EMBRACING THE UNKNOWN: Building a Breathing Culture with Sarah Hutcherson Artwork

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Welcome to the Questions to Hold podcast hosted by BWB founder, Casey Carroll. In a world that praises answers over questions, the act of holding a question is an act of resistance, presence and devotion. In this podcast, we explore the intersection of life’s biggest inquiries and our personal and professional worlds. Whose story are you telling? What impact are you having? Are you happy? Tune in for honest conversations with progressive leaders and entrepreneurs dedicated to questioning our institutions, igniting change, and provoking new possibilities. Join us for our next discussion.

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EMBRACING THE UNKNOWN: Building a Breathing Culture with Sarah Hutcherson

May 28, 2025 • BWB

Sarah is the founder of Slo Breathworks and she combines years of training and experience in breathwork facilitation, yoga, sustainability, and leadership to offer mindful breathing experiences - workshops, walks, and seasonal containers - to integrate mindful breathing into daily life so busy doers can move from overwhelmed to empowered. While Sarah has hundreds of hours of trainings in the mechanics and physiology of breathing, it is the lived experience of consciously breathing when anxiety, pain, and stress arise that ignite Sarah’s passion for helping hurried souls slow down through intentional breaths.

Join us for a conversation with Sarah Hutcherson (she/her), where we explore how our breath is a tool and companion to walk with us on the path of change and growth. Sarah guides us through an opening and closing breath to bring us into an embodied practice while we listen.

In this episode you’ll hear about:

How intentional and conscious breaths effect us
Learning to accept who we are through the power of breath
What a breathing culture is and the impact it can have in our lives
Breathing techniques that we can explore at any point of the day
The practice of breath walks

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Casey: [00:00:00] On this season of the Questions to Hold podcast, we will feature conversations with leaders, friends and peers, all dedicated to navigating the unknown. In this time of so much change and great uncertainty, we are being called to become skilled questioners, listeners, dreamers and builders, join us as we hear personal stories that connect us to our shared humanity and explore how we can transform together and fully embrace the mystery of the moment.

Let's dive in.

Hello everyone, and welcome to today's episode of Questions to Hold, which also falls on Earth Day. Yay. It feels very appropriate on this beautiful Earth Day to be in conversation with Sarah Hutcherson. Sarah, who needs no introduction, but I'll give a brief one as we lead into things here, but Sarah is a [00:01:00] friend first. I think after all the different pieces that we've been on, a journey together, but friend, collaborator, client, community member, co-creator, I mean, I could go, the list could go on and on about all the ways that Sarah has woven into my life personally and into the world of BWB, and I know that this is gonna be a very rich conversation exploring like what the unknown has been like for you and how you've helped other in those spaces, how we're dancing and the mystery of all the things because it's been at the center of our relationship in all the different ways. So Sarah is the founder of Slo Breathworks, which is an incredibly rad company, which is gonna be linked in the show notes to check out, combining so many different pieces of breath work, facilitation, yoga, sustainability, leadership, mindful breathing, and all around like human nature, connection goodness, really like when it [00:02:00] comes down to it and I think about it. It's one of those special businesses that defies category. Um, and I think those are the best ones out there. And then Sarah can introduce herself in all the ways that we're gonna feel good for her. And we'll dive right into the conversation. But before we get there, Sarah, I'm gonna have you lead us in a just a mindful breath to get oriented into where we may go in today's conversation. Into the world that is yours.

Sarah: Hmm. Okay, let's do this. So I invite all listeners to bring your hands as if you're holding our beautiful Earth, and I want you to start to notice your breath. Notice which nostril it wants to come in. Is it the left to right? 60% left, 40% right, somewhere in between. And start to slowly move the hands in and out. Not much movement there, just feeling the pulse. So as you inhale, the hands come out and as you come [00:03:00] in, the breath comes out. Noticing how quiet you can make the breath. And then we'll just play with making that breath the sounds, the velocity a little bit bigger and faster. So start to bring the breath in through the mouth and out the mouth. The hands continue to move the fluidity. Inhale and exhale. Imagine you're pulling in more air, more oxygen, more nourishment. On the inhale and on the exhale, just allow the shoulders to drop from the ears. Inhale through the mouth, the nose, maybe add a noise on that. Inhale, and then exhale. Just add a sigh. Two more. Inhale. Think about something you're ready to express that you've been holding back. Make that a sound on the exhale. [00:04:00] And inhale. Add that expression into the hands, into the face. Feel the belly, the chest rise. And then exhale. Let it drop. Ahhhh. Let the hands rest whether on lap, whether on desk, table, wherever you are. And just notice with those few breaths, any awareness or any shifts and movement, the breath's always moving forward. That's its beautiful gift. So notice what came up and returning to your nostrils noticing is the air moving the same way in? Notice if it's different on the pathway out. And then turn the corners of the mouth up. Turn the corners of the mouth down. Come back to neutral. The presence. Eyes can blink open if they were closed. And just [00:05:00] take in your space, notice a brightening or softening, and we're here.

Casey: Thank you Sarah. It's so nice to start that way because it's a launchpad to so many questions I wanna ask you. Is there anything you wanna name about yourself that I did not name in the beginning that would feel good to orient people before-

Sarah: Hmm.

Casey: -we go forward.

Sarah: Well, I would just say anytime you can start with a breath, whatever you're doing, it always allows, I'll speak for me to come into my body if I, no matter where I am and I think that relates to a lot of my journey, especially with the breath, of learning to accept who I am, accept my love and need for rest, and the ability to slow down. That's been, it's, you know, again, Slo Breathworks is called Slo, and that is probably is one of the hardest things for me. So it's a teacher always.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: And I think that's been my journey through different things in my life from burnout to illness to [00:06:00] creation of the business itself. It's always been a really beautiful reminder to, to the breath, especially to just come into the presence. Come into the body. 'cause the body really is the greatest teacher in many ways.

Casey: Mm-hmm. So tell the listeners a little bit about the journey that you've been on and where you are now in your relationship with the breath. So one thing that I love is when we start in conversation, Sarah and I've had, we talk a lot about this, like what would it be like to have a breathing culture, to live in a world that was centering, breathing in these kinds of ways? What you just did, leading us through a mindful breath moment to start, what you're framing up there and how that helps you personally pull into your body, um, and ground in those kinds of energetics differently from how typically the culture is set up to kind of keep us in the mind or in the busyness. So I'm just curious to kind of give a little context of, yeah. Where you are now and what that journey [00:07:00] has been to finding your own breathing culture in your life.

Sarah: Mm-hmm. Yeah. The, the idea of breathing culture is something like, it's always a question, like you talk about questions to hold, right? And so it's a question that guides me. Every day. And then also guides Slo Breathworks. And the thing is, we all breathe, right? We've all been respiring since we've been born, but there are moments in my life when I think about when I took intentional breaths, these conscious breaths, and how they've affected me as a person. And like I was an athlete in terms of I play basketball and I remember on the foul line, that's where my first conscious breath, if you will, was playing.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: And so that was back in the day and I had no idea. I was just like, that's part of my routine, right? But now looking back and understanding that kind of set the stage of like before moving forward, before speaking, I always return to the breath and then through yoga of course has elements of the breath, but it was really through, and I think this is for a lot of people, with the pandemic, [00:08:00] where I really came up against the question of what it meant to take a full breath.

Casey: Mm.

Sarah: And what that felt like for my body, and what I realized was during dealing with long COVID in different ways, and my body didn't respond like I thought it would. It was a moment of, okay, what, like how does it feel for my body to breathe? Right? You talk about a breathing culture, I think it's beautiful. Think about like what are the elements around me and then also when you're building a breathing practice, what are the elements within me, my diaphragm, my lungs, my ribs that allow for this culture of space, right? Because you want this ability to not only take up space as an individual, but as a group. How do you collectively hold this space? And when you have a breathing ecosystem, a breathing culture, all the elements together have their own spaces, right? But they also are interacting with each other, giving the oxygen, taking the carbon dioxide, vice versa. So for me, it's been through the exploration of growing from chronic pain, growing [00:09:00] through divorce, growing through moving back home, that I really understood that like a breathing culture is something that's constantly shifting. There is not a static point. You know, there, the one breath you take right now is not the same breath you took 20 days ago, or will be in two moments.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: So, really understanding that play of like constantly holding the change that's afoot, but letting that be the magic that's there.

Casey: Yeah. And what are some of the ways, because you know, it's like through your journey too and through your lived experience and kind of walking, it also made room for you to hold space to guide others in their breath practice.

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Casey: And in breathing practices. But I'm kind of curious to hear a little bit more about that too, of when it felt right to move from your own solid understanding of this into being able to facilitate and guide others in that relationship and understanding that obviously everybody's always in a learning together. You, as the guide and participant in [00:10:00] their own right too, but when did that kind of movement into group process happen for you?

Sarah: For me, it was, I would say, I've talked about this too, a lot is like Slo Breathworks helped me building it, like creating the idea of Slo Breathworks and then putting it into practice through the workshops, walks, breath breaks...

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: -Is how I really found my voice as a facilitator too. Right? It's like that practice piece and growing in the trust, right? So learning that it wasn't about perfection, letting go of that old, like it has to look a certain way to the understanding that of how the breath had helped me come back into my own space of knowing and trust was kind of when I was like, all right, I can lead space for others, right? Because in the end with the breath, it's like we all know how to breathe. Like what's so cool is we all are breathing all the time, but it's when you look at breath as a behavior, you can start to really understand how each person has their own behavior with it. And it's not about, oh, there's a right way to breathe. It's about how is your [00:11:00] breath adapted to help you be here right now? And how can you then help kind of just like deconstruct it some more so it can grow into the life that you're looking to cultivate, right? So with the different patterns that you learn and the different parts of the body you become familiar with, it's then this trusting of like, how does that then look externally? Right? If I'm able to hold my shoulders back and be a little bit more open so I can take a deeper breath than in the workplace I'm in, that's gonna show up as other nervous systems mirroring that and we can have more of those conversations to like move forward in a way that may be a little scary 'cause it's the un-, the unknown. It's different than what business as usual has been, so.

Casey: Yeah, and are you finding when you're working with people, like are they coming in with a lot of like "aha" and like wonder and insight or ha- do they, a lot of them have some sort of a breathing practice coming into it? Obviously there's probably some kind version of it, but I'm just so curious 'cause as you're naming, of course we're all breathing all the time and have been, [00:12:00] but then there's a way in which it comes into a consciousness and then a way in which I'm hearing too from you that becomes like, an understanding behaviorally and an understanding of like practice and culture and the relationships with the living world. Like there's so many kind of ripple outs of it, which is really cool. And I'm curious like how folks enter into that work with you and then where you're seeing some of their moments of like, wow, I didn't even think about what that might be like for me or how that might shift my relationship to work or something like that.

Sarah: Yeah. Ah, it's like, it's so cool because, I mean, I think about for me too, like when I found the breath, when I was dealing with long covid and just like not able to move my body like I used to to release, I came to it 'cause I wanted to fix. I was like, I wanna get back to where I was, and so that was my starting point. And then what I realized through that, I was like, there's no going back. It's all about reemerging, blooming into someone new. And so that would be like the theme for everyone that I work with. It's like a lot of times it's [00:13:00] injury. So some like have had a couple broken ribs or there's a desire to perform better, whether that's in a sport at work or as a parent of like, I wanna show up and be there and I don't know, what does that mean? And then, so it's like, all right, I'm gonna breathe like this 10 minutes a day for a month, and I'm gonna be able to do it. And then as they do the breathing and as we work on that together, what comes up is like, oh, it's not even about holding my breath for four minutes. What it's really about is that I don't know how to take a breath before I talk to my partner and have this hard conversation, and what does that mean? What does that mean about my nervous system and how I'm afraid to show up in this way? And so like you're talking about with interconnection of the breath, right? You start at one piece and then unravels to somewhere else. And so that's what's cool is when you start your breathing as a behavior. You will get to that goal of like wanting to hold your breath for three minutes. Great, that's awesome. But then you're gonna also be like, oh, now I can totally, um, show up for my friend and have a hard [00:14:00] conversation, and then also be there for my child so that I can mirror to them what it means to move through something that's really difficult and I don't have control over because with breath practice, especially breath work, all the different modalities, whether it's holotropic or more of the day-to-day resonant breathing, there's a desire to control.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: And I know for me, I've had to work really hard on when I do a breath practice, not to be like, alright, I'm gonna inhale, exhale and have so much force. And it's more of like, how do I allow that? Because when you do that on the neurobiological level that's shifting and allowing for the calm that people are seeking but then that has that interplay throughout of, oh, okay. I can just allow, I can lean back. If I lean back just a little bit, how does that allow then for me to feel a little bit safer when moving through these pieces that I'm not sure about or I don't know what's coming tomorrow, especially when things are so up and down.

Casey: Yeah. And I know you've used nature or the natural world in a lot of ways to [00:15:00] also be a supportive mirror and interconnection point with participants, including myself in your breath experiences where, you know, 'cause I can really relate to that, where my mind can get busy and actually I have like ,uh, different sinuses. So there- I have like a clogged nostril. So my breathing is always a little bit more labored. So for me, when I do them, it can get heady where I'm like, okay, but I wanna be breathing in for three seconds and then breathing out, you know, that kind of like over-reliance on control or perfection with it, or mastery of it in that way. And then in different experiences I've been in with you and otherwise, especially when I can get into a natural environment, it can help alleviate some of that mind game that I can play with myself and I can just kind of watch the world respirating, if you will, in those ways.

Sarah: Yeah.

Casey: So I'm curious how you've brought in the natural environment as a supportive tool. You know, you can speak to your own personal experience or, or in [00:16:00] what you're leading folks through in this time in particular.

Sarah: I think with the season, so- what's beautiful about the breath, right, is there's these four different parts to it, the- a breath cycle, and we have the four different seasons, right? So if you think about, and if you're listening, you can kind of fall along with a breath pattern of like when you inhale, that's bringing you into spring, and then you retain at the top of the inhale that sets summer, that full bloom, and then you exhale, the lungs are deflating. There's the shedding, the letting go. And then you have the hold after the exhale. And that's the winter where there's that internal work. And if you think in the body there's that air hunger that builds and in just in terms of the carbon dioxide, there's a lot at work there, right? Your body's learning how to be with this gas that isn't necessarily comfortable, but it can help your body grow its stress tolerance. And when you look at the seasons, no matter where you are, you see the shift, the continual change, the moving through. And so when for me, the, I lead [00:17:00] breath walks and I really started the practice of breathing with nature back in Colorado when I was there. Um, and I would just go on these short little walks 'cause that was the ability that I had at that time with my physical body. Through that practice, I saw how one plant would have thousands of different shades within one season. And so that, to me, there's something very grounding about that. And when you think about with our mirror neurons, like when we see that shift, do we notice how there's strength in the change as things are moving? Our bodies feel that too, right? And then our, we will start to mirror that. We mirror the strength of the trunk of a tree, the blooming of the flower. And adding in the breath component to it, it helps your body then start to learn how to breathe, lessen the head, lessen the neck, and then come into the full body flow of it. And I mean, we think about Tik Han, right? That he has so much that he has talked about with that. By no means, I mean nature always has such, such a teacher. We are nature. Nature is us. [00:18:00] And remembering to slow down and be present to that. It doesn't mean you have to go to a beautiful national park. You can do that anywhere. And flowers in the concrete springing up. That's where the magic is, because in the end, like you're saying everything around us. It's breathing, right? And remembering that, that we're just a piece of this puzzle can slow down. At least for me, I'll speak when I start to get into the squirrel brain, as I call it, the overthinking.

Casey: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Sarah: It helps me kind of pause, take a break, and just say, okay, like what is it that I can control? What is it? Like where is this yearning to control coming from? Right? How can I practice the wisdom of not only nature, but also the breath of slowly moving forward?

Casey: Yeah. And maybe just share with listeners like what is a breath walk and how we take one if we're on our own, like a self facilitated 'cause.

Sarah: Yes.

Casey: I also love that you do that. You lead them, but you also make space for people to lead themselves through their own breath walk. And I think it's such a beautiful practice and we can kind of [00:19:00] like think off the top of it, like, oh, I know what a breath walk is, but maybe I'm making assumptions. So I would just love you to say a little bit more like what is a, a breath walk and how can we do it as like a daily practice or a, a part of our practice in general?

Sarah: Yeah. Okay. Well, if you can, if you're somewhere where you can kind of get close to nature or even look out a window, I recommend it. So what really the components of it are you find an element of nature that you're drawn to. I work with this woman who always talks about, let the tree find you. And so it's like, let whatever element find you, whether it's an animal, whether it's a beautiful plant, flower. A blade of grass. And when you go over and you breathe with it, you start to just notice your breath. You begin with breath awareness, and then you study its shape, you study its texture and you study how it wants to move with, with if there's wind present-

Casey: Is, is it the breath or is it the piece of kind of the natural world that you've identified or both?

Sarah: I love that. Both, because I gonna be like, [00:20:00] okay, so when I see it here, so I like, it depends on the day, right? Because sometimes what I noticed with a breath walk is it kind of a great indicator whether you're like externally focused at that moment or more internally, which both are beautiful, but sometimes we need to like get out of our own way. So sometimes we need to remember where we are, like bring our nervous system back to the day it is. Other times we're very externally present. We wanna remember the meat suit that we're in, right? So starting kind of with where you are and then bringing it to the other place. Because when you think about the breath and you build a breath practice, texture, volume, speed is all part of how you can use the breath to turn on different parts of the nervous system.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: So like when you think of like right now everything's starting to boom where I am. Right? It has the little buds. So to me I would look at like a lilac bush that's starting to bud and I would have my breath be very soft and I, I'd probably go and do a little breath through my mouth, like a purse slip, like sucking water through the straw and then just [00:21:00] letting it drop out because the texture of the breath of that is very soft and delicate.

Casey: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Sarah: But maybe when in the summertime that lilacs like blooming and full, you take like three part breath in, you're big, you're expansive and you're allowing there to be a little bit more of the sense of, of space. So that's how you do a breath walk. And then you can add in different breathing points. And the best part I would say is not having an exact itinerary. But, especially- I have a pup. Um, if you have a dog or you like to go on walks with your family, it's a really cool thing to have a certain route and then you stop along the way throughout the seasons and you just see how it shifts. How, when I say it being the different elements of nature, and then it's kind of a reflection to you of like, huh. Where am I still holding space for the shifts, the shedding that's happening?

Casey: Yeah. One thing I just love so much about the breath walks is it's like, again, there are these ways in which you named them earlier in the conversation where breath has maybe become something that [00:22:00] we've either heard in like leadership circles of like take a breath before the big conversation or before the speaking engagement, or in performance in athletics where it's like you're on the foul line and you need to know how to take a conscious breath to kind of regulate your system. So there's ways in which it's been almost like performance or productivity linked in that way. And then the freedom that I've personally found in something like a breath walk is to kind of clear it from the necessarily like output. It's enabling to like do or achieve and just move it into this like way of being with the world that's always respirating and in a whole new understanding of things.

Sarah: Yeah, totally. It's like, with Adrienne Marie Brown, they always talk about just the different ways that breath is a shared resource, shared space, and I think, like I've been talking about with breath work and breath control, it's a beautiful tool to help with nervous system regulation, with [00:23:00] calm de-stress. Like all that is very true. And like in my life I've seen how it's helped me grow my capacity to lead-

Casey: mm-hmm.

Sarah: -And own a business at the same time. When we go into that mode of like, I'm adding this to my to-do list, this is gonna help me get to Z after being at A, what gets lost is that play the nuance of the, the culture of it, right? Of like allowing for it to be soft and allowing for there to be rest as a part of it. Because when we don't allow that rest, that play, that childlike wonder, which I, which nature holds all the time, we use that touch of what I really believe, what I keep saying, but as like trust and acceptance, right? It's that ability to like let go of everything being so outcome driven.

Casey: Yeah. Yeah. And I think obviously, I mean, you mentioned different kind of critical moments like the pandemic in which this became like a heightened awareness point for you. And obviously there's been many of those different milestones in everybody's life for different reasons. But I'm [00:24:00] curious too, 'cause we've talked about this in our own relationship a lot. Like what is the current moment in our world? Obviously asking for us in like, how does breath become such an ally in this way? I think for where we're all evolving and transforming into and healing through and kind of the, the potentials and opportunities that are there for us. How are you seeing or why do you wanna be a steward for breath in this moment in particular?

Sarah: Hmm. It's a decoupling from the to do like the do, do, do. And right now there's such an urgency of, there's a, like a return. This desire to return to what was too, I see that in terms of it making, you know, making it what it was. Again, all these slogans and it's, when you breathe, you are consciously breathing, right? When we, when you consciously breathe, you're choosing to A, slow down. B, choosing this idea of [00:25:00] trusting into the space of the unknown, of listening, moving from this action oriented place and allowing for this sense of unity of we are all interconnected.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: We're interdependent. And if you truly feel and believe and embody that, then it's hard to get caught up in a lot of the headlines of like, this is where we need to go and where the difference is overtaking. How we're connected as human beings, not human doings, like really emphasizing that. And so that for me is the big piece of it. And it's choosing autonomy in the body as well.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: Um, because when you start to know how, what a breath, like good breath feels like- my one friend was like, I finally figured out, I don't know how to do it, but I had an orgasmic breath. And uh, yes. And I was like, wait, I want that. What's an orgasmic breath? And she was like, I can't do it all the time. That's why I call it that. And so we're actually gonna meet about it 'cause I wanna understand what she's talking [00:26:00] about. But again, when you have that choice, you're able to say, this is my body. This is where I'm able and how I'm able to breathe. And then you're able to relate to others and figure out how they're able to breathe in a situation.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: And understand how the structures around you, both invisible and actual office space or home spaces, community spaces you're in, are affecting that. And once you understand, everyone can understand what it means to not be able to take a full breath or have that shallow breath.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: Um, and then when you understand how different systems are affecting the different social locations 'cause of that, it's very interesting to use the breath as a descriptor. It's almost like a way to talk about what you're going through without it being, uh, you versus them as well.

Casey: Yeah. It's so fascinating in listening to you talk to, I'm thinking about what would change in my own world. Like I'm thinking about playing with this today where I'm like, if I was just to meet somebody and first pay attention to how they were breathing [00:27:00] versus like what they were wearing. Or, you know, we hear a lot about like, what kind of energy is somebody bringing into the room? Or we'll pay attention to more external factors, but whether that's the blade of grass you're meeting, like you named. Mm-hmm. Or it's like the person that I'm about to go see in my next meeting after this call. It's like, what would shift in my own understanding and then in the output of like the, the conversation or the meeting or whatever happens, if what I was leading with is like just a quick check-in on how are our two bodies breathing together right now?

Sarah: Yeah.

Casey: -As the start and then having an awareness about that and, and moving in, which is just such an interesting, different approach, you know, but so available in so many ways. Um, and non-confrontational and coming from a place of, when I think about that, it's coming from a place of just curiosity and awareness of the body over awareness of kind of like the visual properties that might get our attention more quickly. Like what they're [00:28:00] wearing.

Sarah: Mm-hmm.

Casey: -How they're acting or what the, you know, those kinds of things. So it's really, I'm gonna try that. That's my own personal goal.

Sarah: I love that. Yeah. i'd say a lot of the, in the work of the trainings, education, the learned piece I've done, it's really is like seeing the body-

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: -And learning what, how bodies breathe. Right? And what does that mean? And I love that because being able to navigate and interact with people and see beyond

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: -The, the visible, right? Like there's this invisible element to the breath that I think sometimes can be, folks are like, ah, well like, you know, it's like a little bit more of like, I can't see it or touch it. How is it gonna help me or how's it gonna help us? And like starting to have that perspective of the lens of looking at breathing bodies, looking at the breath as a tool to connect and understand it, it like we're talking about, it shifts to, into the conversations and community and this idea of like, how do we create these cultures, these systems where everyone can [00:29:00] breathe, where they're not only breathe but really like, have a beautiful full breath, shoulders or back.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: There's movement and there's the reciprocity to give and to receive.

Casey: Yeah. One other piece I just wanna make sure that we touch on, 'cause I, I realize I didn't bring it into your introduction only a little bit, but so much of your work is founded in sustainability as well. And what, in thinking about like the body and where we are as a culture and all these different pieces we're talking about today, I'm thinking about like how does the breath connect to sustainability? I don't just mean from the Earth Day perspective of the day, although that is as well in terms of the sustainability of our earth, but just like our ability to sustain. I suppose more in that kind of sustainability lens. I'm curious if you have any thoughts on, on that to share?

Sarah: Yeah, two thoughts. One, in terms of more like collective of [00:30:00] goals, so like when I think about what I, in terms of growth, right? With business, right? We think about, if you look at it, it's a hockey stick, we always talk about the hockey stick. And that's successful business, right? And so just thinking about that from a breath perspective, what's that? That's a constant inhale. And if you think about breathing in breathing and breathing, breathe breathing in, and you're not stopping breathing in, there's no space to allow for that release to allow for that shift so your body can come back into that homeo, allostasis. So just think about that in terms of like we talk about rest and trusting in the unknown. The goal is just constant growth.

Casey: Yeah.

Sarah: There's a lot of pushback there. And then in terms of sustaining, I mean a lot, I'll speak from my perspective, like I know when I was in natural food and corporate sustainability, I had the good intention of like wanting to help, wanting to do everything. But it was from a place where there's this your beautiful question in. Where are you sourcing from? I think it

Casey: is

Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Sarah: And like that [00:31:00] sourcing was not sustainable. Like it was not enduring, it was coming from almost a savior place.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: And I just, there is beauty in wanting to help to make the world better, all of these things. It's also being able, one of the things that I really believe through my work with Slo Breathworks is being able to take care of your body, of this coming into the work from a place of feeling creative, feeling that you are whole, that you're able to like take a full breath in and out and you're not constantly on the sympathetic fight or flight piece is really critical because I do believe that. I know for me, like I really wanted to fix, and I was in the pet world, I was like, I wanna change how the pet world thinks about equity, diversity thinks about food supply chains. And then I couldn't even take a breath. My breath was so in my head.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: And it just meant I was kind almost replicating the systems I was trying to change, right? Because I wasn't taking the time to allow for my body to come into that balance on the biological level, which I think is really essential and [00:32:00] sometimes overlooked, right? In the culture where we're so focused on that hockey stick of that growth.

Casey: Yeah. And then it leads to a burnout or a drop or, you know.

Sarah: Yeah. Like my, exactly. That's like what I experienced. Like yes. The selfishness piece that always comes up, or at least for me, that was something I worked through. Do I deserve rest, right?

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: What does that mean? Especially in this time where it just, each year I feel like there's more and more just constant, like natural disasters, more genocides, more wars, everything. And then it's like, how can I take this time and- right? It's like if we think, go back to the question. What is a breathing culture? You have to anchor in. Well, it starts with one person, that nervous system, then other nervous systems reading it too, right?

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: And if we want a world where people are breathing, we have to start with ourselves. I really do believe that. And start in the communities where we are and ask the hard questions of like, what am I doing that isn't helping you breathe? Right? Like, what's getting in the way? What are the obstacles? Then using the breath as a way to not only talk about it, but then as a [00:33:00] tool to say, okay, I'm feeling this anger, I'm feeling this rage. Feel it, you know, for those 90 seconds of that emotion, really be with it. Don't stuff it down. And then how are we going to continue to build from there and allow for the breath to. Be present and be in the body, hopefully a little further down away from the chest. Yeah. And, and not come to it with this place of perfectionism or like, it has to look exactly a certain way, but just with that compassion and that kindness that's very much alive in when we think about, when we look outside and, you know, see the nature that we're a part of.

Casey: What other ways- we've talked about a breath walk, but as we think about what we could leave listeners with in terms of how to build- like something I've heard you say and I really appreciate it and I'm hearing it as an undertone to some of what you're just naming too, is around how the breath can bring some of this softness and like all the force and intensity of the day. And so I'm thinking of like [00:34:00] easy ways to start, if you will. Like the breath walk could be one way. What are like a couple little tips that you give people when you're helping them just even know what their breath might be or how it wants to move through the body, right? Because like you've been doing this for so many years, so you have so much resource in terms of the physiology of it and the anatomy of it and all these different pieces. But for me, an everyday breather over here, I'm like. Cool. How do I like just become conscious of it, you know? What are some, some ways to start?

Sarah: What's a song? Take a deep breath. Drink water.

Casey: Oh, that one. That one playing. We talked about that a lot.

Sarah: Yeah. I would say, again, one thing, look for anchors. Right? So I was being funny, trying to be funny, but what I meant is like, definitely like if you can use water as a resource for breathing.

Casey: Mm-hmm.

Sarah: When you take a sip of water, think about, okay, I'm gonna notice my breath. So whether you take the sip and then you take a breath, even doing that a few times a day, that then builds that practice and that noticing. I [00:35:00] also love to think about a certain color for a season. So that's something I do a lot with clients. Where're like, okay, for the season of spring I'm gonna pick the color, I mean, if you're doing green, you're gonna do it, be breathing all the time, but you know, say red or whatever it, so that then you can look for it around you. And then also in terms of activity. So like if you wanna say when every time I put the keys in the ignition, i'm gonna take a breath. Really base it around things that you do every day where it's not gonna be overwhelming, and where every time I'm waiting for the bus, I'm gonna take a breath. Where I see a certain sign added into the mundane is what I always like to say, because that's where your brain's gonna say, oh, I'm bored. And then it will look to breathe. And I would say the other thing too is a lot of times people like just breathe when you're feeling stress. That is the hardest time for your body to do anything like that. As we all intuitively know, I would think about it as. How can I create a breathing bookend if I have something that, where I do [00:36:00] feel that stress rise, how can I build in three breaths before that? And when you're like, what type of breath should I do to? If you're noticing your breath, you're naturally slowing it down, which is the most important because we, most of us all over breathe because the amount of screens that we have and the amount of like heightened cortisol that we have going on, noticing its itself is gonna slow down that breath pattern and adding in an extended exhale always helps, too.

Casey: So smart, such great advice. I love that so much. And also all the links are going to be in the show notes, but I highly recommend everybody at least take a look at some of Sarah's information. I think you do such a great job at providing information and education too, not just advice, if you will. I'm air quoting, but really giving some kind of concrete information, education in the space, and you do such a good job of that on your website, on your social channels, in your newsletters, in your writings, and then obviously in the in-person and virtual experiences, which are such a treat to be able to do. But I appreciate that there's like access [00:37:00] built into your work too, on like, how do we find our way here? There's no like hierarchy of, um, excellence or anything like that. Like what's our own breath? How do we find our autonomy in it, and how do we find our way into really building this breathing culture, our own breathing practice, if you will. Is there anything else you want to, that you didn't name or a question that you wanna offer or anything that you would feel good to kind of complete what you're saying before? Maybe we take a mindful breath to close ourselves out?

Sarah: One question I always like to ask is, what is your relationship with your breath? And think of it as, how your relationship is with a loved one family member, colleague. Think about what are the qualities you want from others and how are you giving that to your breath? So just question to keep there. And then the other one is to, and this is a reminder for myself to really focus on being and breathing and not fixing with the breath. Really try to let go of the controlling with the breath, the fixing with the breath. There's a quote that was like, it's easier to try to be who you wanna be versus to be [00:38:00] who you are. And I really liked that because it hit me of like, we always are like, oh, what's the new trend? What's the new way that we wanna, so we can be better so we can perform, we can do, and it's like, what about you just breathe to be who you are. If you don't know that, just breathe and see what comes up.

Casey: Mm-hmm. So, yay. Yeah.

Sarah: Anyway, those are my two thoughts.

Casey: I love that. Well, thank you so much, Sarah, as always, I so appreciate you. Will you close us out with a breath to go into the rest of our day with?

Sarah: Totally. Let's do it. Let's, yeah, let's move into just a nice, beautiful, extended exhale, a few of those, and we're just gonna play with the force. So we're gonna start really forceful, like the wind gusting, and then move into a gentle sea breeze. So roll the shoulders back and release the area between the eyebrows, even with your fingers if you'd like. Take an inhale through the mouth. And exhale, add [00:39:00] some noise through the mouth. One more like that. Inhale and exhale. Slow down that exhale. Two more. Inhale a little softer through the nose if possible. Then exhale through the mouth. Really gentle, fluttering the curtains with the breath. Last one. Inhale, sipping in slow. Gentle morning, breathe. And then exhale, allow it to leak out. Dropping slowly, slowly, shoulders away from your. Slowly open the eyes like they closed, swallow, and take it in.[00:40:00]

Casey: Thank you for listening to the Questions to Hold podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode and are leaving the conversation with way more questions than answers. I invite you to build a more meaningful relationship with yourself and the world around you through the simple yet profound act of holding questions. Visit questionstohold.com and wearebwb.com to learn more about this practice, our Questions to Hold card deck, and explore more conversations. See you there.