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Beek on being and BREATHWORK · Beek on being

• 0:00
  Melissa Shere Beek: Hi, I hope you are well. This podcast is a place for people to share personal and professional perspectives, talk openly and ask questions. From serious to silly to sublime, it's all about communication and connection. Always coming from a place of kindness and curiosity, we talk about shared humanity, discuss ideas, and highlight people creating a better world. We've got to keep learning, keep growing, keep being.
• 0:28
  I'm Melissa Beek and this is Beek on being. Today's episode is Beek on being and BREATHWORK. Breath is life. Breathing is essential. But most people don't even think about their breathing patterns or the importance of that.
• 0:43
  Breath is directly connected to the nervous system and affects how we think, behave and relate. Today we have breath work and presence coach and founder of ENGAGE BREATHWORK, Erin Dahlgren, to talk about why breath work isn't just about relaxation, but why it's so very necessary for clarity and presence when it really counts. Welcome! I'm so happy to have you on!
• 1:05
  Erin Dahlgren: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
• 1:06
  Melissa Shere Beek: Oh, I'm so glad. Can you please introduce yourself and tell our listeners a little bit about you?
• 1:11
  Erin Dahlgren: Sure. My name's Erin. I grew up in Australia, which you might notice from my accent.
• 1:16
  Melissa Shere Beek: Love it.
• 1:17
  Erin Dahlgren: I come from a performing arts background. Originally, I trained as a singer and a performer, predominantly musical theater. And then in later years, I was a teacher, teaching both children and adults, mostly theatre. And then in the past few years, I've discovered breath work, which has been a really incredible journey for me. Now much of my work is based not only in the breath work space, I train breath guides, as well as using that to help people with their communication skills and increase their connection to their own presence and confidence.
• 1:51
  So it's been quite a journey for me. I feel like I've had like 1,000 different careers on the way to this one.
• 1:56
  Melissa Shere Beek: But everything led to that.
• 1:57
  Erin Dahlgren: Yeah, it feels like the intersection of much of what I've spent most of my life learning and focusing on. So it's really exciting time.
• 2:04
  Melissa Shere Beek: Incredible. So can you tell us what breath work is?
• 2:07
  Erin Dahlgren: Absolutely. Okay. So breath work essentially is breathing in a way that is conscious. For so many of us, it's something that we don't think about. We breathe automatically.
• 2:17
  It happens in the background without our conscious input. So breath work is when we shift that focus into something that is very intentional and conscious. And that can start with simply just noticing your breath and becoming aware of what it's doing at any particular moment, and moving all the way into shifting those patterns and changing the way that we breathe in order to give ourselves different effects. There's thousands of different modalities, thousands of different techniques you can use all based on different outcomes and what you're really looking to get out for it. So there's a lot of space to explore.
• 2:49
  Melissa Shere Beek: So how did you get into it? You said you had like a drama background and you shifted towards this. What were the steps of all those things?
• 2:56
  Erin Dahlgren: Yes. It's sort of a roundabout journey, but essentially, I found early motherhood days really challenging. And I experienced a lot of parental burnout. And then, of course, just as I was coming out of that, that was when 2020 happened and COVID and everything sort of became heavier in a way. And I was working from home, teaching, raising small children, my husband the same.
• 3:20
  He's a very busy person in his career. And we reached this breaking point in about 2022. And decided that this is all too much for us, we need a reset. So we could quit our jobs, and move to Sweden where he's from and spent a year just spending time with family reconnecting to each other, walking in the forest, connecting to the kids and ourselves. And it was we were really fortunate to be in a position to be able to do that.
• 3:45
  But I had been practicing yoga for a lot of years. And that was sort of my my reset button on a lot of days after I got the kids to school. And I noticed that I felt more myself and more balanced on those days when I was able to access my practice. But I also noticed that I didn't have the ability to take that practice from the mat and move it into my everyday life. So it was fairly short lived for me at that time.
• 4:10
  And then when we came to Sweden, a friend of mine was asking me if I'd heard about breath work as a modality, and I hadn't. And he said, yeah, there's a studio down the street. You should go and try it. So I signed up for my first class there and then. Yep.
• 4:25
  And I went and I had this incredible experience. I really felt like I met myself for the first time. It was very emotional. And it felt almost like this process of peeling back all these layers of all the things that I'd been taught to be and had to be and been conditioned to be my entire life just in order to survive and get through the things that we deal with in life. And it was this peeling back of the layers and actually finding out what was underneath this real essence of who I am It was a very emotional, as I said, emotional process And I was hooked immediately I was like, I want more of this
• 5:05
  Melissa Shere Beek: Yeah, I want some of that too
• 5:07
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly, so I think that day I booked another three classes And a couple of weeks later, the studio that I was breathing with said we're we're doing a training to train new breath guides. And I signed up immediately. And that was a ten month process for that first training. Incredibly intensive, but beautiful journey, very transformational.
• 5:28
  Melissa Shere Beek: I was just going say,
• 5:28
  Erin Dahlgren: I was hooked after that.
• 5:31
  Melissa Shere Beek: Yeah, because who wants to just get through? You want to thrive and be your most authentic self.
• 5:36
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. I think that's the key for me.
• 5:39
  Melissa Shere Beek: So who can benefit from BREATHWORK? Is it just
• 5:42
  Erin Dahlgren: Literally everyone. In what capacity? Some form or another. And obviously, no two people are the same. No two people's needs are the same.
• 5:51
  But because of the connection that it has with our body, our nervous system, with our ability to regulate emotions, as well as other health benefits, I mean, could sit here all day and just talk to you about the benefits it has on sleep and digestion and all these different aspects. But what I'd really love to focus on more than anything is just this unlearning of all these things that we've had. Mean, most of us are born as babies, and we breathe in a beautiful functional way.
• 6:25
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right.
• 6:25
  Erin Dahlgren: And then with all the things that life kind of throws at us and all the things we we adapt to, we unlearn those beautiful techniques. Exactly, and start to breathe in habits and create habits and patterns that don't always serve us in life. So it creates this cycle where the breath influences things like our stress levels, our anxiety, creates symptoms that we don't even realize are symptoms, and it starts this cycle towards
• 6:57
  Melissa Shere Beek: Bad breathing Yes,
• 6:59
  Erin Dahlgren: exactly
• 6:59
  Melissa Shere Beek: So tell me a little bit more about you said it helps with the digestion and helps with all these different can you just give us a sampling of all the things that breath work helps with?
• 7:11
  Erin Dahlgren: Yeah, absolutely. Performance is another one that is starting to be focused on a lot in life, So athletic performance, most of us, many of us in life are breathing dysfunctionally, I think I read somewhere up to seventy to eighty percent of us are breathing dysfunctionally. And many of us don't even realise that we're doing that. So often the breath is very high up, it's in the chest, we're involving the shoulders, we're creating tension in the neck. And that serves as like a feedback loop to the body.
• 7:40
  So we're finding these habits that are feedbacking to ourselves, making us feel more stressed, more anxious. Having trouble falling asleep at night is often very closely related to your breath, falling asleep and then waking up in the middle of the night and having trouble getting back to sleep. Of course, there's a number of factors that could go into that. But learning how to breathe to Yes. Combat And slow down your breath and influence the nervous system in that way.
• 8:07
  Because the autonomic nervous system is the automatic part of our body that is responsible for so many different things. And we can't consciously control most of
• 8:15
  Melissa Shere Beek: it, right?
• 8:15
  Erin Dahlgren: We can't consciously control our heartbeat, or our temperature or our digestion. We can control the breath. And all those things are linked quite intricately. So when we start to access the breath, we suddenly get access to our heartbeat and our digestion. So breathing further down in the belly, allowing the tension in the belly to release, so that the belly can expand as you inhale.
• 8:39
  Even things like that are gonna start to create more space for the body to be able to do what it needs to do.
• 8:45
  Melissa Shere Beek: Naturally. Exactly. So I was gonna say, was it but you just answered the next question I had, why is it so important to be aware of our breaths? Because stress management, emotions, sleeping, all of those things.
• 8:58
  Erin Dahlgren: Awareness, I think, is the first step, because you can't even start to change any habits until you become aware of what those habits are.
• 9:07
  Melissa Shere Beek: So how does someone become aware of those habits?
• 9:09
  Erin Dahlgren: Just by sitting with the breath. And I often say that a lot of breath guides and breath coaches tend to focus on these big, cathartic practices that take you deep into deeper levels of consciousness and the psyche, and people have these big emotional reactions. And that's great. That's wonderful practice as far as that goes. But one of the most powerful, consistent practices you can do, in my opinion, is just sitting with your breath and noticing what's there and the stories that it tells you about your state of being in that moment.
• 9:43
  Wow. And I think that's a really powerful thing. Even just I mean, thirty seconds a day to two minutes, five minutes, if you've got to spare to just sit with your breath and really listen to it without judging, without changing. And that awareness will start to lead into this recognition of patterns. Okay, I'm breathing a little faster today, but I noticed I'm stressed.
• 10:06
  Okay, so stress equals breathing faster. And then once we start to recognize that each emotion, each state of being has its own pattern, we can familiarize ourselves with that and start to make adjustments.
• 10:19
  Melissa Shere Beek: We should journal this a little bit too, like write down the things that preceded the way we're breathing that moment, what we were doing prior, what we're thinking of at the time. Oh, that's fabulous. Okay, can you expand upon natural breathing habits and what happens both when we're calm and we're nervous? Because you said you have to sit with yourself and be aware of the breathing, so can you tell us the different types?
• 10:40
  Erin Dahlgren: Absolutely, so again everyone's going to be different, but generally what we see when I work with people is that when you are feeling anxious or stressed, very often we're over breathing, we're breathing far more than our body requires our body
• 10:55
  Melissa Shere Beek: Fast stirred, deeper
• 10:57
  Erin Dahlgren: Usually faster Usually quite high up in the chest and the shoulders We're getting accessory muscles that are not really designed for functional breathing involved Those muscles are usually only getting involved when we have a higher metabolic need. So if we've just run a marathon, you're gonna use those muscles because you need as much air as you can. Whereas many of us are using those muscles consistently throughout the day, and they're just not designed to be able to use
• 11:23
  Melissa Shere Beek: So we're feeding thoughts more into anxiety, more into panic, more into nervousness.
• 11:28
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. That's that feedback loop we're talking about. So the breath is influencing the stress, the body, and the nervous system, and in turn the nervous system is influencing the breath. We get that circle. So we hack that by adjusting it.
• 11:42
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay, so more calmer breaths.
• 11:45
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. So again, everybody is different, many of us over breathe, so generally what I would say is don't be worried about breathing less. We hear take a deep breath a lot. When people are nervous or people are stressed, you hear take a deep breath. But often people picture that as these great big kind of deep breaths like that, and that can often feed the problem.
• 12:10
  So what's happening in the body when that happens is we are getting rid of quite a lot of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is, as many people will realize, what we exhale when we let our breath go. But it's not just a waste product, it's something that our body needs a certain level of because it regulates how much oxygen is released from the haemoglobin into our brain, our body, our cells, our muscles, everything So when we breathe too much, we get rid of quite a lot and then we're not able to utilize the oxygen that we're getting So taking deep breaths is actually gonna mean that you're getting less oxygen and it's using more energy. Slowing the breath down, yes, for sure, and even breathing a little smaller than usual, and just noticing how that feels. And sometimes that can feel a little scary, like there's not enough air.
• 13:04
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. And yet Like you wanna take a breath.
• 13:06
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. Exactly. So noticing that, that curiosity, coming at it with that sense of curiosity and noticing. But what's happening if I were to hook you up to a machine that measures all these different things, the carbon dioxide and the oxygen, what you'll often find is that you're increasing the amount of oxygen that you're gonna receive, and starting to create these patterns that allow the body again to do what it needs to do to find calm.
• 13:30
  Melissa Shere Beek: Does it take a long time to establish that new pattern or that new habit?
• 13:34
  Erin Dahlgren: Habits, generally, yes. I would say you will probably feel a fairly instantaneous effect in the moment, but to create a new habit, we need to do that consistently. So breath work has this beautiful way of kind of giving you both that short term gratification and instant gratification of having an immediate tangible effect that you can feel, and also being a practice that when you do it for a long time consistently
• 14:03
  Melissa Shere Beek: the
• 14:04
  Erin Dahlgren: effects actually grow exponentially because you are going to start to find those new patterns and create those new habits I would say it takes about anywhere between two to five weeks
• 14:16
  Melissa Shere Beek: to
• 14:16
  Erin Dahlgren: create a new habit, a new breathing habit.
• 14:18
  Melissa Shere Beek: Does the same breath work method work for everybody? Is there like one thing no. Not one size fits all.
• 14:24
  Erin Dahlgren: No. Never one size fits all. I mean, there are, again, consistent patterns that we see in many people, like the over breathing. I would say there are certain techniques that I would recommend for most people. For example, nose breathing
• 14:40
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay.
• 14:40
  Erin Dahlgren: Is wonderful for most people. And you hear a lot of breath guides talking about the wonderful effects of nose breathing. We're designed to breathe through the nose. There's been books written about it. I can recommend some books to you later.
• 14:55
  But there's a lot of people that talk about the effects of nose breathing, and that consistently is something that is really good for most people. We're not designed to be able to breathe through the mouth unless we're speaking, singing, eating. Generally, the nose is what is going to warm the air and humidify it and create this lovely filtration system that we need to be able to breathe effectively.
• 15:18
  Melissa Shere Beek: So what is nose breathing for our listeners? Can you expand upon that?
• 15:22
  Erin Dahlgren: Quite simply, closing your mouth. Breathing in and out
• 15:25
  Melissa Shere Beek: through It's not like holding one nostril or holding the other, alternating.
• 15:29
  Erin Dahlgren: So alternating nostril breathing is a beautiful practice that you find in pranayama, the yogic tradition of breathing. And that has some great effects as well, absolutely. But I'm talking about just generally breathing in Close and out through the your mouth any chance you get. And you'll find, again, people will generally be quite noisy mouth breathers often. And it's not ideal and it can create a lot of health problems that a lot of people don't realize that they're having due to just breathing.
• 15:59
  Melissa Shere Beek: Being a mouth breather. Wow. Okay.
• 16:01
  Erin Dahlgren: Everything from the shape of your face to the constriction of your blood vessels, I mean there's a whole lot that's happening in the body when we're not breathing optimally.
• 16:11
  Melissa Shere Beek: Really? So how do we start a breathwork practice? Where do we begin?
• 16:17
  Erin Dahlgren: I would say, again, coming back to just noticing.
• 16:22
  Melissa Shere Beek: Just sitting
• 16:22
  Erin Dahlgren: and noticing the breath. Playing around with it for sure by yourself is a great way to do it. There's a lot of resources that you can find online. I have several on my website, some guided practices.
• 16:36
  Melissa Shere Beek: Which will be in my link. Absolutely. So you can
• 16:39
  Erin Dahlgren: So finding resources online is a great way to start, even just five minutes a day. But noticing the breath is definitely where I would start before we start to move into some of these practices that work on giving us different effects. So there are practices that are very good for calming, and relaxing the nervous system, centering ourselves, there's practices for balance. A lot of the practices, you're able to find the best of both worlds. So you get the activation side of the nervous system, the focus and the energy, and also the calm and grounding.
• 17:12
  So there's practices that sort of give you both sides. And then there are the very, very activating practices as well that are gonna make you fly as high as a kite.
• 17:21
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay. So tell us about all those different practices and how they affect you mentally and physically. Like how the breath work works for, let's say, if you're calm, or you're panicked, anxious, or you just want to perform at the most maximum that you can for your body? How does it affect you physically and mentally?
• 17:40
  Erin Dahlgren: Well, the autonomic nervous system, as I mentioned, has two main branches. We have the sympathetic side, which is responsible for our activation, for our focus, energy, and then the parasympathetic side of the nervous system, which is closely connected to our rest, our digest, our ability to relax and calm A lot of people, I think, when they think about regulation, and there's a lot of buzz around nervous system regulation at the moment, I think people generally think that that just means finding calm constantly and having this baseline that's
• 18:12
  Melissa Shere Beek: really Yeah, but you can't be calm all
• 18:13
  Erin Dahlgren: the Exactly. No, it's not realistic. And we're not designed to do that either. So we're designed to be able to shift from one to the other. The problem is is that's the way we were designed in a world that hasn't really looked that way for a very long time.
• 18:31
  So the things that used to stress us out, you know, factors like being eaten by, I don't know, a saber tooth tiger. Right, Those things don't really exist. And our nervous system hasn't necessarily evolved to tell the difference between a tiger and an email from your boss.
• 18:47
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right.
• 18:48
  Erin Dahlgren: So many of us are in that state of activation and high stress level all the time. Right. Just because of work, family, traffic, kids, emails, the whole bit.
• 18:58
  Melissa Shere Beek: So much.
• 18:58
  Erin Dahlgren: So we've lost that ability to be able to shift state
• 19:01
  Melissa Shere Beek: from Right. No flexibility.
• 19:03
  Erin Dahlgren: Activation into calm. So learning how the breath connects to that is really paramount to being able to have the choice. It's like it's like driving a car Right. Where your inhale is your activation.
• 19:17
  Melissa Shere Beek: Mhmm.
• 19:17
  Erin Dahlgren: I mean, think about what happens when someone almost spills a glass of wine on the carpet. What do you do with your breath? Exactly. You inhale quickly because your body knows that it needs that immediate mobilisation, that response. Exactly.
• 19:30
  So the inhale is going to be your gas pedal in the car. Whereas the exhale, what do we do in the children's stories when the hero makes it home safe and sound? Relax. Exactly. We exhale.
• 19:45
  So the exhale is more directly related to the parasympathetic side
• 19:49
  Melissa Shere Beek: of the
• 19:49
  Erin Dahlgren: nervous system. So when you're driving, you need both. You need the gas and the brake, you need to be able to control them. So having that ability to understand what your needs are, if you're someone who exists predominantly in a slightly activated state all the time and that's your baseline and you wanna be able to adjust it back down to a place where you can fall asleep and fall back asleep, you're gonna have to do exercises that focus a lot more on exhales. And lengthening the exhales, making them slower and longer and deeper in order to gradually shift your baseline to a place where you can do that And that can feel really uncomfortable for a lot of people because they've existed in that state for such a long time that
• 20:34
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. There's a familiarity to it.
• 20:35
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. So shifting into a place of parasympathetic activation can actually feel dangerous to the body. The nervous system is like, wait. Wait. What happened?
• 20:44
  Hey. Hey. I don't know about this. This doesn't feel right for me.
• 20:47
  Melissa Shere Beek: We made a wrong turn somewhere. What's happening?
• 20:49
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. So it's not always gonna have that immediate like, oh, now I feel calm. Often that can actually bring out frustration or panic in people that are not used to that. So again, just noticing, okay, this is making me feel really uncomfortable trying to slow my breath down and lengthen the exhale, and just noticing that maybe means that this is something I need more. Being able to discern whether or not that's uncomfortable because it's unfamiliar, and there's resistance to it, or maybe it's just not right for you.
• 21:23
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. And I was gonna say vice versa. If you're someone who operates on the level of calm all the time, but you need to get up and motivated, you need to sort of change into that level of breathing.
• 21:36
  Erin Dahlgren: Yes, a much faster activated side. We do practices like that as well. There's a practice that's very common in the BREATHWORK world and essentially at its base, it's circular connected breathing. So we're taking away the little pauses that we normally have in our breath cycle and connecting them so that they flow from one to the other. And so that starts to eliminate the opportunity for that carbon dioxide to rise, and it becomes very activating for the nervous system.
• 22:04
  And there's lots of different variations on what that looks like. But essentially that's going to start to give you that sympathetic activation depending on how fast you go with it.
• 22:14
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay. And why I mean, we've discussed a little bit about the nervous system, but why is it critical for us to be able to tap into that and manage that?
• 22:23
  Erin Dahlgren: Tap into
• 22:24
  Melissa Shere Beek: Just to be able to regulate our nervous system. Why is that critical?
• 22:28
  Erin Dahlgren: Yep. I mean, we wanna be able to have the choice. I think, again, that idea of regulation means that we're just kind of suppressing everything and finding that constant calm. And it's the same thing with emotional regulation as well. I think people generally think that emotional regulation means just suppressing anything that's perceived as a negative emotion and just feeling happy all the time Right.
• 22:54
  Or feeling
• 22:54
  Melissa Shere Beek: calm Which isn't normal either.
• 22:56
  Erin Dahlgren: No. Exactly. So a lot of times, the ability to regulate just means being able to stay with what's there.
• 23:03
  Melissa Shere Beek: To be present To be present. What's happening and to feel that.
• 23:06
  Erin Dahlgren: Even if it's uncomfortable. And the breath is a beautiful way of allowing you to do that, to breathe into those things that feel unfamiliar or unsafe, and staying with it. But also noticing where your edges are, I think is really important. There's a lot of people that might not be able to access an exercise that someone else can do happily. So I think that's an important thing to keep in the picture when we're talking about breath work.
• 23:30
  Again, big cathartic practices that sometimes can go on for hours, that are advertised as giving people these enormous trauma releases or things like that. For a lot of people, that's not accessible for their nervous system based on your history and your needs.
• 23:48
  Melissa Shere Beek: Your personal needs.
• 23:50
  Erin Dahlgren: Your safety there is really important.
• 23:51
  Melissa Shere Beek: So is breath work something that needs to be a daily practice or is it something that we can tap into when we need it? Both. Or both? Okay.
• 24:01
  Erin Dahlgren: Both. I mean like anything, the effects are gonna compound over time if you're practicing regularly. Mhmm. And that might only mean sitting in your car for two minutes and just taking that space to check-in with what's happening. I don't recommend holding your breath or breathing quickly in the car.
• 24:20
  We certainly want to make sure we're doing it in a safe place. But just taking two minutes out of your day, even while you're doing something else, just to notice what's there.
• 24:28
  Melissa Shere Beek: Just to become aware.
• 24:29
  Erin Dahlgren: That's breath work in itself. If you have more opportunity to experiment with different techniques and have a space in your home where you can lie down and connect and do a whole session, I mean many of the sessions that I guide are thirty minutes or an hour long. So having the space and time to do that on occasion or every day, great. Power to you. That's gonna have enormous effects.
• 24:52
  You said lying down,
• 24:54
  Melissa Shere Beek: is it something that we could do, like is it where each person is comfortable or is it not good for your diaphragm or your lungs to be doing it sitting down, we're kind of like squishing the accordion of it. The beautiful thing about
• 25:05
  Erin Dahlgren: the breath is it's very versatile. So I would say sitting or standing, you can practice just as This is a tool that is available to you anywhere, anytime. You don't need any equipment, any money, anything to be able to access Just the knowledge and the practice, essentially. So that's what makes it really, really great. And you can do it sitting up.
• 25:27
  But if you're going to practice a full length longer breath work session that has more techniques, especially activating ones where you're releasing a lot of carbon dioxide as we talked about, there's a good chance you're gonna start to feel lightheaded. So it's a good idea for those particular scenarios to be laying down and find a safe place to do that, and also because sometimes you just drift away to sleep, and that's one of the most beautiful side effects
• 25:54
  Melissa Shere Beek: of You know what, have experienced that lightheadedness, just in different types of things. And that's the first time I became aware of breath work doing well, not breath work, but aware of my personal breathing and doing some different yoga breathing. And then I would realize if I was doing it too fast or too slow or inhaling or exhaling in a different way, I realized I was getting lightheaded. So I'm now going to be more aware and more conscious of my breathing, especially since talking to you about being aware of that. That was the first time I was aware of just breathing differently.
• 26:29
  I would like to do a daily practice. That'd be amazing. You'll have to give us little tips and tricks at the end. Like so how can someone even begin to focus on breathing when they're in a panic state, or they're nervous, or their their stressful level is so high?
• 26:45
  Erin Dahlgren: Yeah. It's a good question, and it's something I've worked with people who have panic disorders and anxiety and and have challenges, and I myself have had quite a few experiences where I've had panic attacks over the years. And I mean, it's a really scary thing when you tip into that place where you no longer have control. And at that point, there's not a lot you can do to get out of it Mhmm. Other like, when it comes to the breath, other than the good old paper bag method, you know.
• 27:15
  You get a paper bag, you breathe into it, that's gonna mean that you're re breathing your own carbon dioxide. So that hyperventilation where you're getting rid a lot of carbon dioxide and you're starting to feel tingly and dizzy, that's gonna mitigate that. If you don't have a paper bag, you can also put your hands, like cup your hands over
• 27:35
  Melissa Shere Beek: your face. Got it. Yeah. Yeah.
• 27:36
  Erin Dahlgren: Like that and breathe into your hands. But essentially, what we wanna do to kind of interrupt that that cycle The panic. That panic is to find access to the breath, firstly.
• 27:47
  Melissa Shere Beek: And
• 27:48
  Erin Dahlgren: the way that I do that, and I I noticed that when I've had people in sessions start to shift into that place, is just by coming back to your body. Yeah. So noticing is a very common technique. I think a lot of therapists use it as well. Noticing firstly what you can hear.
• 28:06
  Right. What can you hear right now? Can hear myself breathing. I can hear my heart beating. I can hear the neighbor banging on the wall.
• 28:13
  Whatever it is that you can hear in this space, just focus on what you can hear. Focus on three things that you can see.
• 28:18
  Melissa Shere Beek: Got it.
• 28:19
  Erin Dahlgren: And just name them in your mind. Focus on three things that you can touch. Come back into your body, and then you hopefully have more access to your breath and start to slow it down, make it a little smaller, so instead of those
• 28:33
  Melissa Shere Beek: Yeah, yeah. Totally nervous and ancient.
• 28:36
  Erin Dahlgren: Up in the chest that are breathing very quickly and very heavily, we want to start to slow it down, if you can start to lengthen that exhale again just a little bit See if you can access nose breathing that's going to limit how much over breathing you can do. But that's a process that you have to interrupt first before you can even access that.
• 28:56
  Melissa Shere Beek: And you're interrupting it with being aware of different sensory things. So what you can see, what you can hear, what you can touch. Yes.
• 29:03
  Erin Dahlgren: Okay. Got it. The easier thing to do is when you start to notice the panic rising.
• 29:09
  Melissa Shere Beek: Mhmm.
• 29:09
  Erin Dahlgren: That's the easier time, I find.
• 29:11
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. Sure. To interrupt panic mode, it's hard to reel that back in.
• 29:16
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. Exactly. Okay. So noticing that and taking those moments when you feel it start to set in to, again, notice, okay, I can feel this panic rising. How can I act
• 29:27
  Melissa Shere Beek: as Exactly? My
• 29:29
  Erin Dahlgren: So slowing it down, switching to nose breathing would be first thing that I do. And then starting to breathe a little softer, a little smaller if you can, lengthening that exhale.
• 29:39
  Melissa Shere Beek: I like what you said about the nose breathing because it's something that you can immediately switch to. I just did it while you were saying it, and I was aware of what you said about not taking those big breaths with your mouth closed. It actually tames the situation immediately. So it's like a
• 29:59
  Erin Dahlgren: great It limits how much we can spiral into over breathing.
• 30:04
  Melissa Shere Beek: Oh, that's a great tool. I'm going to start implementing that. Okay. So tell me a little bit about the long term benefits of breathwork exercises. I mean Stress management.
• 30:19
  Erin Dahlgren: Definitely in the stress management field.
• 30:21
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay.
• 30:24
  Erin Dahlgren: Having access to your breath long term is gonna give you this resilience that I think is difficult to find these days. We're very accustomed to moving away from anything that feels uncomfortable
• 30:40
  Melissa Shere Beek: in life. Avoidance.
• 30:42
  Erin Dahlgren: Avoidance, Exactly. We like to stay in our comfort zone. And I think by exploring the breath, and there are some particular practices that can really train you to be able to sit with that discomfort a
• 30:56
  Melissa Shere Beek: little bit, for example.
• 30:59
  Erin Dahlgren: Are a lot of practices that focus on breath holding. And the idea of breath holding is that we're allowing the carbon dioxide levels to rise a little. And that's often what people feel very uncomfortable with. Carbon dioxide is what drives the urge to breathe. So we have this trigger point almost.
• 31:19
  And once the carbon dioxide rises and hits that trigger point, it signals to the body, okay, time to take the next breath. And many people have a very low threshold.
• 31:29
  Melissa Shere Beek: So
• 31:31
  Erin Dahlgren: what we wanna do is start to push that threshold and adapt more to that carbon dioxide tolerance, that air hunger feeling that you need to take the next breath. So it's going to give you that resilience of being able to sit with discomfort and notice it and with it. Be That's one of the most beautiful things think long term that I've experienced, as well as again, the ability to just notice, okay, I'm feeling nervous at the moment. I'm feeling stressed. Let me just adjust my patterns.
• 32:05
  Even coming in here today, I noticed there was that little bit of activation in me, And it wasn't even necessarily nerves. It was just this feeling of something that was unfamiliar, a little bit outside my comfort zone, a little bit scary. Okay. What do I do? I adjust.
• 32:19
  I know my patterns at this point. So I know that if I breathe in and out through the nose at a nice even rate. So usually for me, that's about five or six seconds in, five or six seconds out. That means that I can give myself enough of the focus and energy that I need to do a good job.
• 32:38
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right.
• 32:39
  Erin Dahlgren: But also steady my nerves enough so that I can actually access
• 32:43
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right.
• 32:44
  Erin Dahlgren: My thoughts, my feelings, my authenticity, my fun side.
• 32:48
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right.
• 32:49
  Erin Dahlgren: You know, that comes with dancing as well. Yeah.
• 32:51
  Melissa Shere Beek: Had a great big beat. We danced. We had so much fun beforehand. I loved it. Thank you.
• 32:56
  Erin Dahlgren: No. Of course. That was the best part so far. But it just again, the more you practice breath work, the more you become familiar with your own needs in different situations and how you can essentially, it's like the biggest life hack to be able to make those adjustments, those micro adjustments that only take thirty seconds, but give you the ability to truly show up as who you are. You're the best version of yourself
• 33:23
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right.
• 33:23
  Erin Dahlgren: In any situation, Whether it's 03:00 and you wanna take a nap, you've got work to do, and you need that focus. Okay. Let me just breathe for twenty seconds in a nice activating way. It's like having a shot of espresso.
• 33:37
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right.
• 33:37
  Erin Dahlgren: All of a sudden, I'm switched on. I'm ready to go.
• 33:39
  Melissa Shere Beek: You're ready to go.
• 33:40
  Erin Dahlgren: Or whether it's showing up for my kids when there's triggers and I'm having trouble keeping my composure
• 33:45
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right.
• 33:46
  Erin Dahlgren: Being able to connect with them and just taking those breaths that allow me to do that.
• 33:51
  Melissa Shere Beek: The hard mom moments. Exactly. Yeah.
• 33:52
  Erin Dahlgren: Or whether it's falling back to sleep at 3AM.
• 33:55
  Melissa Shere Beek: Yeah.
• 33:55
  Erin Dahlgren: You know?
• 33:56
  Melissa Shere Beek: Yeah. I wanna talk about breath work in both personal and professional situations. How can you said a little bit about the personal side of using breathwork when you're in a situation with your children or coming into a new area that you're maybe not familiar with, but how can people access it for professional situations?
• 34:16
  Erin Dahlgren: I mean, they're almost one and the same, personal and professional. Because I think the essence of being able to show up as your best self kind of exists across all those planes. True. But at work, there's so much more so many more stimuli, things happening that require our attention, our multitasking, our focus, our energy. And very often at work, there's conflicts and presentations and
• 34:46
  Melissa Shere Beek: all say, like, public speaking. Being a mom isn't public speaking. That's like micromanaging. But public speaking, that that's a huge fear people have.
• 34:56
  Erin Dahlgren: Yes. I it's a bigger fear for most people than sharks or being I don't know. Many of the things we should be afraid of. Right. Right.
• 35:04
  Right. Public speaking is a big one on most people's lists. And that's something that I work with a lot, both in performers and in corporate professionals, or even just as well with with moms or entrepreneurs, anyone that needs to show up and speak in public and is nervous or finds that their adrenaline hijacks who they want to show up as. So that's a big challenge for so many people.
• 35:30
  Melissa Shere Beek: Adrenaline hijacking, absolutely.
• 35:32
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. So the breath is really the foundation of what that process looks like. I've worked with people as a communication coach for years now. So I have a lot of tips and tricks, you know, come from I a work singer with voices and understanding how to use your voice, also accessing that in the best possible way through your breath. And as well, your your body language, working with storytelling, things like this.
• 35:59
  But essentially, of those tips and tricks are gonna work for you if you don't have access to your breath. Right. Because in those high stakes moments, that's what's gonna shift everything. If you can't access your grounding, your calm, your regulation, you're not gonna have access to the logic and reasoning part of your brain, your prefrontal cortex. You're gonna go off into that place of panic.
• 36:26
  So really understanding that and being able to ground yourself with some of these breathing techniques. And the people that I've worked with often come back to me after breath work sessions, and I work with a lot of companies as well in corporate settings. And they say, you know, Erin, I did that particular breathing exercise you taught me, whether it's balanced breathing or box breathing. I did that exercise before I went into a big presentation last week, and guess what? I nailed it.
• 36:52
  And it's the best feeling in the world to hear that because these techniques are so easily integrated into real life situations. They only take a few minutes. And as I said, we have access to it all the time.
• 37:04
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. Right.
• 37:04
  Erin Dahlgren: We So hearing that people are able to remember access them and then find them that impactful is really gratifying.
• 37:12
  Melissa Shere Beek: Can you tell us more about the programs that you have, especially for high stake moments?
• 37:16
  Erin Dahlgren: Yes, so I'm working currently, there's an eight week program that I'm running. We have a group that is currently in halfway through the program, and we have another one starting in May. It's called Presence Under Pressure.
• 37:31
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay.
• 37:31
  Erin Dahlgren: Eight weeks to command your voice and master your presence.
• 37:35
  Melissa Shere Beek: And they can get that through the link that you're gonna give me that I'm gonna put on?
• 37:38
  Erin Dahlgren: Yes.
• 37:38
  Melissa Shere Beek: Absolutely. Do we know the date the start date?
• 37:41
  Erin Dahlgren: I believe it's the May. Okay.
• 37:44
  Melissa Shere Beek: Great. Okay. Good.
• 37:44
  Erin Dahlgren: It's currently running on a Wednesday night Mhmm. Which is working really well. So we'll see what the availability is like going forward. It's a group coaching program. So we meet every Wednesday night for two hours, and we go through not only these tips and tricks, but each session, we ground ourselves with these breath work techniques so that those tips and tricks can be integrated fully and in a way that feels very authentic and natural.
• 38:09
  Right. Because I think that to me is the most important thing. It's one thing for me to say, okay, you use your voice like this or you do a power pose like this, But often, that's not gonna feel natural or authentic to someone. But when we use the breath to kind of land in these places where it feels authentic
• 38:30
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right.
• 38:30
  Erin Dahlgren: We can then embody those techniques and actually be able to rely on them and use them in those high stakes moments without having to think too hard.
• 38:38
  Melissa Shere Beek: And in real time, because you can't just say, Excuse me, I need to go sit in that room for a second and tap in. You have to be conscious of it in the moment and do it in real time while you're in those experiences. Oh my gosh, that's a lot. Okay. So we talked a little bit about this before, but I want you to expand upon it if you can about how breath work helps you define your most authentic self.
• 38:58
  Erin Dahlgren: Absolutely. Yeah. It's a difficult thing to explain, actually. I noticed that there's not necessarily a scientific explanation. And for me, I like science.
• 39:13
  I like understanding what's happening underneath the techniques and what's happening in the body. And you've probably noticed that at this point that I really can, like, geek out on the science.
• 39:24
  Melissa Shere Beek: I'm right there with you geeking out. I love it.
• 39:26
  Erin Dahlgren: Because it's important to me to actually understand and and work with what's happening in the body in a way that that is is true. But understanding authenticity is like a whole another level. Because, again, there's so many things that we're born knowing naturally, not only how to breathe, but who we are. Right. Really, that kind of gets like beaten out of us as life goes on, you know?
• 39:56
  I can relate to that female experience of constantly having to be the good girl and having to be very obedient and not take up too much space.
• 40:06
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. Be conditioned to be what's supposed to be. Accepted.
• 40:11
  Erin Dahlgren: So as child from a very young age, think that we're conditioned that way, many of us, not just women, and then we go through life and we keep adding on these layers of armor, you you have an experience as a teenager where someone laughs at you, oh, I'm never gonna do that again, you know, and there's these moments where you feel authentic, but you kinda get almost punished for those moments sometimes, because you're weird or silly or
• 40:36
  Melissa Shere Beek: whatever,
• 40:38
  Erin Dahlgren: And so we build up again these layers of armor that we don't even know are there, and it can get really heavy. For me, when I breathe in a certain way, and that is again coming back to that circular connected breathing. What that does is it allows me to access deeper layers of my own mind. And it I call it like loosening the chains of my overthinking mind.
• 41:03
  Melissa Shere Beek: I love that.
• 41:03
  Erin Dahlgren: You know, that mind that kinda grips you in like, yeah, but if I do that, it's gonna feel like this or there's consequences to being that. All those things kinda loosen
• 41:13
  Melissa Shere Beek: So loud in your own head.
• 41:15
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. So coming back to the breath and really allowing it to help me enter my body and access those deeper layers of consciousness, really just like releases all those things that were holding on The heaviness. Layer by layer, I start to feel lighter and start to feel that
• 41:35
  Melissa Shere Beek: Truer.
• 41:35
  Erin Dahlgren: Yeah. Yeah. Really true sense of who I am, that authentic sense. And I think, again, coming back to what you were asking about, how does that benefit us over time? The more we do that, the more we find those pathways back to that, if that makes sense.
• 41:52
  Melissa Shere Beek: Yeah, no, true.
• 41:53
  Erin Dahlgren: And then we start to notice, I mean, me, those behaviors, those authentic behaviors didn't always serve me as a child, But not having access to them is holding me back Right. As an adult and and was for years. So now that I have access to them, I'm relearning that those behaviors can actually be rewarding. Yeah. And I can find connection connection with with people people
• 42:15
  Melissa Shere Beek: through through authenticity. Authenticity. And I I
• 42:17
  Erin Dahlgren: find
• 42:17
  Melissa Shere Beek: find
• 42:17
  Erin Dahlgren: that people are drawn to me in a way that they weren't before. And so I'm meeting the people that are my people.
• 42:24
  Melissa Shere Beek: Yeah.
• 42:24
  Erin Dahlgren: You know? So that's been really, really rewarding way to kind of access a part of myself that I just didn't have available before and enhance that.
• 42:38
  Melissa Shere Beek: I think when you expose your true self, your reflection comes back to the people who are authentically themselves as well and you gravitate to that. And so that's where you find your real group. And I think it helps you to be freer, happier, more relaxed, more confident. So can you tell us some of the misconceptions about breath work that people have?
• 43:07
  Erin Dahlgren: Yes. There are a few. I think the first one is always just I've been breathing my whole life. Why do I need someone to come along and tell me what what to do?
• 43:17
  Melissa Shere Beek: What do you say to
• 43:18
  Erin Dahlgren: those people? Of course, you've been breathing your whole life. You're an expert at your breath patterns. But that's not always something that's serving you. You know, again, same with what we were just talking about with inauthenticity.
• 43:32
  We create these patterns based on our experiences. And if something was very stressful at a certain point in our life, for example, public speaking is a perfect example. You stand up, you get on stage, your heart's beating really fast, you take control of your breath in a dysfunctional way, and you create a habit that is connected to public speaking or that moment, that fear that you probably then carry with you throughout your
• 44:00
  Melissa Shere Beek: Other places. Yeah.
• 44:01
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. So understanding your breath and being able to adjust it, I feel like a broken record here, that's really key. So for people who say I've been breathing my whole life, yes, you have been breathing your whole life.
• 44:14
  Melissa Shere Beek: But is it benefiting you?
• 44:15
  Erin Dahlgren: Is that serving you or not serving you? How many health problems are you creating through dysfunctional breathing, or just not having the ability to access this tool to
• 44:29
  Melissa Shere Beek: help yourself? Not even being
• 44:30
  Erin Dahlgren: aware. Exactly.
• 44:31
  Melissa Shere Beek: So what's the most important takeaway for everyone that they should know about BREATHWORK?
• 44:39
  Erin Dahlgren: That's a really difficult question to answer because I have like four or five things that came into my mind. Blade on
• 44:44
  Melissa Shere Beek: us. Give give them all. Give them all.
• 44:47
  Erin Dahlgren: I think the biggest takeaway is when you build a relationship with your breath, you open up a world of possibilities for yourself in so many different realms. And it's almost difficult to communicate what all those realms are, I mean we've touched on a few of them today. You're gonna give yourself emotional regulation, you're gonna build your capacity for discomfort and resilience, you're gonna give yourself higher levels of performance, you can access higher levels of performance, you're gonna give yourself the ability to show up as your best self, for your kids, for your family, for your friends. There's like so many possibilities, you're gonna give yourself the best chance of longevity, I mean, just health overall. There's really no limits to what you can access when you start to pay attention to your breath and the way it interacts with so many aspects of your life.
• 45:48
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. Feel better, think better, move better, be better. I love that. Can I
• 45:55
  Erin Dahlgren: I should make that my new motto? Okay, go ahead. Do it. Do it on my website.
• 45:58
  Melissa Shere Beek: I love love it. Do it. So this is this is a selfish motive. Can you give us a little exercise and breath work? Absolutely.
• 46:06
  Okay. Good.
• 46:07
  Erin Dahlgren: Should we do okay. Let's do a little breath awareness.
• 46:10
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay.
• 46:11
  Erin Dahlgren: And from there, we might shift into a little diaphragmatic breathing.
• 46:14
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay.
• 46:14
  Erin Dahlgren: Just to notice what that feels like in a functional way.
• 46:18
  Melissa Shere Beek: So I'm gonna ask for our listeners. First of all, don't do it while you're driving. But or maybe maybe try it driving later. But should we be doing it with our eyes open? Should we be doing it with our eyes closed?
• 46:28
  Should we be sitting? Should we be laying down?
• 46:31
  Erin Dahlgren: I'll invite you. I'll invite you to sit or lie down comfortably. Somewhere that feels relaxed and you're not tensing your muscles in
• 46:39
  Melissa Shere Beek: order
• 46:39
  Erin Dahlgren: to stay upright. Leaning back. Leaning back nice and relaxed. And you're welcome to close your eyes. Or if that feels uncomfortable, just soften your gaze.
• 46:47
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay.
• 46:47
  Erin Dahlgren: Unless you're driving.
• 46:48
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. I gonna Please don't close your eyes.
• 46:51
  Erin Dahlgren: Make sure always make sure you're doing breath work somewhere safe. So if you do feel a little lightheaded, you're not putting yourself in danger. Right. So notably, not in a car, not in the pool.
• 47:01
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. Yes. Please don't do that.
• 47:02
  Erin Dahlgren: Let's start with that.
• 47:04
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay. So should we close our eyes?
• 47:06
  Erin Dahlgren: If you feel comfortable doing so, you're welcome to close your eyes because it can help you sort of drop into what's happening.
• 47:11
  Melissa Shere Beek: And
• 47:12
  Erin Dahlgren: just start let's start with three conscious breaths in through the nose, and then opening the mouth and sighing through the mouth. Really allow the breath to help you land in your body. Two more. Just passively let it go through the mouth without controlling. Again, in through the nose.
• 47:38
  And then sighing it out. And then let go of control for the next few moments. And start to notice what's there when you're not manipulating the breath. Letting it find its own patterns and rhythms that feel natural. Without judging them either.
• 48:03
  Often, just that very act of becoming aware of the breath can make us feel like we wanna make these little adjustments, but see if you can just allow it to find its own way, noticing the shape of your breath. Is it fast or slow? Deep or shallow? Is it noisy or quiet? Noticing the pathway that the breath chooses through the nose or the mouth, down the back of the throat.
• 48:44
  Letting yourself be aware of the temperature as you inhale. Maybe noticing the area that you expand as you breathe in. Maybe that's in the belly, the ribs, the chest. Just paying attention to all the little nuances. Noticing that feeling of deflation as you exhale.
• 49:16
  Any shift in temperature as the air leaves your body. For a few moments, just inviting the mind into the body. So often we miss all the little messages that the body gives us throughout the day, because we are really caught up in our mind. So just take a moment to scan the body and notice if there is any tension, stiffness, soreness, any areas calling for our acknowledgement, maybe there is an area of expansion or contraction that you are noticing in the body. Maybe you notice a feeling, a sensation, or emotion lurking somewhere in the body, and just take a moment, again, to acknowledge it without connecting.
• 50:20
  Noticing if the breath changes in any way as you do. Maybe there are thoughts creating stories connected to that sensation. Again, just become aware of what they are, without chasing them. And if your mind is wanting to follow along on those stories, bring it back gently to the breath, again noticing the breath and all the little details. And in the next few breaths, start to walk that bridge between no control, letting the breath do what it wants to gently taking the reins of control without adjusting the pattern in any way.
• 51:25
  See what happens as you move in consciously, controlling the breath. Now in the next few breaths, see if you can bring your attention to your abdomen, and the way that it rises and falls as you inhale and exhale. Many of us don't use the belly when we breathe. Underneath the rib cage is where our diaphragm, our largest breathing muscle sits. And what we're trying to do is release tension in the abdomen, in the belly, to create space so that the diaphragm can contract downward as we inhale, pulling the lungs with it downward.
• 52:26
  So just let go of any tension, so that as you inhale, the belly moves outwards, making space for the breath. And then deflates gently, recoiling as the diaphragm moves upwards. If it helps, you can place a hand on your belly and a hand on your chest, just to give yourself that feedback. Just noticing. Good.
• 53:05
  I invite you to breathe a little deeper if that feels okay for you. Breathing deeply into the belly, letting it expand fully as you inhale. And then deflate softly, controlling the breath so it feels even and soft. Let's take a couple of conscious, connected circular breaths from here, breathing in through the nose, letting the belly fill with air, and then opening the mouth and sighing it out. Starting your next breath right away, breathing in, sighing it out.
• 53:51
  Good. Again, inhale, and letting go. Active inhale through the nose. Open the mouth and sigh. Two more here.
• 54:06
  Inhaling and exhaling. Last breath. And then letting go of control once again, just noticing any sensations. Maybe there's a little bit of activation here after that last few breaths. Maybe a little tingling.
• 54:34
  Just notice what's present and available for you. Maybe something shifted. Maybe there's resistance or discomfort. Again, just notice that. We're learning something new about our state of being in this moment.
• 55:07
  And when you're ready, before opening your eyes, if your eyes are closed, just gently allow yourself to become aware of something in the room. Maybe it's the light behind your eyelids, maybe it's a soft noise, or the feeling of air blowing against your skin. Make that transition in your mind before opening your eyes and coming back to the space.
• 55:43
  Melissa Shere Beek: That was incredible. Welcome back. Thank you. That first of all, that was magnificent. I was very conscious of, in the beginning, just the relaxation in my physical body.
• 56:02
  My hands got softer, my shoulders dropped, I leaned back more. And then as you guided us through that, I noticed I was taking shallow breaths initially. And then when we started talking about engaging the belly and being conscious of putting my hands on my chest and my belly, I realized I was taking a deeper, more belly breath. And that was incredible, too. And then I also noticed that depending on how quick or how slow my breath was, I would get lightheaded with the quicker breaths.
• 56:40
  That's me. But I was very much more aware of what was going on in my systemmental, physical, emotionalthrough that. Is that experience different every time for everyone, or do you experience every time you tap into those tips and tricks that you do, is the experience the same for you, the awareness the same for you, or is it different each time? Always different. Always different.
• 57:11
  Erin Dahlgren: Yes. So, yeah, I'm hearing from you, if I can reflect back, that your awareness of your body firstly increase.
• 57:21
  Melissa Shere Beek: Yes. First, the body.
• 57:23
  Erin Dahlgren: And I think
• 57:23
  Melissa Shere Beek: that that
• 57:24
  Erin Dahlgren: is definitely one of the best parts of this. As I mentioned, we live so much in our mind, and we so rarely actually tap into what's happening in the body. And that's giving us so many signals, thousands signals that we're not listening to all the time, so just that moment of tapping into what's there is a big part of what the breath can do for you, and then hearing that you became aware of your belly, the way that you were breathing and were able to make those adjustments
• 57:54
  Melissa Shere Beek: totally different breathing, yeah
• 57:55
  Erin Dahlgren: yes and then the slight lightheadedness from the activation breathing very common
• 58:01
  Melissa Shere Beek: Very common.
• 58:01
  Erin Dahlgren: That's what I'm talking about with that over breathing. We're breathing more than what our body needs. So we're gonna get a little less oxygen, and we start to activate, and our nerves become a little excited. So we have a little tingling usually. Many people are breathing that way all day every day
• 58:17
  Melissa Shere Beek: without
• 58:18
  Erin Dahlgren: realizing it. They're breathing more than they need to and getting tingling and light headedness that they don't even realize is connected to their own breathing patterns. So just again noticing that difference of what happens when we start to activate a little. And again, this is why we lie down for longer breath work sessions. Yeah.
• 58:38
  I loved hearing just that Yeah.
• 58:40
  Melissa Shere Beek: We've Steven, his experience too. Steven, did you do it with us? You did. He fell asleep. You can't listeners, I don't think they can hear you, but he really liked it.
• 58:49
  Right? He took that little break he needed.
• 58:52
  Erin Dahlgren: I'm gonna take that as a compliment.
• 58:53
  Melissa Shere Beek: I love that. No. He felt he was so relaxed. I love that.
• 58:57
  Erin Dahlgren: Sometimes that's exactly what you need as well.
• 58:59
  Melissa Shere Beek: We were talking about that before the session. We both were talking about, we need to take a little break. This was incredible.
• 59:05
  Erin Dahlgren: Yeah. It's it's different every time. It's gonna be different. Even if you listen back to same recording over and over. Often you'll notice there's a big difference day to day, hour to hour as to what you feel.
• 59:16
  Melissa Shere Beek: Situational too.
• 59:17
  Erin Dahlgren: We're learning about our state. That's really all we're doing when we do these breath awareness exercises. It's just learning something new about our body, our nervous system, our breath, and the stories that it tells us
• 59:28
  Melissa Shere Beek: about And the state isn't constant. We're always in different states. So yeah. Oh, wow. That's incredible.
• 59:34
  Oh, thank you so much. Is there anything we didn't cover?
• 59:38
  Erin Dahlgren: No. I mean, we covered a lot today. I would say I I love to share this practice with people. I have several prerecorded programs on my website, including one specifically designed for kids and parents.
• 59:52
  Melissa Shere Beek: Oh, amazing.
• 59:53
  Erin Dahlgren: Brave breaths for kids who have big feelings and for the grown ups who love them. Oh. And it's really short. There's seven short modules. I've worked with kids for over a decade.
• 1:00:03
  Melissa Shere Beek: They're really fun
• 1:00:04
  Erin Dahlgren: and easy ways for kids to have tools to access their breath. Because we're learning this as adults Right. Now. Imagine
• 1:00:11
  Melissa Shere Beek: If we train them from the
• 1:00:12
  Erin Dahlgren: beginning Exactly. How brilliant. To these tools for regulation from an early age. I think that would just make the world of difference. It's such a gift to kids and parents because most of us are reparenting ourselves.
• 1:00:24
  Right.
• 1:00:24
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. We're learning as we go to.
• 1:00:26
  Erin Dahlgren: Exactly. As we raise our children.
• 1:00:27
  Melissa Shere Beek: So kids that, though.
• 1:00:28
  Erin Dahlgren: Having access to those tools yourself is a is a great thing. So there's that program on my website, as well as I have multimodality programs for burnout for people who are just going all the time and existing in this high state of stress without having a break. So but my presence under pressure program is the one I'm really excited
• 1:00:49
  Melissa Shere Beek: for at moment.
• 1:00:50
  Erin Dahlgren: That's the one that starts in May. We'll be running it almost consecutively throughout the year every eight weeks.
• 1:00:56
  Melissa Shere Beek: Okay. Great.
• 1:00:57
  Erin Dahlgren: And we're seeing I'm I'm loving the process of going through it with the people who are currently enrolled and hearing the feedback and the impact that it's having on their lives, even just in these early weeks. So I'm really excited about the development of that program and what it can bring to so many professionals mainly, but also people who just want to be able to show up in those moments where adrenaline really hits and you're not able to access that best version of yourself.
• 1:01:26
  Melissa Shere Beek: So if you miss the May program, there's gonna be programs throughout the summer and fall and everything that you can and all of this is on your website?
• 1:01:33
  Erin Dahlgren: It's all on my site, engagebreathwork.com. Okay. We also have one more program, which is just launched this week, which I'm excited about. So for those who really wanna deep dive into their breath practice and understand a bit more about the science and what's happening in the body Mhmm. But don't necessarily wanna train to become a breath guy or be a facilitator.
• 1:01:52
  So just for your own practice and understanding what's happening and having access to all those tools on demand, we have a new program called BREATH Fundamentals.
• 1:02:00
  Melissa Shere Beek: Oh, I love that. Okay. So the BREATH Fundamentals, the the one that Wednesday evenings that runs every eight weeks, I forgot the name of that.
• 1:02:08
  Erin Dahlgren: Pressure.
• 1:02:08
  Melissa Shere Beek: But the one with the children.
• 1:02:10
  Erin Dahlgren: Brave breaths.
• 1:02:11
  Melissa Shere Beek: And then what was the fourth one?
• 1:02:12
  Erin Dahlgren: Burnout recovery.
• 1:02:13
  Melissa Shere Beek: Burnout recovery. Everybody can use that. I love that. And reset. So all that's on
• 1:02:18
  Erin Dahlgren: your Feels like throwing a lot at you right now.
• 1:02:20
  Melissa Shere Beek: Love it all. I love all I I think this has been an incredible episode. I think it's so necessary. It's educational. It's informational.
• 1:02:29
  It's fun. I've had such a good time with you.
• 1:02:31
  Erin Dahlgren: Thank you, Melissa.
• 1:02:32
  Melissa Shere Beek: Before I let you go, I do one thing with my guests. It's called quickie questions. Are you game? I'm game. I'm I'm game.
• 1:02:38
  I you're game. Because we have the best dance session before. Yeah. I love it. I love a quickie.
• 1:02:43
  Alright. Who or what inspires you? I
• 1:02:49
  Erin Dahlgren: would have to say my children. I know that sounds like such a cliche but I think that we learn more from them than I could ever teach them, you know. Many students over the years, but predominantly my children who teach me every day how to show up authentically and with so much courage and strength and resilience and also just this real sense of morality. Their values are
• 1:03:21
  Melissa Shere Beek: really That's amazing. That stems from you though. It's cyclical, I think. I think we learn a lot from our children, but I think you instill that in your children so they have the ability to teach you.
• 1:03:33
  Erin Dahlgren: Yes. I don't think I can take that much credit for it, But at the same time, I like to think that I let them discover who they are without forcing them to be someone they're not. And that I'm really proud of.
• 1:03:45
  Melissa Shere Beek: Yeah. You should be. That's amazing. Okay. First thing you do in the morning?
• 1:03:52
  Erin Dahlgren: I I make juice and then I love that. And then I go usually and I sit. I have a little space in my office where I have some Palo Santo and a singing bowl, and I have my affirmations. And I don't always get time because I like to sleep as long as I possibly can but I try and make space for five or ten minutes to just sit and breathe and take space for myself before I wake the kids
• 1:04:15
  Melissa Shere Beek: What kind of juices?
• 1:04:16
  Erin Dahlgren: I use celery juice
• 1:04:17
  Melissa Shere Beek: Yeah, that's great! Good morning Oh, that's so good for your body Okay, what do you want to get better at?
• 1:04:28
  Erin Dahlgren: Learning. Learning. I think that's the real resilience. If you can find enough humility to let yourself be in a learning mindset all the time, and not reach that point where you're like, I know my stuff now. There's always more to know.
• 1:04:48
  I really enjoyed that process of opening myself up to so much learning, so much new knowledge, and the more it's true, I don't remember who said that, but the more you know, the more you realize you don't know. And I love that, but it's not an easy thing
• 1:05:03
  Melissa Shere Beek: to No, it's continued growth though, but that's amazing. Okay, last one. What makes you smile? Life.
• 1:05:16
  Erin Dahlgren: Now that I said that out loud. That sounds really cheesy, but there's so much to
• 1:05:20
  Melissa Shere Beek: There's smile so much to smile about. So much joy. I think we have to actively look for it sometimes because there's a lot we're inundated with, but I think, yeah, it's You there. It
• 1:05:30
  Erin Dahlgren: cultivate what you think of. So finding those moments and practicing finding the joy.
• 1:05:39
  Melissa Shere Beek: Right. And appreciating it. Yeah. Oh, thank you so much. I'm so grateful that you are here today.
• 1:05:45
  This was wonderful. Okay. We're gonna talk after.
• 1:05:48
  Erin Dahlgren: Thank you so much for having me.
• 1:05:50
  Melissa Shere Beek: No. My pleasure. To our listeners, thank you so much. So grateful you're here. Keep listening.
• 1:05:55
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• 1:06:05
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• 1:06:17
  Woo hoo. At Penthouse Studios. Beek on being was recorded at Penthouse Studios and is a proud member of the Penthouse Podcast Network.