Try this for a week and see what happens in terms of your energy, focus, calm, productivity, stress control and self awareness. + See the breathing for calm and focus section of the course + In 1 week aim for 7 sessions of the 21 minute breathing flow (once daily for 7 days) + If on a particular day you are struggling for time then just do 10 minutes or break it up throughout the day into 5 minute sessions. In order to do this just create your own breathing flow - use the apnea trainer app and watch the video from the course titled " create your own breathing flows". + After each session write down how you feel and the changes you noticed. + Comment below and share your experience. Its doesn't have to be 30 minutes a day - research suggests just 5 minutes of meditation a day could significantly reduce stress and improve emotional coping and self awareness. Get stuck in - make time for it and programme it into your calendar - its that easy

Hey Team, Here’s a quick update on our live call schedule: - Regular live calls will take place fortnightly on Wednesdays at 12pm (GMT+13). - To make the most of the lead-up to Christmas, we’ll be doubling up the next two sessions on: - 11th December, 12pm (GMT+13) - 18th December, 12pm (GMT+13) - After the Christmas break, our first call of the new year will be on 22nd January at 12pm (GMT+13). Please post your questions in the community page—Dave will answer them, and we’ll dive deeper into them during our next sessions. Meeting links for all live calls will be available in the Calendar. We’re also considering introducing an 8pm (GMT+13) live call to better suit different time zones and lifestyles. Would this time work for you? Comment below if you’re interested or have suggestions for a better time! Looking forward to hearing your suggested times! Kate

By nature our jobs/lives require us to be switched on - in a high arousal or high energy state. Think about your own busy day - deadlines, multi-tasking, sitting, looking at screens, dealing with people, work life balance and the list goes on. Amongst the busyness of your day are you actively shifting back into a calm state OR do you tend to stay in that high arousal state? If you do you will get a lot done but it tends to come at a cost over the long term. Let me explain. Our bodies are the masters of compensation - we are adaptive machines. Staying in the busyness of our days and not allowing for intermittent disciplined recovery, during your day, results in bodily adaptations as a result of continued exposure to stress. Don't think of high level stress either, just think about the challenges and demands that are placed on you throughout your day and the necessity to get things done. This is the most common type of stress - it's not necessrily bad, it just demands a lot of our energy. However, it needs to be balanced with recovery (stress +recovery = growth). Every system in the body requires stress for optimal health. They all need stress to create adaptation for robustness. However, without adequate recovery you start building cumulative trauma of some form (emotional, physical, mental). This accumulative trauma builds up in our bodies and we simply adapt to it. Here are some of the signs and symptoms that we experience secondary to chronic stress. - Inability to concentrate or focus - Difficulty sleeping - Anxious or racing mind - Low energy throughout day - Brain fog - Emotional exhaustion - Moodiness - Irritability - Short temper - Inability to relax - Feeling overwhelmed - Body tension  We all develop different strategies to manage stress. These can range from adaptive strategies (like exercise, meditation, social support, being in nature….) to maladaptive strategies (like smoking, alcohol use, avoidance behaviors, excessive phone and social media use….. ). Maladaptive strategies are coping strategies to deal with stress, the problem is they tend to be things that activate our bodies stress response thus adding more load.

You will see this exercise in the breathing for calm and focus section of the course. A 5:20:10 (inhale:hold:exhale) restricts your breathing to around 2 breath cycles per minute. See the questions below and comment with your answers. I will be posting a follow up to this post. 1. Could this exercise be used as a calming breathing practice? 2. What do you think will happen in terms of arterial oxygenation saturation? Oxygen saturation (SpO2) is a measurement of how much oxygen your blood is carrying as a percentage of the maximum it could carry. It is a reading out of 100%. Normal Sp02 is between 95-98% and can be recorded on a simple pulse oximeter. 3. If one day you find this exercise easy (no stress or air huger) and another day you find it more difficult, what is that a reflection of? 4. This is an exercise I would regularly use at the start of a recovery session with athletes we train (see pic below). Why would I start with this? what am I trying to learn about the state of the athlete with this exercise? FYI - Generally 2 things result in a low Sp02 readings below 95% - An inability of the lungs to inhale and send oxygen to all cells and tissues - An inability of the bloodstream to circulate to the lungs, collect oxygen, and transport it around the body Try performing a 5:20:10 for 2 minutes and see how you feel. Use the breathing pacer. Rip in with some answers or questions

Check out this report on Breathwork to improve mood and reduce anxiety - it's a bloody good read and helps frame up some of the key principles of the breathing for calm and focus section of the course. Here is an extract from the report. The great thing is that studies support that it doesn't need to be 21 minutes long - just a few minutes of slow controlled breathing has a pronounced effect on physical and mental states promoting calm and relaxation. Document attached ⬇️ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9873947/ "It is also clear that different emotional and cognitive states alter the depth and frequency of breathing, which likewise impacts emotional state, in part by regulation of carbon dioxide levels. There is growing evidence that brain-body states, ranging from sleep to stress to physical activity to meditation, can help people buffer and better manage stressors. A review of Yogic breathing practices reported increased feelings of peacefulness, improved reaction time and problem solving, decreased anxiety, and reduction of mind wandering and intrusive thoughts"