Joshua Leeds
Learn how to harness the combined power of sound and breathwork with fun and easy movements to dissolve stress, cultivate emotional and physical wellbeing, and ground and calm yourself no matter what’s swirling around you.
Use leading-edge science to build a personalized Sound/Breath ToolkitTM full of practices you can tailor to your unique nervous system needs.
Imagine your life without stress hijacking your peace of mind or taking its toll on your health.
In today’s chaotic and destabilizing climate, that might seem impossible! Chronic tension can leave you feeling fatigued, unwell, and constantly on edge.
Your voice, combined with intentional breathwork, offers a direct pathway back to calm and clarity. You can quickly and naturally restore balance, without needing medication — whenever you need it!
For centuries, cultures around the globe — including traditions from China, India, and Indigenous communities — have used sound and breath as sacred tools for healing, balance, and spiritual insight.
Modern science confirms that specific breathwork and vocal techniques directly influence the autonomic nervous system, which controls your body’s stress responses and its ability to return to a state of ease.
Joshua Leeds, sound researcher, educator, and renowned music producer, has spent 40 years exploring the intersection of vibration, sound, and healing.
As a specialist in psychoacoustics and bioacoustics, he’s developed therapeutic sound programs used in clinics, classrooms, and healing spaces worldwide.
His approach seamlessly blends ancient wisdom with leading-edge research, providing practical, results-driven tools to regulate your nervous system and improve emotional and physical wellbeing.
In his 7-week live video course, he’ll guide you in harnessing the powerful combination of sound, breath, and vibrational neuroscience to recalibrate your nervous system and dissolve stress and anxiety...
... so you can experience deeper sleep, less anxiety, improved focus, and a more grounded presence in your daily life.
Discover why techniques like humming, vagal toning, and vocalized breathing stimulate the vagus nerve — the key to autonomic nervous system moderation, which regulates stress, relaxation, and emotional balance.
By working directly with sound and breath, learn to shift your physiological and psychological states, supporting long-term nervous system health.
As part of this innovative program, you’ll be provided with an extensive and adaptable Sound/Breath ToolkitTM — a personalized set of powerful practices you can tailor to your unique nervous system, to help you ground, center, or uplift yourself whenever needed.
You’ll recognize how heavy loads of unmanaged stress can disrupt the balance between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, leaving you stuck in cycles of fight, flight, or freeze.
Over time, this dysregulation contributes to anxiety, depression, and physical health challenges.
These profound self-help techniques using sound, breath, and movement can empower you to restore equilibrium — whenever and wherever you need it.
These exercises are unique to Joshua — including the “Seated Breath and Sound,” “Standing Tai Chi” (sound, breath, and movement), “Bilateral Movement” (sound, breath, movement, and rhythm), and “Circadian Advantage” (movement, rhythm, and circadian timing).
By integrating principles from psychoacoustics, bioacoustics, and polyvagal theory, explore how specific frequencies, vocal humming, and breath patterns can reduce stress at a neurological level.
You’ll also look into the role of technology in advancing neuroscience and sound health techniques.
Whether you’re a medical or wellness practitioner, music therapist, sound healer, biohacker looking for new tools to amplify your practice — or simply want to learn practical ways to settle yourself into calm amid stress and chaos — this course fuses the most up-to-date scientific understandings with applicable steps to ground yourself and radiate that stillness out to the world.
During this highly experiential course, you’ll:
- Uncover how vocal humming, breath patterns, the vagus nerve, and the autonomic nervous system interact — and why sound healers, sound therapists, singers, and breathworkers are uniquely positioned to benefit from understanding this gentle self-healing process
- Build your personalized Sound/Breath Toolkit — a flexible collection of techniques you can adapt to your unique nervous system’s needs
- Learn how regulating your autonomic nervous system — restoring harmony between your sympathetic (fight-or-fight) and parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) responses — helps counteract chronic stress and anxiety
- Experience a variety of sound and breath techniques that quickly restore balance and flow, whenever you need to ground, center, or uplift yourself
- Stimulate your vagus nerve with integrated breath and vocal practices to release stored tension, enhance stress resilience, and foster emotional and physical wellbeing
- Gain effective techniques to instantly shift your state, calming anxiety, increasing energy, or enhancing clarity in minutes
- Explore how sound and breathwork support vital functions like sleep quality, digestion, immune efficiency, bladder function, heart health, and more
- Unlock the sciences of psychoacoustics and bioacoustics, empowering you to harness sound and breath for deep healing
- Discover that music, sound, and other art forms deeply influence neurological pathways
- Recognize ways to engage in what Joshua calls “sonic activism” — using the Sound/Breath Toolkit in sound baths, drum circles, community sings, and private practice to foster social cohesion, unity, and positive change
- Andmuch more...
Joshua’s Sound/Breath ToolkitTM draws on pioneers and giants in the fields of soundwork and nervous system healing, otolaryngologist Alfred Tomatis and polyvagal theorist and psychologist Steven Porges, whose research shaped the modern understanding of these healing methods.
You’ll come to understand how Tomatis’ concepts formed the theoretical psychological and physiological foundations of modern soundwork.
Dr. Porges’ polyvagal theory underscores the importance of the vagus nerve in shifting between stress and relaxation. His work explains why sound and breath are such powerful tools for restoring balance, resilience, emotional connection, and a sense of feeling safe in your life.
By integrating these groundbreaking insights, Joshua will leave you with a practical, science-backed approach for extending his Sound/Breath Toolkit into sonic activism — weaving stress-resilience exercises into facilitated group experiences, like sound baths, drum circles, community sings, and private practice.
Joshua is passionate about empowering you to amplify your impact, by bringing these sound and breath practices to your communities, so the transformative effect of these tools can ripple outward — leaving a legacy of healing in a fractured world.
**Please note: The sound/breath exercises presented in this course are designed for the remediation of simple autonomic nervous system dysregulation. For pathological or advanced nervous system imbalances, please consult with your healthcare provider."
What You’ll Discover in These 7 Weeks
In this 7-week transformational course, Joshua will guide you to discover how your own voice and breath can transform stress into serenity, rewire your nervous system, and elevate your wellbeing — through combined sound and breathing practices that blend ancient traditions and modern science.
Join the Livestream — or Stream Later to Watch at Your Convenience
You’ll connect with Joshua and experience his teachings through livestreaming video via any connected device. This connection is easy to use and will enhance the impact of Joshua’s transmissions. Can’t make it live? After each class, you can stream the video and audio recordings to enjoy anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Course Sessions on Mondays at 11:00am Pacific
This course will feature LIVE teachings, interactive sessions, experiential practices, and Q&A with Joshua. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to unlock the power of sound and breath to restore balance, build resilience, and regulate your nervous system — using powerful techniques to enhance your emotional and physical health.
Module 1: Building Your Sound/Breath Toolkit - Foundational Techniques for Nervous System Harmony (April 28)
Start your journey with Joshua’s Sound/Breath Toolkit, a game-changing method to regulate your autonomic nervous system and reclaim balance.
Learn the basic theories underlying sound and breath as remedies for sympathetic overload — the common parlance for an overwhelmed sympathetic nervous system, which chronically evokes the fight/flight/freeze response.
Joshua will walk you through an overview of the many ways that sound and breathwork can help create a balanced autonomic nervous system — meaning homeostasis between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems.
Begin putting innovative methodologies into your Sound/Breath Toolkit, as Joshua’s goal in this course is for you to identify and adapt activities of sound and breath that assist you on your important journey toward balance.
In this module, you’ll:
- Understand the link between stress and disease
- Learn breath ratio techniques to calm your nervous system
- Practice a personal self-help technique from the Sound/Breath Toolkit — “Seated Breath and Sound”
- Discover why stress and uncertainty lead to anxiety, and the sister relationship of sound and breath
Module 2: 21st-Century Soundwork - The Role of Technology in Advancing Neuroscience & Sound-Healing Techniques (May 5)
Sound healing is a big tent under which scientists, academics, musicians, therapeutic professionals, song leaders, choirmasters, shamans, and vibrational soundworkers gather.
With a rich lineage, this field of intentional music and sound recognizes the different approximations of vibration — the periodic movement found in all cells and galaxies.
All periodic movement has a frequency (vibratory rate), all frequency has a sound, and sound can be molded into music.
Sound healing is about combining these unified octaves for positive therapeutic applications for humans, animals, agriculture, and more.
In this module, you’ll discover:
- A personal self-help technique from the Sound/Breath Toolkit — “Standing Tai Chi Part One” (sound, breath and movement)
- The 20th-century scientists who greatly contributed to the field of sound healing, including Hans Jenny (cymatics), Alfred Tomatis (The Tomatis Method), Robert Monroe (binaural beat frequencies), Peter Guy Manners (vibroacoustic frequencies), and Olav Skille (vibroacoustic therapies)
- The 21st-century advances into neuroscience
- Soundwork principles, such as resonance, entrainment, and pattern identification
- Current sound-healing principles for people and animals
Module 3: Dr. Alfred Tomatis - How Active Listening & Passive Hearing Impact the Profound Benefits of Soundwork (May 12)
Of all the contributors to the foundational principles of sound and music healing, Joshua’s favorite is the French ENT, Alfred Tomatis (1920-2001).
His memorable proclamations, such as “Sound is a nutrient for the nervous system,” and “The voice can only reproduce what the ear can hear,” changed the way Joshua perceives the power and impact of the auditory senses.
Tomatis’ core principles form the foundation of modern day sound-healing work. Explore some of his other sound therapy concepts, including how communication is a process that begins in utero.
Learn how the primary function of the ear is to charge the neocortex of the brain, and why the quality of your listening ability affects both spoken and written language development. Discern the distinction between hearing and listening — hearing is passive, listening is active.
Active listening abilities impact the way you move through your life.
In this module, you’ll:
- Be guided through a personal self-help technique from the Sound/Breath Toolkit — “Standing Tai Chi Part Two” (sound, breath, movement)
- Uncover Tomatis’ core ideas on sound as nourishment and communication
- Understand how Tomatis’s concepts form the theoretical psychological and physiological foundations of modern sound-healing work
- Explore the difference between active listening and passive hearing
- Listen to a sample of filtered and gated music based upon the Tomatis Method
Module 4: The Nervous System Unveiled - The Role of Sound & Breath in Autonomic Regulation (June 2)
Your nervous system is your body’s unsung hero, running everything from your heartbeat to your breath — yet chronic stress and trauma can throw it into chaos.
Explore the autonomic nervous system, focusing on the symbiotic dance between its sympathetic “driver” and parasympathetic “brake” aspects.
Learn how sound — through vagus nerve vibration and breath endurance — restores balance, offering you a lifeline to calm and vitality.
As Joshua guides you through a powerful sound and breath technique, feel the shift as theory becomes practice, equipping you to combat stress overload and build resilience.
This is your key to understanding and mastering your body’s inner workings, ensuring you thrive no matter what life throws your way.
In this module, you’ll discover:
- A personal and fun self-help technique from the Sound/Breath Toolkit — “Bilateral Movement Part One” (sound, breath, movement, rhythm)
- The nervous system’s key divisions and their physical roles in your body
- How sound stimulates the vagus nerve for regulation
- The autonomic (sympathetic and parasympathetic) interplay of activation and rest
- How to build a foundation for stress resilience through mindful practice
Module 5: Polyvagal Power - The Vagus Nerve as Your Ally in Regulating Your Nervous System (June 9)
Polyvagal theory, developed by Dr. Steven Porges in 1994, is a lens into how we experience threat and safety through the lens of the autonomic nervous system, and how we can work with these neurological mechanisms to rebalance the impact of stress or trauma.
Polyvagal theory is about how our nervous system shapes our behavior, emotions, and ability to connect with others.
Focus on the vagus nerve and its role in regulating the autonomic nervous system. Discover how sound and breath can “tonify” the vagus nerve, boosting resilience and deepening connections.
Through Joshua’s guided practices, experience a tangible shift, downregulating stress and unlocking inner peace.
This is your opportunity to turn theory into action, gaining tools to heal, connect, and flourish — even in a chaotic world.
In this module, you’ll:
- Experience a personal self-help technique from the Sound/Breath Toolkit — “Bilateral Movement Part Two” (sound, breath, movement, rhythm)
- Understand the polyvagal theory’s insights into your safety and stress responses
- Learn about specific vagal functions, heart rate, digestive activity, breath, and bladder health
- Recognize Porges and Tomatis as soundwork trailblazers
- Understand the vagus nerve’s role in parasympathetic harmony, and how to use sound and breath to strengthen vagal tone
- Explore the downsides and cautions to vagal nerve work
Module 6: Tone, Breath & Movement in Action - How to Build Stress Resilience (June 16)
Sound healing for nervous system regulation involves the reduction of sympathetic dominance and the building of stress resilience.
Heal yourself from sympathetic nervous system depletion, and build a stronger response mechanism to stress and trauma. By engaging in practices that strengthen both sympathetic (activation) and parasympathetic (recovery) responses, you can train your nervous system to handle stress better.
Joshua will lead you through stress resilience exercises using sound and breath to improve your resilience, recover more quickly from stress, and boost your wellbeing.
Not only is our neurological center literally built for music and sound, but other art forms deeply influence neurological pathways and meeting grounds.
Experience stress resilience exercises demonstrating that tone affects the breath and movement impacts the brain. By putting tone, breath, and movement elements together, create strong physiological stimulators to use in unexpected situations for excellent organic results.
In this module, you’ll discover:
- A personal self-help technique from the Sound/Breath Toolkit — “Circadian Advantage Part One” (sound, breath, movement, rhythm, and circadian timing)
- The relationship between sound, breath, and movement
- A series of breath formulas for nervous system regulation
- The difference between nasal and mouth breathing
Module 7: Sonic Activism - Incorporating the Sound/Breath Toolkit Into Sound Baths, Drum Circles, Community Sings & Private Practice (June 23)
There are many ways to make a difference in the world.
As musicians or vibroacoustic practitioners, we’ve chosen to use the sound arts as a means of effectuating a positive impact on friends and neighbors.
One facet of sonic activism is the creation of social cohesion by bringing communities of people together so they have the experience of unity — especially against the backdrop of cultural disruption, collective crises, or abrupt change.
In this module, you’ll explore:
- How to incorporate sound and breath and stress resilience exercises into the activities you facilitate
- A personal self-help technique from the Sound/Breath Toolkit — “Circadian Advantage Part Two” (sound, breath, movement, rhythm, and circadian timing)
- The role of sound and breath in personal and public healing spaces
- How to contextualize unity as a byproduct of social cohesion
- Four key exercises you’ve learned in this program
The Soundwork & Breath for Nervous System Regulation Bonus Offering
In addition to Joshua’s transformative 7-week online course, you’ll receive this special bonus offering to complement the course and take your understanding and practice to an even deeper level.
Soothing Sounds for Nervous System Renewal - Music for Down Regulation
Audio Collection From Joshua Leeds
Unlock the power of sound to soothe your nervous system with this 4-hour collection of re-arranged classical chamber ensemble and piano music from the Essential Sound Series by the Apollo Chamber Ensemble — produced by Joshua to gently guide you into a state of relaxation. Includes two hours of Calm and two hours of Uplifting. Using entrainment principles, this music supports downregulation, helping you to unwind, recharge, or ground yourself. These soundtracks are powerful tools in Joshua’s Sound/Breath ToolkitTM for autonomic nervous system balance.
Soundwork, Sonic Activism & Social Cohesion
Video Teaching From Joshua Leeds
Sonic activism isn’t just about making noise — it’s about creating meaningful change through sound. Joshua explores how intentional soundwork can foster social cohesion, bringing people together to ease the burden of separateness. Music has long been used as a tool for connection — from ancient chants to modern community singing. Discover how song leaders and soundworkers navigate the same psychological territory, using the power of sound to unite, uplift, and heal in times of disconnection.
A Brief History of Soundwork
PDF Guide From Joshua Leeds
To understand where soundwork is headed, it’s important to first know where it’s been. This engaging guide takes you through the fascinating history of sound as a tool for transformation — from mathematical music theories of Pythagoras and Confucius to the 21st-century addition of AI using music for health. Learn how Robert Monroe pioneered the use of binaural beat frequencies for consciousness, and why neuroscience is now a major driver in modern sound health. This rich exploration connects ancient wisdom with leading-edge research, offering a deeper appreciation for the evolving power of sound.
50% Off The Sound of Calm - Down Regulation Music Package
Discount Code to Download Music From Joshua Leeds
Enjoy this significant discount on a specifically curated 3-hour music package designed to help you downregulate and bring calm to your nervous system. This collection includes three beautiful titles — “Destress,” “Focus on Task,” and “Sleep" — all performed by a classical chamber ensemble and psychoacoustically re-arranged by Joshua. The music has been thoughtfully crafted to support nervous system healing, helping you destress, stay focused, and prepare for restful sleep. These tracks serve as a simple and effective tool to calm your body and mind, promoting balance and relaxation throughout your day.
What People Are Saying About Joshua Leeds…
Joshua was so supportive and engaging and showed another side of sound healing. Love everything I learned. I grew a lot in this time, and am so grateful to The Shift Network.
Los Angeles, California
Joshua is one of the most inspirational voices of sonic activism that I know. It is always a great joy to engage in in-depth inquiry and animated conversations — often with much laughter too — whilst unearthing the philosophical, psychotherapeutic, and physiological impact of sound and voice in the revelation of the human spirit. Joshua’s life as dedication to an in-depth inquiry of the healing power of sound is accompanied by his highly articulate capacities to articulate and empower others to access, explore, and integrate the often challenging intricacies of bioacoustics and psychoacoustics in the healing of the nervous system through sound and voice.
International voice pioneer, author, singer, and founder of The Naked Voice
I love how Joshua Leeds teaches. The whole thing has been very inspirational. thought-provoking, and incredibly beneficial for me. It has added and aided to my holistic practice.
Hawera, New Zealand
Join the Global Community
Soundwork & Breath for Nervous System Regulation offers some of the most transformational online teachings available, within a thriving global community of learning and practice.
Join fellow students and practitioners to support and inspire each other as you integrate the teachings and practices Joshua Leeds will share in this powerful program.
You’ll join an international community on the leading edge of manifesting a world grounded in the principles of cooperation, harmony, and reverence for all of life.
Here’s What You’ll Receive
Seven 90-Minute Class Sessions With Joshua Leeds
Experience a unique opportunity to be mentored by and learn from music producer, sound researcher, and educator Joshua Leeds — from the comfort of your own home. Each class session includes a livestreaming video option and will guide you to tap into the healing power of combined breath and sound to improve your physical health, relieve stress, and cultivate lasting wellbeing — with time-honored traditions and the latest research in sound therapy. Course sessions are on Mondays at 11:00am Pacific.
Seven Video Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the video will be available for you to stream in a high-quality format. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can watch anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Seven Audio Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the audio will be available for you to stream. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can listen anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Seven Transcripts of Class Sessions
You’ll also receive the entire class transcription after each session is completed. You can then review, print, and highlight the most important insights and practices you were given.
Interactive Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
Between class sessions, you’ll have the option of completing related exercises, practicing new tools, and answering questions to accelerate your learning and integrate each week’s lesson.
Online Community
Our exclusive Facebook online community is the perfect place to continue your discovery process after each class. Here, you can continue the discussion about your course materials and interact with your fellow students to take your exploration to an even deeper level.
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join the Online Course, Soundwork & Breath for Nervous System Regulation
We feel honored that Joshua Leeds has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive LIVE online course. This is a unique opportunity to interact directly with a music producer, sound researcher, and educator whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken ourselves and our world.
If you’re serious about healing your nervous system to shift you into calm, clarity, and balance, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind program.
If you’re ready to take the next step in your own evolution, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
Your Satisfaction Is 100% Guaranteed!
Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed! If you don’t absolutely LOVE Soundwork & Breath for Nervous System Regulation — or don’t feel that it meets your needs — please submit your refund request form on or before May 12, 2025 and we’ll happily issue qualifying customers a refund.
About Joshua Leeds
EDIT
Joshua Leeds is a music producer, sound researcher, and educator. He specializes in psychoacoustics — the study of the effects of music and sound on the human nervous system — along with bioacoustics, how human sound affects animals.
He's the author of The Power of Sound... Through a Dog’s Ear... Sonic Alchemy... and his forthcoming book, Soundwork on a Hot Rock. Joshua’s 50+ specialized soundtracks are used in clinics, classrooms, homes, and animal care facilities worldwide. His video series, Music Matters, explores the roles of musicians in times of cultural disruption.
Joshua is on the faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, and The New York Open Center. He also conducts seminars virtually and internationally.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a virtual course?
Can I still benefit from the course if I miss the live classes?
Can you tell me about the private online community group?
Are there scholarships available for this training?
Please note: Scholarship applications must be submitted before the refund deadline, as we are unable to accept applications after that point.
What’s your refund policy?
If you’re within the refund period, the deadline to receive a full refund is May 12, 2025. To request a refund, please complete this refund request form and submit your request. Qualifying refunds will be processed within five business days, and you’ll receive an email confirming the refund.
We’d also love the opportunity to address and resolve your concerns directly. If there’s anything we can assist with, please get in touch with us at support@theshiftnetwork.com — we’re here to help!
Please note: Refund requests are not accepted after the deadline or for courses purchased with scholarship awards.
How can I reach Customer Support?
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