In part 2 of our Tell Me Why podcast episode, Brendon Hansford, founder of IMD Breathwork, explains to Maria Botros how active breathing can improve people’s overall health and reduce stress.
Brendon: When you breath in, you activate your sympathetic nervous system, and when you breath out you activate your parasympathetic
Sympathetic nervous system is fight, flight and freeze, while parasympathetic is rest and digest, says Brendon
Brendon: In our classes within 3 minutes of a breathing exercise some people cry, and that helps release cortisol in the tears
Breathwork improves your sleep, immune system, release of glucose, and reduces stress and anxiety, says Brendon
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Brendon: When you breath in, you activate your sympathetic nervous system, and when you breath out you activate your parasympathetic
Sympathetic nervous system is fight, flight and freeze, while parasympathetic is rest and digest, says Brendon
Brendon: In our classes within 3 minutes of a breathing exercise some people cry, and that helps release cortisol in the tears
Breathwork improves your sleep, immune system, release of glucose, and reduces stress and anxiety, says Brendon
Read the full story here:
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
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NewsTranscript
00:00You need to let your brain exhaust itself.
00:02So a great meditation for people to try, if you struggle with this,
00:05is to actively focus on everything you can hear around you
00:08and every thought, really focus on it.
00:11Overexert it until your brain goes,
00:12I'm tired.
00:14And then it will just stop.
00:16And then you get into a nice state of meditation.
00:31I love it when people find opportunity in the hardships.
00:34It's always finding a way of turning it around to your benefit.
00:38And I think that's crucial.
00:39And I think we need to do that with everything in life.
00:41I mean, if you give up, that's it. Game over.
00:44Well, my breathwork was born out of a horrible situation.
00:48You know, I was very much stuck in a toxic situation.
00:51Not around that time.
00:52And went to Bali, of course.
00:55Of course.
00:56To do some healing.
00:58Surfing.
00:59I didn't even do that.
01:01I was straight to Uber.
01:02Then I was like, I got to see every healer in the world.
01:04And it's funny because there was this one healer
01:06who I've gone to see again since.
01:08And she basically prophesied this.
01:11She goes, you're going to end up working in the healing space.
01:14And she goes, and I'm seeing breathwork.
01:16And did it happen because she said it?
01:19Or was it actually prophesied?
01:20Like she saw it coming.
01:22But either way, fast forward a few months,
01:24I'm obsessed with breathwork
01:25and I'm training up as a breathwork instructor.
01:27And here you are helping these people.
01:28You know, I was still very much
01:30in that toxic situation at the time.
01:32And I ended up leaving that situation
01:35in such an amazing place.
01:37And it drove me so hard to get this to everybody.
01:41And get everybody to try this and heal and yeah.
01:45So it's funny.
01:46It was all born from a toxic situation
01:48that I got myself out of.
01:50And then I want to help everyone else do the same.
01:51Yeah.
01:53Thank you for doing that.
01:54And thank you for helping others do that as well.
01:58And I think that leads to my next question then.
01:59So how many sessions do you need?
02:01I mean like let's say I want to sign up
02:03for the breathwork, the IND breathwork.
02:06It's different for everybody, unfortunately.
02:08I wish I could give you a set amount.
02:10But some people can come to one session
02:12and feel instantly better.
02:13Okay.
02:14Other people come to five sessions.
02:15Some people I see every single week.
02:17It depends on what you're dealing with,
02:19how open you are to it,
02:21how deep you go in each session.
02:23Right.
02:23But it's just, it's based on you.
02:25I do it every single week without fail.
02:27I have an instructor here as well called Flo,
02:29who's amazing.
02:30And I go to her session every Friday.
02:32And some sessions, you know,
02:33not really much comes up to me,
02:34but I always feel lighter.
02:36I always feel less stress.
02:37I always feel like my anxiety and everything has gone down.
02:40So at the minimum, you'll get that.
02:42And it's because pushing through the discomfort,
02:44because it does get uncomfortable.
02:46There are certain physical elements to it
02:47that become uncomfortable.
02:49By pushing through that,
02:50you're already halfway through the process.
02:52You're 50% to a better life.
02:54Because how you are in breathwork
02:56is how you are in life.
02:57Right.
02:58So if discomfort arrives in life and you pull back,
03:01that's probably what you're gonna want to do in breathwork
03:03and vice versa.
03:04So I always say at the beginning of class,
03:06guys, push through that discomfort
03:07and you've already won half the battle.
03:09Okay.
03:10Because then you're gonna do that in life.
03:12Amazing.
03:13So if you don't pull back from discomfort now,
03:15you'll take it tomorrow into life.
03:16And things that you would normally find uncomfortable
03:20won't seem so uncomfortable anymore.
03:21And you'll just breeze through it eventually.
03:23So I do it every week.
03:25But then I literally said this morning
03:26to all my instructors,
03:27we had a call,
03:28we have an international call every Monday.
03:30And someone asked me that,
03:32you know, I don't get the physical sensation
03:33so much anymore.
03:34I said, that's great.
03:35That means your CO2 tolerance is rising,
03:37you're becoming a better breather
03:38and your body's releasing more oxygen.
03:40So you're becoming smarter and fitter and amazing.
03:42Great.
03:43I said, but don't be surprised
03:45if your body shocks you one week.
03:47So I've been doing this every week for like,
03:49Okay.
03:49God knows how long now.
03:50Okay.
03:51And there was this session
03:52and I have a journey called You're Enough.
03:53Okay.
03:54And being good enough has always been something
03:55in my life.
03:56You know, my mom and dad split up
03:58when I was quite young.
03:59So obviously as a child,
04:01I took that on myself to be my fault.
04:02I'm not enough because that person didn't stay.
04:05Right?
04:05And this has been a kind of resonating voice.
04:07So I wrote this journey pretty much for me.
04:09And so I did the journey
04:11and it's always weird having your own voice.
04:13But in a way I go,
04:14well, if I'm going to listen to someone,
04:15it will be me.
04:16Absolutely.
04:18I can't say I'm wrong.
04:20Yeah, exactly.
04:21And I was crying my heart out.
04:24I was curled up in a little fetus style ball.
04:26And she's got videos
04:27because I always say feel free to free me.
04:29Feel free to film me.
04:30That's a mouthful.
04:31Yeah.
04:32And I was literally crying my heart out.
04:33I don't remember hardly any of it.
04:35And afterwards I just felt amazing.
04:39And I've noticed a week since then
04:41that everything just feels a bit lighter
04:45and I'm not getting so much imposter syndrome.
04:47Do you know, for example,
04:48like I'm here talking to you.
04:49Yeah.
04:50And of course there's a little bit
04:51of imposter syndrome kind of creeping up
04:53and the anxiety of it.
04:54But oh my God, just a month ago,
04:57it was so much worse.
04:58I did a podcast a month ago
04:59and I was sweating.
05:01No way.
05:02I was so nervous.
05:03Yeah.
05:04You're so good at it.
05:04What are you nervous about?
05:05Like you're talking out of experience,
05:07out of knowledge.
05:08It all comes from trauma, right?
05:08Yeah.
05:09So it's having anxiety.
05:11Yeah.
05:11And I had anxiety for years.
05:12I don't really get it anymore.
05:14It pops up when I need it.
05:15Right.
05:16This is what people need it.
05:17Yes.
05:18So the anxiety in the cortisol
05:19and the stress response pops up when I need it,
05:21which is brilliant.
05:22So when I have to come and do something like this,
05:24it pops up just to go,
05:26just to remind you,
05:27you've got to be alert for this.
05:28You've got to be focused.
05:29You can't be your usual ADHD going,
05:31what?
05:32That was a butterfly.
05:33So you need to be on it there.
05:36So yeah, it's a really, really good thing.
05:38And so the You're Enough journey,
05:40and I came out and I just feel great.
05:43It's done amazing for me, you know?
05:45And a lot of people who get into stuff like this,
05:47they stop doing it themselves and just teach it.
05:49Yeah.
05:50And one thing I always say is I do everything.
05:53No musical journey would go out
05:55without me testing it first.
05:56Yeah.
05:57You know, I live by what I say.
05:59Every single morning,
06:00I do my 10 minute breathwork practice.
06:02And then every week I go into a session,
06:04even if I don't feel like I need it,
06:06if I feel great,
06:07because I discover things in every session.
06:10One session I have creative ideas and I'm like,
06:12oh my God, I've got to remember this,
06:13remember it right down.
06:14Next session I'm crying my heart out
06:16and shaking and curling up in a ball.
06:18Next session I fall asleep and I get a good nap.
06:21Yeah.
06:22And sometimes I tell my shutter, I'm tired,
06:24just let me sleep.
06:25Yeah.
06:25Because that's what your body needs.
06:26Breathwork gives you what your body needs.
06:28Absolutely.
06:29And your mind, of course.
06:29Absolutely.
06:30I love that you mentioned you do like your 10 minute
06:32breathwork in the morning,
06:33which is something I was gonna,
06:35that was my followup.
06:37I mean, what are we supposed to do when we wake up?
06:39Like what's your advice?
06:40Well, I can answer that very, very simply.
06:42If you go to the IMD Instagram.
06:43Okay.
06:44Tag.
06:46Click the link, it will take you to a little bio site.
06:48There is an absolutely free version of what I do,
06:51including the music and the sound effects
06:52for a 10 minute morning breakfast.
06:56It is breakfast technically.
06:58Breathwork routine.
06:59And I would suggest doing it before you eat.
07:02It's super simple.
07:03There's like a minute or so intro
07:04of parasympathetic breathing just to relax you
07:06and bring you down into your rest and digest.
07:09And then we do like four minutes plus two minutes
07:13of breath holds of active breathing.
07:14So to activate, to put your body into a stress response,
07:19which I'll explain why.
07:20And then a breath hold for one minute each.
07:22And again, put your body into a stress response.
07:24And we do that twice.
07:25And then it's followed by a three minute meditation
07:27of just breathing how you ever want to breathe
07:29and let whatever thoughts come up.
07:30So it's literally like the magic mix.
07:32I just made that up.
07:34It's the magic mix for the morning.
07:36Cause you come in with a parasympathetic breath,
07:37you relax, activate yourself.
07:39You push your stress response on purpose.
07:42So the rest of the day doesn't feel stressful.
07:45You do it on purpose in the morning.
07:46So it crashes you down afterwards.
07:48So by bringing yourself up, you spike,
07:51and then you drop into parasympathetic
07:52and you'll take below your baseline.
07:54So now you're more relaxed.
07:56And suddenly things that would normally be stressful
07:58don't seem so stressful anymore.
08:00So that's one thing.
08:01So every morning, I really notice
08:03when I don't do it in the morning.
08:04I'm just a little bit more like.
08:07On the edge, kind of.
08:08Okay, wow.
08:10Sorry.
08:11I don't know where to go after this.
08:14It's so funny,
08:15cause I'm watching my ADHD happen in my head
08:17because you're asking a question,
08:18then I drift off,
08:19and in my head I go,
08:20what did she ask?
08:22I've forgotten the question.
08:23Can I ask again?
08:24No, that's absolutely fine.
08:25I mean, it's a conversation.
08:26That's the whole point.
08:27You have the list.
08:28Keep bringing it back.
08:29Please, please, please.
08:30I will talk for hours.
08:31No, absolutely.
08:31Cause I feel like a lot of it has been answered.
08:34I mean, in your responses.
08:35And I love that.
08:35It's just tying everything together.
08:38So I'm throwing you off the question.
08:39No, no, no, not at all.
08:40Cause you're going,
08:41damn it, he answered that.
08:43No, not at all.
08:43Not at all.
08:44I love it when it comes naturally.
08:45Like the questions are there just as a framework,
08:47but the conversation is what keeps it flowing.
08:52So we talk about the 10 minutes
08:55in the morning of breathing.
08:58But then throughout the day,
08:59I mean, surely enough,
09:00if I'm not doing these classes enough,
09:02obviously,
09:03or if I don't have the opportunity
09:04to do these classes enough,
09:06there are certain stresses and triggers
09:09that happen during the day.
09:10What do I do to sort of like reboot?
09:13I'm going to give you three breaths.
09:15Breaths.
09:16Breaths.
09:17Breaths.
09:18To help you out.
09:19And they all have their own kind of mechanism.
09:21First off,
09:22there's something called the reset breath.
09:23So if you are super high stress,
09:25or you know when you can feel the anxiety
09:27and you feel the stress,
09:28cause you're like,
09:28it's just not working.
09:29I can't get it done.
09:30All this stuff.
09:32And it's super easy to do.
09:33And it brings you back really quickly.
09:35So one thing you need to know
09:36is when you breathe in,
09:37you activate your sympathetic.
09:38When you breathe out,
09:39you activate your parasympathetic.
09:40So sympathetic is fight,
09:42flight,
09:43or freeze.
09:44Parasympathetic is rest and digest.
09:46So the obvious mass equation here
09:48is to breathe out for longer.
09:50Cause then you're activating
09:51more of your parasympathetic.
09:52So the reset breath is,
09:53you're going to take a short,
09:54sharp breath in through your nose.
09:55So like literally over a second,
09:57max two seconds.
09:58And then slowly breathe out
09:59like you're breathing through a straw
10:00for about eight seconds.
10:02Want to try it?
10:02Let's do it.
10:03Ready?
10:04Three, two, one.
10:05Breathe in.
10:06And slowly out.
10:09And out.
10:15Do one more.
10:18And out.
10:20Seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
10:27How do you feel?
10:28Okay.
10:29Yeah, it's weird, right?
10:30Two breaths.
10:31Yeah.
10:32Wow.
10:32Literally 20 seconds.
10:34So it will instantly relax you.
10:36It will instantly bring you back
10:37to your center.
10:38And I always make a joke out of this.
10:40I say, you know,
10:40if you're in a meeting
10:41and someone's talking that you're like,
10:43just slowly do the reset breath.
10:45One, it will help you focus.
10:47It will keep you in the room.
10:48It will keep your body in a nice state.
10:51And you'll be able to be more present in the room.
10:53And it will help you not get stressed
10:54at whatever this person is saying.
10:56Wow.
10:57I'm going to be doing a lot of those.
10:58Yep.
10:59So reset breath is an absolute go-to.
11:00I do it all day.
11:02And it doesn't have to be stressful situations.
11:04Like I've been doing it the whole time
11:05in this interview.
11:06And you've probably not noticed.
11:07No.
11:08But when you're talking,
11:08I do it so I can focus
11:09and I can be with you
11:10and I know how to answer the question.
11:12So you'll notice it now.
11:13You'll see.
11:14Yeah.
11:15I'm going to look out for it.
11:16No.
11:17No, but that's fantastic.
11:17Because I'm sure that helps with your ADHD as well.
11:20I mean.
11:21Massively.
11:21Oh my God.
11:22Massively.
11:23Yeah.
11:24That's incredible.
11:25It really brings me down.
11:26And my hyperactivity sometimes is hilarious.
11:27I literally have to jump around the flat,
11:29you know,
11:30just to get out the energy.
11:31Yes.
11:32Because I'm trying to sit at the computer
11:32and get the design work done
11:33or create this new sound journey
11:35or get the website done
11:36or write a new script.
11:37And it's like sitting
11:38for an ADHD person.
11:40When you get the zoomies,
11:42you've just got to dance.
11:43So obviously being a dancer my whole life,
11:45perfect career, right?
11:46Perfect.
11:47Didn't even notice it
11:48because I get to be energetic
11:49for eight to 10 hours a day.
11:50Right.
11:51So I get to get rid of that
11:52and at night time it's like.
11:53Yeah, I know.
11:54I know.
11:55You've let it all out.
11:56So as I'm getting older
11:57and I'm 41 now,
11:58you know,
11:59I'm doing less and less dancing.
12:00So I need to kind of get it out
12:02some other way.
12:03Get the movement out, yes.
12:04But I've still got the energy
12:04of like a 16 year old.
12:05Oh man.
12:06But that's amazing.
12:07I love that.
12:08Look at that.
12:09All of those things
12:10have tied in together.
12:11Oh, honestly,
12:12I genuinely feel like,
12:13and this is exactly
12:14what the healer said in Bali.
12:15And I refer back to her
12:16because it's so hard to forget it.
12:18Because I still can't decide
12:20if it was her saying it
12:21that made it happen
12:21or it happened anyway.
12:23She said around 40
12:24and that's where I was,
12:2539 at the time.
12:26She said,
12:27it's your crossroads.
12:28So there's this human design chart.
12:29I don't really understand it.
12:31She said 40 is your crossroads.
12:33That means where everything
12:34you've learned and done
12:35will meet a crossroads point.
12:37And that's where your main focus,
12:39career, life intention will start.
12:42Because everything you've learned
12:43up to that point
12:44will go into this one thing.
12:45Incredible.
12:46And it's literally happened.
12:47It literally happened.
12:47Exactly like that.
12:49I was like.
12:50That's incredible.
12:51I hate that someone else is right.
12:53I wish I was right.
12:56Yeah, I get that.
12:57Exactly, yes, yes.
12:58Second breath is called
12:59the resonance breath.
13:00Okay.
13:01This is one you can do all day.
13:02Just set aside five minutes to do.
13:03You can do it while you're driving.
13:05It doesn't affect you in any way.
13:07It's literally about five or six seconds in,
13:08five or six seconds out
13:09with a small pause at the top.
13:11Now the idea of this is obviously,
13:12remember I told you
13:13by slowing your breath down,
13:14you can increase your CO2 in your blood,
13:16which increases your CO2 tolerance,
13:18which means your hemoglobin
13:19will release more oxygen.
13:20So a lot of athletes are now doing this
13:22and noticing a dramatic increase in performance,
13:26like huge increase.
13:27So it's super simple.
13:28You're gonna breathe in for five seconds,
13:29mini pause, like half a second,
13:31out again.
13:32And again at the bottom.
13:33Are you ready?
13:35Let's do it.
13:36And again, this is,
13:37also I don't completely understand it yet,
13:38so I might butcher it,
13:39but it helps to increase your HRV rates,
13:41your heart variability rate.
13:42Okay.
13:43I can't remember exactly why,
13:45because this is something I've been looking into now
13:46and I haven't quite got exactly the information yet,
13:50but it does,
13:51and this is why a lot of athletes have been doing it,
13:52because it increases your heart variability.
13:54Okay.
13:54So remember I said,
13:55when you're breathing,
13:56your heart speeds up,
13:57and when you breathe out,
13:58your heart slows down.
13:59That's heart variability.
13:59Okay.
14:00So when you need to react fast,
14:01your heart needs to go,
14:02boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.
14:03And when you don't need it,
14:04so how quickly your heart changes is a good thing.
14:07Okay.
14:08So if you see a doop, doop, doop,
14:10a perfect heart line,
14:11that's bad.
14:13That's really bad.
14:13Oh, really?
14:14Because that means your heart won't react
14:15when you need it.
14:16Okay.
14:17Do you see what I mean?
14:18Oh, wow.
14:18So everyone thinks this is a good thing
14:19because of TV and media and so on.
14:20Yeah.
14:21But actually having a perfectly regular heartbeat
14:22that doesn't really change,
14:23terrible.
14:24It should speed up a little bit when you breathe in
14:26and slow down a little bit when you breathe out,
14:28all the time.
14:29Yes.
14:29So that's good heart variability.
14:31So, the resonance breath.
14:32Okay.
14:34Five seconds in, hold five seconds out.
14:35Okay.
14:35Ready?
14:36Three, two, one, go in.
14:41Little hold, and out.
14:46Little hold, and in.
14:52And out.
14:56Yeah?
14:57Also a good relaxing breath.
14:58Nice.
14:59But this is something you should do every day,
15:00whether you're feeling stressed,
15:01down, up, left, right.
15:02Yes.
15:04It's just one to increase your heart variability.
15:05Five to 10 minutes a day, whenever you have time.
15:07Okay.
15:08Yeah.
15:09Okay.
15:10And then the last one.
15:11The third one.
15:12The fun one.
15:12The activating breath.
15:13So, I'll give you the simple version
15:14because there's loads of different ways.
15:15So we do the activating breath in our class
15:17and there's so many different versions.
15:19So I'll give you one that's more in line
15:21with something called the holotropic breath, okay?
15:23So you're just going to breathe in and out
15:25quite fast, rapidly.
15:26So,
15:28don't worry about.
15:29Yeah, all through the mouth.
15:30Okay.
15:31Don't, you can do it through the nose.
15:31It's a bit lighter,
15:33but we want to hit faster.
15:34Okay, okay.
15:35Punch through that wall.
15:36Don't worry about where the breath goes this time.
15:39But generally speaking,
15:39breathing into the belly will be better
15:41if you want to activate yourself
15:42to do something that's like focus-based.
15:44Okay.
15:45Breathing into your chest,
15:46if you want to activate your more sympathetic side
15:48and do something that's action-based, physical action.
15:50Okay.
15:51So for now, focus on the belly.
15:53Okay.
15:54But wherever it goes, it doesn't matter.
15:55You're light-headed.
15:56Light-headed, yeah.
15:57Feel ready, right?
15:57Oh, wow.
15:58Let's go.
15:59Okay.
16:00Now I'm ready to run.
16:01So that's an activating breath.
16:02I would actually recommend doing it for about two minutes,
16:03but you'll notice in 20 breaths,
16:07it gets you light-headed.
16:08It makes you feel like, oh, wow.
16:10Yeah.
16:11I could, your eyes are wide open.
16:12I can see your eyes.
16:13You can probably see it on the camera now.
16:14Yeah.
16:15Your eyes are more open.
16:16You're like, I'm ready.
16:17Yeah.
16:17So it's an activating breath.
16:18And it's really nice to do.
16:19I would recommend two minutes in a breath hold.
16:21And then if you want to, repeat it.
16:23Put some music on,
16:24put something on you like,
16:25and you like listening to.
16:26Incredible.
16:27But yeah.
16:28Incredible.
16:29It's funny, isn't it?
16:30How it's going zoom.
16:30Oh, wow, yeah.
16:32So what we do in class is,
16:33we're off-gassing all the CO2 super fast.
16:35So the hemoglobin holds onto a little bit of the oxygen,
16:38and your brain starts to go into that beautiful state,
16:40and it just lights up like, what's going on?
16:43Incredible.
16:44Also activates your stress response,
16:44your sympathetic nervous system.
16:46Like I said, activating is good when you need it.
16:50Cortisol is good when you need it.
16:51Absolutely.
16:52And that's what you're doing.
16:53You're getting ready.
16:54Absolutely.
16:55Now, if you keep breathing like this,
16:56it goes into hypokapnia,
16:57which is what I told you about.
16:59And next thing you know,
17:00most people within three minutes,
17:01if they've never done this,
17:02start crying, start releasing.
17:04And when you cry,
17:06did you know that when you cry,
17:07the tears release cortisol in the tears?
17:09Oh, really?
17:10Yeah.
17:11I had no idea.
17:12So people always say,
17:13you know, especially to men,
17:13don't cry, you know, whatever.
17:16I'm like, cry.
17:17Please cry.
17:18Give me the biggest cry possible.
17:19It is the easiest way to release something.
17:21If you feel terrible,
17:22something's happened,
17:24go and have a cry.
17:25Yes.
17:26I promise you, you will release it,
17:27and you'll feel better afterwards.
17:28Because what happens is,
17:30you release some of the cortisol
17:31that's built up in the system,
17:33and then it kind of resets a little bit,
17:34and your adrenal gland starts to release
17:36a different hormone,
17:37the happy hormones.
17:38So, if you notice after a really good cry,
17:40you feel lighter,
17:41you feel good,
17:42you feel a bit happier.
17:43Absolutely.
17:44That's because your adrenal gland switched,
17:45and start releasing the happy hormones.
17:47One of them being DHEA,
17:49which is also known as the feel-good hormone.
17:51Okay.
17:52So there you go.
17:53That's incredible.
17:53So that's the three breaths.
17:54First one, let's recap, shall we?
17:56Yes, please.
17:57There's the reset breath,
17:57just to calm you down super fast
17:58if it's getting too much.
18:00Resonance breath,
18:01try and do it on a daily basis.
18:02It increases your heart variability,
18:03and increases your tolerance to CO2,
18:06so that you can get more oxygen
18:08being released down the body.
18:08And then there's the activation breath,
18:10which is if you just need to get yourself
18:12ready to do something.
18:13Like, I did it in the car before I came in.
18:16Incredible.
18:17Incredible.
18:18Okay.
18:19Cool.
18:20Okay, okay, okay, okay.
18:21We are at a point now where,
18:23What do you want to know?
18:23I want to know more statistics.
18:25I mean, I don't know if this is something
18:27that's been released.
18:29If we know any of that,
18:30like just any, I mean, breathing,
18:32you know, helping people live longer,
18:34or the benefits it has on people,
18:36that kind of thing.
18:37Statistically, for breath work,
18:39there isn't that much out there,
18:40because it's so new.
18:42Fairly new.
18:43You know, it's only just become trendy, right?
18:44It's not new.
18:45It's been around for blooming forever.
18:46Yeah.
18:47You know, and it's almost like
18:48they knew something back then,
18:50because obviously it was a very big thing.
18:52Yeah.
18:52And in ancient times.
18:54Yes.
18:54And then it's like, we got stupider.
18:56And then we got smarter again,
18:57and then we're now going,
18:58oh my God, look at all the benefits of this.
19:01So, what I can give you is stats
19:04for the UAE of residents who have stress
19:06and have depression.
19:07So, 35% of UAE residents, for example,
19:10suffer from sleeping disorders.
19:12I know from breath work
19:13that that can improve your sleep.
19:15It improves your immune system.
19:16It improves your release of glucose.
19:18It improves so much about the body
19:20that you will sleep so much better.
19:22And obviously, it puts you
19:23into a parasympathetic nervous system,
19:24again, allowing you to sleep.
19:26So, even doing like a relaxing breath,
19:28like the reset breath before bed,
19:30will help you sleep.
19:31So, that can help with that.
19:32And we specialize in releasing,
19:34sorry, reducing stress and anxiety
19:36and releasing emotional blocks and trauma.
19:38Right.
19:39Remember what I said,
19:40trauma creates the stress,
19:41creates anxiety,
19:42eventually creates a depression.
19:44Right.
19:45So, deal with the trauma.
19:46But it's funny,
19:47because most of it might be actually childhood trauma,
19:50as you said,
19:51that we've been holding onto,
19:52and we just need to-
19:53Trauma, trigger, stress, anxiety, depression.
19:55So, just to kind of back up what I'm saying,
19:57they did a,
19:58I think it was a 12-year study in 2013,
20:01where they did a holotropic breathing technique,
20:03which is like the active breath that I taught you,
20:06over, I think it was 12 years.
20:08And they noticed a dramatic increase
20:11in their mental health.
20:12Again, I don't know the stats,
20:14because it's so hard to remember them,
20:15but it was 11,000 mental,
20:18not mentally ill patients,
20:19but they were in a mental facility over 11 years.
20:22Zero negative side effects.
20:25Zero.
20:26And every single one of them showed improvement.
20:29Incredible.
20:31Breathwork is free.
20:34You can do this without paying anyone.
20:36So, obviously, I'm sure there's a ton of people out there
20:38that is not keen on breathwork being known
20:41as something that can help you physically and mentally.
20:43Okay, so as much as there's not that many stats
20:46around breathwork yet,
20:48one thing there is stats around is,
20:50you know, having a high immune system,
20:51and improving your immune system,
20:52having a good digestive system,
20:54having your body work in a way it should do,
20:56reducing stress.
20:57And we know that breathwork does this.
21:01So one thing we do know is,
21:02when you do breathwork,
21:04it increases the oxygen delivery
21:05to all your muscles, your tissues, and your brain, right?
21:08Which means you become more healthy.
21:10And then, obviously, leads to longevity.
21:12So it's like a no-brainer
21:14that doing breathwork will make you live longer,
21:17because it improves all your functions in your systems,
21:19lowers your cortisol, lowers your stress,
21:20gets rid of anxiety.
21:22Gets rid is a big statement,
21:25but reduces your anxiety and the triggers behind it.
21:27So yes, even just doing parasympathetic breathwork,
21:30the relaxing stuff,
21:32will bring all this stuff in line
21:34so your body systems work correctly.
21:36Now, doing the stuff that I do in classes,
21:38which is activating,
21:40allows you to get to the root cause of the problem,
21:43and help you rewire it.
21:44We can never forget it.
21:45It's impossible.
21:46So anyone tells you, we'll make you forget it,
21:48you're not gonna.
21:49Your subconscious remembers everything.
21:50Your hippocampus is like huge archives,
21:53just like the internet.
21:54You've seen everything.
21:56So what breathwork does is,
21:57in the moment, you deal with it and you rewire it.
22:00So when you come out,
22:01all of those old traumas are already processed,
22:05or at least started to be processed.
22:08And that's the beauty of it.
22:08You come out and it's done.
22:10And your prefrontal cortex was quiet.
22:12So when your prefrontal cortex comes back to life,
22:16and then you encounter that trigger
22:18that normally triggers you, it gets confused.
22:20Because your amygdala,
22:21which is like the one that reacts quickly,
22:23isn't sparking up and going, danger, danger.
22:26It's just staying quiet.
22:27Ah, it doesn't bother me anymore.
22:28And then the logical brain that's been programmed by you
22:31from that channel is going, wait a minute,
22:34this normally, what's going on?
22:37And you notice it.
22:38Like, it could be months later,
22:39but generally speaking, people notice it within a week,
22:41that things that used to trigger them
22:43aren't quite getting them.
22:44And then what they find is they get a little bit like,
22:47I don't know.
22:48I'm like, am I okay?
22:49Like, what's happening?
22:50Yeah, like this kind of spaciness.
22:51And sometimes I get emotional and it's like,
22:53yeah, it's just like, it's brilliant.
22:55I love it.
22:56I love it.
22:57You can tell from my face, I'm like, I love this.
22:59No, no, no, absolutely.
23:00Absolutely.
23:01I mean, it's funny that you mentioned sleep
23:03and you mentioned, you know,
23:04like I want to mention exercise as well,
23:06because we spoke about athletes, you know, briefly.
23:10But how important is it to,
23:13I mean, how can you be an active breather
23:15or I mean, intentionally breathe while you're sleeping?
23:20Because it's difficult.
23:21Yeah.
23:22With exercise.
23:23So what I'm saying is the breath work while you're awake
23:26will help you sleep.
23:27Will help you, okay.
23:28So it will put your body systems in line
23:29so that you sleep better, you'll fall asleep better.
23:31One thing that people don't really utilize a lot
23:34is the whole world is very much stress, stress, stress,
23:36go, go, go, go, go.
23:38We need to take a second to stop just for 10 minutes,
23:42do nothing, don't listen to music and let your brain
23:44do whatever it wants to do.
23:46Do you ever, when you go to bed at night
23:48and you put your head down, does your brain race?
23:50Does it go crazy and look at everything?
23:51Oh, absolutely.
23:52I think about everything.
23:53Right?
23:54So by doing breath work and doing meditation
23:56and doing these mindful practices,
23:58you allow your brain to get it out.
23:59It's processing.
24:01Because if you don't do it before you sleep,
24:03it's going to affect your sleep.
24:04Right.
24:05Right?
24:06So allowing yourself to process these things,
24:07even just from the day.
24:09And then your brain is,
24:10it's like the neurons are all connecting stuff
24:12because you go, that happened today.
24:13And then you have a memory of when you were seven
24:15and somehow they're connected, but you don't know how,
24:17and you just let the brain do what it needs to do.
24:19Right?
24:20So if you don't bring everything,
24:22like your stress responses down,
24:23your cortisol down, your sympathetic down,
24:25you won't sleep properly.
24:26You won't get good sleep.
24:28So that's what I mean is doing the breath work
24:30before sleep during the day will help you get more sleep
24:33because you've processed more.
24:35Now I have a trick because again, ADHD brain.
24:37So I sometimes don't stop during the day.
24:39You know, I'm human.
24:40I'm not saying I'm super human by any stretch.
24:43You know, I do all the bad habits that everyone has.
24:45And, but I go, right, I'm going to go to bed 20 minutes,
24:4830 minutes earlier than I want to.
24:49And I lie there and I go, right brain, do your thing.
24:52And I've decided to see it as a show.
24:54It's like a TV show.
24:56And I sit there and I watch where my brain goes.
24:59And it's fascinating.
25:01Honestly, try it tonight.
25:02You'll, you'll like, tell me a message tomorrow.
25:04You'll love it.
25:05Okay.
25:05It's literally like watching a TV show
25:08and my brain suddenly connects everything.
25:10And then I'm thinking of something when I was a kid
25:12and then there, and that happened.
25:13And then, do you remember that thing you did?
25:15That wasn't good.
25:16Oh God, yeah, you're right.
25:16And then how, wait, how's that connected to that?
25:18And I'm not thinking actively.
25:21So you got active breathing, just breathing, right?
25:24Most of the day we're actively thinking.
25:25So just let your brain process
25:27and deal with whatever it needs to deal with.
25:29And I promise you, you will have so much better sleep
25:32and you won't even know you fell asleep.
25:34You'll just go.
25:35Your brain will be like, right, I'm done.
25:37Out.
25:38Oh, wow.
25:39Is it like sort of you've exhausted yourself
25:41to the point that you've just fallen asleep?
25:42You're just exhausting your brain.
25:43So a version of meditation I do when I do meditate,
25:46which I do less and less now, I'll be honest,
25:49because breath work for me is great.
25:50ADHD, again, I know I say this a lot,
25:52but ADHD, I need to be doing something, right?
25:54So, I'm thinking about breath and actively doing something.
25:58So for me, it's great.
26:00However, you need to let your brain exhaust itself.
26:04So a great meditation for people to try
26:06if you struggle with this is to actively focus
26:09on everything you can hear around you
26:11and every thought, really focus on it.
26:13Overexert it until your brain goes, I'm tired.
26:16And then it will just stop.
26:18And then you get into a nice state of meditation.
26:21Or just do breath work, it will get you there faster.
26:24Incredible.
26:24Do breath work, get you into place, and then stop.
26:27And just let the brain process whatever it wants to do.
26:30I'm gonna try that tonight.
26:31Yeah, please do.
26:31And I will text you.
26:32Let me know how it goes.
26:33I will, I will.
26:34Okay, I know I've kept you for so long.
26:36No, no, no, we can keep talking.
26:37But I feel like the conversation is just flowing.
26:40But I think my most important question,
26:42and my last question, which you did mention
26:45in the beginning, but I feel like it's worth
26:48going into a bit more, is what's your advice,
26:52or what would you tell someone that's still skeptical
26:54about the immersive breath work experience?
26:57Yeah, no, I get that.
27:00I'm gonna talk at my breath work practice,
27:03because this is one thing, again,
27:05I like to think, with IMD, I'm trying to bridge that gap.
27:08And I think we spoke about this,
27:09but just in case we didn't, I wanna bridge that gap
27:11between everyone thinking that this type of practice
27:15is crazy woo-woo, you know?
27:17I want people to realize, you come, you show up,
27:19you do, you leave, you don't need,
27:21there's nothing to feel embarrassed about,
27:23there's nothing to feel silly about at all.
27:25You know, like, could I show up to class
27:27with what I'm wearing now, you know?
27:29IMD breath work is bridging the gap
27:31between the people that would not normally do this,
27:34to get them into a healing practice
27:36where they can finally deal with things
27:38that they've been holding onto their whole life.
27:40I love that.
27:42Brilliant soundbite, look at that.
27:43IMD's not intimidating, it's not scary, come along, try it.
27:47You know, if you go to our Instagram,
27:50and you just send us a message,
27:52we'll send you a code to get the first class half price,
27:54you can come and try it.
27:55And again, like I said, you come in,
27:57you listen, I mask headphones,
27:59you're on your own journey, you're in your own space,
28:01you don't need to interact in any way if you don't want to,
28:03you can come and leave.
28:05So again, it's not scary, it's not intimidating,
28:06come and try it, honestly.
28:09I was skeptical before I did breath work,
28:11so that's why I find it funny.
28:12And I did it because I got to the point
28:14where I was like, I don't know what else to try.
28:17So then I was like, Bali, let me try a bunch of stuff,
28:20see what happens.
28:21It's important that your success story
28:23is based on your own journey.
28:25I feel like passion, again, I say this all the time
28:28on the show, and I said it before during our conversation,
28:32passion is what drives you to success.
28:34I mean, and when you feel the benefits,
28:38and you know, because you've been through it,
28:40I've tried it, you're testifying what you've witnessed
28:45and what you've experienced.
28:46And I'm still going through it.
28:47The journey doesn't end, at all.
28:49It never ends.