Today’s guest is someone who I have wanted to talk to for many years. I first came across him around 10 years ago and was fascinated by his approach to movement and, in particular, natural movement.

Erwan Le Corre is the founder of MovNat, a school of physical competency entirely based on natural movement. Since Erwan founded it back in 2008, it has quickly spread across the globe, with certification courses, weekend retreats and instructors all over the world. One of Erwan’s core philosophies is that many of us have become ‘zoo-humans’ and as a result, we are suffering physically, mentally, and spiritually. In his ground-breaking book, The Practice of Natural Movement: Reclaim Power, Health and Freedom, Erwan outlines a simple structured process that can help us all get back to who we are meant to be.

As humans, we are incredibly physically versatile. We can walk, run, sit, stand, jump, swim, dive, throw, catch, climb and more. But how many of these movements do we typically do in daily life? Why have we become so removed from these intrinsic, functional capabilities? And, does going to the gym or lifting a few weights at home really compensate enough?

In our conversation, Erwan explains what he means by the term functional fitness – being fit for life, as opposed to looking fit or simply being fit for a specific sport. We talk about the benefits of moving in more natural ways, and these benefits are not just related to our physical health, they help our mental wellbeing as well.

Erwan has always been devoted to mastery and currently holds the US National Record in STA (static apnea) with a 7 minute and 8 second breath hold. Over the past few years, he has been researching, experimenting with and developing his own breath-work practice that he has named BreathHoldWork meditation.

He launched his method online just over a year ago and I signed up and completed his 4-week online course. It was one of the best courses I have ever done and it really has had a transformative effect on me. So much so, that what I learned from Erwan has now found its way into my daily morning routine. At the start of his online course, I could only hold my breath for about 1 minute. Within 4 weeks, I increased that to 4 minutes and 20 seconds! And, it was not because my body had adapted physiologically. It is because he taught me how to harness the power of my mind.

As you will learn in this conversation, Erwan’s technique is completely different from The Wim Hof Method that you may already be familiar with. In that method, you hyperventilate at the start. In Erwan’s method, there is no hyperventilation, which in his opinion means you can gain deeper insights, achieve greater calm and more quickly access a state of inner peace. By learning how to quieten your mind and nervous system, when your body is begging you to breathe, you really do learn something quite profound about yourself – and it is a skill that transfers into other parts of your life. After all, if you can stay calm in this kind of environment, most things in life afterwards appear relatively easy in comparison.

This was a really enjoyable conversation, which at its core, is about inspiring you to rediscover who you really are – an innately capable and resilient human. I hope you enjoy listening.

Watch the video version of the podcast here: