You are your own medicine—harness your breath, awaken your inner power, and become the Jedi master of your own life.
– Nate Zeleznick
In an era when burnout, chronic disease, and nonstop information overload feel like the price of admission to modern life, Nate Zeleznick offers a radically different contract: trade 10–15 minutes of intentional breath and focused awareness for a body that heals faster, a mind that thinks clearer, and a spirit that feels unmistakably alive. A former martial-arts prodigy turned science-minded wellness strategist, Nate synthesized royal Indonesian energy training, cutting-edge biohacking, and neuro-acoustic technology into what he calls the Integrated Ascension Method (I AM). His six-part ASCEND framework — Awareness, Source Through Breath, Cellular Support, Eat to Thrive, New-Frequency Techniques, and Decode Your Body — has helped everyone from Navy veterans with PTSD to CEOs teetering on adrenal collapse reclaim vitality without prescription shortcuts or spiritual dogma.
In this wide-ranging conversation with bestselling author and podcast host Stacey Chillemi, Nate unpacks the personal crucible that forged his approach — from a near-suicide at age twelve to becoming the first non-Indonesian initiated into the secretive martial-energy art Merpati Putih, to reframing his own inoperable brain tumor as a “blessing and lesson.” Along the way, he demystifies buzzwords like intermittent hypoxia, explains the science and secrets of, shares real-world case studies (including a long-COVID surfer who returned to big waves in days), and explains why rebuilding cellular health is the prerequisite for unlocking so-called “future-human” abilities. If you’ve ever suspected that your next breakthrough in health or purpose won’t come from another pill but from activating the technology already inside you, this interview is your roadmap.
Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory?
I grew up in a rugged corner of Utah where elk outnumber people and bullying was practically a varsity sport. By twelve, my daily reality was so bleak — emotional abuse at home, physical threats at school — that I decided life simply hurt too much to continue. The night I almost ended it all, something extraordinary happened: my consciousness slipped from my body. One moment, I was sobbing in bed; the next, I was floating above the room, watching my own tears. That out-of-body episode cracked open a door to non-ordinary reality and whispered, You are more than this pain.
From that night forward, spontaneous astral journeys became my secret refuge. I’d explore gilded landscapes of light and meet guides who felt more real than any bully. Years later, a grainy VHS documentary on Indonesian energy-breath martial arts struck like lightning. The fighters weren’t just breaking bricks — they were navigating obstacle courses blindfolded. Something in me roared Yes! Within months, I’d quit college, sold my car, and convinced the art’s 11th-generation royal heirs to teach me. That leap grew into a 25-year mission: prove that every human body hides a dormant “technology” capable of healing disease, sensing without eyes, and radiating peace into a chaotic world.
Your Integrated Ascension Method — “I AM” for short — has been called a unicorn modality. In plain English, what is it, and who is it for?
Think of I AM as a full-stack upgrade for the human operating system. The “hardware layer” is breathwork drawn from Merpati Putih: structured breath-holds that create controlled oxygen shortages (intermittent hypoxia) so mitochondria reboot and stem cells surge. The “software layer” taps modern hacks — photobiomodulation, neuro-acoustic entrainment, therapeutic peptides, precision micronutrients — to feed that revitalized hardware. Finally, the “cloud layer” is consciousness training: meditation protocols that shift brainwaves into theta and gamma so intuition, creativity, and compassion blossom.
Who’s it for? A burned-out entrepreneur with 150 unread e-mails and creeping hypertension. A mother juggling chemo appointments and soccer practice. A Navy veteran stuck in a PTSD loop. A 50-year-old marathoner searching for an extra gear. I AM meets people at the intersection of “I want to live” and “I know there’s more.”
You survived a suicide attempt at twelve. How did that dark moment shape the healer you are now?
Standing on the precipice of self-destruction, gifts you x-ray vision for other people’s despair. When a client says, “I can’t do this anymore,” I’ve been there — literally. My nervous system remembers the taste of hopelessness, so I design interventions that create immediate physiological relief. One round of our Perfect Breath protocol calms the vagus nerve in ninety seconds. That tiny victory opens a crack where sunlight — or purpose—can slip through. In my world, no theoretical framework is worth anything unless it can save someone on the bathroom floor at 2 a.m.
A pivotal synchro-destiny involved helping blind people “see.” What happened, and what did it teach you about purpose?
The day after the Merpati Putih video, I watched a guide dog misjudge a curb and smash its blind owner into a pole. The audible thud turned my stomach; the woman’s white iris haunted me. In that instant, a vow erupted: Find those Indonesian masters and bring this skill to people like her. I’d never met a single blind person before, but purpose isn’t logical. Six months later, I was hosting the royal heirs in a borrowed karate dojo in Utah. They brought Indonesian students who — blindfolded — drove my pickup, threaded needles, and sliced fruit mid-air with live blades. My logical mind short-circuited, but my soul said, This is why you stayed alive. Purpose, I discovered, is less a five-year plan and more a tidal wave that drags you into radical service.
What makes Merpati Putih so different from other martial or energy arts?
Most Asian arts divide mind, body, and spirit: you punch here, meditate there, stretch over yonder. Merpati Putih weaves them into a singular biochemical event. It starts with “Olah Nafas,” breath cycles that pressurize the lungs like scuba tanks, forcing plasma to absorb extra oxygen. Pair that with “Kedutan” micro-vibrations — tiny isometric contractions that send piezo-electric currents through fascia networks. The result? Your entire body becomes both a generator and an antenna. No surprise practitioners can shatter rebar, sense motion behind walls, or run three-minute miles barefoot on volcanic gravel. But the deeper aim is ethical: power must serve peace. Every graduation ceremony includes an oath to protect, never exploit.
You now call an inoperable brain tumor your “blessing and lesson.” How did you reframe something so daunting?
Neurology MRI rooms aren’t exactly temples of enlightenment, yet the moment the radiologist said “mass effect,” time slowed. A quiet voice asked, What classroom have you just entered? That question reframed the tumor from enemy to professor. Suddenly, every supplement, breath cycle, and meditation I’d taught others became homework for my own survival. Reframing didn’t mean denial — I still face dizziness and occasional nerve pain — but it shifted the narrative from victimhood to curiosity. Healing isn’t a straight line; it’s a hero’s journey complete with dragons. My tumor simply volunteered for the dragon role.
Stress drives nearly every chronic disease. How does your breathwork flip that switch?
Picture your nervous system as a two-gear transmission: sympathetic (fight/flight) and parasympathetic (rest/digest). Modern life jams us in first gear — emails, traffic, newsfeeds — until the engine overheats. Our signature Triple-Exhale Reset deliberately empties the lungs three times in quick succession. With CO₂ rising and intrathoracic pressure dropping, the vagus nerve fires a biochemical SOS: “Slow everything!” Heart rate decelerates, blood vessels dilate, cortisol production halts, and immune cells exit high alert to focus on repair. Eighty seconds later, most clients report a tingling warmth followed by mental clarity — proof gear two has engaged.
Big-wave surfer Drew Brophy credits your method for getting him back in the ocean after long COVID. What happened?
When I met Drew in Nosara, Costa Rica, he was a legend trapped in a weakened shell — lungs scarred from seventy days on a ventilator. Staircases looked like Everest. In our first session, we practiced “Pressurized Diphragmatic Squeezes” — imagine wringing your lungs like a sponge while holding your breath. Midway, tears pooled in his eyes. He whispered, “This is the first full breath I’ve felt in eleven months.” The next sunrise, he surprised everyone by paddling out. Those small wins snowballed: deeper breaths, longer paddles, eventual barrel rides. Three months later, he painted a mural titled Breathe Your Power Back — a tribute to reclaimed life force.
Skeptics call energy work “woo-woo.” How do you answer them?
I invite them into the lab. We attach an infrared gas analyzer to track O₂/CO₂ ratios, hook up HRV sensors, and run a baseline. After ten minutes of targeted breath-holds, we repeat the measurements. VO₂ max edges upward, HRV coherence spikes, and inflammatory markers (measured via salivary cytokine strips) drop. No crystals, no incense — just data. Then I hand them blackout goggles and ask them to locate a candle by “feeling” its flame from across the room. Most sense heat patterns within five minutes. The facial expression that follows — equal parts confusion and wonder — is my favorite rebuttal.
Why insist on rebuilding health before chasing “future-human” abilities?
Trying to remote-view stock prices while your gut biome is inflamed is like live-streaming 4K video on dial-up internet: the bandwidth just isn’t there. A resilient body amplifies subtle signals. One client, a Silicon Valley CTO, wanted clairvoyance for product forecasting but lived on coffee and protein bars. We spent eight weeks healing his adrenal axis, normalizing his insulin, and raising HRV. Only then did his intuitive hunches start outperforming his market-analysis AI.
What two-minute practice can overwhelmed readers start today?
Stand barefoot. Shake your arms until the wrists flap and the shoulders loosen. Exhale forcefully through pursed lips like you’re fogging a mirror — empty, empty, empty. Hold that vacuum; feel the diaphragm stretching upward, ribs knitting inward. When your body firmly demands air, sip through your nose as if drinking through a straw straight into the pelvis. While lungs are full, lift the pelvic floor subtly — this “root lock” supercharges blood oxygenation. Exhale slowly and repeat twice more. Most people experience a soft “hum” in the palms and a calm, awakened gaze — an energetic reset button you can press between Zoom calls.
Fear cripples many of us. How do you transmute it?
First, I remind clients that the physiology of fear and excitement is nearly identical: dilated pupils, adrenaline release, heightened awareness. The difference is the story we attach. We use a drill called “Label, Breathe, Flip.”
- Label: Name the sensation — My chest is tight; heart racing.
- Breathe: 4-second inhale, 6-second exhale to lengthen parasympathetic tone.
- Flip: Ask, What thrilling mission might this energy fuel?
A veteran once transformed a flashback trigger into heightened alertness that helped him steer a family out of a car-accident pile-up. The fear energy didn’t vanish; it was alchemized into purposeful action.
You serve entrepreneurs, veterans, and cancer patients. What unites such different groups?
A high-stakes life often comes with a silent mantra: I must handle this alone. My job is to show them a physiology-based path out of isolation. When a Navy SEAL in remission from lymphoma trains alongside a CEO with anxiety-induced arrhythmia, they realize stress is the common enemy and breath is the common weapon. By the third session, they’re exchanging grocery hacks and infrared-sauna playlists. Community coherence speeds individual healing.
Can you break down the six modules of your ASCEND curriculum?
I sure can! It is comprised of six different concepts:
- A — Awareness & Mindset: We run an “Identity Audit,” mapping subconscious scripts that sabotage health. Clients craft a new self-narrative anchored in embodied practices, not wishful thinking.
- S — Source Through Breath: Over four weeks, we escalate breath-holds from 30 to 120 seconds, mimicking high-altitude training that triggers erythropoietin release and neurogenesis.
- C — Cellular Support: A personalized stack of mitochondrial cofactors — PQQ, NMN, magnesium threonate — plus adaptogens and detox binders calibrated via hair-tissue mineral analysis.
- E — Eat to Thrive: We teach “color-coded fasting” — cycling antioxidant-dense meals with autophagy windows — and restore gut integrity using short-chain fatty-acid prebiotics.
- N — New-Frequency Techniques: Clients test pulsed-electromagnetic-field mats, laser-helmet photobiomodulation, and binaural-beat tracks tuned to 40 Hz gamma for cognitive repair.
- D — Decode Your Body: We track HRV, sleep-stage ratios, and blood glucose via CGM to integrate the previous modules into a self-adjusting lifestyle algorithm.
You’re launching “Ascended Living,” which combines three modalities. Why that specific triad?
Imagine healing as a tripod: energetic alignment, structural alignment, and biochemical rejuvenation. Remove any leg, and the system wobbles. Merpati Putih breathwork cultivates chi, the power leg. Yemaya van de Belt Center-Point Reset magnetically realigns the body’s energetic poles — the alignment leg. Ian Mitchell’s V-Cell therapy floods tissues with exosome-packed stem cells — the biochemical leg. In preliminary cohorts, stage-three cancer patients showed 40 % tumor-volume reduction within eight weeks, while elite athletes shaved off personal-best times without overtraining. It’s the closest thing I’ve seen to Dr. McCoy’s tricorder in real life.
Transformation often fades. How do you make results stick?
Neuroplastic change requires repetition plus emotional salience. We assign “micro-anchors” — brief rituals tied to daily cues. Example: each time you open a door, perform a five-second diaphragmatic sigh. Each time you wash your hands, recall one gratitude. The cue-routine-reward loop cements new neural pathways. Clients log biometrics in our app; green trendlines reward the brain’s dopamine circuits, making the healthy habit self-reinforcing. At 90 days, we host a virtual reunion; success stories become social proof, which further locks in identity shifts.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Be sure to grab my free masterclass here: https://webinar.iampure.energy/webinar. Look over my website, NateZ360.com, for all social links, to explore courses, retreats, and the upcoming Ascended Living cohorts.
Nate, this conversation felt like a master class in human potential. Thank you for sharing both the science and the soul behind your work.
Thank you, Stacey. My hope is that every reader remembers they already carry the spark of greatness — sometimes they just need the right breath to fan it into flame. Have an amazing now, on purpose!
