Episode 3: Breath, Energy, and Regulation

In this episode, we explore the breath as a direct and accessible pathway to the nervous system. Rather than something we do automatically, the breath becomes a powerful tool we can use to influence how we feel, think, and respond to stress.

Angie and Amanda discuss how different breathing patterns can shape our energy, regulate our internal state, and support a greater sense of calm and balance. By bringing awareness to the breath, we begin to understand its role in both activating and soothing the body.

Through this lens, the breath becomes more than a function, it becomes a bridge between the body and mind, offering a simple yet profound way to reconnect, regulate, and restore.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Our mission at Living Simply Well is dedicated to cultivating sustainable well-being through integrative research-supported wellness, always honoring the body's wisdom, supporting nervous system health, and guiding individuals toward a life lived with intention, balance, and ease. Hi, I'm Angie. Welcome to the Living Simply Well podcast. I welcome my co-host, Amanda.

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Thank you. Pleasure to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

So today we're going to be talking about breath, energy, and regulation. And if you're in a if you're in a quiet place right now, or even if you're not, if you have a chair or a floor to sit on, I would welcome you to that. And as we ground to prepare for our time together today, I would ask you to place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly. If it feels right in your body, close down your eyes. I invite you to feel the breath as it comes in and it goes out. Not forcing or mandating, just noticing. Notice where your breath naturally moves. Without judgment. Without changing. And now that we're grounded to Mother Earth, we're connected to breath. I invite you to deepen the breath. So the belly rises on the inhale. And perhaps you pause before you exhale. And as you exhale, notice the body softening. And in your own time. Perhaps you repeat this a few more times. Breathing in and breathing out. Feeling that peace that comes from within. Breath is one of the most direct ways we communicate with the nervous system. When I talk about the nervous system, what I mean by that is our brain and our spinal cord and all of the messages that are sent through nerve pathways. And there's also pathways that come from the body that carries messages back to the brain. So when stress rises, breath often becomes shallow or held. And over time, this is a signal to danger. Even when none is present. The nervous system is broken down into two pathways. The first is the sympathetic pathway, and the second is the parasympathetic pathway. And again, I like to point out that we are created just in a miraculous fashion. Our sympathetic pathway is triggered by a hormone cascade and it's linked to our circadian rhythm. So when we're waking up in the morning getting ready for our day, our adrenal glands kick off cortisol. It tells the body to wake up and get moving. And at night, the parasympathetic system is triggered by melatonin. So as the sun sets, melatonin gets the message to increase, and it's it's correlated with our serotonin and our digestive tract, and our that's our happy hormone. Um those two things work together to calm the parasympathetic nervous system, and the parasympathetic nervous system is our rest and digest. And those two things are important because when we think about the sympathetic side, the go side, the heart and the lungs and the brain, they're all going. They've got energy, they're expending energy, our blood pressure's up, our heart is beating faster. And think about your car going 110 miles an hour. So after um a trip to the racetrack, the driver in the car needs time to calm down, to refuel. And that's where our parasympathetic system brings us into balance. One of the things that happens in our culture is that we're conditioned to stay in the sympathetic. And when that happens, what happens to serotonin is it starts to be less effective in stabilizing our mood. Because in order to go, we need more cortisol and we need more dopamine release in our brain so that we can go harder and we can go faster and we can go longer. And what happens clinically is that we see anxiety, we see depression, and we see burnout, we see insomnia, and all of these things can loop back into a pain channel. The reason I preface this episode, although we're focusing on the breath, is because the greatest nerve that's impacted that carries the message to the parasympathetic system is the vagus nerve. It starts behind the back of your right ear and it innervates your entire digestive system. It has a large pathway just above the stomach and the diaphragm. And when we take a deep breath in, we tell the parasympathetic nervous system that we are safe, we are connected, and it's time to rest and digest. So gentle breathing practices then support regulation by slowing our heart rate and by calming out those stress hormones. And this isn't about forcing calm, it's about creating space and knowing how to trigger the response of calm by using the parasympathetic nervous system in a very practical way.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Yeah, I feel like I am definitely a student on this podcast today. I am my breath is probably my number one thing that I have to master yet, for sure. I um I hold my breath. I feel like my instructors in yoga are constantly telling me, no breathe now. Nope, don't hold it. And it's like constantly. I notice I do that all throughout the whole day. I notice it. And I think that's important is notice it. When you notice something, you you can't change anything until you notice it. And so, like, that's where I have done so much um research and studying. Um, to all the things that you had just talked about, right? Um, I I do not have a medical background. Um, if anybody is wondering, I'm a hairstylist. So it's like I do not have the medical background, but I have the lived experience, right? And so, yes, the last five years I have taken so much um control over my body and my time and understanding it all. So um, you spoke beautifully of all of the nervous system and stuff, and it's it's a lot of big words, right? And so, and I think a lot of these words are also really being thrown around. Like we hear dopamine so much, we hear all that stuff, but as important as it is to understand, don't allow the words to put fear into you of not, I will never get this, right? Um, I will tell you there's a brain in or there's a chemical in your brain that causes this, and she will tell you what the chemical is.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

Like, yes, and really what I like to what I like to say, and it's very simple. But if you think about simp your sympathetic side is your daytime and your parasympathetic is your nighttime. Okay. And remember how you're designed. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:29

And you move the cycles, and your our inner world is our outer world. So what's going on on the inside is also going on outside of you. And um the masculine is uh on a 24-hour cycle. Men cycle with like the sun, like a 24 hour, and women, we're on a like a 28-day cycle. So we cycle like the moon. And so it's like the reality of understanding the difference in those and how we show up in the world. Um, but then our days and our nights are also what our bodies go through, just the same as our months and our years, and all of that. Like that's all connected. Understanding your nervous systems on what's happening during the day, um, and then going into night, like that that is a very important thing. So you can you know where to take your rest and your time and your breaths and stuff like that. Like that's it's an important thing to start trying to grasp and realize. Like everything's all kind of connected, right? And if you can use um, oh, it's it's the morning time, I need to get this peek in. Because if you understand what the sun's doing in the morning and the daytime's doing, what's going on? It's like, oh, that's also happening in me. So you can use it as little tools to be like, what time is it? Oh, what what is what's happening outside right now that I can reflect on how I can give myself that.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Exactly. So the breath, the breath is I like to think about the breath as glue. Okay. So the breath, the breath brings those two systems together. You know, when we think about, let's just talk about fitness, right? We know that we need to have some pretty good. I know you're a runner, you sp spoke about running last time, but as a runner, if you're holding your breath and you're trying to run a half marathon, you're not gonna get very far.

SPEAKER_02 11:16

No.

SPEAKER_00 11:17

And the same way, if we've run the marathon and we've got all of those good hormones running through the body when we completed it. Right. Right? Yeah. So we call those endorphins. And we're so happy and excited, and you know, there's this euphoria about accomplishing a goal. Sometimes it's hard to rest even after that type of exertion. But what I like to come back to is the breath as our glue or as our very best friend, is that it was there in the beginning, it'll be the last thing we do when we die. Yes. And it's always present. And we can either choose to allow it to be shallow, or we can choose to use it as a tool. So, for instance, if I'm leading a morning yoga class, unless tension is really, really high in the room, I'm gonna use breath work to ignite my students. So we're gonna bring breath in faster and we're gonna breathe a little harder, and we're gonna feel tingles in our fingertips and around our mouth because our body is saying, I'm awake.

unknown 12:37

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

And if you come and see me on Wednesday nights at six, my greatest intention is that I don't send y'all home awake all night long.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

So I'm gonna slow you down and we're gonna we're gonna breathe in a balanced way at least. We're gonna do four on the inhale, and we're gonna do four to six on the exhale, and you're just gonna feel tension fall away. And it's science, it's not woo-woo. No, we can we can do brain scans and do all of these imaging, and we can see what happens to the mind as we start to slow down the breath or we start to speed up the breath. Yep, and what's happening in the brain is also happening in every living cell in your body, yes, and it's magic, but it's not. So, my job as your teacher, as your practitioner, is to give you tools that might be practical.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Before we get our tools, I will let everybody know that it's okay to breathe. I feel, and I think I can speak for many, we're afraid to let our breath out. Like, we think breathing and like we're so scared to do it that we're being too loud or too weird. I still sit in class and you're like, do the breaths, and it's like, I'm gonna do the quietest breath. And it's like when you hear somebody be loud, you're like, Oh, I wish I could do that. It's like and like, or if we do like the ohm at the end of class, it's so liberating, like doing that, but it's like the first couple times, I am not doing that. I know, I know the reality of that is crazy. Like, we have a fear of being loud breathers. Like, where did this come from? Like, exactly. It is our living right, our first right that we have when we and it's like, and we're afraid to be too loud doing it or not doing it correctly.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

And uh, what I want to ask you, um, as your as one of your teachers is how do you feel with the yogi pai?

SPEAKER_01 14:41

Oh, I it it literally just when you allow yourself to actually do it and like not give what anybody else in the room is doing, one, you give permission to the person next to you to do it too. Indeed, which is they may not do it this time, but next time they're sure they're gonna do it. Um, but two, it's like it it literally softens your whole body. It does. And when we do the own and it's in unison, and you have all of these, it's the most beautiful sound. Even though, like, I do not have a singing voice, my you know, it's more cracky, but like in all unison, it is so beautiful and it it literally feels like we just connected in one like fantastic ending.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

And there is this beautiful resonance that happens. Uh, as a sound therapist, my first experience with a buffalo drum, and I tend to be a pretty reserved human being. I have been conditioned into my role as a as a soft woman, right? Um, but here is this this man, and he's put buffalo drums in a circle of 20 of us that have never met each other. And he says, Let's start beating our drum in the middle of this parking lot in a place that I've never been. And of course, all of my all of my social anxiety is alive and well. And I'm like, I am not gonna beat this drum. I've spent all this money to train with this guy. I've traveled all the way to the upper peninsula of Michigan by car. And here I am standing in the parking lot with the drum in my hand, and I am for whatever crazy reason, I'm like, I am not doing this. It's just like that experience that you share is like, gosh, am I really weird because I'm letting a breath be audible?

SPEAKER_01 16:31

You need to let your freak flag fly. That's exactly you have to do that, like, because it gives permission for everybody else to feel it. And like, that's the only way we're gonna make this through is to show people that like it's okay to be you, it's okay, breathe.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

And when and when we're willing to be vulnerable in that way, I want you to know that I did beat the drum that day.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Yeah, you did.

SPEAKER_00 16:52

And something that happened inside of me when I there was a this liberation that I cannot put words to when I beat that drum that that set me on a path. And I felt that resonance deep within me, and I felt that energy in the circle around me of complete strangers. And I share that story because the breath is the same way, and as your teacher, I'm gonna model that to you as we're gonna breathe in and we're gonna breathe out with a yogi sigh. And I'm gonna do that over and over because pretty soon you're going to come into that same energy field, and we will be resonating with one another, and you can feel the energy within you, and you can feel the energy around you.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

I think um, like you'd made a comment before about um woo-woo, right? Yoga and everything. There's this weird line that people don't want to cross. Right. And they think woo-woo. And I I used to be that way, and now I'm like, if it's not woo-woo, I'm not showing up. Like, woo-woo is a it's like a freedom to allow, like, why not? Why not how allow it?

SPEAKER_00 18:07

Because really what I've learned is it's authentic.

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Oh, yeah, and authenticity scares people, but when you're authentic, but that's like not authenticity, is the highest form of energy that people are attracted to more than love is authenticity. Like you see somebody that's got something that you don't like, you're you're watching them, like you want that.

SPEAKER_00 18:25

And that and love is the highest frequency. So until we are ready to be authentic, that means from the inside out that starts with our breath.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Yes, definitely.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

100% it starts with our breath, and that's why yoga has found its home in my soul, is because the breath and the body and the mind are all coordinated in this beautiful symphony.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

Yes, I I just seen a video the other day that was explaining the breath. Um, and it was around the Olympics. And it it was literally every single high performer, what are they doing before they perform? They're taking their breaths, they're calming their breaths, they're they're becoming in their body. Like every musician and um athlete that is the elite of the elite, they allow themselves this. Like you can ask them, what do you do beforehand in prep? And it's like I mentally get to a place where I allow myself and I I do my breathing exercises, whatever, to calm my body. Like it is such an important thing that is a majority of us living the everyday avoid.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

And it's our life source. You know, just like it's the first thing we do and it's the last thing we do after our at the end of our lifespan. You know, I I've had the privilege to be present with with people who are at the end of their life. And that breath is so beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

And the rhythm of that breath is so beautiful if you choose to step into it. And what you might notice when you when you put this into practice is you might notice that your breath is trapped in your chest.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

Oh, mine trembles. It doesn't, it's like it doesn't want to come out.

SPEAKER_00 20:11

Right. Um, but with practice, and that's why you know we never really arrive. But as you talk about musicians and you talk about vocalists and athletes, there's actually precision to the breath. And we learn it through breath work.

SPEAKER_02 20:29

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

And we we uh we believe it wholeheartedly at Living Simply Well, that the breath is our life source here. Yeah, and it is a common thread that all human beings share. And it feeds very well into movement and it feeds very well into our sound as therapy, but the breath is always the anchor to everything that we do here, and so we welcome you into that space, even if it feels like it doesn't necessarily feel like it's home for you yet. I certainly know that if you set your intention to befriend your breath, that it will.

unknown 21:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

So what I'd like to do next is let's just take a few cycles of breath and I'll guide you through a practical application of this work. So just as we did in the beginning, feel your connection to Mother Earth wherever you're sitting. Perhaps you're standing at your desk, feel the ground beneath your feet. Close down your eyes if it feels comfortable for you. Notice the breath, come in and go out. I invite you to inhale through the nose for the count of four, three, two, three. One pause and exhale slowly through the mouth for a count of six, five, four, three, two, and one. Inhale again for the count of four through your nose. Three, two, and one. And exhale out now, allowing a yogi sigh for four, three, two, and one. I invite you to repeat this exercise when you feel stress. Perhaps when you first wake up, or maybe before you try to settle in for the night. And in reflection, ask yourself, when do I notice my breath becoming shallow or rushed? Your breath is always available, quiet, steady, and supportive.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Thank you. Thanks, Amelia.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

Thank you for spending time with me today on the Living Simply Well podcast. My hope is that something you heard in this episode helps you slow down, breathe deeper, and return to what matters most. At Living Simply Well, we believe that wellness doesn't come from doing more. It comes from living with intention, caring for the body, steadying the mind, and nourishing the spirit. If this episode resonated with you, I invite you to share it with someone who could use a little more balance, clarity, or healing in their life. Until next time, live simply, live well, and stay infused with what truly supports your health.