RUNGA Radio – Details, episodes & analysis

Dr. Richard Blake responds to 3 million views, 3,000 comments, and a mental health system under fire. Last week Dr. Richard Blake (@the_breath_geek) posted a reel that challenged the foundational assumptions of modern therapy — and it exploded: 3M+ views, 100K shares, and thousands of comments.

In this episode recorded live from the Health Optimization Summit, Richard, therapist-in-training Natalia Blake, and co-host Joseph Anew unpack the firestorm. They address accusations of manipulation, the limitations of talk therapy, and the rise of therapy culture that may be doing more harm than good. This is a raw, honest, and timely conversation that asks big questions about how we heal, what’s keeping us stuck, and what a more empowered, integrated path forward might look like.

• The Limitations of Traditional Talk Therapy – Why many people feel stuck in therapy, and how the field is still influenced by outdated frameworks and models of the mind.
• The Rise of “Therapy Culture” – A critical distinction between therapy as a tool and the growing cultural identity around being in therapy, working on trauma, or identifying as broken.
• Personal Agency and the Path to Real Healing – How movement, community, breathwork, and lifestyle interventions can create the transformation many are seeking—but not finding—in conventional care.
• Conscious Connected Breathwork (CCB) as a Therapeutic Alternative – Drawing from his PhD research, Richard shares why CCB may offer a more embodied and effective route for emotional processing and nervous system regulation.
• Rethinking the Mental Health System – From ghosting therapists to the limitations of insurance-based models, the conversation explores what’s not working—and what could work better.

Liability Note
This episode includes a critique of therapy culture, outcomes, and common practices. Listeners are reminded that not all therapy is ineffective, and many benefit from mental health support when well-matched with a trained professional. This podcast does not offer individualized clinical advice. Always consult a licensed provider for mental health needs.

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Joseph and Richard sit down with integrative nutritionist Marek Doyle for a deep and honest conversation about the true nature of stress, why cortisol isn’t the villain it’s made out to be, and how the nervous system—and our energy levels—shape our capacity to heal. Marek brings a refreshingly nuanced perspective to the world of functional medicine, challenging mainstream narratives and offering insight into how energy security, nervous system regulation, and breathwork all play a central role in true well-being. You’ll hear about his transition from reductionist, evidence-based protocols to a more intuitive and personal approach—one rooted in lived experience, clinical insight, and the intelligence of the body.

What You’ll Learn:

Why Cortisol Isn’t the Enemy: Marek breaks down the true role of cortisol, showing that it’s not the stress hormone we should fear—but a key player in turning off the stress response. Chronic stress, not cortisol itself, is what leads to health issues like inflammation, gut permeability, and burnout.

The Hidden Cost of Low Energy: He explains how low energy availability—not just poor nutrition—can prevent healing, stall progress, and make even the best protocols ineffective. Energy security, including how the body predicts and produces energy, is at the center of Marek’s system.

Rethinking Functional Medicine: Marek challenges the typical reductionist model in functional medicine. Rather than relying on isolated tests and trendy supplements, he emphasizes a personalized, systems-based approach rooted in how the body actually functions in real life.

The Limits of “Evidence-Based” Approaches: This episode dives into why rigid, data-only thinking can leave many people behind. Marek shares how effect sizes, individual responses, and clinical nuance are often more important than what the latest study says.

Breathwork as a Breakthrough Tool: After trying countless somatic practices, Marek found breathwork to be the most consistent and fast-acting way to shift someone out of stress and into healing. He now considers it essential for restoring nervous system balance and resilience.

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After a short hiatus, we're back with a bang. Joseph is joined by breathwork experts Richard L. Blake (aka The Breath Geek) and Taylor Somerville, founder and CEO of Symmetry, to discuss everything you need to know about breathwork.

If you’re curious about the transformative and healing power of breathwork, you’re in the right place, as Richard and Taylor bring their unique perspectives to this comprehensive discussion. They explore the physiological, mental, and emotional benefits, and share essential techniques like CO2 tolerance and nasal and diaphragmatic breathing.

Plus, they debunk common myths and caution against the dangers of unregulated breathwork coaching, offering the sage advice: “beware of the guru.”

Key takeaways from this episode:

• [04:57] The Science and Benefits of Breath Work Explained
• [17:07] Deep Dive into CO2 Tolerance and Its Impact on Health
• [28:26] The Magic of Nasal Breathing and Its Benefits
• [39:01] The Interplay Between Breath, Posture, and Emotional Well-being
• [48:45] Breathwork as a Foundation for Physical Strength and Stability
• [01:01:19] Harnessing Breathwork for Emotional Regulation and Reactivity Control
• [01:22:19] Debunking Myths and Navigating the Breathwork Space

Quotes from Episode:

“What I love about breathwork is that it acts like a rudder on your ship. Many people feel like they are a ship in a storm, being tossed around by life's waves. Breathwork helps you steer. If you need to relax, you can use your breath. If you need more energy for a workout, you can use your breath for that too.”

“As a breathwork practitioner, people often project their admiration onto you, thinking you're amazing. That power is so easily corruptible and that's why you get so many terrible life coaches, shamans and breathworkers.” 

Today's episode is brought to you by:

RUNGA’s Momentum Coaching - 60 days to embody a state of thriving while building sustainable systems around your goals.

Liposomal Glutathione by Quick Silver Scientific: Use code RUNGA10 to save 15% off your order.

Links from Episode: 

Joseph’s TEDx Talk: BREATHE.

Richard’s Website

Richard’s Medium Articles

Symmetry’s Instagram

Symmetry’s Website 

Taylor’s previous Intuitive Warrior appearance: 204 | Live from RUNGA 

Taylor’s previous Intuitive Warrior appearance: 161 | Taylor Somerville - 2021 Cold Plunge Tank Reviews, Breathwork, & Dumbbell Pool Workouts

Joseph’s appearance on the Laughing Through The Pain podcast

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Welcome to this week’s AMA episode, where I chat about some of the health, nutrition, and fitness issues I’ve been asked about lately. I also share the 5-day supplement program I’ll be using with the corporate guests attending our live Runga Event at Lake Austin this week. The supplement protocol focuses on maximizing sleep, hydration, and immunity and consists of two shots of Quicksilver’s Immune charge, three doses of Quicksilver’s Quinton 3.3 Hypertonic, and two tabs of Quicksilver’s H2 Elite Hydrogen per day. And (although they may not need it after a day of kettlebell training, yoga, and hot and cold immersion), our guests will be offered Quicksilver’s CBD Synergies and BiOptimizers’ Magnesium Breakthrough to improve the quality of their sleep. On a more general note, I also get into the benefits of a protein-forward, low-carb, no-sugar diet and explain how to do a 20-minute EMOM on a SkiErg.    

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My guest today is Dr. Jason Sonners, a certified hyperbaric practitioner and regenerative medicine specialist. Jason is the Director of NJ HBOT, a clinic in New Jersey that supports patients with various autoimmune and neurological conditions. Jason combines hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) with nutrition, exercise, and detoxification programs to guide his patients through their health challenges.  As a chiropractor and an exercise physiologist, he also uses hyperbaric oxygen therapy to help athletes improve their performance and take their recovery to the next level. 

Jason explains how hyperbaric oxygen therapy works and sets out the conditions it can be used to treat. He also describes some breathing and breath-holding techniques that train the body to absorb, deliver, and recycle oxygen more efficiently.

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On this Friday’s show, I’ve decided to share a twenty-minute workout that builds on the alternating EMOM of ten kettlebell swings and ten push-ups that I talked you through in Episode 101. However, this routine focuses on power, endurance, and stamina, and it has more of a metabolic component which means you’ll have to work a little harder this time. Today’s EMOM consists of ascending reps of five, ten, or twenty swings at station one, followed by ten push-ups (or preferably ten calories on a fan bike or SkiErg) at station two. If you’re doing the workout outside, you can substitute a 150-meter run or thirty steps of lightweight walking lunges for the time spent cycling, rowing, or skiing. Wherever you do the workout, remember to focus on your form. Make an effort to tighten your glutes, quads, and abs. And, as always, synchronize your breathing and try to breathe through your nose. 

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This week, I sit for a second time with Dr. Michael Rintala. Dr. Rintala is a chiropractor specializing in chiropractic sports medicine and rehabilitation. He’s also an international instructor for the Prague School of Rehabilitation who uses the principles of Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization (DNS) to help his patients recover from injury and improve their performance. 

Since DNS works by training the body to tap into the movement patterns that we learn instinctively as infants, we talk about the stages of movement that babies go through as they grow. As well as discussing developmental kinesiology and explaining how DNS helps improve stability and mobility, Dr. Rintala describes some of the simple mouth breathing techniques he teaches to align the diaphragm. To round off our discussion, we get into the health and performance benefits of kettlebell training, and Michael talks about his upcoming course on the Czech Get-Up, which begins on the 20th of April.

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In this episode, I share the recent conversation I had with Strong Coffee founder Adam Von Rothfelder on his Up and Adam podcast. We talk about David Hawkins’ scale of consciousness and how negative emotions, such as fear, guilt, shame, and jealousy, keep us resonating at a lower vibration, whereas courage raises our levels of consciousness. As fathers and business owners, we compare notes on parenthood and reflect on the personal and economic challenges of the last year. We also emphasize the importance of speaking the truth (even when it isn’t what people want to hear), and I list the foods I think we should be eating more of as well as those we should be taking pains to avoid.

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My guest today is conditioning and performance expert Joel Jamieson. Joel is an online educator who teaches fitness professionals how to write science-based conditioning programs that deliver real-world results. He is also the CEO and founder of Morpheus, the world’s first personal digital recovery system. Joel was one of the first people to realize the importance of using heart rate variability as a gauge to measure where a person sits on the scale of fitness and recovery. In addition to measuring heart rate variability, activity, and sleep, Joe’s latest app, Morpheus, can help you achieve your fitness goals by balancing your training and moving your body into the recovery zone. 

As well as geeking out on heart rate variability, we talk about managing stress and training the autonomic nervous system to move out of sympathetic dominance.  As a recovery specialist, Joel emphasizes that our health is affected by many factors (not just the time we spend training) and advises paying proper attention to our sleep, diet, and stress levels. 

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Today I want to talk about the therapeutic effects of exposing the body to hormetic stressors such as exercise, fasting, and extremes of heat and cold. It’s important to remember that the benefits of these practices come with consistency. In the case of cold water immersion, I recommend trying to establish a routine that includes at least five cold showers and one ice bath per week. The water doesn’t have to be freezing; any temperature that makes you uncomfortable should be enough to spark an adaptive response and help the body mobilize fat, regulate blood sugar levels, and build resilience. To obtain the optimal health benefits from heat exposure, I suggest taking four saunas per week and limiting each session to 19 minutes. In this episode, I also answer some of the questions I’ve been getting lately about nutrition and exercise and explain how to build the stability and strength required to do a successful pistol squat.

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