About Niall

Niall McHugo is a Conscious Connected Breathwork facilitator, Oxygen Advantage Advanced Instructor and former primary school principal who founded The Breathwork Project after his own healing journey. He offers trauma informed breathwork to individuals, schools, teams and organisations.

Niall McHugo
Founder of The Breathwork Project

Niall McHugo

I’m Niall McHugo,  founder of The Breathwork Project. I’m a Conscious Connected Breathwork facilitator, trained under Pat Divilly, and an Oxygen Advantage Advanced Instructor. I spent 15 years as a primary school principal before a deep burnout became the turning point in my life. What began as a breakdown became a breakthrough, and breathwork was the path that helped me come home to myself.

My work combines two approaches. Conscious Connected Breathwork is the deep, emotional release work: a way to process stress, grief and trauma without needing to talk. Oxygen Advantage is the science of how you breathe every day: nasal breathing, breath retraining and CO2 tolerance to improve sleep, calm the nervous system, sharpen focus and support physical performance. 

I work with individuals, community groups, cancer support services, GAA panels and sports clubs, schools, workplaces and men’s groups. Whether working with men, women, athletes, students or organisations, my approach is gentle, trauma informed and rooted in compassion. I believe healing happens when we feel safe enough to breathe again, and I’m here to hold that space.

Real Client Feedback

Niall delivered an excellent session as part of the breath work project, tailored specifically for our ladies football team. He provided practical techniques that players can use during games and at half-time to regain control, lower heart rate, and refocus under pressure. His approach was clear, engaging, and highly relevant to match situations, helping players improve both recovery and mental sharpness when it matters most. The team responded very positively, and have found the benefits in those pressure situations.  
Niall also gave me a simple exercise that I can use in pressurised situations to ensure that I stay focused. I would highly recommend Niall for all teams out there who want to stay focused in those tough situations.
Emmet Daly  
Cavan Senior Ladies Football Manager 

A Grounding and Empowering First Breathwork Experience

Niall prepared us well for my first experience of a group conscious connected breathwork session. He was soft and clear and we knew we were been lead by him and that we were also in control of ourselves.  This duality of being lead and having autonomy was settling and grounding.  I found the experience a soft gentle release that honoured the body’s innate ability to release and let go, thank you for the wonderful breathwork session and the powerful music felt like an excellent accompaniment to the whole experience.
Allison Keating
Chartered Psychologist, Columist and Author of “It’s All Too Much”.

He guiding me on such a beautiful journey

I had an amazing breathwork session with Niall, which took me to places I didn’t realize still needed healing. I was a bit anxious because I didn’t know what to expect, but Niall explained the entire process and created a safe space for the session, which put me at ease right away. The session was truly magical. I uncovered childhood wounds that needed healing and felt blockages in some of my chakras simply melt away. During the session, I experienced various sensations in my body—tingling, warmth, and even coolness. I saw different colors and felt a profound shower of love that stayed with me for hours afterward.
Enia

A Deeply Spiritual & Cleansing Journey

I’ve worked with Niall for a few one to one breathwork sessions. He puts you at ease & leads you with the breathwork in a clear & calm way. He is professional & knowledgeable in what he does. The feeling during breathwork is just so blissful, it feels like you are clearing your body of any past hurts or trauma. Cleaning your body & cells from the inside. It puts you in touch with something higher than what you can feel during your waking hours. It’s hard to explain the beautiful feeling you experience. It can be challenging healing the subconscious pain & experience with just therapy. This type of practise helps me so much. Breathwork with Niall is now a firm part of my wellness routine.
Jennifer
Primary School Teacher

A Truly Calming and Transformative Experience

I did a breathwork session with Niall last week and I can honestly say that it was well worth it. From the very start of the session Niall put me at ease, explaining clearly how we would go through each stage and what I could expect. It showed he is very tuned in as I was a little unsure about the whole thing. Being able to do the sessions from home was fantastic as it added to the safe space he created through the screen. As we went through each phase of the session, Niall spoke calmly, giving clear and easy-to-follow instructions. This allowed me to focus on my breathing and in turn, get the maximum out of the time with him. By the end of the session I was completely relaxed from head to toe and felt a sense of calm that I hadn’t felt for some time. This was backed up by the 8.5 hours sleep I had that night, something I hadn’t experienced since my college days! I highly recommend booking in for a breathwork session with Niall.
Shane
School Principal

A Gentle Journey into Healing & Inner Peace

Niall’s breathwork sessions are a great way to connect mind and body in order to heal, and to venture in to out of reach memories & feelings in a safe and secure way. The music, relaxation and breathing techniques are so calm and the pace of the breathwork was very manageable. It’s the ultimate calming and healing experience. I would highly recommend
S. Richards

Breathwork That Truly Changed My Life

I have been lucky enough to receive breathwork sessions from Niall working together over the last number of weeks and each session we have gone deeper. This process has been one of the most transformative experiences I’ve had and I’ve tried many forms of healing over the years. Niall beautifully and gently guided each process allowing me to shine a light on the hidden parts of me, to access answers to questions I hadn’t been able to find. He has such a gentle voice and skilful way of guiding you through an emotional journey. I would highly recommend trying a session until you try you can’t understand the power of the breath and how it can change your life.
Aoife

Peaceful, Powerful, and Uplifting – Niall Is a Gift

I recently met with Niall, he came to my house to do a breath work session. Immediately found him to be very easy to talk to and very easy to be comfortable around and relaxed. A lovely calm, warm, easy energy ! Niall explained the process and we had a chat about what to expect and also just putting me at ease to relax and enjoy this amazing process. It all lasted about 1 hour 20 mins and I have to say it was an Incredible experience. Focused breathing and then leading into a more relaxed breathing phase – I felt amazing, an unbelievable feeling of calm / energy came over my body and i spend most of the time feeling love and connections with people who I love in my life. I feel i went into a different zone or relm if that makes sense, but with out any fear or anything being scary as such, all just a fantastic positive feeling. When it was coming to an end, Niall guided me back into myself / reality gently and i was back awake and feeling like Id had the most incredible healthy and positive experience. We chatted for a bit after and Niall was on his way then. I will Definitely be asking Niall back for some more of these sessions, It was a lovely positive feel good session – that Ive no doubt increased the health of my mind and body. Niall was fantastic, someone you feel at ease with in your own home, gentle, easy and no pressure. I couldn’t recommend Niall enough, thank you !!!
Phil Carr

An Unforgettable Journey to Love, Healing, and Connection

I walked into the breathwork evening as a total sceptic.. as a person who struggles to connect to emotion I had an open mind but low expectations. I have been attending a traditional therapist for 2 years for trauma following my daughters death and managing anxiety but was still struggling to find peace. Niall was an amazing guide and made me feel completely safe and at ease throughout the journey I struggle to find the words to express what I experienced but somewhere between deep relaxation and an insight into a realm of healing I was able to connect to my daughter and feel a huge experience of love and peace that I have never accessed before . Tears of pure joy and a deep feeling of peace was with me throughout the session and I have such a huge gratitude for the experience. I cannot recommend this enough and I look forward to experiencing more . Thanks to niall and leona for creating this space and event . Forever in your debt.
Poppy

A Truly Transformative Experience

I absolutely love Nialls classes, love how gentle they are…I used to be afraid of breathwork because any time I’d ever done it before it was so intense but Nialls classes leave me feeling relieved and lighter 😊
Alwyn

As Heard On

Highland Radio with Greg Hughes, Newstalk, and the Mind Yourself Podcast (Four Swans Therapy Centre).

Mind Yourself Podcast

Newstalk