Episode 340

full
Published on:

20th May 2025

Finding Your Rhythm in Private Practice: Breathwork, Business, and the Power of Presence with Breathwork Facilitator Zach Rehder

Welcome to another episode of "Starting a Counseling Practice Success Stories"! Today, host Kelly Higdon is joined by her friend and breath work mentor, Zach Raider, for a unique conversation about the power of breath work in both personal healing and professional practice.

Together, they unpack how breath work can help therapists navigate stress, uncertainty, and change, offering a path to deeper self-trust and creative ways of connecting with clients. Zach shares the science and art behind conscious breathing, while Kelly reflects on her own transformative journey with breath work and how it’s become a cornerstone in her life and coaching.

Tune in for practical insights on integrating somatic practices into therapy, finding opportunity in discomfort, and building community in challenging times. If you’re looking for inspiration and new therapeutic tools, you won’t want to miss this episode.

00:00 "Breathwork: Key to Healing & Awareness"

03:24 "Mindfulness Through Breath Awareness"

09:24 Limits of AI in Therapy

12:42 Embracing Triggers for Growth

14:04 "Self-Reflection on Triggers"

19:07 "Collective Fear or Personal?"

21:59 Breaking Generational Emotional Cycles

24:55 The Power of Breath in Therapy

29:39 "Expanding Beyond Limitations"

31:25 "Therapist's Role in Embracing Fear"

33:46 "Until Next Time"

---

Zach's Website: https://www.zachrehder.com/

Learn more about Business School for Therapists: news.zynnyme.com/business-school/

Website: zynnyme.com

Blog: zynnyme.com/blog

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Pinterest: pinterest.com/zynnyme/

Check out more episodes of the Starting a Counseling Practice Success Stories podcast on these platforms + leave a review letting us know what you think:

Mentioned in this episode:

Register Now: From Dread to Done - Documentation & Time Hacks for Busy Therapists

Transcript
Speaker:

Hey everybody.

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Welcome to another episode of the podcast.

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This is Kelly Higdon, if you Can't tell.

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And today I'm joined by a guest, Zach

Rader, who is a very dear friend of

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mine and is a person who has helped me

through so much transition in my own

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life, but also has helped therapists bring

breath work into their practices and.

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Showing other people how there

is wisdom in our own breath

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and healing in our own breath.

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And I know this is a little

different, like you're used to hearing

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conversations about starting practice.

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You're used to hearing people

share their wins and their

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successes and what they've learned.

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But today, I wanna share with you what

has really helped me because in times

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like we are going through right now, a

lot of therapists out there are scared.

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Nervous stressed.

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The landscape of mental health care is

changing in our world, and one of the

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things that I believe that will help

us when we're starting our practices

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or building our practices to make it

through these times is creativity.

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Thinking outside of the box, stepping

away from the medical model and finding

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ways to serve that are more aligned

with our truth and community building.

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Connection with other like-minded people.

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That is how we get through things.

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So this is why I asked Zach to come on.

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So thank you for doing something a

little out of the box with me today.

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Thank you for having me.

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It's such a, such an honor to be here.

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So we've known each other a few years

and in full disclosure, you've mentored

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me to do breath work facilitation and.

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Breath work came to me.

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Actually Miranda introduced

it to me before the pandemic.

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I was struggling with a lot of

medical anxiety and then, uh,

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the pandemic hit, which was

really great for medical anxiety.

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And so I was doing a lot of breath

work in my closet, and then I met

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you and learned how to breathe.

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And learn how to breathe.

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But you know what I'm saying?

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Um, and it's opened up a whole world

of healing for me, even in my coaching.

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We breathe, uh, throughout our time

together, so I would love for you to

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share just a little bit about breath work

and what it means to you just to begin.

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Cool.

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Okay.

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Um, I breath work is, I, I'd

say breath work is, is is any

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conscious practice with the breath.

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And so there, there's so

many ways to play with it.

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Um, what does it mean to me?

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It's, it's, that's my favorite thing.

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It's a, it's, it's, I, I, I think it's

such a, a key and, and any sort of

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healing or opening or awakening or,

or, or shifting of our consciousness.

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Like I always watch, it's like if we.

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If you watch someone breathe for a

day, you have a good idea of like

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where they're at and, and what's

going on in their body and their,

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in their lives and their health.

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And so I do see this.

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So it's like, you know, the places

that we're stuck or, or the places

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that maybe that somebody's sick,

you know, the places that are, that

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are really challenging in life.

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It, it, there's usually some sort

of unconscious breath pattern

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that goes along with that.

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And so.

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Like looking at people, you know,

if, if people haven't started really

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studying the breath, it's like they

probably hold their breath a couple

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thousand times a day and, and not even

realizing that they're doing that.

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And those are all places like that.

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We're not present, you know, we're off

in, in the mind and the past or the

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future, you know, worried about what's

gonna happen next month or next year.

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And, and that shows up in the breath

and it shows up in our body as,

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as as held breath or very shallow.

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It's very tense in, in the body.

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And so.

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It's, it's just the most profound

practice of, you know, just, just

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finding our breath and in those places

of tension, it's like, okay, when I

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catch myself holding my breath, that

can be just a really opportunity to,

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to start unraveling whatever the, the

pattern or the trauma or whatever the

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underlying, whatever, whatever underlying

is, is going on there in, in my system.

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Mm-hmm.

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I think a lot of somatic therapists, maybe

other kinds of therapists do have noticed.

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I've noticed this more and more

because of my own breath work

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experience and facilitation, like

sitting in session watching the

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pattern change as a person processes.

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Um, the breath is just so telling.

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It's one of the places

we can't really hide.

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It feels like.

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Mm-hmm.

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It feels very authentic.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I, I know for me, so like in my, in

my own experience and then this became

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a way that I work with people, it was

like, to notice, like even, even just

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asking myself uncomfortable questions

and seeing where the breath goes, right?

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It's like, okay, I wanna squeeze on this

one, but, but there is this magic of yeah,

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finding, deepening the breath and opening

the body and it's, again, it's like when.

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When we meet that place and where, where

we get to go through that and feel the

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things that, that needed to be felt there.

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It's like that next time that thing's

not uncomfortable anymore, that

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thing doesn't cause me to, to go

someplace else or check out or get

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tense or hold my breath anymore.

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So, um, yeah, it's really profound.

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It's like, it's the most simple

thing and I mean, I'm gonna spend

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the rest of my life studying it every

single day and just watching it and

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playing it and learning from it.

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Mm-hmm.

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What are some ways that you use it now?

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Like I know you do groups around

the country, um, do you do it in an

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individual way, group, that sort of thing?

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I'm curious.

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Yeah.

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I mostly do groups, so, so group

breathworks and then obviously like

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my, my retreats and everything.

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Those, all those, those, those have breath

work in 'em every day just because I.

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Like, if there was something

more powerful, amazing.

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Like, I would be using that.

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And so it's, it's just so profound.

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Um, I, I love the intelligence

of the breath too.

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It's like when we're working on some of

these, like these, these bigger, deeper

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breath processes, it's like the, the

breath is like a, just meets each person's

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so perfectly where they're at and, and

holds them where they're at and gives

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them what they're ready for and doesn't

give them what they're not ready for.

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And so, um.

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So it's just this really beautiful

process and where, where it's like,

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wow, if somebody's really in, in

a lot of things all at once, it's

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like it's not gonna, it's not gonna

unload all of it on them, right?

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It's gonna give them what

they're ready for now.

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And, and, and, and with our journey and

as we open and as our capacity grows to

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be with our system, um, you know, that

we, we get to, we get to experience

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bigger and more beautiful things.

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So I think that's one of the

things I've learned a lot from

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you is trusting the breath.

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Yes, trusting ourselves.

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'cause I think when, especially since

a lot of therapists are listening to

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this, a lot of the business building

journey is about building yourself trust.

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Like knowing yourself and trusting

yourself and trusting your capacity.

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Um, listening to the body and its wisdom.

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And I love that about what

you say with the breath.

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Like it'll never give you

more than you can handle.

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At first wasn't really sure about that.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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It'll It'll take you to the edge.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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The edge is okay.

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Yeah, totally.

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Yeah.

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I haven't recalled yet off of the edge.

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Yeah.

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I just keep extending the

edge in finding a new edge.

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Totally.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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The edge keeps expanding and growing.

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Absolutely.

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What do you see in terms of breath work?

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For mental health and what it

does for people's struggles there.

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Yeah.

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I, I, again, I think it's, it's one

of my favorite tools in the world.

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It's, um, you know, and it, it, it

doesn't have to be the only thing,

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it's such a, it goes with so many

other things really, really well.

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And so it's like, it's, it's, it's

just this incredible tool to have like.

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You know, the, there, there is a

lot of times where, you know, we

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need to process and we need to talk

about things and, and work it out.

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And then, um, it, it just goes

with, with, with so many things.

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Um, you know, there, there

is a contraindication.

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It's like if someone is in a very

volatile place, it's maybe not the best

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time to, to just pour a bunch of life

force into them if, like, if there's

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not any sort of stability going on.

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And so, you know, it's, um.

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You know, the, the, that, the,

the breathwork style that I

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teach the most, um, right.

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It's, it's not for every part of the

journey, but there are absolutely like,

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um, breath practices that, that are just,

that are always gonna be good no matter

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where somebody's at or what it is, you

know, something like box breathing or, or

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it, um, you know, like 4, 7, 8 breath or,

or even just like extending our exhales

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to, to relax and open the nervous system.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah, just to be really direct

because I am right When someone is an

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active psychosis or there's a lot of,

um, mood swings that aren't stable

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also like seizures and some other

medical conditions are not a great

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fit for this kind of breath work.

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Um,

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I think.

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You know, when we look at some of the

trends, like in therapy, and there's

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a lot of talk about AI replacing

therapists and there is some AI

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doing that with like CBT, cognitive

behavioral therapy, but I, I believe that

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embodiment practices cannot be, like,

AI is not gonna watch your breathing.

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And, you know, like these kind

of more somatic um, approaches.

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Really keep us hedge hedged away

from, you know, concern about AI and

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those kinds of things taking over,

because there is something about the

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attunement, the embodiment, and the

attunement between you, the practitioner

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and the client that is necessary, you

know, for that kind of transformation.

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Yeah, I, I totally agree.

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I know.

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It's like so many of the places

that we got stuck in, it was a

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place where we felt isolated or

separate or alone or or disconnected.

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And so it's like actually the process

through that is often going to be

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like with another human being and

like there's never gonna be there.

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No machine can replace that.

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Mm-hmm.

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And so it's like there's something

that magic about human connection.

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And then I, but then we still seem

to like, oh, well, could I do the

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breathwork by myself on my own?

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You know, like there's like this

desire to like do it by ourselves or

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you know, I can manage it just alone.

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But I think allowing someone

to hold the space and the

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presence, this is so important.

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Yeah.

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Well, and it, and it's like all of it.

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It's like I want to do it alone because

I'm in resistance to other humans.

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It's like that's, that's, other

humans are gonna be our, our

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key to getting free then, right?

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Mm-hmm.

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Or, and so I absolutely love

self breath work practices.

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Um, but, but yeah, a lot of it's,

no, I'm gonna do this all on my own.

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And it's actually a trauma

response speaking like, to

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to, to the trauma itself.

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And so in, in those cases, it's like,

yeah, we, we, we also need other

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humans to like, they get to be these

incredible opportunities to, to get free.

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We, we were talking a little bit

before we started recording about

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triggers, uh, and I was kind of talking

to you about the landscape of mental

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health care in this country and.

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And you're like, oh, what a

great opportunity with a trigger.

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Yeah.

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Can you talk a little bit more

about being triggered and why

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you annoyingly embrace it?

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No, it's great that you do.

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I love learning from it, but you often are

like, that person triggered me and it was

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kind of like this beautiful opportunity.

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So I think a lot of us get triggered.

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Truly, like our trauma

gets very activated.

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And I'm not just talking about

like, I'm annoyed, I'm talking

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about like we have a trauma response

in our business building process.

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As therapists, we can

have trauma responses.

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How do you see triggers?

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Well, I, yeah, so I, I do

annoyingly love triggers.

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Just to, just to annoy Kelly.

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Yeah.

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Um.

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What, what, what's being triggered

is our opportunities for growth.

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What's being opportunity is our,

is our traumas or the places where

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we're playing small, or the places

that I haven't like, looked yet in

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myself or that I haven't felt fully.

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And so, um, I, you know, just

realized like what these tremendous

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opportunities that we have.

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I often, you've heard me say this, I

ask people like, what if everything

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that you were looking for was found in

all the places you didn't wanna look?

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And so if, if we're talking about

like building our business and it's

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like that there, there's so much

growth in building our business.

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And so of course we're gonna be

triggered so many times along the way.

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You know, of course we're gonna attract

clients that have a, you know, similar,

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similar kind of tr, you know, experiences

or traumas or ways that they're shut down

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and they're going to push on our buttons.

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They're gonna trigger us in a way.

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And, uh.

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It's, I always take those opportunities

of like, you know, our mind is gonna get

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a hold of that and make something bad

or wrong or, or, you know, try to, try

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to make ourselves feel a different way.

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But there's such a, such a, the, the magic

is in those feelings we don't wanna feel.

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Mm-hmm.

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And so like, those are the opportunities.

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Those are absolutely the places

that people are holding their

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breath, you know, they're right.

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We're, we're tensing up or making

that person bad and wrong rather

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than like, wait, what is this?

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What is this that I'm

being invited to feel?

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You know, and I, I, I always go

bonus round with this for myself.

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You know, if, if someone's triggering

me, it's like, where am I doing that?

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How am I just like that person?

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And it's like, where, where am I doing

something very similar just to, to, to

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open that up and explore that in myself.

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It's like if we're, if we're triggered

by the government, like where, where

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is that happening in my system?

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Where am I doing the same thing in

some way that I don't even realize yet?

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And, and take the opportunity.

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It's like there's usually

some, some stuff to feel.

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And so, um, you know, obviously

the, the first trigger is good.

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I go bonus round with myself

just to, of course you do.

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No, I, I appreciate it.

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Like I learned from it for sure.

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I love that.

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Like what if everything we're looking

for is in the places we refuse to look.

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Or whatever we don't wanna look at.

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Yeah.

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Like it's the, it's the uncomfortable

things and then it's like the

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triggers, triggers are uncomfortable.

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And so it's like, these are,

I've just watched over my life.

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It was like every time that I get to spend

time, just like really being with what,

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what gets, what gets brought up in me.

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Um, there's just always

this transformation.

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Like I get to be more open.

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I find more love and

gratitude, more peace.

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It's like, um, you know, I.

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I maybe have, maybe that opens up the

door to have more compassion or, or

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a totally different perspective of

realizing like, oh my gosh, right.

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This is, you know, once, once we're

beyond it, it's like, of course

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they're behaving this way, right?

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This is the, this is

where they're at, right?

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This is, this is their stuff coming up.

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And, um, you know, compassion helps us,

just, just helps us like, okay, this, this

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isn't something to take personally, right?

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This wasn't about me.

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This was just.

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Um, this was where, where something

or someone, or that this is, this

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is where they're at, so, mm-hmm.

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Good times.

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Yeah.

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And, and you know, you're, you're

talking about, you know, just, just

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the, the challenge and all the, all

the triggers coming up for therapists.

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Yeah.

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I think we're in this period of time

where it's just hitting everybody in,

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in one way or another, and so, right.

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It's like nobody's sure

about anything and.

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It's this, this really

powerful place of, of change.

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We're right in the middle of it.

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And so you, I've, I've, I've talked to

several people even this week of just

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like, I, I feel this in my own, in

my own, just my, my own business, my

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own life like that, that we're just,

we're in the middle of so much change.

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Like, I, I do have things

on the schedule this year.

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You know, I have some ideas of how things

are gonna go, but I don't hold them.

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So it's just like.

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Uh, yeah, not nothing is as, is as solid

or as sure as stable as it used to be.

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And I, I think that's a beautiful thing.

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I think that there, there's,

there's a lot of growth happening

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in all of this for all of us.

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Mm-hmm.

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Well, I think that's also kind of

why I wanted to do this series and

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like bring in some other voices of.

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Ways to work and just kind

of to spark creativity.

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Because while I don't know what's

happening out, uh, external of me and I

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don't have control, which I never really

have, like, let's be honest, I can create,

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like, I can create within the context.

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I can, I can be in my own energy.

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I can trust my own self, you

know, to respond and to like.

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Create a business or a life.

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You know what?

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Regardless of what is necessarily

happening around me, yes, there's

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contextual things that can influence

and, but I, but one of the things

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that we've been talking about a lot

in our, like business school is that

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like the fear is palpable, right?

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Mm-hmm.

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From the economy, government,

all these things, at least in the

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US but even in other countries.

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'cause we have clients around the world.

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Then it's like coming back to,

okay, what, what is within my realm?

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What is within my domain to,

to, to be with that I can touch

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and shape and move, you know?

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Yeah.

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Um, and I.

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Part of one, one of the things I, I, I

think there's this opportunity that's

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happening in the world right now always,

like, you know, we don't necessarily heal

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a lot of fear when we're just happy all

of the time and like, you know, and so

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it's like we, we heal fear when fear's up.

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And so I think there's, like,

there's an important thing to, to,

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to really feel into is 'cause uh,

yeah, there's a, there's a lot of fear

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in the world and each one of us is

intuitive and we're connected to that.

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And so we are experiencing

that in, in our own bodies.

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Like we're, we're feeling that fear.

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:

There's, I mean, really

helpful, just helpful tool for

357

:

me for, for a very long time.

358

:

I was like, like to really check in,

be like, wait, is, is all of this mine?

359

:

Is this actually about my life

or, or am I feeling more, am

360

:

I feeling like other people?

361

:

Am I feeling the collective 'cause?

362

:

'cause we all are.

363

:

And so it was like, you know, the,

the, for those that are experiencing

364

:

fear, it was like, yeah, what

if most of that wasn't yours?

365

:

But, but, but we're still feeling it and.

366

:

And 'cause, 'cause again, it's like if,

wow, if all of that fear is mine, I should

367

:

probably go, like hide in a cave and

just, you know, put myself in there for

368

:

10 years and see what happens at the end.

369

:

Mm-hmm.

370

:

Uh, you know, 'cause again, it's

like if it, real fear means that

371

:

we're not safe, you know, it's,

it's that, that, that I need to

372

:

retreat or I need to protect myself.

373

:

And so.

374

:

To realize, it's like, wow, I'm

experiencing fear, but it's not about me.

375

:

Okay, well now, now I can be curious about

it now, now I wanna make room for it.

376

:

Like now I wanna feel it and breathe

with it and let it have its process.

377

:

And like that is, that's,

that's how we heal fear.

378

:

It's, um, you know, I always

talk about, you know, like in,

379

:

in a breathwork session, if, if,

if fear comes to visit, like.

380

:

Right.

381

:

It's not a fun thing, but

it's such a good thing.

382

:

It's like, 'cause we're, we're processing

and healing and transmuting that fear.

383

:

Like when we walk away from there,

it's like le that's less fear in

384

:

our system than we had before.

385

:

And so we're gonna feel

lighter, we're gonna feel more

386

:

spacious and find more peace.

387

:

Mm-hmm.

388

:

Um, and, uh, I mean, that's.

389

:

That's the only way that I know

how to move through things is

390

:

like when they're really up.

391

:

And so again, it's like

fear is being triggered.

392

:

It's like, here is our opportunity.

393

:

Let's not let our mind get a hold of it.

394

:

'cause again, it's like our mind is

always, our mind is always trying

395

:

to put meaning onto everything and

it's gonna be like, this is my fear.

396

:

And it's gonna figure something

out on what, why, what it

397

:

could logically point to.

398

:

Mm-hmm.

399

:

Course I'm scared about the government

or, or, or the state of the economy or,

400

:

or, um, all of these other things that

are really easy to create a story about.

401

:

Mm-hmm.

402

:

But it is like, wait, it's like,

wait, I am, I'm not scared, but

403

:

I'm feeling all kinds of fear.

404

:

Mm-hmm.

405

:

Such a powerful place to like,

okay, can I, can I open in this?

406

:

Right.

407

:

I don't need to have my guard up,

I don't need to protect myself.

408

:

I don't need to run away

from anything right now.

409

:

It's like I can just feel this and

meet this and let it move through me.

410

:

And, uh, those are, those

are so transformational.

411

:

I've had a few breathworks like that.

412

:

Yeah.

413

:

Unexpected, like fear has come

up and I think at the time,

414

:

I mean, I didn't love it, but.

415

:

I'm grateful for it.

416

:

Yeah, because I think, uh, like you

said, it like the breath doesn't

417

:

give you anything you can't handle

and it's not a surprise usually.

418

:

I've kind of like, I was

carrying the fear anyway.

419

:

It just needed to be felt and processed.

420

:

Yeah.

421

:

Yeah.

422

:

Mm-hmm.

423

:

Yeah.

424

:

Well, and, and I always joke around,

you know, if the, if the, if the last

425

:

seven generations of our family were

not spiritual and emotional masters,

426

:

then we inherited all kinds of like

unresolved, like fear and shame

427

:

and all of the other fun things.

428

:

Yeah.

429

:

And we're at this point in time where

I feel like, like so much of that is,

430

:

is, is what's coming up and what we're

working through and like just, you

431

:

know, that we have the opportunity,

uh, and the space and the resources to.

432

:

To sit and breathe and feel this

stuff to, to, you know, to, to do

433

:

work, to, you know, they didn't, you

know, even, even like therapy is a

434

:

pretty new thing in the world, right?

435

:

Like that was most of the time

we were in fight or flight.

436

:

We weren't process, we weren't,

our main focus wasn't processing.

437

:

Unresolved.

438

:

Yeah.

439

:

So he's like, where's food?

440

:

Right?

441

:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

442

:

Don't die.

443

:

Yes.

444

:

Running from stuff and chasing stuff.

445

:

Whereas like now we, we we're in these

generations where we actually have

446

:

this space to like sit and take some

time and be with some of these things

447

:

that haven't been really met for.

448

:

Or who knows how long.

449

:

Yeah.

450

:

I like this conversation because

I hope that whoever's listening

451

:

will actually consider, like, how

much space are you actually giving

452

:

yourself in this process, um, of like

building a business, having a life?

453

:

Like are you giving yourself space to feel

and to process whatever comes up with it?

454

:

Um.

455

:

'cause I think we can get so caught

up in the to-do, like you said, the

456

:

mind of like, I love a good checklist.

457

:

You know, feels like I

did something, you know?

458

:

Yeah.

459

:

Well, what if we put on our checklist,

like y you know, every day for five

460

:

minutes I'm gonna sit down and let

myself be triggered and feel all the

461

:

stuff that's coming up today and mm-hmm.

462

:

Like, let, letting it,

like, letting it bother me.

463

:

Mm-hmm.

464

:

And, but instead of, instead of trying

to figure it out or solve it, it's like

465

:

just giving it the space to feel mm-hmm.

466

:

While, while I breathe with

it and, uh, see what happens.

467

:

Mm-hmm.

468

:

Yeah.

469

:

Um.

470

:

I wanna switch gears just a little

bit and talk about integrating this

471

:

kind of work into the therapy room.

472

:

You have, you said that you have

had therapists use breath work

473

:

as a tool in their practices.

474

:

Yeah, yeah, totally.

475

:

And so, um, we've had therapists

go through the training.

476

:

I always tell, um.

477

:

You know, the therapists and, and

breathwork facilitators are such

478

:

great partners, like such great, like

referral partners because mm-hmm.

479

:

You know, therapist, it's like, it's not,

you know, you hit, you hit this wall,

480

:

you're not, you're not getting, you're

not, you can't get past this thing.

481

:

It was like send, like, have 'em,

have 'em do a breathwork session and

482

:

then just like opens everything up.

483

:

And now, now we're in

entirely new territory.

484

:

Now we can get to new things.

485

:

And so I think they're so important

and you know, in, even in the.

486

:

Even in like therapy sessions, it

was like the, I, I think it's so

487

:

powerful to pay attention to, like

when, when, when we're talking about

488

:

things, it's like, what's going on?

489

:

How are they doing?

490

:

How are they breathing?

491

:

And so I know like when I'm working with

people, I always, I, I can feel it in

492

:

the room when people hold their breath

because it's like the energy stops and

493

:

it's like, okay, now it's, it's almost

like it's, it's really hard to, it's

494

:

really hard to work when, when that, when

the breath is not moving, whereas like.

495

:

When that uncomfortability is up and

we can just like, just breathe with it.

496

:

Mm-hmm.

497

:

He gets that moving and starts

opening the doors and then

498

:

we can get to the next step.

499

:

Mm-hmm.

500

:

So, um, so yeah, I think they're, I

think they're in incredibly powerful.

501

:

You know, we, we have therapists that are,

they're become breathwork facilitators,

502

:

and then there's, and then there's

also, they're also just really great

503

:

partners that work together and mm-hmm.

504

:

Send each other clients, you know,

because not all breath workers have the.

505

:

Have, you know, they've, they've

gone through the breath work

506

:

process, but they're not therapists.

507

:

Yes.

508

:

And so they can open the door and, you

know, actually, like they need, they need

509

:

a therapist for, you know, to get into.

510

:

And like, you know, someone had just

opened up like all of this past content

511

:

that they didn't even realize was there.

512

:

This is gonna be a

process to get through it.

513

:

And so it's a really, really

powerful, it's really important to

514

:

have like, great therapists as in

the Rolodex that they can refer to.

515

:

Mm-hmm.

516

:

I think it's a, I love that.

517

:

So if you are listening, make note, like

reach out to breathwork facilitators.

518

:

Yeah.

519

:

Maybe try their breathwork as well so that

you understand what breathwork entails.

520

:

I mean, there's so many different kinds.

521

:

As Zach said, prior to training with

Zach, I was in a different program

522

:

that was not a good fit for me, and the

breath work did not feel very aligned

523

:

with me physically and my body and

the approach, it felt kind of like.

524

:

It was a lot more push and like coaching,

you know, and what has worked for me is

525

:

this kind of style, which is a little

bit more intuitive and allowing for my

526

:

body to naturally set the rhythm and

pace instead of, you know, being guided.

527

:

We all have different, everyone

has different approaches.

528

:

So, yeah, I think I, I have.

529

:

I have, I have this thought, you

know, like whether it's like breath

530

:

work facilitators or therapists or,

or healers or massage therapists,

531

:

it's like 20% of them are amazing.

532

:

And then, then there's the other 80%.

533

:

So find, find, find the 20% to work with.

534

:

Yeah.

535

:

Find the 20%.

536

:

Like try some breath work.

537

:

And then you could also like

build relationships with breath

538

:

work facilitators that do value,

that do know their Their scope.

539

:

Yeah.

540

:

You know, 'cause there are some

practitioners out there that

541

:

don't, and they feel like they can

handle all that trauma and they

542

:

may not actually be equipped per

se, but you want people who value.

543

:

Yes, that's the 80% we wanna find

the 20% that values the work you do.

544

:

But also, if you're sitting here and maybe

you've done breath work before, or you're

545

:

just noticing your own breath, you can

start incorporating like paying attention

546

:

to your client's breath in session.

547

:

Just noting it being like, I noticed

that your breath held right when

548

:

you started talking about that.

549

:

You know, like noting or

like, Hey, take a breath.

550

:

Like in my coaching calls,

we all start with a breath.

551

:

After every share we breathe, we

bring our energy back to ourselves.

552

:

You know, just keeping the energy

flowing and keeping ourselves

553

:

open and our hearts open.

554

:

But I think there is something about like,

if you've been looking for other ways

555

:

of working, not because it comes from a

place of I'm not enough as I am, but that

556

:

you know, that you need some more somatic

tools where you really feel called to.

557

:

That facilitation has been incredible.

558

:

It's been incredible for me.

559

:

Um, everyone, most people know that I

closed my practice, but doing breath

560

:

work has re enlivened me, I guess, and

another way of healing and helping people.

561

:

Um, it's been a wild experience, but so

beautiful and I'm so grateful for it.

562

:

Yeah.

563

:

Yeah.

564

:

That's beautiful.

565

:

Mm-hmm.

566

:

Thank you for that.

567

:

Yeah.

568

:

Oh my gosh.

569

:

It's been like, it's been

extra magic this year too.

570

:

Like I feel like I'm just, so many

more miracles are just the coolest,

571

:

the coolest things happening, so.

572

:

Mm-hmm.

573

:

I think, like you said though, like

there's a collective energy and

574

:

shift, and I feel that even just in

my industry, specifically in mental

575

:

health, I feel like we are being asked.

576

:

To go beyond what has been given to us and

to get out of these boxes and to really

577

:

forge better paths and, and expand, like

moving into more of an, an expansion,

578

:

which is interesting when everyone

feels contracted and scared, you know?

579

:

But I feel like this,

there's this need for.

580

:

Expanding past that, or, you know,

opening up to other possibilities

581

:

beyond what we've been served

for many, many years and decades.

582

:

Mm-hmm.

583

:

Mm-hmm.

584

:

Yeah.

585

:

So if people wanted to learn

more about you or maybe to one of

586

:

your groups, where could they go?

587

:

Uh, my website, uh, zach rader.com

588

:

or breathwork events that

goes to my, my event page.

589

:

I really, if you are in an area

where Zach is coming to like do

590

:

a group, I highly recommend it.

591

:

Um, but I would love for this podcast to

be shared and for us to talk about it.

592

:

You know, you can send us an email

or if you see this on social media,

593

:

whatever, let's open up the conversation

of like, how do we, how do we embrace

594

:

the fear, let it move through us.

595

:

I wonder what we will discover

through that process of what

596

:

is available to us to create.

597

:

Um, and if you've been struggling

on your own, like I really

598

:

encourage you to try breath work.

599

:

It's life changing.

600

:

Yeah.

601

:

I, I think that's, um, there, there was a

piece that you were just speaking about.

602

:

I, I think like it's even more

important for, for like the

603

:

therapist to really embrace the fear.

604

:

Because it's, because it's like as, as

you've met it, as you've, as you've gone

605

:

through the layer, like as many layers as

you've gone through, it's like that gets

606

:

to be the space that, that you're holding

for, for your client that's in fear, and

607

:

there's this amazing thing that happens.

608

:

There's, you know, there's entrainment

that happens where it's like, it's so

609

:

much, it's so much easier to go through

something when one person is, when,

610

:

when one of us sees the bigger picture.

611

:

And, and, and so it's like, right,

it's, and, and we all know this, so

612

:

it's like, you know, we've, we've been

through that and we know, you know,

613

:

you're, you see where somebody's at and

it's like, oh yeah, I remember that one.

614

:

Yeah.

615

:

Um, and, and again, I think like

healing fear is one of these, one

616

:

of these huge like pillars of,

of the awakening that's coming.

617

:

You know, it's like we could,

you know, it's feeling the

618

:

fear and healing the shame.

619

:

It's like.

620

:

The things that have been

used, um, to control us.

621

:

Mm-hmm.

622

:

And it's like, okay, when you meet fear

and you meet shame, it's like, no, nobody

623

:

or nothing can control you anymore.

624

:

Nothing can get you to do, to, to have,

you know, I leave your agency when,

625

:

when we've, when we've met those things.

626

:

And so again, what an, an incredible

opportunity we have to be triggered.

627

:

To, to meet the scared, to

meet, the fear, to meet again.

628

:

All of the other stuff that's coming up.

629

:

And uh, that's like introducing it

to your deep, you know, your deep

630

:

breath and your open body is going to

like, transform it inside of yourself.

631

:

Hmm.

632

:

I'm so excited to share

you with our community.

633

:

You're one of my favorite humans

and I'm grateful for you in my life.

634

:

And, um, I hope that this

helped someone out there.

635

:

I'm sure it did.

636

:

I know it did.

637

:

And I hope that we continue to pursue

638

:

really creating what we want in this world

and not what people tell us that we can

639

:

have, but instead like being the healers.

640

:

That we feel called to be

in our full expression.

641

:

And, um, breath work has just been

one of the ways to unlock that for me.

642

:

So thank you, Zach.

643

:

Yeah, thank you.

644

:

All right.

645

:

Until next time.

646

:

I.

Show artwork for Starting a Counseling Practice Success Stories

About the Podcast

Starting a Counseling Practice Success Stories
Encouragement and advice for any stage of private practice.
Join Kelly Higdon and Miranda Palmer of zynnyme Private Practice Experts as they speak with successful practice owners about how they created lives and businesses they love. Whether you're new to private practice or already successful and looking to expand, you'll find plenty of stories to get motivated and start designing the practice of your dreams!

• Learn about our LIFETIME program for current and aspiring practice owners: https://bit.ly/LearnAboutBusinessSchool

• Check out how YOU can be featured on the podcast (or even have us on yours!): https://www.zynnyme.com/podcast

About your host

Profile picture for zynnyme Kelly & Miranda

zynnyme Kelly & Miranda

zynnyme (Kelly + Miranda)
zynnyme, founded by Kelly Higdon and Miranda Palmer, was born from two licensed therapists coming together to empower private practice owners to serve at their highest and best, improve clinical outcomes through business planning, and to break the statistic that mental health clinicians are the worst paid Masters’ degree. Kelly and Miranda provide coaching and training through their Private Practice Community, the Business School Bootcamp for Therapists, and educational webinars, and have helped thousands of clinicians from around the world.