Obsessed with breath - Mayo woman celebrating 20 years in wellbeing
WHEN three of your brothers die from lung cancer you become obsessed with breath.
However, Derval Dunford's journey of death and breath started long before that.
Her Dad died instantly in a head-on collision with a truck when she was 18. He was driving, Derval sitting behind him in the car.
PTSD wasn’t a thing in Ireland back then, and she was left undiagnosed, with no support for over two years.
Derval's eventual recovery sparked her interest in mental health. For years she explored, and later trained in a wide variety of wellbeing practices, wanting to support others.
Today she is celebrating 20 years in wellbeing having started teaching mindfulness in 2006.
During those two decades of wellbeing work, she has supported over 35,000 people, producing Ireland’s first commercial mindfulness CD, called Suí, in 2008.
Derval has worked extensively with the HSE, including Mayo, Roscommon and Galway CNME, and Mayo Mental Health Services since 2009. She co-produced Ireland’s first Department of Education-approved mindfulness summer course for teachers, which reached over 10,000 participants, as well as co-producing a range of children’s mindfulness CDs, including the world’s first ‘as Gaeilge’.
She has also presented at national conferences and international breath-based events.
More recently, in 2024 she worked as breath consultant and designer for the RTÉjr series Minding Me. She created audio-visual practices for Cubbie sensory booths in Kiltimagh, which will be launched this year.
Currently she is part of a trauma-informed Breath-Body-Mind team led by US psychiatrists/authors Gerbarg & Brown, teaching breathing with movement, and coherent breathing online, to staff at the Office of Mental Health in New York State.
Says Derval: “What I teach at present has grown and changed a lot, as I have over 20 years.
“This is where lung cancer comes in. In 2021 my arts practice suddenly arose out of my breath practices. It just naturally provided this channel for the flow of grief, it felt like a miracle, it brought enormous joy, even in the midst of suffering. Inspiration was my inspiration!”
An invitation to collaborate on a Zen-influenced ink and breath project came from artist David Smith. Former professor of painting and foundation studies at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Hong Kong, David hails from Castlebar. The invitation arrived around the time her brother Steve (artist, historian, author) got his terminal diagnosis.
“I had no art experience previous to this. I joined David’s ink sessions online to get a sense of what sort of breath practices would work optimally for the project.
"I borrowed brushes and ink from Mags Duffy, an artist friend. I knew I’d never use them again. However, within 10 minutes I fell in love with ink, and felt a compulsion to explore more.
“It has given me hope and joy, from that day to this.”
Derval explained: “Based on the work with David I created my own process, I connected with nature, explored breath, and then played with ink without purpose. ‘Without purpose’ is important, because I’m normally a very productive person. The ink allowed the e-motion to stay in motion, and gave me enormous hope and joy.
“To my great surprise, within a year I had my first solo interactive, audio-visual, breath-based exhibition dedicated to my brother Steve. This way of presenting my work was inspired by John Moriarty and Manchán Magan."
She continued: “My second solo exhibition, Out of Breath, which is dedicated to my brother John who died in 2023, will be opened by clinical psychologist and best-selling author Dr. Tony Bates in Books@One on Thursday, June 25. It will also be exhibited during Westival, in Westport Town Hall Theatre, in October.
“It will be interactive, audio-visual and bilingual. There will be guided breath practices linked to the theme of fire and water.
“John loved the ocean and the sun. To me his energy was pure fire and water, he had the fire inside him to make amazing things happen, and the water energy to allow them to flow and unfold.”
She continued: “John guided the young shy Sharon Shannon from solo box player to someone who was hailed a 'national treasure' by Michael D. Higgins. John produced the Waterboys' famous album, Fisherman’s Blues. A 'mighty sound man, crew boss, travel companion, counsellor, fixer, co-producer, Irish trad music guide, partner-in-mischief, head, magic-seer and friend' is how Waterboys founder Mike Scott described him on X, formerly Twitter. John also worked with Clannad, Planxty, Moving Hearts, De Danann, In Tua Nua, among other groups.”
ART AND HEALTH RETREAT
Derval is now registered as a professional artist with Visual Artists Ireland, and though her arts practice only began in 2021, she has received many awards, including the 2026 Mayo Artists Bursary, Wilderland Creative Climate Action Bursary, Creative Ireland Mayo funding, and Minding Creative Minds mentoring. She was also one of four artists commissioned to work on the first collaboration between the HSE, Irish Hospice Foundation and Creative Ireland.
“Because my wellbeing work is breath-based and nature-based it aligns really well with creativity and the environment,” she explains. “I use breath, movement and a deep relaxation/meditation practice called Yoga Nidra (guided lying down) in a way that allows people to embody the elements. It means people feel more connected, grounded, a sense of belonging, they come back to feeling at one with nature, learn to switch off, recharge, and experience some ease, peace and joy.”
To celebrate her 20th anniversary she has designed a brand new arts and health retreat - a full day of ease, peace and play - in the brand new state of the art space at Mulranny Arts Centre.
“I will guide participants through the effortless process of nature, breath, deep rest and play that supported my grief.
“I often say ‘I'm bored being an adult’. People laugh, but I’m serious.
“For years, artist friends told me that art was all about the process. I never quite 'got it' until I started playing with ink.
“Then out of the blue there I was in 2021 with my ink, with no idea what I was doing. It was a relief, like being a child again. In that simple act, I found immense joy even in the midst of suffering.
“It became clear that creating space for playful ink exploration, alongside my nature-themed breath and deep rest practices, was a potent process.
“It's amazing what happens when we give ourselves permission to drop out of thinking and doing, into feeling and being. When you add playing with colour, it really helps unblock emotional and creative flow, and brings a sense of child-like joy.”
The Art of Breathwork play is a full day retreat in Mulranny Arts Centre designed to support stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and exhaustion. Participants will be guided through the US psychiatrist’s beautiful gentle movement and breath practices (Breath-Body-Mind), a luxurious deep rest practice called Yoga Nidra, and Derval's process of playing with ink. No art experience is required, it is a simple process of play, it is not outcome-informed.
Artist and former ICU nurse Cheryl Cobern-Browne and her husband Pádraig, a retired cardiologist, set up Mulranny Arts Centre. They have a deep understanding of the value of arts in health and wellbeing, and are very excited about this new initiative. It will take place in their brand new state of the art space overlooking Clew Bay. A space that is perfect for embodying the elements, and rebooting mind, body and spirit.
INSIGHTS INTO BREATH AND CREATIVITY
The process of breathing is the ultimate creative act, says Derval. Life is created breath by breath. We take 25,000 breaths each day. Breath is life!
Breathing is an intimate relationship that’s often overlooked. The wildness outside meets the wildness inside through breath. The air that touched the mountains touches the inside of our lungs. Breathing is a symbiotic relationship with plants, trees, kelp forests under the ocean. They take our CO2 and give us O2.
Brene Brown said 'Unused creativity is not benign. It metastasizes'.
When creativity is suppressed or not expressed, it can manifest as negative emotions like grief, rage, judgment, sorrow, or shame. We need creative outlets for well-being. Creativity allows e-motion to stay in motion, so it doesn’t get stuck.
Today, Irish people are struggling with mental health more than ever despite an increase in information available, according to findings published as part of the Irish Life Health of the Nation Report 2025.
Says Derval: “More information is not what is needed, it’s embodiment, a bottom up approach, not a top down.
“The answer to stress and anxiety is being offered to us from hundreds of thousands of experts daily on social media. If it were as simple as that we would only need one person to give us the information once. Constant information can cause more stress. There is a difference between knowledge and knowing. Knowing resides in the body. This is the experience I offer - creative space, reconnection with self, reconnecting with nature.
“In terms of the environment, people will protect what they love. My work allows people to really feel and appreciate all things natural. Optimising your 25,000 daily breaths takes no extra time and can transform your mental, emotional and physical state.
“The awareness of that symbiotic relationship can be felt deeply through my practices. We explore interoception - i.e. the feelings inside the body. Many people live in their heads, replaying stories, or live in a state of distraction led by devices.”
Derval has featured in the Irish Times, Irish Independent, on RTÉ’s Nationwide, Irish TV, RTÉ Radio and Newstalk.
More about the Mulranny retreat here.