collectively well
by shannon cury
down to earth breathwork & community healing
the origin story
if you’d told me 10 years ago that i’d be living in san diego, leading community healing experiences, and helping people slow down & reconnect with what matters, i would’ve laughed into my vodka soda.
for much of my adult life, i was sprinting up the corporate ladder at google in nyc, mistaking inbox zero for inner peace. my life was all go, no pause. until it took a hard stop. a cancer diagnosis in the middle of the pandemic forced me to finally slow down. i finally went inward, turning healing into my full time job — during treatment and through the rough transition into survivorship.
breathwork was the practice that changed everything. it gave me the clarity to stop outsourcing my worth to my productivity. it helped me learn how to listen to my body. to soften. to fully show up for the life i fought so hard to live.
so in 2023, when the big tech layoffs came, i took the hint and stepped fully into this work.
collectively well was born.
since then i've been building from the heart & coming home — to more sustainable ways of living and working, to my own ancestral and spiritual lineage, and to an ever-evolving professional practice rooted in trauma-informed facilitation, somatic embodiment, yogic philosophy and nervous system support.
even as a teacher, i'm always a student.
today i help people do the inner work so the outer work is possible. for themselves, for their communities, and for the world we're building together.
work with shannon
the somatic work
virtual & sd breathwork & coaching
cw @ work
workplace wellness & speaking experiences
explore everything
upcoming events & everything in one place
trusted by
your host
join shannon cury, breathwork coach & founder of collectively well, as they unpack how we can take care of ourselves & the world we live in without taking it all too seriously.
features & press
the professional
foundation
so you know who is holding the space
the formal credentials
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completed breath liberation society’s 400 hour trauma informed breathwork training emphasizing energy work, intuition development and responsible breathwork facilitation. curriculum elevates a diverse range of healing practitioners.
lead teacher: chauna bryant.
2022 - 2026.
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completed two yoga teacher trainings - 20hr yin yoga & 200hr trauma informed yoga inclusive of vinyasa, slow flow & yin.
yin: indie yoga. teachers dani coleman & mae fell. 2025.
trauma informed: somatic yoga institute. teachers brooke alexander & jeanine talento. 2026.
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this three month course brought a decolonial lens to nervous system regulation and somatic embodiment practices. *
in progress.
2025-2026. teacher: linda thai.
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Radical Health First Aid Training empowers individuals with the tools to respond to emotional, physical, and mental health crises in a compassionate and effective way, prioritizing community care and collective healing.
created & led by connect with oumou.
with their permission, resources from the training are shared here.
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hypnobreathwork® combines hypnosis, breathwork & visioning to remove subconscious blocks and rewire neural pathways for sustainable behavior change.
teacher: francesca sipma. 2021.
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Mental Health First Aid is an evidence-based, early-intervention course that teaches participants about mental health and substance use challenges. 2019.
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bachelors of arts in psychology from the college of new jersey in 2013.
the informal lineage
the breathwork i facilitate can mirror shamanic experiences of altered states with ancestral & other wordly exploration. i don't claim formal lineage in any specific tradition and i hold deep gratitude for the cultures who have carried this wisdom for millenia.
my contemplative foundation comes through the work of pema chödrön & tara brach and the teachings of bruni davilla and tuere sala. the visionary minds of bell hooks, audre lorde, prentis hemphill, tricia hersey, and adrienne maree brown all played a part in paving the way for the personal & political intersections of my healing work.
i hold gabor maté and brené brown both gratefully and critically. they each have shaped this field while undercontextualizing who has historically been allowed to heal, rest, and live in their authentic expression. the art and trans & nonbinary activism of alok v. menon speaks to the gaps of their work.
i honor my irish & celtic ancestry through land-based practices and i’m still exploring specific druidic and pagan traditions. the spiritual practices of my syrian ancestors are harder to find and i'm still exploring my way back — currently through the land in our bones by layla k. feghali. i carry both diaspora roots that were severed and colonial roots whose harm i'm actively reckoning with. both are at the core of my personal and professional spiritual healing.
beliefs & boundaries
collectively well is built on authenticity, kindness, and radical self-acceptance.
we meet you where you're at and help you hold the vision for where you have the potential to be.
we value confidentiality, respect, consent, and boundaries. we listen actively, speak honestly, and hold each other with compassionate accountability.
we are trauma-aware and will never ask you to disclose anything to participate fully here.
we believe spirituality that doesn't include social justice is escapism and emotional alchemy isn't just personal. it's how we tap into collective power. we can't build a new world without owning our part in the one we're in.
so we commit to unlearning harmful conditioning. in our hearts, our minds, and our nervous systems. we commit to making room for all voices, all bodies and all experiences here.
we honor the lineage of every practice we share. breathwork, yogic pranayama, buddhist mindfulness, and the ancestral healing traditions of the siksika tribe. we practice them with reverence, not ownership.
we acknowledge that we live and practice on the unceded land of the kumeyaay people and we honor their sovereignty, wisdom, and ongoing presence in protecting our community.
shannon is a guide, not a guru. they hold the space and reflect your wisdom back to you.
come as you are. leave more alive and less alone.
