds third-party recognition from Yoga Alliance and the International Breathwork Foundation. No regulatory actions or major-outlet controversies were identified during research for this profile.
Related coaches
Sources
- Academy of Breath – Official Site — https://academyofbreath.org/
- Academy of Breath – Advanced Practitioner Training — https://academyofbreath.org/advanced-practitioner-training
- Ava Johanna – Your Vision Board Life (Amazon) — https://www.amazon.com/Your-Vision-Board-Life-Reality-ebook/dp/B0F19WS2B8
- Hell Yes Entrepreneur Podcast – Breathwork and Business with Ava Johanna — https://hellyescoachingonline.com/breathwork-ava-johanna/
- Goss Magazine – Covergirl Feature, Ava Johanna — https://gossclub.com/ava-johanna/
- Academy of Breath Review – bewell-michele.com — https://www.bewell-michele.com/blog/aob-review
- Ava Johanna Instagram (@avajohanna) — https://www.instagram.com/avajohanna/
Voiceloop is not affiliated with or endorsed by Ava Johanna. This is an independent, editorially researched profile. Voiceloop takes no affiliate commissions from any program mentioned here. See our editorial policy. Corrections: hello@voiceloop.app.