Latest / The Bridges and Beacons Podcast / The Power of Breathwork with Trish Brewer

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The Power of Breathwork with Trish Brewer · The Bridges and Beacons Podcast

0:39
SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Mystic Nerd Squad podcast.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Kelly Meyerson, and today I am joined by my friend and co-author Trish Brewer, and I'm going to tell you a little bit about her before we get started.
0:54
SPEAKER_00: Trish Brewer works with individuals committed to inner healing through trauma-informed processing of misbeliefs using energy work, including breath work, Reiki, and intuitive guidance.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: By holding a nurturing and compassionate space, folks are empowered to break deep-seated patterns that allow for positive change, which ripples outward and impacts not only their healing, but those of their families and communities.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: Trish, welcome.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: I'm so happy to have you here.
1:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm so excited to be here.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: Thanks for inviting me.
1:28
SPEAKER_01: It was such a great opportunity, the book that we co-authored together.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: What a wonderful opportunity for offering for moms all over.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: Agreed.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: So if you're wondering, I'll hold it up for those who are watching the video.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: The book is titled Hot Mess to Hot Mom: Transformational Tools for Thriving After Childbirth and Beyond.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: And I love to emphasize that and beyond because definitely this book is a great book for moms who are just trying to figure it out, which Trish and I can both tell you we understand.
2:06
SPEAKER_00: But also for any age, especially some of the practices in here that really help you to be your best self all the time.
2:15
SPEAKER_00: And it sounds like that's like a lot of the work that you're doing with people.
2:19
SPEAKER_00: So just before we get into it, Trish, I want to just share the title of your chapter, How to Calm Your Nervous System in 60 Seconds and Anytime Breath Tool for Overwhelm.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: So I know being a mom, those moments where overwhelm happens and your nervous system is out of control.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: That's like um it's kind of like a new thing that happens all the time because there's so many things to disrupt your homeostasis, let's say.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: So tell us a little bit about how you found breath work or breathwork found you.
3:01
SPEAKER_01: Ah yes.
3:01
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for saying that second part because that's what I say a lot.
3:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, I didn't find breath work, it found me, and it felt like a coming home when it found me.
3:14
SPEAKER_01: So uh I'll start a little bit before that.
3:17
SPEAKER_01: So in 2015, I found myself um in the hospital, you know, sick.
3:23
SPEAKER_01: Um I was brought to the emergency room, and uh doctors weren't able to figure out what was really wrong with me.
3:31
SPEAKER_01: There was something wrong in my gastrointestinal tract.
3:36
SPEAKER_01: And after a week in the hospital, they still couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: But I that was the point where transformation occurred.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: It was I had to do something different to to change um the trajectory of my life.
3:50
SPEAKER_01: So Reiki, acupuncture, yoga, meditation, journaling, all of that started to take place, really looking at what was occurring that put me in that state.
4:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, then a few years later was when uh at a yoga retreat festival, breath.
4:14
SPEAKER_01: And it was definitely the modality or healing tool that I was, I don't know, kind of looking for.
4:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, and in that moment, I was like, yes, this is what it is.
4:28
SPEAKER_01: So in a room with 40 people kind of packed like sardines in the mountains of Stratton, Vermont, uh I moved through so much energy and moved through a lot of trauma and felt in a tremendous amount of relief, more so than I have done in years, um, in 45 minutes.
4:50
SPEAKER_01: So I want to preface that with being that there are multiple modality, multiple types of breath work.
4:57
SPEAKER_01: And that particular breath work falls in the category of active breath work.
5:03
SPEAKER_01: So this is a good place, I think, to distinguish between the two types of uh categories, uh breath tools versus active breath work.
5:14
SPEAKER_01: What I went through in Vermont was active breath work, active breath work healing, I say that in quotation.
5:21
SPEAKER_01: But breath work tools are specific techniques or exercises um used to regulate our nervous system, and they can be used in that moment, in that moment of overwhelm, which is one of the tools I teach in the book, right?
5:37
SPEAKER_01: Um, and they are incorpor can be incorporated into your daily life to reduce stress, anxiety.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, and they are things like box breath, the four four breath that I teach in there, the alternate nostril breathing, four, seven, eight, even whim huff, breath of fire, those things that you learn in your yoga class.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: Those are the tools and techniques.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: That's one category.
6:02
SPEAKER_01: What I experienced in Vermont was an active breathwork healing.
6:06
SPEAKER_01: It's a deeper, more holistic approach, a very spiritual practice.
6:11
SPEAKER_01: It's very activating.
6:13
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it brings physical sensations to our body really to shift awareness away from the thinking mind and into the body.
6:24
SPEAKER_01: It's effective, efficient, and um it's it's very active and allows you to disconnect from the thinking mind and drop into a higher state of consciousness, consciousness so that we can lead the body, move, lead the way from the body into uh more clarity, uh, maybe release duck energy.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: And we usually generally come out of that less burdened.
6:55
SPEAKER_01: We can heal the body through the breath.
6:59
SPEAKER_01: And examples of that are really started with rebirthing by Leonard Orr, Hollanthropic, by Christina Groff and Stan Love Groff.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: Um, what I learned was uh breath work by David Elliott, and it he didn't um um trademark it or anything.
7:18
SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot of them, transformational breath, they all fall into that type of category.
7:22
SPEAKER_01: So that is I came out of that feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders, and I had visions, just a lot of trauma came up, and I was like, Oh, yeah, whatever that was, I need more of that.
7:36
SPEAKER_01: So that started my path.
7:39
SPEAKER_01: From there, from there, I learned um more about the breath tools, the science behind the breath.
7:46
SPEAKER_01: It was that was just the beginning.
7:47
SPEAKER_01: It opened, uh, what I say, just cracked my heart wide open.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
7:53
SPEAKER_01: And then became trauma-informed.
7:55
SPEAKER_01: I had a lot of things that that uh occurred after that.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, the trauma-informed piece was very important to me because, as you can imagine, once your heart is cracked open, there's a lot that comes to the surface.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think, yeah, I think that is such an important distinction between the two types of breath work.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad you brought that up because that might not be something that people are aware of, that there is a distinction between the breath work tools that can be implemented at any point, um, and the healing breath work that really takes you into this other place.
8:30
SPEAKER_00: And I'm so glad you brought up the piece about the trauma.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, we hear a lot about being trauma-informed.
8:36
SPEAKER_00: And um, if if anybody listening has experienced stuck trauma being released, this is not something you want to do in your living room without support, you know, or with people who don't know how to handle and move you through that trauma in a way that feels safe for your nervous system going forward.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: So I I love that.
9:01
SPEAKER_00: So that leads me to the question of how do people decide what kind of breath work they need?
9:08
SPEAKER_00: And how do we make that like distinction between I'm my nervous system is getting disrupted, I feel overwhelmed during the day, and I need something to kind of bring me back to center, to like my center is so askew that uh 60 seconds of breath work might just have me get to a safe place to stop what's happening and move on.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: But if I really, you know, feel like I'm needing so much more support.
9:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a very good question.
9:38
SPEAKER_01: Uh, I I don't usually, I should say I preface this.
9:42
SPEAKER_01: Some people do show up at my circles not really knowing what to expect.
9:46
SPEAKER_01: So I'm very, very clear in that because I I do the I do public circles.
9:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, I I very much explain in the very beginning what they're getting into.
9:58
SPEAKER_01: I try to make it very clear in the writing of the description.
10:02
SPEAKER_01: But um, you know, I I usually, especially with 101s, I usually like to have a phone call, you know, discovery call with people to determine do you you know really know what you're getting into?
10:14
SPEAKER_01: And I always, always start with a grounding breath first.
10:21
SPEAKER_01: Let's regulate the nervous system before we start the active breath.
10:27
SPEAKER_01: So if someone has a very dysregulated nervous system, we want to make sure that they learn the tools to regulate their nervous system first.
10:37
SPEAKER_01: So I do like to start with teaching the breath tools and get them started on a regular daily practice.
10:45
SPEAKER_01: So I do do that in a breath coaching program that I offer.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, I also offer it in workshops for corporate wellness or you know, even for family.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: I have families that sign up and we do it together as a family.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, kids too, you know.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: Um if you if they see their parents regulated, then they learn how to be regulated, right?
11:07
SPEAKER_01: So we can easily teach, you know, a morning breath, an afternoon breath, and an evening breath.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: It's just three.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: It takes less than five minutes for each one.
11:16
SPEAKER_01: And it's a different type of breath.
11:18
SPEAKER_01: And once we start to learn one, why it works, right?
11:22
SPEAKER_01: Why does it do it, which breath technique is going to work best when, and then we start to incorporate them into our daily practice.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: Then when we feel that anxiety and that panic come up, we know which one to pull from, which tool to pull out of our toolbox.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: But it's something that we do have to practice.
11:44
SPEAKER_01: But literally, I get up, put my feet on the floor, and do a breath of fire every morning before I get out of bed, takes less than five minutes, and it it activates my sympathetic nervous system.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: So I get going for the morning.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: And then at night, I'm doing an evening breath to get me to sleep, right?
12:06
SPEAKER_01: And in the middle of the day, if I'm feeling um down or just you know, lethargic, I'm going to do a balanced breath to bring me up, or if I'm feeling hyperactive because things, you know, with work are a little up, then I'm going, I'm still going to do that balanced breath because that balanced breath balances that nervous system.
12:25
SPEAKER_01: So we know that every 120 minutes our nervous system is fluctuating between sympathetic and 100 and parasympathetic.
12:33
SPEAKER_01: So one is not worse or better than the other.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: We're looking for balance.
12:39
SPEAKER_01: So I always like to start with where are we with our breath?
12:42
SPEAKER_01: So that's the question to the client, you know, do you do you know how to use your breath?
12:46
SPEAKER_01: And if not, let's start with the basics.
12:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, and even in a circle, uh, we always start, I always start with a grounding breath first.
12:55
SPEAKER_01: And I always end, I always end with with coming back to our parasympathetic state.
13:01
SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, the question too is why would we sometimes why would we activate the sympathetic nervous system in in healing, right?
13:11
SPEAKER_01: The act of healing.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: And and reason is if we train ourselves to go there, we can go there in that safe space, like you mentioned, right?
14:47
SPEAKER_01: In that place where someone's there to facilitate and guide us, then we can train our body to understand that we can go into that sympathetic state and come out of it.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: But if no one's taught us how to do that, and we don't know how to bring ourselves back.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: So here in in doing that active breathwork healing with someone who is there to guide you, we can go, oh, it's okay to go there and come back.
15:17
SPEAKER_01: We can do that so we can pull ourselves out of it.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: I I'm so glad you you spoke about that because I was thinking so many people who learn parasympathetic, sympathetic, think sympathetic bad, parasympathetic good.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: Or sympathetic nervous system gets such a bad rap.
15:37
SPEAKER_01: Um, it really, it really does.
15:39
SPEAKER_01: And and we need it.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: You can't do anything without it.
15:42
SPEAKER_01: You can't you'd lie in bed all day or hang out on the couch all day if you didn't have that sympathetic state.
15:47
SPEAKER_01: You need it to get things done.
15:49
SPEAKER_01: It's the action, it's the go, go, go.
15:51
SPEAKER_01: Now you can't stay there all day.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, and and like I said, the body's fluctuating every 120 minutes between one and the other.
15:59
SPEAKER_01: The goal is not to stay in one or the other for too long.
16:03
SPEAKER_01: You just you have to have a balanced one, but you have to know what time of the day.
16:06
SPEAKER_01: You don't want to be in your sympathetic state when you're eating.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: You know, you definitely want to be in the parasympathetic state or you won't be able to digest your food very well.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, rent a fire right before bed probably sounds like not the best idea.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: Not so much, not so much.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: You definitely want to do that in the morning or right before you work out, you know, but there's time.
16:27
SPEAKER_01: So teaching when to do what, yeah, is important.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: I think that's super helpful.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: And I love that you talked about including families in learning to do the breath work together, making it because I think we can get, or I should say, I don't think, I know nervous systems get disrupted together because state is catchy.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: So if somebody comes home in a bad mood, suddenly like that bad mood has like leaped to everybody and everybody's disrupted.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I I love that idea of everybody, we're gonna learn how to self-regulate with a little bit of breath work.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: And the second part that I love about that, that I love as an OT, because I I work with families and children.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we're implementing sensory diets, like things to help them self-regulate throughout the day.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: And my first question is always what is your routine?
17:29
SPEAKER_00: What is your schedule?
17:30
SPEAKER_00: Like very specifically, because the last thing I want to do is create a disruption of their day, which is going to be the opposite of self-regulating.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: So I like that you included that piece of choosing the breath work that matches your day, what's happening in your day when you need that support for yourself.
17:49
SPEAKER_00: Um and I was thinking there's probably so many people who can relate to having that afternoon dip when you're you're digesting, your brain is kind of like tired from all of the expectations during the day.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: And it's so easy in that three to four o'clock slot to be like, I need a candy bar, I need a cup of coffee to feel like you can kick your sympathetic nervous system back into gear so you can get more stuff done.
18:22
SPEAKER_00: So uh it sounds like maybe there's an alternative to that.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: I'm being a little tongue-in-cheek, but yes.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: There it yeah.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: So what are some of the shifts that people are experiencing when they've been working with you?
18:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, and I I'm actually gonna take you to one specific shift that references your chapter in the book because I read your your chapter um when we first got the book.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: And the first thing I read was the G word guilty, guilt, guilt, guilt.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: And I related on such a huge level to that overwhelming um reflexive guilt, like you've done something wrong and you've not even done anything yet.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: So tell me how how how has guilt improved for you through the use of breathwork?
19:21
SPEAKER_01: Uh well, I know guilt very well, being the Catholic, uh Italian Catholic upbringing, firstborn into an immigrant family.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: I uh I know it very well.
19:37
SPEAKER_01: Um I I really it I struggle with it for such a long time, and even now I have to check myself and I have to check myself in making sure that I don't pass it along to my child, right?
19:52
SPEAKER_01: Um in that it's brought so much awareness that I didn't even know.
19:58
SPEAKER_01: I didn't even know.
19:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, I would say that that active, the active breath work really has has uncovered deep-seated generational trauma and generational, not even just the trauma, but generational patterns.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: That for me is the is the first and foremost.
20:21
SPEAKER_01: Now, active, I mean that's the active breath work.
20:24
SPEAKER_01: So something I've had to like work through and process through, and and and it just doesn't, it comes up, we just don't sit with it, we process it through.
20:34
SPEAKER_01: So we have to have people to hold space for us, whether it's our therapist, whether it's our spiritual advisor, um, we're processing through that.
20:41
SPEAKER_01: Um it doesn't just sit there.
20:44
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes it comes up and then it goes away and you feel so much better.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: But but what I've realized is that I've I've always needed somebody to help process through that.
20:53
SPEAKER_01: And for me, writing poetry, journaling has always been the thing that helps me do a lot of processing.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: Um and that's the first thing my therapist asked me is did you did you write about that?
21:06
SPEAKER_01: Um so um, so that's one.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: And the second thing is that it's in those moments to take those that breath, to pause and do that a breath, right?
21:20
SPEAKER_01: Whether it's a four, seven, eight breath, a four, four, or even a four eight.
21:26
SPEAKER_01: Um it's the pause.
21:28
SPEAKER_01: And now my son will say, Are you are you breathing?
21:33
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, Yes.
21:35
SPEAKER_01: Why, yes, I am.
21:36
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Really?
21:37
SPEAKER_01: But we're in the middle of some, and I'm like, do you want me to react or do you want me to handle this in a different way?
21:47
SPEAKER_01: Because right now I need to take a breath.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Okay.
21:51
SPEAKER_01: But he now recognizes that because if I don't, you know, I'll revert to the older patterns.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: But the guilty thing is um I really don't go there that much anymore, really.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: And if I do, I have to go, oh, did I just do that?
22:10
SPEAKER_01: I'm aware, but I I just don't, you know.
22:15
SPEAKER_01: And I'll say, you know, um my mom is a big trigger, not by not on purpose.
22:22
SPEAKER_01: It's again those old patterns and and and it's it's um it's old beliefs, and now I'm able to have conversations with her that I wasn't able to have before.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: Because I can pause and say things in a way that aren't gonna trigger her or trigger me.
22:45
SPEAKER_01: And um but I wasn't able to do that before.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: So I I just say take a pause, take a breath, yeah, and make sure that breath is coming deep from the abdomen, right?
22:58
SPEAKER_01: Deep diaphragmatic breath.
23:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not up here, it needs to come from down here.
23:04
SPEAKER_01: Um but yeah, so the guilty thing um really has uh shifted a lot.
23:10
SPEAKER_01: I don't do it anymore.
23:13
SPEAKER_01: I love that.
23:14
SPEAKER_00: I love that for us, Trish, because yeah, I definitely grew up Catholic, my from my mom's side of the family, very Irish Catholic.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, but it's so funny because I felt like a little, and I'm not I'm not diminishing people's choice in religion, just my own personal experience.
23:35
SPEAKER_00: I can remember being a little girl in the 80s in church and and being told, like, no, you can't do that, you can't be an altar server because oh, then it was altar boy, because you're a girl.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, that doesn't make any sense.
23:51
SPEAKER_00: What is this?
23:53
SPEAKER_00: You know, you you that isn't something you can aspire to because you're you're a Girl.
23:59
SPEAKER_00: You know, I used to love listening to the homily and because it was storytelling and it was advice.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: And it, and I felt like, well, but that you can't ever aspire to do that because you're a girl.
24:11
SPEAKER_00: And I just inherently was like, that doesn't make any sense, people.
24:14
SPEAKER_00: What are we doing?
24:15
SPEAKER_01: Oh, there's so much.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: There's so much drawing back there.
24:18
SPEAKER_01: So much.
24:20
SPEAKER_01: So much.
24:22
SPEAKER_01: I remember uh not not even that long ago, probably eight years ago, if that um a priest telling me, well, what do you do with um what's your practice?
24:37
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I I meditate daily, and he's okay.
24:40
SPEAKER_01: That's not prayer.
24:41
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, how's that not prayer?
24:43
SPEAKER_01: It's in the the Bible says to meditate daily.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: So so so I'm like, you're trying to guilt me, and that's not gonna work.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: Like, I I know what it says.
24:56
SPEAKER_01: It says to meditate daily, yeah.
24:59
SPEAKER_01: So so no, we're not going there.
25:01
SPEAKER_01: We're not like, okay, this might be the last time we're here.
25:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
25:06
SPEAKER_00: And it, you know, I think it's it's part of a a lot of us who grew up that way and didn't know an alternative, and now looking at the distinction between religion and spirituality, and everybody gets to pick their way to connect with what is like whatever you want to call it, it's universal love.
25:30
SPEAKER_00: It's that that first way of reflex in life, the best first way with love.
25:39
SPEAKER_00: With you know, whether it's love your neighbor or however you come to it, all of the religions have that in place.
25:47
SPEAKER_00: And I think they're just frameworks for people to understand something that is not within our comprehension in a human mind, maybe in in our spirit body when we get there, just by opinion.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: So don't come at me, don't come at me, everybody.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: You can you can absolutely use that framework if it works for you.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: And if it doesn't, it's okay to feel universal love in your heart and you have the same connection with God, source, energy, goddess, however you want to label it in your human mind, it's all one.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, anyway, that's my little soapbox spiel.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: I agree 100%.
26:28
SPEAKER_01: Spirituality does not equate to religion.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
26:34
SPEAKER_01: I'm with you.
26:35
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I think the guilt factor is one.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: Um, what I've seen a tremendous amount in breakthroughs is creative breakthroughs.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: So my creatives, I think everyone's creative.
26:47
SPEAKER_01: Uh when we in an active breath work, when we empty out all the things that we're holding.
26:54
SPEAKER_01: I almost I I I look at it like um decluttering, right?
26:59
SPEAKER_01: When we declutter our closets, when we declutter the things that are like in our body and that we're holding on to all of that, those misbeliefs, those patterns, anything that's holding us back, when we release them, then we make space for the abundance, we make space for the creativity, we make space for love, we make space for good health, we make space for the connection to ourselves, to source.
27:29
SPEAKER_01: Um, we feel lighter, we feel happier, the calm, the peace.
27:33
SPEAKER_01: Um so I do see a lot of the creative blocks just kind of step away.
27:39
SPEAKER_01: Um because we we we've opened ourselves up, right?
27:43
SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of space there.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: And and look, that type of space is scary.
27:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, so we have to remember that that that that um opening, it's okay to sit with that for a bit and and just listen to what is ready to come in.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: So so that that I've seen a lot of that.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: Most people with active breath work feel just lighter, peaceful, more like uh lighter with the um breath tools and techniques.
28:19
SPEAKER_01: Um, I've literally seen people's CO2 tolerance doubled after four weeks of breath coaching.
28:26
SPEAKER_01: So I give people um rudimentary kind of tools um that they can measure, take measurements.
28:33
SPEAKER_01: There's three when I work them through a program.
28:35
SPEAKER_01: And really what we're doing is in that program is um manipulating our CO2 because CO2 also like the sympathetic system, it has a very bad wrap.
28:45
SPEAKER_01: And CO2 is very important when athletes train, they're they're training their CO2 tolerance, right?
28:53
SPEAKER_01: Not their oxygen.
28:54
SPEAKER_01: We get plenty of oxygen.
28:56
SPEAKER_01: Um, but we're working to manipulate our CO2 tolerance, which acts as a vasal dilator and a bronchial dilator.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: But literally, I've seen seen the CO2 tolerance doubled after four weeks of of breath coaching, which is phenomenal.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: Well, first of all, like my um like leaning in the science, the data, data head in me is like, tell me more about CO2 tolerance and numbers, because I that to me speaks volumes for the effectiveness because we can measure it, because it's we can qualitatively talk about look at this, look at how much better I'm feeling.
29:37
SPEAKER_00: I like your the example of sitting with your son and something that might have triggered you in the past, or you might have had a reaction to your breathing through and working through in the moment, but going beyond that to have a quantitative measure of effectiveness.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: I never even thought to make that causal link between athletic training and us as just typical humans thinking about thinking about just recently watching uh people in the Olympics and the incredible uh feats of strength and stamina that just blow your mind.
30:20
SPEAKER_00: That's really cool, Trish.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm very excited about that.
30:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
30:25
SPEAKER_01: Well, if you think about it, um what we're doing with the hold.
30:30
SPEAKER_01: Like if you did a four, seven, eight breath on that hold, that's what you're doing.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: You are increasing your CO2 tolerance, you're starting to build because you build it on the hold, you're holding it back, you're holding, even on the box breath, you're holding that CO2.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: So when we're able to do that, we build up that CO2 tolerance.
30:54
SPEAKER_01: It helps with um bronchial dilation and vasal dilation.
30:58
SPEAKER_01: And when you open up the vasal dilators, then you're able to bring more oxygen.
31:04
SPEAKER_01: Oxygen will flow better through the blood systems.
31:08
SPEAKER_01: When you when you open up your bronchial dilators, then you're able to breathe better.
31:15
SPEAKER_01: So even asthmatics will learning breath techniques will help asthmatics manage their asthma because CO2 tolerance acts as a bronchial dilator.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: And what do we do with what are inhalers?
31:38
SPEAKER_01: Bronchial dilators.
31:39
SPEAKER_01: Right.
31:41
SPEAKER_01: Wow.
31:42
SPEAKER_01: Oh, this is so cool.
31:44
SPEAKER_01: I may not get into why the pharmaceutical industry doesn't talk about that, but I mean, we already we already got into religion.
31:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but the thing about you don't have a um if someone's having a panic attack or they're having an asthma attack and there's no medication, they're gonna give you what what did emt's used to do?
32:09
SPEAKER_01: Give you a brown paper bag, right?
32:12
SPEAKER_01: What are you inhaling?
32:14
SPEAKER_01: CO2.
32:15
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
32:21
SPEAKER_00: So this is just really us becoming aware of that.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: It sounds like you're resetting your nervous system in a sense.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: So you're retraining your nervous system to increase tolerance.
32:36
SPEAKER_00: I love that you paralleled that with athletes because that's something that somebody who's never tried breath work could immediately say, Oh, well, that makes sense.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: You know, yeah.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: That's so cool.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: I love a nervous system reset and being able to have that control and that capability of I have control over my nervous system.
33:01
SPEAKER_00: And that knowledge is such power.
33:04
SPEAKER_00: It's why I'm even teaching like the basics of understanding how your nervous system works to kids because I think it's important for them to understand how it works.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: No, it's important.
33:16
SPEAKER_01: It's what I teach, it's why I teach, like, listen, uh, why I teach the basics, like the science behind the breath, like just at least the abbreviated version.
33:25
SPEAKER_01: And people just they're like, Well, why does breath work work?
33:29
SPEAKER_01: It's why I say there's the power of breath work, right?
33:32
SPEAKER_01: Look, it's your breath.
33:34
SPEAKER_01: I can't breathe for you.
33:36
SPEAKER_01: So you have to do the work, but someone needs to guide you if you haven't been taught like which breath, why, but why, why does it work?
33:45
SPEAKER_01: Once you give people the knowledge, knowledge is power, and once they understand why it works.
33:52
SPEAKER_01: So, what I used to think is like no one's even in yoga, they would say breathe through the pose, breathe.
33:59
SPEAKER_01: But I'm like, okay, well, how?
34:00
SPEAKER_01: Like, you're not saying how, like, how am I breathing through my nose?
34:04
SPEAKER_01: Am I breathing through my mouth?
34:05
SPEAKER_01: Am I breathing through my belly?
34:07
SPEAKER_01: Like, yeah, how how are we breathing?
34:10
SPEAKER_01: We've got these questions, right?
34:12
SPEAKER_01: Um, but so teaching, like, why does it work and how to do it is is incredibly powerful powerful because once you have that knowledge, you can't take it away and people understand.
34:25
SPEAKER_01: So I think the science, so I can I dive into that?
34:31
SPEAKER_01: So please, the reason that um deep diaphragmatic breathing, not necessarily the active breath work, we won't go into that, but like the deep diaphragmatic breathing, the why this is a very abbreviated version.
34:46
SPEAKER_01: Um, we're just gonna make it simple.
34:48
SPEAKER_01: There's basically basic two branches of the autonomic nervous system, right?
34:52
SPEAKER_01: The sympathetic, which is that fight and flight, and then the parasympathetic, which is that rest and digest.
34:57
SPEAKER_01: And I said it before, we're looking for a balanced nervous system, is our goal.
35:01
SPEAKER_01: So the autonomic nervous system controls the heart rate, the digestion, the respiratory rate, pupillary response, urination, even our sexual arousal.
35:11
SPEAKER_01: And when the nervous system is in a parasympathetic state, our rest and digest, the the body's response increases blood flow to the stomach, the GI tract, it stimulates urination and salivary salivary glands, it decreases the heart rate, pupils normalize for shorter range vision, and there's more sexual arousal.
35:34
SPEAKER_01: When our nervous system is in a sympathetic state, fight or flight, then our digestion and elimination stop.
35:42
SPEAKER_01: Our blood goes to our muscles and our lungs as much as 12 times more.
35:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, adrenaline goes up, heart rate increases, pupils dilate so that you can see further away because you got to get away, right?
35:57
SPEAKER_01: It's fighting flight, you got to get away.
35:59
SPEAKER_01: And this is also when we reach the sexual orgasm.
36:05
SPEAKER_01: So the vagus nerve is the tenth cranial nerve, and it's the longest of the autonamp nervous systems.
36:13
SPEAKER_01: I think I'm going into a little too much, but not for me.
36:17
SPEAKER_00: Okay, but keep going.
36:19
SPEAKER_01: It's the tech nerves, but it's it's referred to as singular, and it's really um, some people call it the vagabond nerve, meaning it's got all those little branches that go everywhere.
36:31
SPEAKER_01: So deep breathing stimulates the vagus nerve, which is largely responsible for the parasympathetic response that rest and digests.
36:38
SPEAKER_01: And the vagus nerve controls the heart, the lungs, and the digestive tract, and it runs through an opening in the diaphragm.
36:51
SPEAKER_01: So when we take those deep diaphragmatic breaths, we are massaging the diaphragm, right?
36:58
SPEAKER_01: And then it resets the nervous system because the vagus nerve runs right through the diaphragm.
37:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, runs through an opening in the diaphragm.
37:09
SPEAKER_01: So breathing, singing, humming, chanting, they all promote vagal tone and enable the body to self-soothe.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: You've seen a baby, babies like talk to themselves, um, you know, they're they're naturally resetting their nervous system.
37:26
SPEAKER_01: I love it.
37:27
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
37:28
SPEAKER_00: You can't talk enough about the vagus nerve with me.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: And I just think it's really cool for people to understand because I think uh often there's an assumption that some of these practices are coming out of left fields and they're really just coming out of human body design.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: Right.
37:47
SPEAKER_00: It's it's very simply linked to how our body and our nervous system works.
37:53
SPEAKER_00: It's so to me, it's incredible.
37:55
SPEAKER_00: It's so exciting.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, and we won't even, we won't even go like the extra leap into polyvagal theory.
38:02
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, yeah.
38:03
SPEAKER_00: But I feel like you you really explain that so beautifully about how large that nerve is, how many places it goes, and just that basic understanding of when you're taking those deep breaths, whatever type of breath you're doing, what it's essentially doing is calming your nervous system down so that you can get out of a heightened state.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: So I I love that so much.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: I want to just switch gears a little bit because you've definitely interested people at this point in terms of what things you're doing and how they can connect with you and even work with you on some of these tools.
38:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I um I have um I can you can work with me one-on-one in person or virtually.
38:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, I do corporate wellness programs as well.
38:59
SPEAKER_01: And I hold monthly circles in person in in Maryland in two locations, in Annapolis and Lothian.
39:06
SPEAKER_01: I have um Reiki trainings coming up, and I have a I'm I'm doing a workshop on um September 21st coming up um in Annapolis on I'll be coaching on breath work tools in the sign.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, cool in Annapolis in person.
39:27
SPEAKER_01: So I don't often do that workshop.
39:29
SPEAKER_01: Usually I I find I do it more in the corporate field, but I'm doing it in person in Annapolis at Annapolis Pilates um studio.
39:39
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it's on breath coaching.
39:41
SPEAKER_01: So we get to learn tools and techniques for daily living and the science behind the breath.
39:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, I'm uh I wish I lived in your neighborhood because I'd be hopping over there.
39:55
SPEAKER_00: That sounds amazing.
39:57
SPEAKER_00: So we'll link in the show notes um all of the these events um for the link.
40:04
SPEAKER_01: We have a retreat too coming up.
40:06
SPEAKER_01: Um I'll be doing I've got a retreat, a day retreat in Annapolis um on the 28th.
40:14
SPEAKER_01: And then I've got a weekend retreat in the in the spring.
40:18
SPEAKER_01: But those are those are all on my website.
40:21
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: So we'll definitely we'll we'll link that page so people can go check it out and connect with you.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: This has been such a pleasure.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: I I mean, one from talking about like our deep-seated experiences in church, to um just really having such a great way of explaining and understanding how the nervous system works.
40:46
SPEAKER_00: Um, and again, I'm gonna recommend if you haven't already picked up a copy of Hot Mess to Hot Mom.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: It's available on Amazon.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: Shout out to Tara Dalian, who is our uh lead author on this project.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: And she's done such a tremendous amount of amazing work um to get this book out there to the moms that need to read it.
41:10
SPEAKER_00: So um we'll have the hookup for Amazon if you're looking to purchase this book as well.
41:15
SPEAKER_00: So, Trish, thank you so much for being here.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: Um, I am so excited to see where your journey goes next.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: And it's been such a pleasure getting to talk to you today about breath work.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's a pleasure.
41:29
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
41:32
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
41:33
SPEAKER_00: All right, everyone.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: Have a great day and thanks for joining us.
41:36
SPEAKER_00: Bye now.