I always say to my clients like you don't need , like to meditate for half an hour , you know like , take five calm breaths with your eyes closed , like you can reset .
Hello , my dear friend , welcome back to another episode of the Curious Neuron podcast . My name is Cindy Huffington and I am your host . Today I want to cover mindfulness with you .
I've covered self-compassion and I might have covered mindfulness a little while ago , but I want to come back to mindfulness because we're hearing this word a lot on social media and online and I want to cover it because I don't want you to just hear it as a buzzword .
I want you to have actionable tips and to know what you can do in your home to help you gain that mindfulness and see the benefits of mindfulness , because there's tons of research around this .
So I brought in a physiotherapist today and she's somebody that I went to school with when I was doing my masters and it was an absolute pleasure being able to reconnect with her and it was a really fun podcast and I hope you can hear that in our conversation .
But more than that , I know that she gave tons of information that you can start applying today and I hope that it will be helpful for you . As always , before we begin the conversation , I'd like to take a moment to thank our sponsors .
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Please enjoy my conversation with Tatiana . Welcome back to the curious neuron podcast . My name is Cindy and today I'm joined by Tatiana . Hi Tatiana , hello Cindy . I wish we would have recorded our intro of like oh my gosh .
Yeah , that was very . That was really exciting when I saw your face . I know .
So we , we go back . I don't know , I don't want to say the years , I don't want to count right now . You don't want to age us . You mean , well , you know , everybody knows I turned 40 . So that's where we are . But yes , we did our masters together . You were in the physiotherapy part of it , right ?
And I was in the rehab , the science , the research part of it .
But we go back to our masters and it's been so long and , like I was telling her , I was scrolling through LinkedIn and saw a post about this person , rachel , one of your clients and it really marked me and I reached out to you within like 3.5 seconds of reading that post because I just I knew that the audience here at curious neuron would resonate with what
you were talking about and what your client had experienced . And then when I dove into your work , I was like wow , we just really need to learn more about this . I've spoken about mindfulness and I've spoken about all of that from kind of like a the brain standpoint , but we never kind of join it to the body and like how it impacts us and overall .
So that's the chat we're going to have today . Before we do begin , I just want everybody to get to know you a little bit more . If they go into your LinkedIn , they'll see mindfulness movement health coach . What is that and what kind of stuff do you do with people ?
So , like going back originally , my first passion is the human body , which brought me to go to my master's in physiotherapy school , which is how I met Cindy .
We were working in the stroke rehab lab together and over my years as a practitioner I really got to learn my body and , going through pregnancy and my changes , I fell in love with yoga and then really dove into the mindfulness side and the philosophy of yoga practice . For those of you listening who don't know a ton , it's not a religion .
It's really about getting in touch with your emotions , your values , your true spirit . And I think some people shy away from the word yoga sometimes , so I call it mindful movement , but really they're hand in hand .
And as a graduate from physiotherapy school but physiotherapy is also changing now but before , like let's say , 10 years ago , there was sort of this gap between physical pain and physical treatment versus mental health and mental health treatments and I kind of over my time with clients especially dealing with like busy moms , busy parents .
We needed to bridge that gap . So sort of my new sort of niche is helping people , particularly women 40 plus , now that we're maybe have a bit more time because the kids aren't physically needing us as much , but having that time to reconnect with our bodies , not just our physical bodies but our mental , emotional and the physical sort of blending them together .
It's such an important thing to realize that we do need to do that right , because I think you're right . Like now , my kids are four , six and eight and I'm starting to see that there is a bit more time for me to do certain things , a little bit more than before . You know , obviously everybody knows my schedule .
It's a little different , but I still try to find time to do a little something , maybe not every day , and that's okay . You know , like I do what I can , but that mix , that not that mix , but that understanding the connection between that mind and that body . You know , like I think it's so important for us to really get to that .
It's so important for us to realize that we can do work . We can do some work on our minds and work . I've spoken about self compassion as well and how that impacts . you know how we're , how kind we are to ourselves and it's just the whole everything connected . So you know this .
Going back to this client that you had , rachel you know she spoke about , or you spoke about just kind of being on the go all the time right and never really having time to stop and her kind of noticing like you seem calm and zen and like how do I get to that ? Like what ?
what is that ?
And I think as parents and as moms , you know , we we have so much to balance and we're trying to , like , figure out how to do it all , and dad's too , but I hear this from moms and we're all it's like nonstop . And then we feel it .
We feel these aches and pains and we feel off headaches and just not feeling well , you know , and I've had moments like that , but we don't realize that there's a mindful aspect to it . So can you describe that person ? Do you remember that client , rachel ?
Yeah , yeah , so it's Rachel , but oh , sorry okay . She's very open and you know , obviously she gave you permission to post her picture so I can give you a little bit about her . She's actually a very successful L'Oreal hair stylist artist . She's like very good at color and cut and , anyway , professional woman .
You know she always goes 120% at everything she does . She has three kids as well . You know , whether it comes to working out , working things with her kids , like she's always just 120 . And at some point you know your body can't handle that , your brain can't handle that .
And she's finally like realized that because you know she sees me because she has old traumas or old surgeries , aches and pains , but because she's so go , go , go and trying to do everything like the best she can , including like , okay , I'm going to like run , you know , x amount every day , or like go to the gym X amount or work this work that there wasn't
that like slow down component right , like yin and yang , right . Like everything in life , we need balance . And it was hard for her to get there and it was just so it was . It wasn't like we were purposefully talking about it . She was just on my physiotherapy table and I was just checking her breath . I was just checking her rib cage movement .
When we breathe , we try to have this like belly , rib cage chest , and then when you exhale , chest rib cage belly so often . So I was just trying to see if she had that kind of rhythm to help her calm . Before I did some manual therapy or whatever it was I was doing and she started laughing .
And then that's when she said to me you're so zen and like a tornado and like I . I never would have described myself like that in my 30s . I was a tornado and I recognize that now , but it's like I didn't even think of that .
It's like when you , when someone observes you , or you like remove yourself and this is part of mindfulness practice and , cindy , you can speak to this too Like it's being able to like remove . It's almost like you're looking at yourself as a third person , without judgment and just to be like huh , where am I at Right ?
And then you can be like okay , like I am feeling spirally right now where I'm like I'm level and calm , or like it's just like being able to kind of remove yourself . It sounds so strange because like we are ourselves , but the mind is pretty cool , we can do that , but it takes practice , and that's the hard part , right , like it's not overnight .
It needs to be consistent , but it doesn't have to be crazy , like I always say to my clients , like you don't need like to meditate for half an hour , right , exactly . You know , like take five calm breaths with your eyes closed , like you can reset , or you drink your coffee and notice all the senses .
Right , like the smell , the feel of the mug in your hands , put your phone away during this , like little moments in everyday life , if you can just just be in that moment , that's a practice .
Yes , so you just said a bunch of things . Now I have to try to think of which one I want to start . Okay , you know , because it was so good . You mentioned like it takes practice , and I think I would bring in the word awareness as well . I think we're so used to just powering through our days that we don't realize . Oh , I wasn't feeling certain .
I was feeling a certain way at that point , but I didn't even acknowledge it .
I just kind of powered through that feeling at work of like that feeling I don't know , let's just say a disappointment , when my boss told me something and I went through the next moment , and then I picked up my kids from school or daycare and they had a meltdown in the car , and now I'm piling up that feeling of like anxiety or overwhelm .
And then I'm going , I'm going home , and now I'm home and I'm cooking and my kid is whining , and now I'm feeling frustrated , right . So it's like we're just throwing in a bunch of things into that like bucket and I call them like micro emotions . It's not a scientific thing , I just came up with that .
They're tiny moments that we don't acknowledge , we don't label , we don't bring awareness to it , and then we blow up to , we blow up on our child or we get mad because we're missing an egg you know for to bake something or cook and we yell the fridge or we start crying and we're like what the hell just happened . But it's because everything piled up .
So I love what you were saying , because if we can train ourselves , like you said , to stop and pause , it's not about the five , 10 , 15 minutes of meditation , not even . You don't even have to start with that .
But , just be aware and start being opened not open but like where I guess I can't think of another one , but conscious of that moment and how you feel . And that falls within emotional intelligence , where you're just labeling and that kind of comms and regulates the system just by labeling and saying where you're at right now .
So what you said , honestly , anybody who's listening , if you , if you are feeling overwhelmed and like you go to from zero to 100 , very often just everything that you just said , tatiana , I think it's a very good place to start at and it's so accessible , right , like it's not carving out extra time .
You're already drinking your coffee or your tea , right ? Yeah , do it for two minutes just to just to do that . Or , like you said , if you experience something and you find yourself pushing that emotion away , what if you I'm sure everyone has heard the word be in the moment or sit , let it go .
But , like , how do you let it go if you haven't sat with it ? Right , meaning , and as human beings , I think we push away discomfort . We don't . We don't like problems , right , we want to solve . So we're so quick to jump into something that's easier . Right , but it's okay sometimes to be with awkward moments or things that are uncomfortable .
Yeah , because it takes time , like you said , to be able to even label it . Like , wait a minute , my boss just said that like , how do I feel about that ? Or , okay , my kids have a meltdown . My child is whining and screaming . It's making me feel really frustrated and angry . How can I , like , call myself to help them ? Call ?
I mean , it's not easy right . No , it's not no , but a lot of practice comes in . Right , exactly .
Yeah so what are ?
what are the impacts , I guess , from your perspective , also being a physio and seeing like these like now you're having these conversations with your clients right , about their mind and how they're thinking and their mindfulness what is the impact of ignoring this and just kind of powering through our lives , right ?
Is that when you start feeling it like deep in your body , without even realizing there's a connection ?
Yeah , absolutely so . Again , my , I'm seeing a lot of different kinds of people , but a lot of people that resonate with me are women with particularly busy working moms , 40 plus and it's like the magical age of 37 . You start to feel that's so interesting , like I mean , I that's not based on research .
No , but I've seen very similar age groups .
Yeah , Again not like my caseload , right . Right , there's something about , you know , between 25 to 35 , you can power through and you're going to be okay . Then something happens past 30 . And then , like you know , this year I turned 41 , definitely feeling it in my body .
When I don't address emotional or stress , I carry it , and this is true for a lot of my clients it shows up in your shoulders and your neck and your back .
And then if you have previous trauma whether it was , I don't know , like you you tweaked your back , lifting your child , maybe , like whenever , or physical accident , yeah , like it shows up when you're stressed and if you don't address it and breathe through it or do the right things for it with mindful intention I'm not talking about like go and like run a
marathon- or something right . It's like a trigger . So when you feel stressed , it triggers that physical pain and then your physical pain makes you irritable , and then your irritability makes you more stressed and then it becomes this pain cycle .
And what I'm seeing a lot of is because we , you know , we all work at a desk , we're sitting a lot , we're a lot more sedentary than human beings used to be , because we're not moving . You need to actually mindfully move , like setting that intention to move throughout your workday , not just on the weekend . Right , that's really , really important .
What advice do you have for parents who might have younger kids ? Because , like I said , I'm just starting to see like the light at the end of the tunnel of , like now it's time . It's like Cindy , here's your free time , you know , like I'm starting to see it now .
What about if there's a parent who's listening , who has a very young child , or many young children , and they're like I really don't have time , I don't even know how to . I'm overwhelmed . I don't even know how to balance my day . I'm working , picking up the kids coming home , cooking , they're going to bed , I'm exhausted and I can't move .
Like , where do we begin with the whole movement and the mindfulness right ?
Like yeah , what are the first steps ? That's a great question and , again , it's not all or nothing . So for parents who are listening , who have younger children and you know you just literally don't have time to go to the gym , you can move at the office . I mean , there's got to be a moment , even if you're in the washroom and you do XYZ spine .
I guess it's hard to demo this because this is a test , but if you're listening , if you remember , like algebra in high school , xyz is like the 3D chart , right , like you've got the X axis , y axis and the Z is one through the paper . Think of your spine . It's not 2D , you're not a flat cartoon . Your body craves moving in all these directions .
So even if you went to the bathroom at work and you're at the sink and you kind of like twist , bend forward , back , side bend , like that's it , and then , bonus , if you do it mindfully right , like let me feel , can I feel each vertebrae as I curl forward ? Right , we have 24 bones in our back . Each bone is a joint on top of the other .
There's like more than 50 joints in your back . And if you think about a long car ride and you don't get up your knees like kind of hard to open when you get out of the car right Especially not for your back Like you're sitting all day stuck at a computer , probably not in the best posture .
So for those listening who can't carve out that time , that's okay If you can get up from your desk , even like you know , every hour you just do XYZ spine a few times . I promise you it doesn't take more than like a minute . Your body will actually be so much happier .
That's so good , and I think I'm refreshing to hear that , because I'm sure parents might have been anticipating an answer of like one hour a day is good , but hearing , no , but it's , you know , because it feels overwhelming .
Because I think , especially in the world we live in with social media , you're looking at everybody and it seems like everybody has everything all worked out right and you're like why is that new mom getting an hour workout ? And I can't , I haven't showered in three days . Like what's going on ? Like what's the difference ?
You know , I think hearing that it's always about baby steps and I think , that's the baby step we needed to hear , because it just it's realistic .
Yes , and it's achievable and it's sustainable . Right , like if you . I have so many examples where people are like , no , I need a new routine and I'm gonna , but then you do it for a month and then you're burnt out of that and then you fall even worse backwards . Or it's like crash diets , like they just work yeah .
The baby , little achievable steps , smart goals it's really what's gonna , you know , help you in the wrong run and then you're . And then it's like banking , right , Like we can't throw $1,000 a day in the bank and then be like who's next year . But you put a dollar a day Like your future self is going to be so excited and there's compound interest .
That's the same for our health , right ? That's such a good analogy . What's happening inside your body . Not only are you moving your spine , like let's give the XYZ example , but you're giving your brain cells a break from the computer . You're giving your blood a bit more flow .
You're you're encouraging a bit more respiration , your breath , like that's all , like little banking , and it'll compound over time , all right , oh , I love that so much .
You know , one thing that I've noticed makes a difference for me as a mom , as a wife , as a human , as a friend , is just that , like little time before everybody wakes up . It's not always possible . Like we said at the beginning of this conversation , my , my had a kid who woke me up in the middle of the night and I haven't fallen back asleep yet .
So it's gonna be a good day today , but you know those things happen . So I I missed my morning walk and I couldn't do it because I was just drained .
But when I do take that time even if it's a 20 minute walk of like just before everybody wakes up or just being alone or journaling 20 minutes before everybody wakes up it could be the journaling or the walk I just feel much more calm , like for everybody who's involved with me that day . You know like I can manage and cope with a lot . More Is there ?
Have you heard that from clients ? Like , is there like a or like for some people , is it maybe at nighttime , like I'm assuming it's important for us to carve a bit of that time out too , if we can .
Absolutely . And again , I have clients who are morning people , right , so they , they are up before the kids get up so they can have that quiet coffee , they can read a little bit , journal , do their workout , like . I mean , that makes a difference , it does make a difference .
And then there's the opposite end , where people are night hawks and they have a bedtime routine . They love having a tea and journaling and then maybe doing a five minute stretch and a meditation before they crawl into bed .
Or maybe your , your time is like lunch , lunch at work yeah , guaranteed , if you looked at your day , and this is where I think journaling also really helps to actually write it out . There's got to be somewhere where you can replace with some mindful movement . I mean , like , how many of us watched lots of Netflix or scroll social media ?
Yeah , like , but if you write it down , right , you're like accountable . You're like , oh , like , I actually you know I was on Facebook for two hours , right , yes , it's 10 minutes of that two hours , or like whatever , I'm exaggerating . Yeah , but I know what you mean . Yeah , right , like , you can take that 10 minutes for yourself for mindful movement .
So it's . It's not an all on all or none sort of thing right With what you're saying , absolutely so , you know . And the social media thing is such an important thing for us to mention because I often tell parents like to have certain boundaries for yourself , because I also tell them to have boundaries for their child , but we need it for ourselves too .
And we get caught up right . We get caught up in like a quick moment of like scrolling and then we're like , oh , crap , like 30 minutes just passed . And then you're like , oh , and then I wasted my night . Or like you binge watch something on Netflix . And you're like I'm going to bed early today so that tomorrow I'm going to be up early and go work out .
And then you end up watching TV all night and you're like , oh , no , I'm tired , yeah exactly . So I guess , if somebody's listening and they're like yeah , I get caught up in those moments of screen time or social media , how do I step out of that ? Do you have any tips by any ? I know this is random and we didn't talk about this .
I don't know . Do you have any tips , I think ? I think it's just going back to that awareness , right , like , and how do you ? What are you gaining from it ? You know , like , I have so many friends that have actually voted , like , opted not voted opted to take Instagram off their phone for like a detox .
They haven't deactivated their account , but just because they found themselves like mindlessly scrolling and then kind of feeling crappy about themselves , cause , like you said , people always post like the happy stuff . How come this mom's house is so perfect , how come she can work out all the like ?
You know , it's just like human nature to compare , but that A not true , right , like ? You can post a pretty picture over there and the room is cluttered over there , right , or whatever it is .
So , I think , just being aware of how you're spending your time and then , like really asking yourself , in a loving way , though , like not a oh , I'm like don't feel like the guilt and shame because at least you're aware it's just like well , okay , like if I did look at Instagram for an hour last night , maybe tonight , like I can just be a bit more mindful
to take like a quarter of that time and I'm going to do a little bit of a mindful walk . Gonna go for a walk around the block and like notice the trees , notice the smell in the air , notice the breeze on my skin .
Like it sounds a little bit funny , but when you pay attention and I like using the five senses because it's accessible , everyone , you know , has a nose , eyes , skin we can taste smell here .
When you force your brain to be curious about noticing your surroundings , that is actually very powerful to help rewire your brain and calm your nervous system and that's like actually proven in research .
So , that's pretty cool , because everybody can do that , it's fine . So we haven't even brought this part in yet . The most important part well , not the most important , but the one that comes into , like you said , the nervous system , regulating the nervous system . Because that's what happens to us , right ?
As parents , we become dysregulated and we lose it on our kids , or we lose it with somebody else , or we feel off , and that's what the whole purpose of mindfulness is . Right , you're regulating your nervous system .
Yes , and there's so much about mindfulness in our modern day world because we don't get it anymore , like we don't get it organically anymore . Do you know what I mean ? Like before , like let's think of like 100 gatherer times right , like you ran away from threats , like physical threats , of like Saber-tooth Tiger or whatever . Right , right , right , right .
So once your body's like out of the fight or flight or freeze your body's like hey , like I'm safe , I'm in my hut , like I can digest , I can rest , I don't have to run anymore . But today's threats are like like we talked about , social media threats .
Like you may not know your brain's being threatened , but when you're scrolling and comparing your life , let's say , to other moms or other parents , and you're kind of starting to feel like , well , how come my house isn't like that ?
Or I feel like I'm just sick .
You spiral and you're getting into fight or flight . Maybe not as crazy as that Saber-tooth Tiger , but you're elevating your cortisol . But it's a little bit enough that you don't quite know it .
Do you know what I mean ?
And then , think of that over time . Your baseline of cortisol now is a bit higher , right ? So you're like kind of in this like constant fight , flight or freeze , and your nervous system hasn't had a chance to come down , because you haven't run away from a Saber-tooth Tiger .
You're just sitting there , that's right , and so your body's not letting go of all that , absolutely .
You got it , so then your body starts carrying it , which is where I like . Usually people come to me with a physical pain first , right , then we like unravel , and there's like emotional , mental stuff . But that's where that physical piece comes in , cause you haven't .
Yeah you just don't even know , right Like you're like low grade stress all the time , go , go , go . You're like doing all the things , wearing all the hats , and then suddenly you're like , oh my God , I can't move my back in so much pain .
It's so interesting , Like now that we say it , I'm just thinking back to why working out might feel so good . Part of that is like you're relieving that stress .
I never looked at it that way , but it makes sense Like you're in that constant , like wanting to run away and like getting that energy out and that , like you said , the fight or flight or you know freeze , you don't know . Your body's just always prepared to run from the bear or the Saber-tooth Tiger , but there isn't any .
So it's so interesting to see that and why it makes such a difference .
You touched on one thing about like not being so hard on yourself , and I want to get back to that because I know , I know we all do it and I know you know we spoke about like that sort of like your feelings , like to be aware of your feelings , but we also need to be aware of our thoughts right .
So there's Dr Susan David has a book called Emotional Agility and she speaks about a space and that space . It's basically CBT Cognitive Behavioral Training but your thoughts and your emotions are linked to your behavior , right ?
So if , in that awareness , we're starting to realize like our thoughts are negative and we're hard on ourselves because we happen to miss , you know , that walk in the morning , or something happened and we couldn't do what we wanted to do tonight , or we ended up watching you know , netflix all night , and now we feel bad , how do we get out of that of like
that funk of like I did it again , because it's very easy to do it again the next day because you're like , well , I already did it , or like you know , I'm not feeling good about my body . I might as well just not eat this bag of chips tonight . you know , like that kind of thought how do we get out of that ?
Because it's so easy again that word spiral , we spiral down and then we don't get back on it and start again .
Yeah , that's a great question and I think we did touch on it . But again , just to reiterate , it's not all or nothing , right Like . If you did it the night before , it doesn't mean the whole week is shot , right Like . Okay , so you did it the night before , that's okay . Tomorrow is a different night and it doesn't have to be crazy .
You don't punish yourself for the night before , right Like . You don't say , okay , fine , I'm gonna do like a two hour walk , cause last night I watched three hours of that Like , no like , go for your walk tonight , you'll feel better , and then the next night try to do it again , like baby steps , and then they start feeling really good .
You don't like that saying it takes 21 days to go back to healthy habit .
No , like it's not everywhere .
Yes , like it takes good six months . Oh , wow , yeah , so please , yeah , everybody's like . Oh no , I'm okay , I didn't want to make it sound discouraging , but I just want to say like it does take time and it takes those baby steps to and you build it over time .
So even if you have an off week and off month off day , like it doesn't mean you have to punish yourself . You know , you could be disappointed in yourself . It's not saying ignore that , but you could be like , oh , I could have done better , but okay , I will tomorrow .
And then tomorrow doesn't have to look like double yesterday because you didn't do it , but start somewhere and know that you always have a choice . I think often we convince ourselves that we don't have the choice , but we do , and it can be as little as like .
It can be as little as like two minutes right , Like even if you walked in your backyard for two minutes , you still did a little bit for two minutes .
I like that , can you ? So we've spoken , I we're gonna have to , you know , come to an end , unfortunately , but I wanna elaborate a little bit more about other mindfulness practices . You touched on the breathing as well , yeah , and you mentioned like a sort of pattern that we should be aware of .
Can you elaborate a little bit more about , like , how we can practice breathing , because I do know , even for myself , that I did struggle and still do sometimes , especially when I'm anxious , like I struggle with breathing properly and I feel it , I feel it in my body . So maybe that's a good place to start as well .
Now , we know about the like being mindful , like that mindful walk or drinking or coffee and being mindful . How about the breathing ? How do we begin that part ?
Yeah . So , yeah , great question . And actually this is where I start . All my clients is breath and sometimes people are like what ? Like I know how to breathe , yeah , like I'm breathing right now , yeah , but there's breathing and then there's mindful breathing .
So first , contrary to what a lot of yoga or maybe mindfulness or health coach's coach we try to do it all through the nostrils . I've been reading this book called the Oxygen Advantage . It's really good . It talks about how we need to use the nose to breathe because it helps slow the exchange of air .
When we do sort of the inhale through the nose , exhale through the mouth , you actually like dump out too much volume of carbon dioxide , which then throws off the ratio of carbon dioxide to oxygen in your red blood cells , which actually makes you feel hungry for more air , wow .
So one big tip is , when you're feeling you know like you're anxious and you're like breath holding , try to exhale slowly through your nose and then inhale slowly through your nose and continue . That .
That's one really big tip through the nose , wow , okay and if you can , if you have , like you know your sinuses are stuffed or whatever do it through the mouth , of course , but pretend there's a straw Between your lips , smaller , rather than like just kind of dumping all that air all at once .
And then the big one for physical feeling is one hand on heart , one hand on belly , and shutting down your eyes really helps . And just first being able to notice what's happening under your hands Is there a bit of movement under each hand ?
So you have one hand on your heart , one hand on your belly , relax the shoulders , relax the jaw , and then , once you find your breath rhythm here , can you encourage your three part breath . So what I mean by that is when we inhale physiologically , when we're relaxed , you should sort of feel a mild rise in the belly followed by ribcage expansion .
Right , your ribcage kind of flares outside to side , not a lot , just a little , and then your chest might puff just a touch and then , as you exhale , the chest softens , the ribcage softens down and in and then your belly button softens in towards your spine . So again , that breath in the inhale is a belly ribcage chest .
And then , as you exhale , the chest softens , rib cage softens and then your belly softens , so we call that a three part breath .
I should call you every morning . We hear about like this like the countdown , like the counts , like one , two , no wait , three , two , one or one or square breathing , or does that make a difference . I like what you did about , like being aware of where it's happening in our body . Are there other ways that people can do it as well ?
Yeah , I know the ones you're talking about . I can't speak to it because I don't physically practice those myself . I love starting with the hand on heart and belly just to bring awareness to even where your starting point is Right . Yeah , I like that Right , because if you're like , if you do it and you're like , oh , my chest isn't losing at all .
Or you know , what I find the most is actually rib cage A lot of , because we sit so much for work and we're not always in like the you know , neutral spine posture , the rib cage becomes quite stiff and there's not a lot of movement in the ribs and it surprises a lot of people .
But then when they start encouraging it , it actually helps with their mid back mobility and pain . So I just love starting there because then it gives people a baseline of like okay , where am I at ?
And then you can encourage a three part breath and then from there you can go into things like the box breathing , the four count breathing , all those different techniques , but I would say those are like even the next step , like , first you want to get like a baseline of like how is , how are you breathing ?
Right , yeah , yeah , I love that . I'm going to try that in the morning . It's just , it was so interesting to see where it's . I know it was a mess , by the way . Yeah , I don't even know where it happened . But yeah , that was so interesting and now .
So now I think parents that are listening have a good set of tools that they can start with that mindfulness of just noticing certain moments in your day and , just like you said , using your five senses .
There's the breathing and just understanding where it's happening in your body , you know , like putting your hand on your heart and the other hand on your belly . Is there anything else that we haven't spoken about that you'd like to tell parents ? You know to try before we have to . Unfortunately , let each other go .
Yeah , I think , just yeah . I love the summary . Good job . I feel like that's a great place to start . And even if parents are finding , you know , kids like those are all accessible for their kids , right , like you know , above kindergarten age probably .
But even with your toddler , if they're having , like you know , hard to calm them down or they're having a whiny meltdown , you know , like trying to help them , put one hand on her at one hand and Billy , like , can you feel your breath ? What do you smell right now ? Close your eyes , what do you see ?
Like I think all these tools that we we need as parents , they're easy to translate and try helping to coach your kids I know , growing up , we can get a lot of that right . It's like stop it , it's over , no more whining , you're not talking anymore .
There's no monster under your bed . Let me shut the door to your room , so you're in the dark .
So this is all like new to me in the last you know 10 years . But imagine having those tools as a kid Like that's pretty cool right .
I love that we so I have an app called Wundergrade as well , and we do this kind of stuff for kids , and there's an exercise where we ask a child to put like a stuffed animal on their belly , just so that they can lie down and breathe and just see their belly going up and just focus on that . That's the mindfulness part .
Just watch your little friend go up and come back down .
Oh , I love that so good .
Little ways to help .
It's possible and I'm just saying that because I really do think it's possible for young kids and I think these are practices that we do need to be mindful of teaching our kids so that once they do start school , they're equipped right , like then all the social , emotional stuff , like we need to teach them about themselves first , and then , once they're with other
kids , they're like okay , I can regulate myself , and I see that you are dysregulated . Like let me help you , or have the empathy to understand your emotions . Right , it becomes like a bigger picture . So I definitely think we can teach that to young kids .
I love that and I love that . You know it's . It starts with you , right , working on yourself as a parent , and it doesn't mean you have to be perfect before you teach your kids or before you can do the things right , but like they'll see that you're doing the work too .
You know , like , oh , like mommy just needs a moment Right , like mommy is like holding her heart and belly and breathing , like that's that you're setting that example , like that's that's . I think that's very powerful .
Bring them along on the journey , right Like if you were learning how to do that . Take that breath every morning , have them sit with you and have you know my kids sometimes will have even like a hot water with some lemon in it and we sit together and it's our tea and we sit together and just like relax a bit .
It's okay to show them , like during these days that everything we're so busy to have those moments of calm and connection and peace and bring that into your home . So why not bring them along ?
Yes . And then , in terms of like movement , it's okay to show them like . Okay , for example , I was training for a marathon . I injured my hip . I didn't run the marathon but I did .
I ran all winter in Ottawa and I've been showing them over the last few months that I'm still working on my body to heal my pain and my injury and my movement and it's baby steps , like it's not like I'm just dashing out the door and running , but I have to take it step by step and listen to my body , listen to , you know , my emotional , physical , all
the things . And it's really neat because they're like let me , you ran 5K , like that's really good . And I'm like , yeah , and get in there , you know , so it's just , it's just modeling that and it doesn't have to look perfect , it doesn't have to be all of that .
In fact , it's better that it's not , cause it is a journey , like you said , right , like , bring them on the journey , because that's the reality of life .
It is , oh my gosh , and that's where self compassion comes in . We need that , yeah . Thank you so much for everything that you shared with us . I'm so excited that we got to chat again and it was an absolute pleasure seeing you again , I hope we chat again soon .
It was so nice to catch up and see you , cindy . Thank you for inviting me on . I hope everyone got something from it .
I'm going to add the links to the show notes so that people could can find . You Is there . I know you have your LinkedIn , but is there a website or some way that people can reach you if they have a question ?
Sure , yeah , I am . So , other than seeing clients face to face , I also run an online program specifically for women called the move with ease method . Definitely , I can send you the link for that . Yes , please , the show notes . And yeah , I'm on LinkedIn , happy to connect . I have a free Facebook group , actually for anyone who's interested in just starting .
I post lots of workshops and lives . It's called redefining age and aging for women , but I can include that in the show as well .
And I will join that and I will add it to the show notes as well .
I would love to see that .
Yeah , I really want to . You can do some X-Money bed together . Yes , yes , thank you again , and thank you to everybody listening to the podcast . Please take a moment to rate it and review it , either on Apple Podcasts or on Spotify , and I will see you next week . Bye everyone . I hope you enjoyed our conversation .
Thank you so much for tuning into the Kirsten Rohn podcast . I hope you are subscribed . If you are not , take a moment to do so wherever you listen to this podcast and if you have a moment , please rate the podcast and leave a review .
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