Michael Stone┃From Anxiety to Inner Trust: Learning to Meet Life Without Fear

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Went to school, I wasn't totally fluent in English. So
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one of my first experiences was having other kids kind
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of laugh at me because I couldn't speak English the
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way that they did. And I also got a bit
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of discrimination with my Jewish heritage. I was awful at sports,
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so no one wanted me on their team. So I
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just had a very difficult time connecting in an open,
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vulnerable way with other kids that didn't feel safe. I
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was anxious, and I was also anxious about my anxiety
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because I didn't understand it.
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What if anxiety isn't always the enemy, but a signal
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that can either keep us trapped in fear or become
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a catalyst for growth? Today I sit down with Neurodynamic
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Breathwork creator Michael Stone to explore why some forms of
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anxiety can actually sharpen our focus and motivate us to
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take action, while other forms leave us caught in cycles
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of uncertainty, rumination, and fear. Michael shares his own lifelong
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journey with anxiety, how an unconscious belief that the world
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was unsafe shaped everything from his childhood behaviors to his
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adult relationships, and the profound breathwork experience that finally helped
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him uncover where that belief began. We explore why trying
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to think our way out of anxiety often isn't enough,
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how bringing awareness back to the body can help us
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relate differently to difficult emotions, and why learning to trust
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ourselves in the face of uncertainty is may be one
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of the most powerful expressions of radical responsibility. I'm really
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happy to be here today with my friend and colleague,
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Michael Stone. Michael Stone is the creator of the Facilitator
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Training Program, co-founder of the Train Your Brain Master Course,
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a certified holotropic breathwork facilitator, and the innovator behind Neurodynamic Breathwork,
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or NDB. With a bachelor's in science from the College
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of Chemistry at UC Berkeley and an MBA from the
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University of Southern California, His educational background laid the foundation
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for his pioneering contributions to consciousness expansion. In 2018, Michael
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introduced NDB, a unique form of breathwork accessible both in
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person and online, offering expanded states of consciousness through breath
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and music at an affordable cost. His vision extended to
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creating a breathwork facilitator training program in 2020, enabling others
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to facilitate neurodynamic breathwork sessions. As the founder of the
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Neurodynamic Institute and co-founder of the Train Your Brain Master Course,
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he equips individuals to master their minds for more effective
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and empowered navigation of reality. Michael offers free online neurodynamic
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breathwork sessions and has facilitated nearly 1,000 group sessions with
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participants from over 120 countries. His work has fostered a
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global community dedicated to personal and collective transformation, impacting over 100,000
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people worldwide, And his website is breathworkonline.com. And we'll remind
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folks of that when we get to the end of
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our conversation here today. So Michael, I know anxiety from,
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we've known each other for a while and you shared
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your story with me a bit. And I know that
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anxiety was a big part of your early life. And
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you've had a journey around that. And so I wonder
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if you could share a bit what that, was like
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for you personally and what your journey has been.
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Sure. So when I grew up, I was an anxious
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little kid. And especially when I started going to school,
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that was kind of like before that, you know, I
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didn't feel like as anxious as I did when I
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went to school. But once I started going to school,
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it was really hard for me to kind of connect
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and be with other kids and kind of, you know,
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kind of work into the system, so to speak. I
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got a bit on the OCD side. So like, for instance,
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I walked to work every, I mean, walked to school
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every morning. And as I walked to school, I had
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to like, in the sidewalk, there was like little lines
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every like three feet, you know, where they put, where
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the pieces came together. I had to step on each line.
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And if I missed it, I had to go back.
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So I was always a bit late to school. It
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took me forever. And I developed these other habits to
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release my anxiety, like chewing my fingernails, twirling my hair.
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And it always worked temporarily, but it just came back.
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And my anxiety really stemmed from the fact that I
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thought that the world was a scary place. And I
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couldn't figure out how to control it, especially with all
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this other community stuff with other kids that was starting
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to happen. And so I turned into a bit of
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a control freak. And in school, my first experience was
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German was my first language. So when I went to school,
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I wasn't totally fluent in English. So one of my
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first experiences was having other kids kind of laugh at
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me because I couldn't speak English the way that they did.
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And I also got a bit of discrimination with my
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Jewish heritage. I was awful at sports, so no one
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wanted me on their team. So I just had a
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very difficult time connecting in an open, vulnerable way with
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other kids. It didn't feel safe. And I was anxious.
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And I was also anxious about my anxieties. I didn't
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understand it. So I thought I was a little bit odd.
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But I really had no idea where to go with it.
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I just kind of thought that maybe there was something
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wrong with me because it didn't seem like the other
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kids were anxious, just me. And I didn't tell my
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parents about it or my teachers or my friends. I
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was a little bit too embarrassed. So I just tried
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to work with it myself. And if I'd understood anxiety
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better at that time, understanding that some types of anxiety
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are actually useful, I wouldn't have stressed so much about it,
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but I had no idea. Um, I just thought I
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was a bit of a weird person basically. Um, So
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how did I respond? I was always kind of good
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at problem solving since I was a little kid. So
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I just figured, okay, I'm going to figure this out.
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So I was working every day and figuring out how
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do I reduce this anxiety? Because I was feeling really uncomfortable.
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I was incredibly motivated and persistent to try to work
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through it. And I wouldn't give up. So I started
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coming up with all kinds of ideas. My brain was
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kind of working nonstop to figure out I'd have more
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control over my environment, basically, so I could get rid
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of that feeling. And what it came up with was
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that I decided to try and structure my life to
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spend more time around adults because I felt safe around adults. Kids,
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I didn't feel safe around, you know, people of my
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own age. And so what I did was, okay, what
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can I do to spend at least my time out
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of school, you know, with adults and not so much kids?
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I said, okay, I'm going to learn to play games
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that adults play and kids don't. So I started with
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a card game called Bridge. Many people may not have
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even heard about it. And I started to see that
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learning this stuff really actually helped me in some ways. Like,
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for instance, learning Bridge improved my memory significantly because I
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got to remember all the cards. And I actually became
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very good at it. I became a life master. before
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my 18th birthday. And at that time I was the
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youngest life master in the United States. And I learned
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to really love doing these kind of puzzles, like brain teasers.
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And I found that I love solving puzzles. And so
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I developed my problem solving skills. I also started playing
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chess when I was nine years old. And what I
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found was that chess significantly improved my visual memory, my
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attention span, my spatial reasoning ability. And like, I didn't
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think of it in those terms at that time, but
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I just saw that I was getting better. I was
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improving at stuff. And I started to get to a
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place where I could focus on doing things like brain
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teasers for hours without taking a break. And that skill
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set that I learned, you know, by doing these adult
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games has carried over to my adult life. And so
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having the anxiety and trying to avoid the discomfort of
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feeling it actually pushed me to develop skill sets that
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were incredibly helpful to me as I grew up later.
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And even though back then I thought that all anxiety
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was bad, but it's now known that that's completely untrue.
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There's actually useful or adaptive anxiety and also non-useful or
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maladaptive anxiety.
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Well, tell us a little bit more about that, if
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you will. And I'm also curious how these skills you developed,
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unfolded into your adult life and the career you have
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now and all the amazing work you've been doing. But also,
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I know you've said anxiety isn't always bad. It can
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be helpful. So maybe you could draw that distinction between
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us from anxiety that can be quite debilitating for people.
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They may be.
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Experiencing it mentally, emotionally, physically. It can show up in
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all kinds of ways. It can be very debilitating, but
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you're also saying that there can be helpful forms of anxiety.
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So if you could... Help us understand that.
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Sure. There are now studies that actually show that all
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activating emotional states, both positive and negative, can improve things like,
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for instance, creativity. And positive activating states do it through
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something called enhanced cognitive flexibility. But negative activating states, such
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as anxiety, also actually improve your creativity, but do it
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through increasing cognitive persistence and perseverance. So basically not giving
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up until you get the answer. It activates the prefrontal
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cortex and what they call the anterior cingulate cortex, which
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are the parts of the brain responsible for focus and performance.
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So some types of anxiety where you can actually find
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an answer and create a solution to what you're anxious
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about are actually useful. And it can actually push you
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to take action that unleashes your strengths. For example, I
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wanted to get good grades. And I was always a
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bit anxious before a test. So I studied hard to
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make sure I would do well. So the anxiety actually
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pushed me to study harder. I would spend the last
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few days just focusing completely on the test. And after
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a while, when I started doing that, my anxiety level
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actually went down because it was a type of anxiety
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that actually I could do something about. But unfortunately, not
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all anxiety is useful. And On the other side, I
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also had anxiety that was what I call maladaptive. And
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that's the kind of anxiety that kind of feels vague, persistent,
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hard to pin down. And you may not even know
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why you're anxious. And that can make you feel even
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more powerful. And it often leads to chronic stress, rumination,
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and catastrophizing. And this type of anxiety is associated with
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overactivity in the default mode network. which loops self-referential worry
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and negative thought patterns. And it can paralyze decision-making and
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reduce access to emotional regulation. And it was actually a
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2022 study that was published in Nature's Neuroscience that found
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that anxiety becomes maladaptive when two factors are present. First,
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high uncertainty. And second of all, low perceived control. In
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other words, if you don't know what's going to happen
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and you don't believe you can do anything about it,
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that's when anxiety becomes harmful. And I now know that
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for me, that type of anxiety came from having this
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unconscious thinking pattern, which was developed when I was very young,
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that what happened in the world was generally out of
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my control, and that the world was, in general, an
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unsafe place. So to me, I just felt this general
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sense of dread without really knowing why it was more
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kind of flea floating, flea floating anxiety. Just the sense
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that something bad was going to happen in my life,
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but I had no idea what it was, which made
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it impossible to identify what steps I should take to
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resolve it, which was totally different than when I was
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trying to do well on a test, where I knew
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exactly what I needed to do. And actually, many years
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later in my life, I actually got to the bottom
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of where this came from in a breathwork session and
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was able to resolve this kind of thinking pattern that
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the world is an unsafe place, where I saw that
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that completely was not true. And now there's actually quite
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a bit of research on how one of the ways
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to alleviate this type of non-useful anxiety is by doing
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things that put you more in your body. By being
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in your body, you actually bring your focus onto the
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present moment where your anxiety actually lives in the future.
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And the breathwork that I created, neurodynamic breathwork, which I'll
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talk about more in a bit, I also call an
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active embodiment meditation. And it's really perfect for dealing with
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and alleviating this type of non-useful anxiety. It's very different
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from what the medical model was when I was growing
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up in the 70s, which was basically, if you're anxious,
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take a Valium. And if one doesn't work, take two.
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And in 1978, there was actually 2.3 billion tablets of
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Valium that were sold in the US. There's only 250
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million people. So it's like 10 tablets for every man, woman,
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and child. And the philosophy back then was, let's bury
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the anxiety. And what they didn't understand that is by
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buried emotions, they never die. It's more the opposite, that
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by burying them, you give them kind of eternal life.
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They stay inside of you and they continue to run
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your show, so to speak. In the neurodynamic, which I'll
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talk about in a bit, the guiding principle with emotions
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is that you have to fully feel them in order
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to deal with them and release them.
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So is it actually that there are so useful, not useful,
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good and bad types of anxiety, or is it just
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more how we work with it?
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It's more about whether or not when the anxiety comes up,
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if it's something where we can actually see that there's
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something we can do to fix the issue. So if
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it's a specific thing, like whether it's getting an A
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on a test or whether it's resolving a problem where
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we can research or these days go to chat GPT
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or whatever it is, That's useful because it pushes you
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to perform, to find solutions and that type of thing.
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If it's a situation where you just generally feel anxious,
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like let's say you're going to bed and your body
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just feels bad, your stomach's upset, you're feeling awful, but
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it's not a specific thing that you're feeling anxious about,
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more like maybe a generalized anxiety disorder, so to speak.
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that's what we call maladaptive because there's nothing you can
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do to resolve it, basically.
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Yeah.
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Well, interestingly, you said anxiety lives in the future. And yes,
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I mean, we're often anxious about what's going to happen, right? So,
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and the uncertainty. But also, you know, you said one
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of the ways you resolved that kind of unidentified or
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nonspecific anxiety you were experiencing was you discovered in a
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breathwork practice session the roots of it, which were in
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the past. So it can be that especially the anxiety
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that we don't know really even what it's about, can
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often have to do with past experiences.
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Absolutely, yes.
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Yeah, yeah. You talk about embodiment, and so sometimes, I mean,
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people experience different, we experience, we all experience anxiety on
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one level or another, and it can be, sometimes it
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feels very mental, kind of cognitive, looping thoughts, racing thoughts.
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Sometimes it can feel very emotional sometimes, a lot of fear,
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and sometimes it can literally be physical or primarily physical.
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So if it is physical, how does.
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Going into the body, can that create an obstacle to
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embodied approaches to healing or ameliorating the negative impacts of anxiety?
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Well, no, if it lives in your body, that's the
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perfect time to actually do practices. And neurodynamic breathwork is one,
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there's many others too. that actually puts you into a
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more embodied state. So you can actually release what's stuck there.
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Like the, you know, sometimes it's felt as like a
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pain in part of the body. And many times chronic
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pain is just from suppressed emotions or a big piece
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of it is suppressed emotion. And when you start to
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actually live more in your body, you can actually work
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with that versus when you're living in your head, You're
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not even aware that it's there because it's kind of
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under the covers and you can't work with something until
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it's brought to consciousness and where you can actually do
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something about it, basically. If it's kind of stuck where
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you've got this, let's say, pain and there's an emotional
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component to it, but you're kind of in your head
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trying to figure it out, trying to reason out of it,
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it can't work. Like if it's in your body, you
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almost have to be in an embodied state to work
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with it and release it.
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Well, I know you've worked with many, many thousands, probably
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tens of thousands of people doing breath work and taking
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them into their body through breath work. I'm just curious if,
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for some of us, especially if we're experiencing physical anxiety,
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We may do everything we can to stay away from
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the body. We may have developed all kinds of avoidance
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mechanisms and all kinds of ways to stay distracted and
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stay out of the body and stay in head so
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that we don't feel because we don't want to feel
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the body.
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I wonder what your.
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Experience has been of getting, you know, inviting people in
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to do that because that could bring up a lot
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of fear. It could bring up a lot of anxiety
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when you ask them to, okay, we're going to feel
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into the body now. No, I don't want to feel
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into my body. That's foreign. That's enemy territory.
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Right. Yeah, and I would say that many people don't
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really see the body as their friend, so to speak.
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And that's why the breathwork, and by the way, I'm
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going to do a taster session at the end, so
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you'll get an actual experience of what the breathwork can
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be like. But in breathwork, there's a mechanism when you're doing,
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and in the kind of breathwork I developed, you do
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a full deep diaphragmatic, little faster than normal connected breath,
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where it creates certain physiological changes in your body. So
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like the default mode network, for instance, goes offline to
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a great degree. And there's other things that are happening.
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Your blood gets more alkaline. It makes it easier for
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the limbic system, which is generally suppressed to a certain
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degree by the default mode network, to bring up these
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suppressed emotions. But it kind of takes your, when your
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default mode network kind of goes offline, this kind of
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crazy thinking patterns that you're having aren't as active and
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don't run the show so much. So it allows you
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to feel more safe kind of being in your body.
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It kind of puts you in an embodied state, but
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you don't feel the fear because your default mode network,
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which has that kind of looping mechanism to it, is
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kind of offline. So it physiologically supports you in actually
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being able to dive in, And the whole structure of
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a neurodynamic breathwork is a safety structure. So people do
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feel safe in actually diving into their body where there's
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a facilitator available, you can connect with the facilitator during
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the session if you need to, even in online sessions.
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There's integration support afterwards. There's a huge preparation piece with
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30 minutes of prep work before you start the breath work.
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So the whole thing is structured so that people do
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feel safe in going to their experience and in being
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friends with their body versus seeing it as the enemy,
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so to speak.
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I've also heard you say that in terms of how
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we can work with the anxiety we're experiencing, that a
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gratitude practice, that cultivating the mindset, the heartset, the emotion
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of gratitude actually can help alleviate, maybe even heal anxiety
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or the roots of anxiety.
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And that's something that everybody has available to them. This
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is another thing. When I was back as a kid,
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there really was no science behind how does gratitude work
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and what happens in your body. But now it's very
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commonly known and very scientifically available. You can just type
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in the chat GPT and all the studies come up
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that gratitude activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is kind
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of where you're in the rest and digest mode. It
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reduces cortisol. It increases dopamine and serotonin. It boosts mood
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and resilience. It strengthens the prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotion
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and reduces amygdala activity, the fear response. And that regular
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gratitude practice kind of rewires the brain networks involved in
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emotional regulation. And so basically it's, it actually changes your
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brain if you do a regular gratitude practice. So actually
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what I'd like to do right now is just take
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us through a brief five-minute gratitude meditation, if that's okay?
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Sure, yeah, absolutely.
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Okay, cool. All right, and so if you're able to,
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you can stand up, or if not, sitting down also works.
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So just take a deep breath and just let it out.
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And just take a moment to check in. And again,
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if you're able to stand up, if not, just find
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a grounded position that feels natural. And now gently allow
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your shoulders to kind of slump forward and your head
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to drop slightly and your face to go neutral or
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even a little tense. And this posture might feel familiar
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because it's how many of us carry ourselves when we're
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under stress or anxiety, often without realizing it. And notice
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your breath. Is it shallow? maybe more in the chest
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than in the belly, and just let it be how
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it is, just noticing. And if you feel comfortable now,
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gently close your eyes. And just take a moment to
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notice what kind of thoughts are present right now. Are
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they fast, slow, busy, quiet? What emotions, if any, are
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in the background? And what do you feel in your
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body right now? No judgment, no fixing, just from a
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place of curious awareness. And now, remembering you should have
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your eyes closed at this point. And now we're going
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to begin shifting together. And now as we gently begin
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to shift, bring your feet to about shoulder width apart,
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just creating a stable, grounded base. Feel the ground beneath you,
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supporting you. And now roll your shoulders back and open
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your chest. And gently lift your head. Place a soft
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smile on your face. Even if it feels forced at first,
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it's totally fine. And take a slow, deep breath. And
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let your belly rise on the inhale. Go back to
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normal on the exhale. No effort. Just soft. natural breathing,
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but into your belly, not just into your chest. And
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now bring to mind one thing that you can be
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grateful for right in this moment. It might be your breath,
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someone you love, was simply the fact that you showed
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up today. And now let that feeling of gratitude gently expand.
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Not just in your heart, but throughout your whole body.
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Let it settle deep into your being. Now just taking
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another deep breath, keeping your attention in your body. Bring
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your diaphragm expand and then go back to normal in
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the out-breath. And now thinking back to a moment in
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your life, in your past, when you felt truly grateful.
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Maybe it was a hug you needed, a moment of awe,
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or a burst of laughter. And now step into that
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moment as if you were there. See what you saw,
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hear what you heard, feel what you felt. Really let
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that memory come alive inside And as you breathe, let
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that feeling of gratitude flow through your entire body. Really
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be the gratitude. And now gently place one or both
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hands on your heart and take a breath into that place.
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And now send some gratitude to yourself for the ways
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you've contributed to others in your life, for the strength
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that's taken to get to this moment, for your willingness
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to expand, grow, and show up today. and allow yourself
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to fully feel that gratitude. And now let that feeling
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of gratitude spread into every cell of your body. Breathe
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it in. Really let it in. And when you're ready,
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gently open your eyes. Just stretch a little if it
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feels good. And just take a moment to notice how
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you feel now compared to a few minutes ago.
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Nice. Thank you very much. Wow. Yeah, I don't feel anxious.
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That can be an amazing practice to do right when
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you get up in the morning. You know, like for me,
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when I get up in the morning, if I don't
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do some kind of a practice, my mind's already spinning.
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It's like, oh, I got to look at my emails.
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What happened? You know, that whole kind of thing. And
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if I just take a few minutes to really ground
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and whether it's a gratitude practice or just a breath practice,
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it makes a huge difference in kind of the energy
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that I bring into my day.
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00:31:33.980 --> 00:31:34.980
I can attest to that.
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I have a whole whole suite or stack of practices
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I do first thing in the morning when I get up,
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and then gratitude is a big part of it, integrated
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with breathwork, and it really sets me up for a
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wonderful day. So let's switch to breathwork. That's what you're
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best known for, and it's been really at the heart
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of your work, developing.
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You start off, you.
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Train in holotropic breathwork, and then you developed your own
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version of that, basically so you could.
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Bring it online and reach more people.
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And you figured out a safe way to do that,
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a workable way to do that. So I wonder if
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you could talk about how you discovered breathwork and then
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your path into breathwork and what you offer now.
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Sure. When I grew up, I had no idea what
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breathwork was. And even if I did know about it,
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there wasn't really any science behind it back then, so
460
00:32:29.390 --> 00:32:32.349
I probably wouldn't have given it a try. You know,
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I have an engineering background and business and some neuroscience.
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So if you couldn't prove it, I was out kind of.
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But then as I was getting older, you know, as
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I said before, I had this kind of feeling of
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the world being an unsafe place, which was getting in
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the way of really living in the moment, being joyful,
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having positive relationships and everything that I really wanted for
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my life. But I couldn't figure out what was going on.
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Because it wasn't really logical. It's like when I looked
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at my past, I'm okay. Nothing horrible has ever happened
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to me. But I couldn't figure out where it came from.
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And then at a certain point, I ended up going
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to South America and ended up doing an ayahuasca journey.
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And at that time, I didn't even know what ayahuasca was.
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But I was down there with a woman that I
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wanted to create a relationship with because I was having
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failure after failure, couldn't figure out why. And, you know,
478
00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:38.119
that evening, the shaman that went out with us said, hey,
479
00:33:38.140 --> 00:33:40.559
you guys want to do a religious journey? And I
480
00:33:40.579 --> 00:33:42.980
was going, what is it? I never say yes to
481
00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:45.839
stuff like that. And I said, oh, it's very simple.
482
00:33:45.900 --> 00:33:48.480
I go out into the rainforest. I get these leaves
483
00:33:48.539 --> 00:33:51.049
and vines, boil them all up. You drink it and
484
00:33:51.480 --> 00:33:55.029
you have this experience. And of course, my original reaction.
485
00:33:55.049 --> 00:33:56.069
The things we do for love, huh?
486
00:33:56.660 --> 00:33:59.839
Yeah, exactly right. And my original reaction was, you've got
487
00:33:59.859 --> 00:34:03.369
to be freaking kidding me. I don't drink witch's brews
488
00:34:03.400 --> 00:34:06.150
in the freaking rainforest for our canoe rides from anywhere.
489
00:34:06.990 --> 00:34:08.429
But the woman I was with was going, oh, we
490
00:34:08.469 --> 00:34:09.949
have to do this. Oh my God, this is going
491
00:34:09.969 --> 00:34:12.449
to be great. Oh God, if I don't do this,
492
00:34:12.469 --> 00:34:15.030
I'm going to, the whole week will have been wasted.
493
00:34:15.070 --> 00:34:16.809
You know, she'll think I'm a total wimp and that
494
00:34:16.829 --> 00:34:19.349
I like got in the way of her enjoying her journey.
495
00:34:20.849 --> 00:34:23.150
So it was a breakthrough at that point. Cause you know,
496
00:34:23.639 --> 00:34:26.019
the spontaneous kind of thing came up in me that
497
00:34:26.059 --> 00:34:29.960
I didn't even know I had where, okay, I've had
498
00:34:29.980 --> 00:34:32.480
a good life up to this point. I'm in the rainforest.
499
00:34:32.539 --> 00:34:36.440
It's beautiful. If I die today, whatever, you know, let's
500
00:34:37.219 --> 00:34:39.619
just do it and see what happens. If they've been
501
00:34:39.659 --> 00:34:42.579
doing it for centuries, there must be something there. We'll
502
00:34:42.599 --> 00:34:45.639
see where it goes. And that was the first time
503
00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:48.300
that I ever really felt kind of the safety in
504
00:34:48.340 --> 00:34:51.489
the world on this ayahuasca journey. And it blew my mind.
505
00:34:52.639 --> 00:34:55.599
So when I got back, I'm going, okay, the receptors
506
00:34:55.639 --> 00:34:57.039
have got to be there in my brain. I'm not
507
00:34:57.059 --> 00:34:59.860
going down to South America to take ayahuasca every week.
508
00:34:59.940 --> 00:35:02.610
It's not happening. So there's got to be other ways
509
00:35:02.639 --> 00:35:05.409
to access it. And that's ultimately how I landed on Breathwork.
510
00:35:06.329 --> 00:35:09.789
Because when I tried different Breathworks, I landed in Holotropic
511
00:35:09.809 --> 00:35:13.469
because it was designed by a psychiatrist through his work
512
00:35:13.489 --> 00:35:16.380
with LSD psychotherapy. So it was science-based, and I was
513
00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:20.820
having some very profound breakthrough experiences with it. And I
514
00:35:20.880 --> 00:35:24.119
ultimately did get to the bottom of why I felt
515
00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:26.920
like the world was an unsafe place. One of the
516
00:35:26.960 --> 00:35:29.099
things that happens in breathwork, you can go to childhood
517
00:35:29.139 --> 00:35:32.219
experiences and kind of see things that happened that you've
518
00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:36.539
totally forgotten about. Sometimes just forgotten, sometimes buried because it
519
00:35:36.559 --> 00:35:40.300
didn't feel good to remember those things. And, you know,
520
00:35:40.429 --> 00:35:43.389
I went back to this incident when I was about
521
00:35:43.469 --> 00:35:47.590
nine years old, was talking to my mom about her childhood.
522
00:35:47.650 --> 00:35:51.329
And she mentioned this experience that she had when she was,
523
00:35:52.550 --> 00:35:55.170
a German Jew in Nazi Germany and had to run
524
00:35:55.230 --> 00:35:58.090
for her life for almost from one second to the next.
525
00:35:58.130 --> 00:36:00.610
She was like this kind of, her family were these
526
00:36:00.670 --> 00:36:04.789
heroes in the town. My grandfather had the Iron Cross
527
00:36:04.809 --> 00:36:07.949
from World War I, which was a really, really huge honor.
528
00:36:07.969 --> 00:36:12.230
They'd been living there for, you know, several hundred years
529
00:36:12.289 --> 00:36:14.969
to having to run for their lives. And she'd already
530
00:36:14.989 --> 00:36:17.300
gotten beyond that. She'd already worked through it. She'd done
531
00:36:17.340 --> 00:36:20.289
her own work and she'd even gotten to the place
532
00:36:20.329 --> 00:36:22.190
where she had gone back to visit her old town
533
00:36:22.230 --> 00:36:24.750
and stuff like that. But as a kid, I made
534
00:36:24.789 --> 00:36:28.389
a decision. If you can't trust your government, you can't
535
00:36:28.429 --> 00:36:32.639
trust people that have been supporting you for your entire life,
536
00:36:32.679 --> 00:36:36.099
they all turn against you, what can you trust? And
537
00:36:36.119 --> 00:36:38.400
so I carried that with me, but it was unconscious.
538
00:36:39.320 --> 00:36:41.159
And when it's unconscious, you can't really work with it.
539
00:36:42.099 --> 00:36:44.219
So in my breathwork session, when I remembered that, I
540
00:36:44.260 --> 00:36:46.849
could start to actually work with this thinking pattern that
541
00:36:46.889 --> 00:36:52.150
was really Just completely messing up my life. It didn't
542
00:36:52.190 --> 00:36:55.449
allow me to feel joy. And it didn't allow me
543
00:36:55.489 --> 00:36:59.289
to feel safe in the world. So it completely transformed
544
00:36:59.329 --> 00:37:03.739
my life. These things, they aren't magic pills. It's not
545
00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:05.340
like you just realize something and all of a sudden
546
00:37:05.400 --> 00:37:08.579
it's gone. It took me a lot of work to
547
00:37:08.619 --> 00:37:13.039
work through it and shift it to a different thinking
548
00:37:13.079 --> 00:37:16.469
pattern that supported me more. And so, you know, it
549
00:37:16.530 --> 00:37:18.949
wasn't a question of days or weeks. It was longer
550
00:37:18.989 --> 00:37:22.639
than that, but it started me on this process that
551
00:37:22.820 --> 00:37:28.400
this really beautiful healing process that ultimately ended up with me,
552
00:37:28.980 --> 00:37:32.000
you know, getting into an amazing relationship and, you know,
553
00:37:32.099 --> 00:37:34.739
creating so many shifts in my way of looking at
554
00:37:34.760 --> 00:37:38.010
the world that really made a huge difference. And part
555
00:37:38.070 --> 00:37:42.550
of the reason that I ultimately developed neurodynamic breath work
556
00:37:42.630 --> 00:37:46.389
was because One of the shifts in thinking patterns that
557
00:37:46.429 --> 00:37:50.090
I had was that rather than coming from a place
558
00:37:50.210 --> 00:37:52.010
of like when I was a kid, what can I
559
00:37:52.090 --> 00:37:55.969
get from life? What can I take from life? I
560
00:37:56.010 --> 00:37:58.300
completely shifted at a certain point to what can I
561
00:37:58.340 --> 00:38:01.079
contribute to life? I saw that that's what really made
562
00:38:01.099 --> 00:38:03.739
me happy, to be able to contribute to other people
563
00:38:03.780 --> 00:38:06.780
expanding and growing, not to say, you know, when can
564
00:38:06.820 --> 00:38:08.619
I get that next car? When can I get this
565
00:38:08.699 --> 00:38:11.139
or when can I get that? And that's part of
566
00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:11.940
what really.
567
00:38:14.179 --> 00:38:17.099
Pushed me to develop my own kind of breathwork, neurodynamic.
568
00:38:17.699 --> 00:38:20.239
Because what I originally was trained in Holotropic, you can
569
00:38:20.280 --> 00:38:23.949
only do in person. There are three-hour breathing sessions. I mean,
570
00:38:24.010 --> 00:38:27.730
it's an amazing modality, but it's really difficult to access.
571
00:38:28.449 --> 00:38:32.929
The in-person sessions were 12 hours. There were two three-hour
572
00:38:32.949 --> 00:38:35.690
breathing sessions. You had a sitter and a breather. And
573
00:38:35.730 --> 00:38:37.650
so you had to charge a fair amount of money
574
00:38:37.730 --> 00:38:40.219
to rent a huge place, several thousand square feet, so
575
00:38:40.260 --> 00:38:43.730
everybody could lay out on mats and fly in facilitators
576
00:38:43.769 --> 00:38:45.210
to help you and that kind of stuff. And I
577
00:38:45.289 --> 00:38:48.550
wanted to create a breath work that could be accessed
578
00:38:48.590 --> 00:38:54.400
by anybody that wanted to really was called to dive
579
00:38:54.440 --> 00:38:57.019
into their unconscious mind, see what was holding them back
580
00:38:57.079 --> 00:39:00.159
in life to expand and grow in a safe way. And,
581
00:39:00.440 --> 00:39:03.659
you know, in a easily accessible way that didn't cost
582
00:39:03.699 --> 00:39:06.599
too much money. All they needed was a desire to
583
00:39:06.659 --> 00:39:10.099
expand and grow to learn more about themselves. And so
584
00:39:10.139 --> 00:39:13.469
that's why I I created it. I did testing for
585
00:39:13.510 --> 00:39:15.940
nine months to make sure it was safe and everything
586
00:39:15.960 --> 00:39:19.480
could work online. What was the ideal length of the session?
587
00:39:19.500 --> 00:39:24.050
All that kind of stuff. Ultimately, that's where I landed
588
00:39:24.050 --> 00:39:28.340
on these sessions that I um, do now online. They're
589
00:39:28.360 --> 00:39:31.679
two hour sessions with a half hour safety talk at
590
00:39:31.719 --> 00:39:35.480
the beginning. So people are fully prepared because some things,
591
00:39:35.639 --> 00:39:38.000
if you don't prepare them for, and they have these experiences,
592
00:39:39.300 --> 00:39:41.940
they will definitely freak out. Their ego mind will go,
593
00:39:42.420 --> 00:39:46.280
I'm not doing this. Like, uh, I'm sure, you know,
594
00:39:46.429 --> 00:39:48.489
like you're aware of tetany. where you get this kind
595
00:39:48.530 --> 00:39:52.440
of stiffness in your fingers sometimes in breath work. And
596
00:39:52.639 --> 00:39:55.260
if you don't prepare someone for something like that, they
597
00:39:55.300 --> 00:39:59.780
will freak out, virtually for sure, if they don't know
598
00:39:59.820 --> 00:40:02.519
about it. So you talk about that, like sometimes people
599
00:40:02.539 --> 00:40:05.820
get this numbness in their body and the feeling comes back,
600
00:40:05.860 --> 00:40:08.079
they get this great release. But if they don't know
601
00:40:08.139 --> 00:40:11.300
about that stuff, they won't be able to stay safely
602
00:40:11.340 --> 00:40:14.260
in their process. So half an hour for that, one
603
00:40:14.280 --> 00:40:16.980
hour of breathing, and then a share circle at the end.
604
00:40:18.780 --> 00:40:20.659
And in the share circle, one of the things that
605
00:40:20.699 --> 00:40:23.820
we bring in is gratitude. So it all kind of
606
00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:27.349
creates a circle where we, as part of the meditation
607
00:40:27.389 --> 00:40:30.369
we have, like right before we start the share group
608
00:40:30.409 --> 00:40:33.869
to bring them back from their experience, we say, and
609
00:40:33.929 --> 00:40:38.289
now allow yourself to feel gratitude to all the breathers
610
00:40:38.349 --> 00:40:41.550
who supported you in your experience today, that type of thing.
611
00:40:42.489 --> 00:40:46.500
So we do bring gratitude into the breathwork experience also.
612
00:40:49.880 --> 00:40:54.360
What if transformation isn't just about thinking differently, but feeling differently?
613
00:40:54.900 --> 00:40:57.760
Science shows us that true change happens when we align
614
00:40:57.840 --> 00:41:01.340
not just our minds, but also the neural networks in
615
00:41:01.400 --> 00:41:05.260
our hearts and guts. This heart-mind connection is the key
616
00:41:05.300 --> 00:41:09.360
to deeper healing, resilience, and expanded awareness. That's why I
617
00:41:09.449 --> 00:41:13.489
created the HeartMind All Access Membership and Community, a space
618
00:41:13.550 --> 00:41:17.730
designed to help you rewire your nervous system, cultivate heart intelligence,
619
00:41:18.139 --> 00:41:22.159
and live with greater clarity and purpose. With over 1,000
620
00:41:22.159 --> 00:41:27.119
hours of transformational teachings specifically curated to meet your needs,
621
00:41:27.639 --> 00:41:34.019
you'll learn from world-renowned meditation teachers, neuroscientists, and experts in neuroplasticity,
622
00:41:34.480 --> 00:41:38.099
all sharing powerful tools to help you shift your mindset
623
00:41:38.539 --> 00:41:43.000
and heart set, regulate your emotions, and unlock your full potential.
624
00:41:43.909 --> 00:41:47.369
You'll also gain unlimited access to every summit and course
625
00:41:47.409 --> 00:41:52.960
we've ever produced, a treasure trove of wisdom worth over $ 10, 000
626
00:41:51.340 --> 00:41:55.739
and growing, plus live gatherings and an inspiring global community
627
00:41:56.019 --> 00:41:57.360
to support your journey.
628
00:41:57.800 --> 00:41:58.539
If you're ready to.
629
00:41:58.480 --> 00:42:01.980
Step into a more heart-centered, connected, and conscious life, I
630
00:42:02.019 --> 00:42:04.579
invite you to join us. Click the link to learn
631
00:42:04.599 --> 00:42:11.849
more and start your journey today. Michael, in just a moment,
632
00:42:11.869 --> 00:42:13.989
I'm going to invite you, if you would, to lead
633
00:42:14.030 --> 00:42:16.230
us in a brief session, a little taster session, as
634
00:42:16.269 --> 00:42:16.630
you said.
635
00:42:19.670 --> 00:42:20.289
I'm curious as.
636
00:42:20.269 --> 00:42:25.199
To what's coming up today in your groups, your breathwork
637
00:42:25.219 --> 00:42:29.119
groups and so forth. Because as you mentioned, you realize
638
00:42:29.139 --> 00:42:31.980
you suffered your whole life not feeling safe in the world,
639
00:42:32.019 --> 00:42:34.780
like the world wasn't a safe place. You found out
640
00:42:34.900 --> 00:42:36.820
the cause of that, and you found out that that's
641
00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:40.159
not actually true. And, you know, on some level, I
642
00:42:40.199 --> 00:42:43.019
completely agree with you. The vast majority of time, we
643
00:42:43.059 --> 00:42:46.650
are safe. And, you know, our biology is very fear-based
644
00:42:46.670 --> 00:42:49.210
because survival is job one. So whether we know it
645
00:42:49.250 --> 00:42:51.190
or not, there's a conversation in the back of the
646
00:42:51.230 --> 00:42:52.869
brain going, I'm going to die, I'm going to die.
647
00:42:52.889 --> 00:42:57.469
There's shit everywhere, which is not the case. And at
648
00:42:57.530 --> 00:43:00.909
the same time, there are people living in some places
649
00:43:00.949 --> 00:43:03.219
of the world of conflict zones and war zones where
650
00:43:03.239 --> 00:43:05.719
they don't experience it. They're not safe and they don't
651
00:43:05.780 --> 00:43:10.849
feel safe. And I'm sure there are people In other areas,
652
00:43:10.889 --> 00:43:13.210
here in North America and Europe, other places that are
653
00:43:13.230 --> 00:43:16.789
not in conflict zones, but they're stuck in a situation
654
00:43:16.829 --> 00:43:23.230
of domestic abuse or chaotic families with drug addiction, alcoholism,
655
00:43:23.289 --> 00:43:25.210
and so forth. So there's a lot of people that
656
00:43:25.809 --> 00:43:29.090
are not experiencing safety. And then there are those of
657
00:43:29.150 --> 00:43:32.449
us who live more privileged lives that are experiencing relative safety, right?
658
00:43:33.820 --> 00:43:39.579
But even for all of us, really, Life has always
659
00:43:39.619 --> 00:43:43.449
been uncertain, and we can't really control the world out there.
660
00:43:43.949 --> 00:43:46.489
We can do our best to engage with it in
661
00:43:46.510 --> 00:43:50.829
the most intelligent, creative way we can, but it feels
662
00:43:50.869 --> 00:43:54.320
more uncertain than ever in so many ways. There's major
663
00:43:54.360 --> 00:43:59.599
conflicts happening in the world. There's political divisiveness. The changes
664
00:43:59.639 --> 00:44:02.699
that are coming about through artificial intelligence are so rapid.
665
00:44:02.780 --> 00:44:05.920
And so I think a lot of people are experiencing
666
00:44:05.960 --> 00:44:08.659
a lot of uncertainty, and especially if they pay very
667
00:44:08.699 --> 00:44:11.840
much attention to the news. And I really counsel people
668
00:44:11.880 --> 00:44:15.460
to really limit their exposure to the news, because the
669
00:44:15.500 --> 00:44:18.480
news is just designed to fuel your anxiety. That's what
670
00:44:18.519 --> 00:44:22.519
it's designed to do, right? But regardless, there is that.
671
00:44:22.539 --> 00:44:24.380
So I'm wondering if the people that are coming into
672
00:44:24.420 --> 00:44:28.599
your breathwork sessions and community these days are talking.
673
00:44:28.239 --> 00:44:30.090
About this.
674
00:44:31.389 --> 00:44:35.570
Anxiety, this sort of situational environmental anxiety and uncertainty and
675
00:44:35.610 --> 00:44:39.360
that they don't feel safe on some level because who
676
00:44:39.400 --> 00:44:41.639
knows what's going to happen next, right? Things just seem
677
00:44:41.659 --> 00:44:44.699
so uncertain. So I'm wondering how that's playing out and
678
00:44:44.739 --> 00:44:47.880
then how the people, if you notice that people are
679
00:44:47.900 --> 00:44:51.489
doing the breathwork, are somehow better able to deal with that,
680
00:44:52.369 --> 00:44:53.110
et cetera.
681
00:44:53.449 --> 00:44:59.849
Yes. That's a really good question. And So first let's
682
00:44:59.909 --> 00:45:02.780
talk just for a moment about how actually breathwork works.
683
00:45:03.739 --> 00:45:11.480
And so, and especially with anxiety. So during a neurodynamic
684
00:45:11.519 --> 00:45:15.590
breathwork session, we use faster, deeper breathing at the beginning
685
00:45:15.630 --> 00:45:20.409
of the session. And that stimulates actually, so this is
686
00:45:20.489 --> 00:45:22.429
gonna be a little bit counterintuitive at the beginning, but
687
00:45:22.449 --> 00:45:25.880
it stimulates the sympathetic nervous system which is the part
688
00:45:25.920 --> 00:45:29.019
of your body that gets activated during stress. But in
689
00:45:29.079 --> 00:45:33.519
this case, it's intentional and it's also temporary. And as
690
00:45:33.599 --> 00:45:38.550
I said before, like this type of breathing, well, how
691
00:45:38.590 --> 00:45:41.510
it works is it lowers the CO2 in the blood,
692
00:45:41.570 --> 00:45:45.869
it makes it more alkaline, which creates a mild physiological
693
00:45:45.909 --> 00:45:50.469
stress state. And why do we do that? Because As
694
00:45:50.530 --> 00:45:53.190
I said before, it quiets the default mode network, which
695
00:45:53.250 --> 00:45:57.730
is part of the brain responsible for self-referential thinking and overanalyzing.
696
00:45:58.230 --> 00:46:03.059
And that's the loop where anxiety tends to live. And
697
00:46:03.179 --> 00:46:06.940
so basically when it's downregulated, it supports all this other
698
00:46:06.960 --> 00:46:11.679
stuff coming up. And as the session progresses, we tell
699
00:46:11.699 --> 00:46:14.760
people to start with that breath technique. But once you
700
00:46:14.800 --> 00:46:17.570
dive into your process, you're in your journey to trust
701
00:46:17.610 --> 00:46:20.900
your body with the breath. So almost all breathwork out there,
702
00:46:20.920 --> 00:46:22.699
they say, breathe this way all the way through. We
703
00:46:22.840 --> 00:46:26.119
don't do that. This is all about, you know, and
704
00:46:26.280 --> 00:46:30.610
it's non-directive. This is really important in neurodynamic breathwork and
705
00:46:30.670 --> 00:46:34.530
why it works so well with anxiety. Because we basically say,
706
00:46:34.550 --> 00:46:38.340
you know, we're not going to direct the experience as facilitators.
707
00:46:38.380 --> 00:46:41.320
We don't tell people breathe, we breathe more deeply or
708
00:46:41.380 --> 00:46:45.019
connect the love or whatever. This is about them connecting
709
00:46:45.550 --> 00:46:48.860
to what I call their own inner guiding intelligence that
710
00:46:48.889 --> 00:46:51.920
everybody has. Different people call it different things. I think
711
00:46:51.940 --> 00:46:56.539
Joe Dispenza calls it the quantum field or the source
712
00:46:56.599 --> 00:47:00.260
or your higher self or whatever, but that deeper part
713
00:47:00.280 --> 00:47:03.639
of your psyche that already has all the answers that
714
00:47:03.679 --> 00:47:08.000
you need. And so later in the session, what generally
715
00:47:08.039 --> 00:47:12.050
happens is, especially towards the end, the breath naturally slows.
716
00:47:12.769 --> 00:47:15.489
And again, so I tell people, don't force it. like
717
00:47:15.530 --> 00:47:17.579
to stay with the original technique all the way through,
718
00:47:17.619 --> 00:47:20.639
let it do what it wants. And then when it slows,
719
00:47:20.699 --> 00:47:24.920
the body shifts into a parasympathetic state, which we call
720
00:47:24.960 --> 00:47:27.590
the rest and digest mode. And that's where the deep
721
00:47:27.619 --> 00:47:33.190
integration happens. So you move from activation to release to healing.
722
00:47:34.250 --> 00:47:37.809
And again, what makes this unique is that it's non-directive.
723
00:47:37.849 --> 00:47:40.989
So no one's telling people how to feel or think
724
00:47:41.030 --> 00:47:43.920
or what to work on. Their own inner guiding intelligence
725
00:47:43.980 --> 00:47:48.380
guides the process. And that's what makes it safe, personal,
726
00:47:48.880 --> 00:47:51.440
and powerful. And that's part of why it's so effective
727
00:47:51.489 --> 00:47:55.300
for anxiety. You're not just managing symptoms. You're actually addressing
728
00:47:55.340 --> 00:47:58.650
the root causes stored in the body and the results
729
00:47:58.690 --> 00:48:01.929
speak for themselves. I mean, a recent survey, 89% of
730
00:48:01.969 --> 00:48:08.050
our participants reported experiencing relief from anxiety after sessions. So
731
00:48:08.070 --> 00:48:12.829
it totally works. And part of it is that especially like,
732
00:48:12.849 --> 00:48:16.050
for instance, in trauma, and also for other people too,
733
00:48:16.139 --> 00:48:19.980
one of the unfortunate side effects is that people lose
734
00:48:20.099 --> 00:48:23.239
confidence in their ability to handle what's going on in
735
00:48:23.260 --> 00:48:26.440
the outside world. And as you were talking about with
736
00:48:26.500 --> 00:48:28.820
all this stuff going on in the outside world, it
737
00:48:28.860 --> 00:48:32.329
makes a huge difference whether you are coming from this
738
00:48:32.449 --> 00:48:35.510
internal space of no matter what happens in life, I've
739
00:48:35.530 --> 00:48:38.610
got it. Or if you're coming from the space of
740
00:48:39.130 --> 00:48:42.869
I can't handle life. I was overwhelmed when I was
741
00:48:42.909 --> 00:48:45.960
a kid by all this stuff happening. And that thinking
742
00:48:46.000 --> 00:48:49.239
pattern still being there. So part of the healing that
743
00:48:49.260 --> 00:48:52.219
takes place in neurodynamic breathwork is that people start to
744
00:48:52.300 --> 00:48:55.809
see as they dive into these processes that they can
745
00:48:55.869 --> 00:48:59.309
go through these things. They can go through feeling anxiety
746
00:48:59.369 --> 00:49:02.469
or feeling fear and open themselves up and get to
747
00:49:02.510 --> 00:49:05.969
the other side and feel much better. Because once you
748
00:49:06.010 --> 00:49:08.809
really go through this stuff, and we say in breathwork,
749
00:49:08.869 --> 00:49:11.909
feel it so you can heal it, and get to
750
00:49:11.949 --> 00:49:15.570
the other side, people generally find that On the other
751
00:49:15.630 --> 00:49:19.190
side of it is something deeply relaxing or love or
752
00:49:19.269 --> 00:49:23.469
some other like really different type of experience once they
753
00:49:23.510 --> 00:49:26.889
allow it to really be felt and expressed into the universe.
754
00:49:27.530 --> 00:49:29.730
And they start to feel more confident that they can
755
00:49:29.769 --> 00:49:33.670
handle life, that no matter what happens, even if it's fear,
756
00:49:33.730 --> 00:49:36.090
they can work through it. And so that's part of
757
00:49:36.150 --> 00:49:38.750
why it works so well and not just in the
758
00:49:38.789 --> 00:49:42.349
breathwork experience, but when they go back into their lives,
759
00:49:43.349 --> 00:49:46.210
over 75% of our breathers say that they feel more
760
00:49:46.349 --> 00:49:49.590
confident in dealing with their life. They feel better connected
761
00:49:49.650 --> 00:49:52.730
to their inner guiding intelligence. They feel more calm. They
762
00:49:52.769 --> 00:49:57.489
feel more present. So all these things, and even with trauma,
763
00:49:58.469 --> 00:50:01.409
over 80% of people say they get relief from trauma
764
00:50:01.429 --> 00:50:02.340
from this breathwork too.
765
00:50:04.179 --> 00:50:09.980
So this kind of, short-term activation or short-term acute stress
766
00:50:10.079 --> 00:50:14.269
activation or sympathetic arousal activation, kind of in service of
767
00:50:14.969 --> 00:50:18.510
then kind of a healing response. This is the similar
768
00:50:18.570 --> 00:50:20.929
mechanism in cold exposure as.
769
00:50:20.909 --> 00:50:21.510
Well, isn't it?
770
00:50:22.690 --> 00:50:25.300
And other types of things that put the body in
771
00:50:25.360 --> 00:50:27.360
a temporary state of acute stress.
772
00:50:27.860 --> 00:50:30.260
And then you're released from that. Exactly, yes.
773
00:50:30.860 --> 00:50:32.199
Yeah, yeah.
774
00:50:33.139 --> 00:50:33.300
Well.
775
00:50:34.699 --> 00:50:36.869
I think we learn by doing. So would you lead
776
00:50:36.929 --> 00:50:39.150
us in a little taster session of this?
777
00:50:39.889 --> 00:50:40.809
Yeah, absolutely.
778
00:50:40.909 --> 00:50:41.369
I'd love to.
779
00:50:41.909 --> 00:50:45.309
So our normal neurodynamic sessions are 60 minutes long and
780
00:50:45.349 --> 00:50:48.210
they're really designed. So like with the whole, like with
781
00:50:48.230 --> 00:50:51.409
the default neural network offline and stuff, this will be
782
00:50:51.429 --> 00:50:55.659
a short session, just about eight minutes of music. And
783
00:50:55.820 --> 00:50:57.780
so the purpose will be a little bit different. We're
784
00:50:57.800 --> 00:50:59.300
going to be doing a little bit of a different
785
00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:03.300
breathing style, more slow and gentle. The music will be
786
00:51:03.320 --> 00:51:07.739
more gentle. And it's really more designed just to kind
787
00:51:07.780 --> 00:51:12.820
of be more in an embodied state to kind of
788
00:51:12.860 --> 00:51:15.719
reset your nervous system. And some people may have a
789
00:51:15.760 --> 00:51:19.480
deeper experience, but for most people, it'll be more of
790
00:51:19.500 --> 00:51:23.920
a relaxation period. Some of the experiences that people get
791
00:51:23.960 --> 00:51:25.940
in breathwork, and what you may or may not get here,
792
00:51:26.159 --> 00:51:30.119
is like body releases. where you might get like shivers
793
00:51:30.199 --> 00:51:33.900
or shakes or whatever. You might get emotional releases. You
794
00:51:33.940 --> 00:51:38.340
might feel some emotions. In the longer sessions, people also get,
795
00:51:38.949 --> 00:51:41.369
many times get visuals where they might go back into
796
00:51:41.429 --> 00:51:45.429
childhood and see things from a different perspective or transpersonal
797
00:51:45.469 --> 00:51:48.510
experiences where they feel connected to the universe or past
798
00:51:48.550 --> 00:51:55.219
life experiences or lineage healings or rebirthing experiences or just
799
00:51:55.280 --> 00:51:59.190
deep relaxation experiences. So again, in the longer sessions, all
800
00:51:59.230 --> 00:52:02.670
that's available. And you may get one of those experiences
801
00:52:02.849 --> 00:52:05.510
even in the shorter session. I just want to bring
802
00:52:05.550 --> 00:52:07.510
those up. You may even experience a little bit of
803
00:52:07.550 --> 00:52:11.159
the technique thing I talked to you about, although it's unlikely,
804
00:52:11.500 --> 00:52:14.000
where your fingers get stiff. It's totally normal. Don't worry
805
00:52:14.019 --> 00:52:16.280
about it. It just means that you're getting a release
806
00:52:16.360 --> 00:52:19.980
of tension stuck in your hand. And for the breathing
807
00:52:20.019 --> 00:52:22.599
technique for this, what we're going to do is you're
808
00:52:22.639 --> 00:52:25.960
going to breathe. And again, to start with, in and
809
00:52:26.000 --> 00:52:29.619
out through the mouth. And full deep breaths into your belly.
810
00:52:30.039 --> 00:52:33.219
So your belly expands on the in-breath. Going back to
811
00:52:33.280 --> 00:52:35.860
normal on the out-breath. But no stress in your body.
812
00:52:35.900 --> 00:52:41.199
Not like this. Not like that. Make it a full, deep,
813
00:52:41.480 --> 00:52:45.860
but enjoyable breath. And connected. So you're always breathing in
814
00:52:46.199 --> 00:52:48.139
or breathing out. And so you just want to have
815
00:52:48.199 --> 00:52:52.820
fun with the breath. And some people like to make
816
00:52:52.869 --> 00:52:54.670
a little sigh in the out-breath. You can either do
817
00:52:54.690 --> 00:52:58.239
that or not. Either one totally works either way. And,
818
00:52:58.579 --> 00:53:00.679
you know, as you get deeper into the eight minutes,
819
00:53:00.800 --> 00:53:03.539
if your breathing wants to shift or change, that's okay too.
820
00:53:04.340 --> 00:53:06.949
You know, again, just like in the regular sessions, just
821
00:53:06.969 --> 00:53:07.590
trust your body.
822
00:53:08.150 --> 00:53:08.610
It's all good.
823
00:53:10.030 --> 00:53:13.090
And again, this will be more gentle music. And, you know,
824
00:53:13.110 --> 00:53:16.250
just kind of notice how your body feels right now.
825
00:53:16.289 --> 00:53:18.510
And then afterwards you can see if it feels any
826
00:53:18.550 --> 00:53:24.280
different or not. And the two basic concepts in this,
827
00:53:24.480 --> 00:53:27.500
as it is in regular breath work, in neurodynamic breath work,
828
00:53:28.519 --> 00:53:33.320
is trust and surrender. Just let whatever wants to happen, happen.
829
00:53:34.119 --> 00:53:36.639
And just knowing that even in these shorter session, your
830
00:53:36.659 --> 00:53:39.030
inner guiding intelligence will bring you what you're ready to
831
00:53:39.110 --> 00:53:41.510
experience in the way that you can experience it back.
832
00:53:43.110 --> 00:53:46.230
So just letting go, letting go of any expectations of
833
00:53:46.269 --> 00:53:50.030
what might happen during breath work and just allowing life
834
00:53:50.070 --> 00:53:58.030
to flow through you any way that it wants to. Okay,
835
00:53:58.500 --> 00:54:02.739
and now you might want to close any other internet connections,
836
00:54:03.960 --> 00:54:07.519
if that feels right, like Chrome or Firefox or something,
837
00:54:07.619 --> 00:54:09.820
just so you don't get glitches in the music. And
838
00:54:09.840 --> 00:54:13.110
then close your eyes. And you can do this sitting
839
00:54:13.130 --> 00:54:14.909
in your chair. It's totally fine. Or if you want
840
00:54:14.929 --> 00:54:16.789
to lay down, you can too. Some people like to
841
00:54:17.349 --> 00:54:21.650
put some headsets on to get better sound quality. If
842
00:54:21.670 --> 00:54:24.510
you want to run and do that, you can. But
843
00:54:25.489 --> 00:54:32.449
it's all good. So at this point, you can close
844
00:54:32.469 --> 00:54:38.250
your eyes, take a deep breath, and bring your attention
845
00:54:38.369 --> 00:54:50.500
into your body. Just watching the breath for a moment.
846
00:54:58.519 --> 00:55:02.619
Now deepening the breath. Starting to take full deep breaths
847
00:55:04.139 --> 00:55:07.800
in and out of the mouth. Feeling the belly expand
848
00:55:07.840 --> 00:55:10.559
with each in-breath and go back to normal in the out-breath.
849
00:55:11.860 --> 00:55:14.860
But this is not a fast breath. Just normal pace
850
00:55:14.949 --> 00:55:17.809
or even a bit slower can be really nice. So
851
00:55:17.909 --> 00:55:23.849
full deep, either slow breath or at most normal pace.
852
00:55:26.650 --> 00:55:29.369
And make it an enjoyable breath. No stress in your body.
853
00:55:31.269 --> 00:55:46.000
taking in the air of life. Taking full deep breath
854
00:55:47.400 --> 00:55:57.909
in and out of the mouth. And if During the session,
855
00:55:57.949 --> 00:56:00.030
your body wants to move a little bit. Just let
856
00:56:00.070 --> 00:56:03.780
it move. Or if sounds want to come, let them come. Again,
857
00:56:03.820 --> 00:56:08.199
just allowing whatever wants to happen to happen. And at
858
00:56:08.239 --> 00:56:10.400
the end, when the music's over, just keep your eyes
859
00:56:10.480 --> 00:56:12.800
closed just for another minute. And I'll just kind of
860
00:56:13.099 --> 00:56:19.179
gently bring the breathing fully and deeply. Deeply and fully.
861
00:56:19.199 --> 00:56:23.460
Fully and deeply. And in a moment, the music will begin.
862
00:56:23.480 --> 00:56:25.989
Have a wonderful day.
863
00:56:40.340 --> 00:58:13.670
Thank you. so so Thank you for watching. Thank you
864
00:58:13.750 --> 01:01:34.789
for watching. so so Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
865
01:03:28.550 --> 01:04:33.739
Thank you. you you you you you.
866
01:05:17.210 --> 01:05:22.659
And now, if you haven't already, bringing your breath back
867
01:05:22.739 --> 01:05:33.019
to a normal rhythm, normal depth. And just being with
868
01:05:33.039 --> 01:05:36.539
yourself for a moment. You can either open your eyes
869
01:05:36.599 --> 01:05:44.360
or close them, either is fine. Just taking just another
870
01:05:44.409 --> 01:05:59.150
minute to be with yourself. being with your body. This
871
01:06:00.349 --> 01:06:06.469
amazing vessel that the universe has given us to navigate
872
01:06:06.510 --> 01:06:14.969
this incredible journey we call life. I'm just taking a
873
01:06:15.059 --> 01:06:37.280
few more gentle breaths. Just taking one moment to allow
874
01:06:37.320 --> 01:06:43.170
yourself to feel gratitude. I think it's about a one
875
01:06:43.230 --> 01:06:46.690
in a hundred billion chance that we come to life
876
01:06:46.769 --> 01:06:49.969
in this incarnation with exactly the right sperm and egg
877
01:06:50.030 --> 01:06:55.210
meeting in exactly the right moment. And just allowing yourself
878
01:06:55.269 --> 01:07:01.360
to feel gratitude for this gift that was given to you,
879
01:07:02.659 --> 01:07:08.750
that you didn't have to earn. And for this beautiful
880
01:07:08.789 --> 01:07:17.269
journey we're on. All right.
881
01:07:18.510 --> 01:07:22.110
Thank you very much, Michael. That was wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.
882
01:07:23.010 --> 01:07:27.369
And it really doesn't take long to change your state,
883
01:07:28.170 --> 01:07:30.849
in essence. Like you saw just in five minutes with
884
01:07:30.909 --> 01:07:34.789
gratitude or just a few minutes of breathing. You know,
885
01:07:34.849 --> 01:07:38.090
being in a more embodied state is just incredibly powerful
886
01:07:38.110 --> 01:07:43.739
and your body just loves it. You know, where you're not,
887
01:07:43.980 --> 01:07:47.440
you know, most people spend, uh, I have to put
888
01:07:47.480 --> 01:07:50.639
myself in that category for most of my life, spend
889
01:07:50.659 --> 01:07:53.869
almost all of our times in our heads, whether it's
890
01:07:53.969 --> 01:07:57.909
thinking about the future, remembering the past. And we very
891
01:07:57.989 --> 01:08:00.090
rarely take the time out of our day to just
892
01:08:00.190 --> 01:08:02.650
kind of check in with ourselves, be with our body.
893
01:08:03.150 --> 01:08:06.409
and see what's going on. And just in general, as
894
01:08:06.449 --> 01:08:08.860
a practice, the more, if we can just take every
895
01:08:08.940 --> 01:08:10.900
once in a while, take a few moments to close
896
01:08:10.920 --> 01:08:15.119
your eyes, be with yourself, whether it's taking, you know,
897
01:08:15.480 --> 01:08:18.159
just five or six deep breaths and really checking in,
898
01:08:19.500 --> 01:08:21.500
seeing what's going on. If you're feeling a little bit
899
01:08:21.520 --> 01:08:25.090
of anxiety, to soothe yourself, do some deep breathing, do
900
01:08:25.100 --> 01:08:28.550
a gratitude exercise or whatever. It can make a huge
901
01:08:28.609 --> 01:08:30.689
difference to the quality of your life and the quality
902
01:08:30.729 --> 01:08:31.090
of your day.
903
01:08:33.779 --> 01:08:38.220
Wonderful. Thank you so much for this, Michael. This is amazing.
904
01:08:38.300 --> 01:08:43.020
So where can people find out more about Neurodynamic Institute,
905
01:08:43.060 --> 01:08:45.600
about your work? I know you offer free breathwork sessions,
906
01:08:45.640 --> 01:08:48.789
the full two-hour version. So where can people find out
907
01:08:48.829 --> 01:08:49.270
about that?
908
01:08:50.329 --> 01:08:52.409
Yeah, so basically they just have to go to my website,
909
01:08:52.850 --> 01:08:57.970
which is breathworkonline.com. And either you can just go to
910
01:08:58.010 --> 01:09:00.189
the main website and click on Try a free breathwork
911
01:09:00.210 --> 01:09:06.109
session or breathworkonline.com slash free is a direct page where
912
01:09:06.130 --> 01:09:11.340
you go to access to free session. And we do
913
01:09:11.340 --> 01:09:15.279
20 live sessions every month, different times of day, different days.
914
01:09:15.300 --> 01:09:17.560
So you can choose one that fits in with your
915
01:09:17.579 --> 01:09:20.520
schedule and You know, as you saw today, really the
916
01:09:20.579 --> 01:09:23.020
only way you can know is to try it out.
917
01:09:23.079 --> 01:09:25.659
And that's true of, I think, everything that's experiential in life,
918
01:09:25.680 --> 01:09:27.939
whether it's meditation, breath work.
919
01:09:28.539 --> 01:09:32.250
Thank you so much, Michael Stone, founder of Neurodynamic Breathwork,
920
01:09:32.289 --> 01:09:33.810
the Neurodynamic Institute.
921
01:09:34.409 --> 01:09:36.810
And really a joy to work with you as always.
922
01:09:36.890 --> 01:09:38.529
And thank you for what you offered today.
923
01:09:38.550 --> 01:09:41.829
All right. Well, it's been a joy and a pleasure.
924
01:09:41.890 --> 01:09:42.250
Thank you.
925
01:09:43.060 --> 01:09:43.399
Be well.
926
01:09:46.789 --> 01:09:50.350
Thank you for joining me on the Radical Responsibility Podcast. Remember,
927
01:09:50.529 --> 01:09:53.890
real change happens when we commit to our growth, face
928
01:09:53.949 --> 01:09:57.920
our challenges with compassion, and stay open to transformation. If
929
01:09:57.939 --> 01:10:00.739
you found this episode helpful, I encourage you to subscribe
930
01:10:00.800 --> 01:10:03.880
and help us spread the message of healing and personal empowerment.
931
01:10:04.220 --> 01:10:07.760
Until next time, stay grounded, stay present, and stay true
932
01:10:07.779 --> 01:10:08.300
to yourself.
933
01:10:08.439 --> 01:10:08.859
Take care.