Ep. 10: Relax and Recharge - The Power of Breathwork

Brian:

Welcome to the Living the Healthy Life podcast, where we bring you the latest on health and wellness from the experts here at Lee Health, discover what's happening at Lee Health and take away tips and inspiration to reach your ideal state of health.

Hello and welcome. My name is Brian Hubbard. I am the manager for marketing and brand management at Lee Health. With me today, as always as my co-host, Carrie Bloomers. She's a registered dietician and the director of education and navigation of the Healthy Life Center at Lee Health Coconut Point.

Hello, Carrie, and welcome.

Carrie:

Hello and good afternoon everyone.

Brian:

Good to see you. All right, thanks to everyone out there for joining us today. We are thrilled to welcome Kiersten Cato. She's a yoga instructor and fitness professional at Lee Health Coconut Point. She's here to talk to us today all about breathwork and meditation. This is something we hear a lot about, so we're excited to delve into the details. Kiersten is going to take us through a little bit about the benefits, how you can start and how you can make all this work for your lifestyle.

Welcome, Kiersten. Hello.

Kiersten:

Hi. Thanks for having me, Brian and Carrie, I'm so happy to be here.

Brian:

This is going to be fun. I appreciate you being here. All right, let's dive right in. So we'll turn over to you. People are tired of listening to me talk. So how about this. Kiersten, tell us a little bit in your own words, what is breathwork?

Kiersten:

Brian, breathwork is conscious controlled breathing, and this is usually performed for relaxation, meditation, or therapeutic purposes. Now, breathwork allows us to be present in the moment, letting go of the past or any future worries, which is amazing.

Carrie:

I like what you said about the present moment, of your synopsis there with breathwork. It is something I think everyone can relate to where your brain is going a mile a minute. You're thinking about what needs to be done next and how often do we actually pause.

Brian:

I'm doing it right now.

Carrie:

Let our minds just rest.

Kiersten:

Yes, absolutely. And the great thing about breathwork is people get very nervous, I think, with meditation that they have to sit still. They can't do anything. They can't think any thoughts, which is not the case. But breathwork is an active practice, so you are actively participating. You're thinking, you're controlling your breath, which makes it more accessible for everybody.

Brian:

It makes good sense. So how do these tools, I mean obviously it sounds simple to me, but how do these tools help manage stress on a daily basis? We're all so stressed out, we're all so busy. We're all so active. What are the overall goals of meditation? What is the difference between meditation and breathwork, which you already said, but can you expound upon that a little bit and how does this all help you in your daily life?

Kiersten:

Absolutely. So we all feel stressed, as you mentioned, and as we mentioned, it's all about being in the present moment. So when we get stressed, it's because we're worried about what happened in the past or we're worried about what may be happening in the future. We're not stressed when we're in the present moment. We just are.

Brian:

Good point.

Kiersten:

So that is how it helps, and it allows us to shed that baggage of past or future.

Carrie:

So with that, tell us a little bit more then about the meditation of the practice.

Kiersten:

So meditation is more about stillness, where breathwork is more active. That's why if you are newer to this practice, I highly recommend starting with breathwork first, because those with active minds, which is most people ever-

Carrie:

I can relate.

Kiersten:

... they need to have a little active practice. They need to feel like they are focusing on something. And meditation is more about non-active letting go.

Brian:

So that makes sense because what we're saying maybe is that meditation to me, we've talked about this before here on the show and in other places on leehealth.org, meditation can be intimidating or at least it appears to be. There's so much involved you have to do. There's a way to do it. And you were talking about the thoughts that you get, people get assaulted by. So breathwork sounds like it could be something that's more casual or something you can just do in whatever form.

Kiersten:

Yes. So it brings your awareness to the breath. You have something to focus onto and something, I mean, yes, that's it. Something to focus on too. Meditation, you want to try to let go of thoughts and thoughts will arise, absolutely. So don't ever think that "I can't meditate because I am going to have thoughts." It's about having that awareness of, "Oh, there's a thought," and practicing detachment. So "I am un-attaching from that thought, I'm letting it go. I'm bringing the awareness back to my breath."

Brian:

That makes sense. So let's say me, just using myself as an example, you're working in this office where we're recording this, you're doing whatever, feeling a little stressed. So how would someone just pause and incorporate breathwork, no matter where they're working, whether it's an office job, whether it's whatever. Or whether, I'm guessing, you're at home, you're stressed out with the kids, or whether you're making dinner. How does it all work and what's the easiest way to start?

Kiersten:

I think the absolute starting point is starting with intention. What is your intention? How do you want to feel as a result of your practice? And we have different breathing techniques that can do certain things. So certain breathing techniques are going to be more calming to the body, more calming to the nervous system. We can even activate the parasympathetic nervous system, allowing that rest and digest, making the exhale longer than the inhale.

Carrie:

Because you're saying there's like physiological effects at play here.

Kiersten:

Absolutely.

Carrie:

It's not just breathing and counting. It's your parasympathetic nervous system. So you're slowing your heart rate and calming your mind, relaxing your nervous system.

Kiersten:

Absolutely.

Carrie:

And when we do this, I mean, are you saying... How long do we have to do this to get those impacts, would you say?

Kiersten:

For most breathing techniques, I'd recommend three to five rounds. So it really is going to be a few minutes of it at max. You really don't have to do it for a long time at all.

Brian:

So you can just, maybe I could just duck into, let's say you've got an office, I can just stop. Does it take 30 seconds? Is it a minute?

Kiersten:

Thirty seconds to two minutes.

Brian:

Well, that's fantastic. That seems easy enough. So it's something that everyone can do if they wanted to.

Kiersten:

Absolutely. And as you get more comfortable with it, with breathwork and meditation, you may start with breathwork first. And once you have that two minutes of breathwork, "Do I feel like I can sit here longer," and maybe this is where I'll do that 10 minute meditation. I feel relaxed. I feel like I'm able to still my mind a bit.

Brian:

So you practice a little bit, you practice, you get better at it. It breaks that intimidation thing we're talking about. It's something that anybody can do.

Carrie:

As a dietician, there's research and information about doing a couple of those rounds of breathing prior to eating, since we all rush. And that idea of mindful eating and we're not paying attention to, and we overeat as a society, and then we have indigestion and heartburn. Are we even chewing our food? So the idea of doing a couple cycles of breathwork, which I know you're going to share with us later, to be able to pause and just be in the present moment of eating our lunch. And that way your parasympathetic nervous system is ready to digest your food appropriately, and it's not just, "Ooh, the stress is crazy."

Brian:

Shoveling food.

Carrie:

Off to the next thing, like rushing. So I've definitely seen that and recommended it to patients in the past too, where we hurry, we stress. And there's other factors that come into play.

Brian:

Are you guys finding that there's more of a need for this thing lately? I mean, we've talked about this before, Carrie. The conversations around mental health have gotten easier in the past for years, and more people are going into meditation and yoga, whatever may be. Are you finding that more people are open to it? Is it just one of those things that they've never thought of it before, but once you mention it to them, then they're perfectly willing to try it? Or is there a barrier there? I mean, are you finding it easier to talk to people about it? And are people more open to the practice?

Kiersten:

I think people are becoming more open to the practice. But I also want to say the practice has been around for centuries. Our ancestors used to do breathwork practice. I mean, it's been around for thousands of years. We just forgot the knowledge in our modern times. So now we're getting back to this infinite wisdom, back to this beautiful practice.

Brian:

That's a great point, because it's not a new trendy thing that suddenly we're all jumping on. It's an actual thing that's been around forever us.

Carrie:

So would you tell us some of your go-tos for breathing and these techniques that you would utilize when you're feeling like stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, or probably you may have it as a daily practice, potentially, to just mitigate and keep a calmer more stress-free lifestyle?

Kiersten:

Absolutely. Anytime I notice in my body that I'm starting to tense up is when I automatically go to a breathwork practice. My go-to practice is alternate nostril breathing. But there are a lot of different practices, and as I mentioned before, they can provide different levels of energy. But it goes back to intention, and it goes to what breath practice do you resonate with most. I resonate most with alternate nostril breathing. That may not be the one that resonates with you. So it's finding that one practice that helps you and using it when you need it, whether it is to, if you're feeling that afternoon slump after lunch, you're tired, you're at your desk, you don't feel like you can focus. You need a little boost of energy. You can use it for that. You can use it when you're trying to fall asleep at night or if you wake up in the middle of the night and you're trying to get back to sleep.

Brian:

That's a big one. Yes.

Carrie:

[inaudible 00:11:05].

Brian:

Oh, go ahead.

Carrie:

I was going to say that one might be a new one to our listeners. So can you walk us through a cycle or two of alternate-

Brian:

I was just going to ask you that. What is, I mean it sounds like it is, I'm sure, but what is it? And then take us through some of these other specific ones, like the differences and all that kind of thing.

Kiersten:

So alternate nostril breathing, you're going to take your right hand, fingers are pointing up towards the ceiling, palm is facing out. We're going to tuck our index finger and middle finger. So we're using our thumb and our ring finger to plug the nostrils from side to side. Now this may be uncomfortable for some people, and if that's the case, you can tuck that ring finger and use the thumb and their pinky finger to plug the nostrils. They hang loose.

Brian:

Now it looks like a hang loose.

Kiersten:

Or you can skip the hand [inaudible 00:11:54] altogether and simply use your imagination that you're breathing in and out through one nostril at a time. But I'm going to walk you through how I do it in my practice. So we take the right hand, we're tucking the index finger, middle finger, using thumb and ring finger, plug your right nostril with your thumb. Inhale through just the left. Now hold or retain that breath at the top. We're going to take the ring finger, plug the left nostril, exhale through just the right.

Brian:

Wow.

Kiersten:

Inhale through the right, hold at the top, exhale through the left.

Brian:

That's like an immediate effect.

Kiersten:

It's my reset button.

Brian:

That is awesome. You guys should see us in here plugging our noses here. But it really works.

Carrie:

It does. And you could do that in the car.

Kiersten:

Yep. I did it on my way here.

Brian:

That's great.

Kiersten:

Sitting in traffic, I was starting to...

Brian:

But I like the idea you said about using your imagination. You can plug, which really works, but you can just envision air going up one way and coming out the other.

Kiersten:

Absolutely.

Brian:

I love that. What is some of this deep abdominal breathing? What is the difference now between two on one and these other things?

Kiersten:

Yes. So deep abdominal or diaphragmatic or yogic breath, it's all the same, different names. So what we want to do with this breath is we want to actually breathe from our diaphragm. So a lot of people, especially that have never done a breathwork practice, they breathe from their chest, and just the chest is moving. So if this is you, take one hand, place it on your chest, one hand, place it on your belly. Now as you inhale, feel the belly start to expand, on the exhale, feel that belly soften back down. So we don't really want to feel our hand on our chest moving. We want to feel the hand on the belly moving.

Brian:

That makes sense.

Carrie:

So if we feel the top hand moving, we are more shallow breathing?

Kiersten:

Yes.

Brian:

It's like all part of the tension in your shoulder thing, because I'm like this all day long.

Carrie:

Say hi, it's me. I'm a shallow breather.

Brian:

That's pretty good.

Kiersten:

Yes. Another one. So two, two, one breath or the extended exhale. This is the one we talked about that activates the parasympathetic nervous system. So for this one, we want to extend that exhale, making it longer than the inhale. Ideally it is twice as long as the inhale. So say you inhale for a count of two. You want to exhale for a count of four.

Brian:

Okay.

Kiersten:

Then once you get used to that, you want to extend it even more. Inhale for three, exhale for six. Inhale for four, exhale for eight. It takes a while to get to that point. I mean, four and eight can feel very overwhelming and intimidating. So start with, I mean, even one count in, two counts out, just extending that exhale will calm the body.

Brian:

Now this one, I'm very interested in breathing with mantra. What is that exactly?

Kiersten:

So this can be meditation because you're using a mantra, and all you have to do is say or silently repeat something that resonates with you. So one example here is breathing in, "I calm my body," breathing out "I smile." Or the days that I feel really tense, I think to myself, I breathe in space or new and positive energy and I exhale letting go of anything no longer serving me.

Brian:

I like that a lot. Just doing this here, and again, I just said this a minute ago, but it bears repeating, so once you do it, you feel the immediate effects and you're like, 'Why am I not doing this all the time?" And I'm speaking for myself, you just forget.

Kiersten:

It's just awareness.

Brian:

It's just practice. It's just remembering. Do you put up, where you're in your office or wherever, do you put up a little sticker that says, "Remember to breathe. Do the two to one extending exhale, or do the nostril thing." Can it just be that easy to just put up a reminder? Because once I remember it, then I want to do it.

Kiersten:

Absolutely. Whatever helps you. Maybe that's appointment reminders on your calendar. If you know that you have a little break in between two meetings or that you're going to go public speak and you're really nervous about it, that's the time "I am going to do this practice for two minutes before I step into this meeting or step onto that stage or do this thing." And you will build awareness. So you will be moving through your everyday life and suddenly you'll check in with your body and you're just going to say, "How do I feel in this moment?" You're going to be like, "Oh my gosh, I feel really tense. I need three rounds of extended exhale."

Brian:

I guess it's like any other habit. It's like exercise. It's like drinking water. The more you do it, the more your body wants it, et cetera, et cetera.

Carrie:

Yeah. And you're putting tools in our toolbox right now to help mitigate, manage, these stressors in the moment when our nervous system is freaking out or whatever it is. Now we have all these little things at our fingertips.

Kiersten:

And the more you practice, the more you sharpen the tools, in order to a balance-

Brian:

Then you can do the four and eight or whatever it was.

Kiersten:

4, 7, 8. So this is the best one, I believe, for sleep. Whether you are trying to fall asleep, or I use this one all the time when I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm trying to go back to sleep. 4, 7, 8 breath. Do you guys want to try it with me?

Brian:

Yes, please.

Carrie:

Yes.

Kiersten:

Okay. So we're going to start on the inhale, inhaling for count of 2, 3, 4, hold the breath. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Exhale. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Let's do that again. Inhale. 2, 3, 4. Hold, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Exhale. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Brian:

Well, I'm already tired, so let's nap.

Kiersten:

No, no, no. And that goes intention.

Brian:

That's great.

Kiersten:

You can use that breath, if you want to gain alertness, clarity, focus, you can use it in the middle of the afternoon when you're feeling a slump. If your intention is to feel energized, you will feel energized and focused as a result of the breathwork. If your intention is to feel relaxed and wanting to rest, you will rest.

Brian:

So you can tell your body what you need. You don't need to jump to the caffeine solution. You can do the breathwork instead.

Kiersten:

Don't let this be intimidating. "Oh, this breath is only for energy and this breath is for calming and this breath is for balance." Just do the one that's right for you, the one that resonates, the one that you're going to think of and come to mind and set an intention around it.

Brian:

That's fantastic.

Carrie:

So another practical thing, I've utilized this type of breathing actually with my children, and the five seven year olds, they still have really bit, well of course they do, but they have big emotions and still those tantrums and that things that come. And sometimes it's that place where they have trouble calming down. And I do have a free version of an app on my phone, and it has this four, seven, eight style breathing, shorter type intervals where I can say, "Do you want to use the breathing app?" And I'll pass it over and try and get them in a calm place where they can practice. And I don't think they do it a hundred percent every time, but that does pull their brains out of whatever's happening in our world right now or why their emotions are so big. And it's a tool we're trying to utilize more so that we're teaching that as a application early, because I have three little boys, and I think their automatic trigger is more physical aggression or kicking or throwing or hitting. So if we can breathe and transfer that and help them process some of those big, big feelings, it's been a tool for us.

Kiersten:

I love that, Carrie.

Brian:

And they're open to that. They're receptive to that.

Carrie:

Yeah. I mean, it helps that it's on a phone. So your generation-

Brian:

Well, that's a good point. However you can do it.

Carrie:

It does. And it vibrates too. So it counts through. It has a little, you can change it, whether it's like a piano sound or a waterfall sound and they can pick their setting. Sometimes honestly, the first time it's like, it's very refusal. It's almost like, "No, I don't want to calm down. I don't want to utilize that." But as soon as it's still handed over and forced, it helps move us to the next.

Brian:

That's amazing. So it's for all ages basically.

Kiersten:

It is. And I actually have a tool that I use with my children. It's called a retractable. And I recently got this at Target in the dollar section. It was the $3 one. But so as they inhale, the ball expands and it gets big just as you would want your belly to get big. And as they exhale, it goes back to the first size. So inhale, expanding, exhale, it goes back.

Brian:

They can see it working.

Kiersten:

They move it with their hands. Sometimes we even fight over the ball.

Carrie:

Maybe you need one of those for your office.

Brian:

I can totally have-

Carrie:

You have the ball.

Brian:

Yeah, I would love that. That's pretty cool.

Carrie:

Remind us to breathe.

Brian:

So that's interesting. So the one thing you mentioned before, and I think again it's important to note, this is not a new thing. So can you tell us who else is using this breathing techniques? Does it run across all spectrums or how does that work?

Kiersten:

That is a great point, Brian. Thank you for bringing that up. So a lot of times when we think about breathwork, we think about just yogis sitting in a forest on a yoga mat in spandex. And you don't have to do that at all. In fact, one of a favorite breathing techniques of mine comes from the Navy SEALs.

Brian:

There you go.

Kiersten:

Yes, men, listen up. You are not weak if you do breathwork. Some of the strongest men in our country actually practice it, and they invented this practice, the box breathing or square breathing.

Brian:

How do you do that? Is it something that we can do or is it just something for... Talk us through what that is.

Kiersten:

Let's do it, guys. All right. So we're going to do breath counts for counts four. And you can even imagine the four sides of a box. So that's why they call it the box breath. We're imagining drawing those four sides of a box. I'm going to walk us through it together three times. Starting on the inhale. 2, 3, 4. Hold the breath, 2, 3, 4. Exhale, 2, 3, 4. Hold, 2, 3, 4. Inhale, 2, 3, 4, hold, 2, 3, 4. Exhale, 2, 3, 4. Hold, 2, 3, 4. Inhale, 2, 3, 4. Hold, 2, 3, 4. Exhale, 2, 3, 4. Hold, 2, 3, 4. That's it.

Brian:

And here, you think Navy SEALs, you think it's going to be something like crazy-

Carrie:

It's going to be hard.

Brian:

It's going to be hard, crazy thing. But that's really simple, really easy.

Carrie:

And really powerful. You have a note that you shared with us earlier that it's helps slow the heart rate. So you can imagine in combat and battles, practical application like adrenaline pounding and there's going to be moments where you need the clarity of mind-

Kiersten:

Concentration, focus.

Carrie:

... a tool like this, it's accessible, it's easy. You can do this from anywhere.

Kiersten:

Now one thing I do want to point out when we talk about accessibility is breathing in and out of the nostrils, which is what we try to do for a lot of these breathworks, can feel not accessible to everybody. So especially if you have a lung disease, you may find it hard, especially on the exhales, extending that exhales. So if this is you, I want you to try pursing your lips and exhaling out through pursed lips and see if that helps you feel like you're able to control your breath more.

Brian:

That's a good point.

Carrie:

Yeah, that's a good tip.

Brian:

And if people have concerns about their level of breathing, obviously they should talk to their doctor-

Kiersten:

Absolutely.

Brian:

... primary care physician, all those kinds of things.

Kiersten:

Yes, there are a lot of breathwork practices out there. Some of them are not recommended for everyday people. So if you're going to practice like holotropic breathwork, please see a licensed professional. Don't be trying to get stuff off YouTube and always check with your healthcare provider that these breathwork practices are right for you.

Brian:

Kiersten, you've given us a lot of great tips in here and showing us, obviously things like classes were probably very beneficial. Carrie, can you talk a little bit about the classes at the Healthy Life Center that tackle these kinds of things, plans for the future, all that?

Carrie:

Sure. So we do have a mind body program at Lee Health Coconut Point where we offer a variety of classes with meditation and breathing components like chair yoga, other forms of yoga. And we also have virtual offerings that we've done related to meditation, yoga, chair yoga for the office, where the breathing components are the foundation of those where you can access it anywhere. And then we continue to plan and partner with our instructors, the real experts in their field. We have a upcoming day yoga program that we plan to host and join all together to work on these tools, these practices that we can implement in our lives.

Brian:

It's all a part of Lee Health and Lee Health Coconut Point, making sure that we're reaching out to the public, that we're giving them health and wellness resources, making sure that they know where they can go for these kinds of things. They can just go to our website, they can Google Lee Health Coconut Point classes-

Carrie:

Events.

Brian:

All those kinds of things. Events, thank you. Well, that's excellent.

Kiersten, I wanted to know, because we always try to talk a little bit about this for our guests and the public to connect with people. Can you tell us, you're obviously very passionate about this, very knowledgeable, where did all this come from? What got you into this line of work and what are your ideas and maybe plans for the future? That's a big question, but see if you can wrap that up in one minute.

Kiersten:

You bet. So I'm originally from Iowa, and I moved down to Florida for my first corporate job. I was fresh out of college and my boyfriend from Iowa actually followed me down to Florida. And a month after living here in Florida, he was diagnosed with stage four melanoma. And he was the one that actually introduced me to my first in-studio yoga class. And so that's how I was introduced. And while he was going through treatments, we explored different healing modalities and techniques. Obviously being in hospitals and getting treatment, but what could we do on our own? And that's when we started practicing together. He had a year and a half battle and succumbed to his disease. So after he passed away, I knew in my heart that I needed to become a yoga instructor and to use these tools and get these tools out to others who also need these. That's amazing.

Brian:

That's amazing.

Carrie:

Yeah. That's powerful and inspiring. So thank you for sharing that.

Brian:

Yes, thank you very much. So you really want to just share that, because we talked about it when we started. We're a stressed out people, we're sleep-deprived people. But it goes beyond that. It's about becoming the best version of yourself, the best version of your family, whatever it may be. So your hope, I'm not trying to put words in your mouth, but your hope, your passion, your skillset is to just educate, teach, and bring that to everybody, it sounds like.

Kiersten:

Absolutely. These are all tools that we have access to. It's just knowing that these tools are out there. So like we mentioned, these tools are accessible, they're for everybody. It's just knowing how to use them and what they are. And then you can use them.

Brian:

They work. I think we've seen the results.

Carrie:

Yeah, we're pretty relaxed now after the show.

Brian:

I'm doing good.

Carrie:

We're present and we've been breathing.

Brian:

It's true. And it works for everyday life. And then it becomes a way of life and then maybe and just pie in the sky stuff, but maybe eventually the more people learn how to do it, the more people get comfortable with it, talking about it, practicing together, the less stress we'll be, the better we'll become.

Kiersten:

Absolutely. You'll become a better version of yourself. We all want to be the best versions of ourselves and what can we do to be a better version. And this is one way.

Brian:

That's fantastic. Kiersten, this has been really great. We really appreciate you being here and taking us through these relaxation breathing techniques. Like Carrie said, I feel better already. Is there anything you'd like to add to the general public out there? Anything you want to say to the people of Southwest Florida who might be listening? Anything we've missed?

Kiersten:

If you have any questions, please find our website or check the show notes. We're going to link our blog post so you can always listen to this podcast and go through those different breathing techniques. Or you can read this blog post if you're more visual learner, you can read how to do some of these breathwork techniques. And be able to use these in your everyday life.

Brian:

Carrie, what are your last words.

Carrie:

Yeah, you can always get in touch with Kiersten through the Healthy Life Center and you can email the Healthy Life Center at [email protected]

Brian:

Makes sense. And you can visit leehealth.org and search for events. You can search for Coconut Point, you can find all kinds of things. As Kiersten said, we will be putting the show notes together for this podcast. And inside those show notes, you'll have a link to a blog post on our Healthy News blog site. So everybody should have some good resources.

Well, Kiersten, thank you very much for being here. This has been a joy. Thank you so much.

Kiersten:

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Brian:

We hope you'll tune back in for upcoming episodes. We will be interviewing experts around Lee Health so you can learn more about what we do and how we strive every day to fulfill our mission to the community, to provide the best care close to home. Thanks for listening and have a great day.