🫁Healing Breathwork: How to Release Trauma & Increase Creativity w/ Terry Moseley | Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LoGrasso (A Creativity Podcast)

Description

Hi Creative! As I prepare for motherhood, continue building my business, Lauren LoGrasso Productions, release my next single and get the show ready for maternity leave, I realize need a little space to make the best work for you.

Therefore I have decided that I will [most likely] do best of episodes for the rest of July so I can get ahead and bring you brand new content in August and September while I’m out learning how to be a Mom! I might pop in with a solo or one with me and my hubby talking about prepping for parenthood, but otherwise, you’re going to hear some of my fave episodes and ones I am re-listening to at this point in my journey!

Also! I am putting out a new song on Friday, July 10th! Please pre-save it here: https://ffm.to/walkingonair2026

In the meantime, check out this FANTASTIC episode with Breathwork practitioner, Terry Moseley and hear you you can use breathwork in your life and creativity + my WILD first time doing breathwork including getting a visit from my ancestors!

Original Description:

Have you ever considered how the simple act of breathing could unlock profound changes in your mental, emotional, and physical well-being?

Today’s guest is Terry Moseley. She is a seasoned expert in breathwork and healing. She created Bionic Breathwork, which is based upon breathing techniques backed by science to help you begin to move through trauma, release old patterns and more. Today, Terry will teach you about the transformative power of breathwork and how it can not only enhance your daily life but also lead to deep healing and personal growth.

From this conversation you’ll learn:

-What breathwork is

-How it can help you release trauma

-The Full Story of my (Lauren’s) WILD breathwork experience--this is a must-hear!

-What functional freeze is and how to get out of it

-The connection between breathwork and therapeutic psychedelics & how to know which one is right for you

-AND we will even walk you through a little breathwork at the end of the pod!

Try a FREE Bionic Breathwork Class with Terry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpzBk3wXYWc

🎙️ Connect & Work with Me:
If you love this episode and want personalized support to break through creative blocks, build confidence, and finally share your work with the world, I’d love to help. As a creative coach, I work with artists, entrepreneurs, and multi-passionate creatives to unleash their inner voice and build a thriving creative life from a place of self-love. ✨ Want to work together? Email me at Lauren.LoGrasso@gmail.com or visit https://www.laurenlograsso.com/contact/ to book a free 15-minute discovery call.

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Transcription

Speaker #0
Have you ever just needed to take a breath? Sometimes we all do. And today I'm going to share an episode with you on breath work. But before I get into that, I just want to say, hello, welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso, your host, your friend, future mother, business owner. She does it all, folks. I'm trying. But I have to say that in preparing for my baby and getting, I don't know why I said preparing like that. But in preparing for my baby, getting the business together, just figuring out all of life, it has been hard to figure out the balance of things. And I'm sure that that's going to continue as I go through my journey to motherhood and continue expanding my business and creating more things. I'm also putting out a single. I didn't even tell you that. How could I have missed that? I'm putting out a single on Friday. And Friday, July 10th. I'll put the link in bio. It's called Walking on Air. And I really just, I didn't put a lot of like thought behind it. Haven't really considered marketing it at all. I just wanted my music to be out there. This is something I talked about a while ago, but as I'm thinking about my sweet baby boy coming to this earth, I want to continue to build my creative legacy because the things that we make, yes, they're to unleash our soul and therefore the world to enjoy, of course, as well, you know, number one us, but also for the world. But if you have people that you care about, specifically family members, whether it is children of your own or nieces and nephews, or your parents, you know, siblings, when we put creativity out in the world, it's building our creative legacy. And it's really leaving a gift for people. Yes, while you're here on this earth, but even after we leave to understand who we really were as... artists and creatives and give them insight into our soul and to hear. I mean, like, how cool is it that my grandkids someday, if my child or possible future children decide to procreate, will be able to listen to this podcast, listen to this music. So anyway, rambly, long story short, not at all short. I wanted to put out this song before my son got here so that we could listen to it together and he could enjoy it. And... Yeah, and just to do one more like purely creative act before I embark on this journey. But with all that being said, you know, a lot of things have been piling up. And I'm just trying to be realistic with myself. And I really think in order to give you the best content possible in the months where it seems like people are most interested in consuming content, which would be not the month of July, I am most likely. going to do re-airs for the rest of the month. I might do a solo episode here or there, one with my husband, Tim, about parenthood and how we're going to approach it creatively. And just, you know, you haven't heard from him since last year when we wed. So it might be a good time to check in. People tend, I guess he was on the Christmas episode. Sorry, babe. I forgot. Pregnancy brain, don't blame me. But all that's to say. I need to take a little bit of a pause from churning out new content on the podcast so that I can get the stuff ready for when I'm on maternity leave so I can put out new content then. I'm working diligently on a lot of amazing episodes for you, but I don't want to keep living hand-to-mouth on the podcast as I have been recently. And so I'm just taking this little break to reconfigure, get my shows ready for August and September, and get prepared for my baby, which is... a really important creative project as you can imagine. So today's episode is a re-air. It's one on breathwork, as I mentioned. It's also very timely for me because I'm thinking a lot about this as I'm going into giving birth. But it's one I did with my friend, Terry Mosley, who is an incredible breathwork practitioner. And on this episode, I talk about how the first time I did breathwork with her, which if you don't know what that is, it's breathing in this really intentional way that can literally give you like a psychedelic experience, drug-free. It is wild. I cannot recommend it enough. But when I did this breathwork with her, I literally got a visit from my ancestors. And so I'm thinking a lot about it because a big part of birth is breathing. And I'm kind of hoping that my ancestors come back and like guide me through it. I've heard from some woo-woo people that that can happen, but that's neither here nor there. Just check out this episode. It's so cool. She goes into breathwork. She even does a demonstration for you. She talks about how you can experience her work. it for either free or low barrier to entry costs. So definitely check it out. You're going to love this one. It's one of my favorites. I share my wild story of my first breath work and why simply breathing can release trauma and increase creativity. As I mentioned, you will have content all this month. It's just going to be mostly re-airs. I might even do a new episode next week. I don't know. I might want to do something about my song and putting that out. But anyway. We will see. I'm just giving myself a little grace during this time, and I hope you can do the same for me. I appreciate you. I hope you're having a great summer. Unleash today, babes. Bye. Have you ever considered how the simple act of breathing could unlock profound changes in you, in your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being? Well, it really, really can. Let me be the first to tell you. And today's guest is here to share the transformative power of breathwork and how it can not only enhance your daily life, but also lead to deep healing and personal growth. Welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso. I'm a Webby Award-winning podcast host and producer, singer-songwriter, public speaker, and multi-passionate creative. This show sits at the intersection of creativity, mental health, self-development, and spirituality, and it is meant to give you tools to love, trust, and know yourself enough to claim your right to creativity and pursue whatever it is that's on your heart. Today's guest is Terry Mosley. She's a seasoned expert in breathwork and healing who created something called bionic breathwork, which is honestly a mind-blowing experience that uses breathing techniques backed by science. Stay tuned for the wild story of the first time I did one of her breathwork workshops. It changed my life. Breathwork exercises can be used to relieve stress, anxiety, heal trauma, chronic pain, hormone imbalances, and they promote a sense of balance and well-being. As I mentioned, I've had the privilege of working with Terri and taking one of her classes. And I can truly say it changed my life. It is such an intense emotional, physiological, and mental workout. And the healing I gain from our session is something that I literally take with me every single day. Breathwork has the ability to shift people from fight or flight into deep healing states. And it can even yield similar results to psychedelic experiences. You have visions when you're in one of these states. You have visits from past ancestors sometimes when you're in these states. It is wild. So Terri is just a light in the world and her mission to help people through her work is inspiring. I also just personally love her. Can't wait to share this interview with you. From today's chat, you'll learn what breathwork is, how it can help you release your trauma, what functional freezes and how to get out. And we will even walk you through a little breathwork session at the end of our chat. Okay, now here she is, Terri Mosley. Terri, I am so grateful to have you on Unleash Your Inner Creative. I took your Breathwork workshop about a year ago now, and we've been following each other on Instagram, and you're just such a supportive light in the world. Also, your Breathwork workshop changed my life. So can't wait to get into all of it. But thank you for being here.
Speaker #1
Thank you for having me, Lauren. I'm so excited to be here to talk to you. learn about your experience in the class, because this will be the first time that I am hearing your full experience as well. So I'm so excited to hear that and just here to spread the word about the benefits of breathwork. So thank you so much for having me.
Speaker #0
Oh my gosh, my pleasure and honor. So before we get into anything, I feel like breathwork is a very confusing concept to people who aren't in this world, because what is, is it just breathing? I mean, It's something that isn't necessarily intuitive because I had no clue what it was until I experienced it myself. So what is breathwork?
Speaker #1
A lot of people are thinking it's being sold as snake oil right now because it's something that we do as an automatic function, like from the second that we're born until our last breath. And it wasn't until recently that there's been so much focus on how taking control of your breathing can really improve your life. And breathwork has been around. for centuries, but it's only recently that people are starting to see how we can use breathwork therapeutically and to really help us go about our everyday business. And I feel like the most benefit of breathwork is really taking control of your autonomic nervous system. So in a world where we've just, we're so much in our fight or flight at all times, breathwork allows us to kind of step back, really connect with our body and balance out the autonomic nervous system and kind of guide ourselves. back into a parasympathetic mode, which is rest or digest. And we just don't have the time in our everyday life to do that anymore. So what we do with breath work, and there's so many different styles and types, some are designed to upregulate your nervous system and some are designed to downregulate it. So again, it depends on what effect you want. So if you're trying to calm your nervous system, if you have a big meeting or maybe a big event, then we're going to focus on breath work that's down-regulating to get you into your parasympathetic, to get you out of fight or flight. And if you're wanting to do some deep healing work and release things that may have been held in the body, so somatic work, then we are going to intentionally go into your sympathetic nervous system. two very different results, both using your breath in different ways. But the commonality is that we are consciously taking control of an automatic function. And when we do that, we can create neuroplasticity.
Speaker #0
Wow. After I experienced her workshop, I went to my therapist and I was like, Hey, this is what just came up. And she let me know, she's a talk therapist, so licensed psychotherapist, but she also does energy healing. And she's trained in this thing called core energetics and radical aliveness, which is like a somatic-based healing. It's like very complementary to breathwork. And she was telling me that it started back in the day when they outlawed psychedelics and that people were like, we have to help people still get to this place where they can have this profound healing. What can we do? And then that's where breathwork popped up. Is that true? Or did my therapist lie to me?
Speaker #1
Yes, it's absolutely true. So no, it's true. And I love your talk therapist because she gets it and she's incorporating not just the mind, but the body too. So this style of breath work that I teach is most similar to a style called holotropic breath work. And that was indeed developed by Stanislav Grof. He was a psychiatrist back in the late sixties, and he was very effectively treating conditions, mental health conditions, mostly PTSD, with psychedelics. LSD in particular. And then in 1971, the US and the world started to bastardize psychedelics. It became a schedule one drug, and he was unable to legally treat people, even though the results of what he was doing with psychedelics were outstanding. So he created this style of breathwork that actually simulates what would happen in your body, in your brain, when you're doing a psychedelic drug. And the benefit of it is that you are in control of your own journey. Whereas if you're going to do a psychedelic, then you take the pill and you're on that ride, whether you want to get off or not. With breathwork, you can get off the ride at any time. But he's a hero in my book because he developed this type of breathing and it really does work. And it works, you know, sometimes better for people than an actual plant medicine. And we have such sophisticated scientific measuring now. that we can see what it is doing to our body and our brain. So we have neuroimaging, we have biofeedback. So we can see what effect just this breathwork is having on our physiology. So it's not a mistake that these two modalities, breathwork and psychedelics, are often grouped together.
Speaker #0
And what effect is it having on our physiology? What have the scans found?
Speaker #1
Okay, so I'm going to be talking about the style of breathwork. I teach, which again is most similar to the holotropic, what we use this for is kind of a deep healing. And what the scans find is like, if you have human physiology and you breathe in the way that I'm going to cue you to breathe, then what eventually happens is the blood alkaline changes. So our blood becomes highly alkaline, highly oxygenated, and then we're offloading CO2. So it's going to create that physiological change in our body. And what happens, It's different for everybody, but... In about 10 minutes of doing this type of breath work, your prefrontal cortex, which is our default mode network, which really is our strongest part of our brain that we use every day. It's our default mode. We wake up and that's what's triggered. That slows down and takes an app. And then it allows us to get into these non-ordinary states of consciousness, the parts of our brain that we don't access, especially as our prefrontal cortex gets more and more developed the older we get. So it allows it to really just calm down and not get in our way. and allows these non-ordinary states to kind of take over. And I think that at the beginning, and when you're doing this type of breath work, our memories are stored there. So you release some trauma that may have been held in your body. And as you continue to do this work, then we can get into some really mystical and magical things when we allow ourselves to go there.
Speaker #0
Okay. Well, I'd like to go into some of the mystical and magical things that happened to me when I experienced your breath work class, because I really tried to go in having no expectations because I've gone into things like this before and I was like, oh my God, this is going to change my life. And then I was disappointed. It wasn't a breathwork thing, but like, I just wanted to go in just having no expectations and being open. So I went in and my boyfriend and I, we both went to the class. We were originally going to try to sit right next to each other, but we ended up having to get separated, which I think was the best thing for us. Cause then we didn't influence each other's experience, but you had to start out by writing to someone who we felt wronged us, which I thought was so interesting. And then we start the breath. And I was surprised that it was in through the mouth and out through the mouth. The first song, because you do it to music and you prompt us the whole time, which is so cool. The first song, I was like literally just trying to stay alive because something was happening in my body that I was like, what the hell? I felt like there was lightning going through my hands. And I was like, I don't know if I'm going to make it. So I was just like moving my legs and trying to stay alive. But after the first song and a half, it passed. And then you led us into like this first visualization, which was. a time of the greatest joy in our lives. And I recalled this moment where I did a show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Detroit. And I remember just standing on the stage and just feeling so much presence and love and like a hundred people that I knew from my hometown were there. And I was singing and I just felt like, God, this is just as good as it gets. Like, this is so good. We were donating money from the show to a Detroit-based charity. And the message I got was, sing. It doesn't matter how it's received. It doesn't matter how many people hear it. The only thing that matters is that you're making music and you're expressing yourself. Stop thinking so much about the outcome. Stop thinking about past perceived failures. Just make music. Go for what's on your heart. You need to put out your music and sing more. And then you told us to ask the universe for what we want. And I envision myself putting out the music, doing public speaking. Growing my podcast, continuing to mentor people, having a family, getting married. And then this is the moment that I was like, whoa. This next moment you said, if you have grief, and I had to take notes on this because this is so many different things that happened. It was just like one revelation after the next. Then there was a moment where you said, if you have grief, if there's anyone or anything you have grief over, let that thing or person step forward to the forefront. And then I saw my maternal grandmother, my mom's mom, step forward. And then I saw her mom step forward, my grandmother's mother. And this is an interesting thing because my grandmother was abused by her mother very badly. Like she was chased around with a butcher knife when she was a little girl. And even the night before her wedding, her mom threatened to come over to her house and chop up her wedding dress. So they had a very my grandma always loved her mom. But they had a very difficult relationship. like one of the things that I remember my grandma talking about before she got sick, she would cry and say, my mother never loved me. And so I saw them standing next to each other holding hands. And my grandma said, like, we're working on a relationship now. We're healing here. Everything is good between us. Like we're working on healing. And thank you for like the work that you've done, that you took the sacrifices and you're actually trying to close the loop. And they gave me a message from my mom that basically I think because my grandma couldn't feel anger toward her mother because she was her mother. My mom kind of like took on the anger herself and has a lot of anger toward her grandmother who we called Nona. And my grandmother, my mom's mom, gave me a message that encourage your mom to try to forgive because it's standing between her and healing. And then. Yeah, they just said, we love you so much. We're so proud of you. And we want you to know we're together. And like, we're working on healing the relationship up here and forming love up here. And thank you for like what you're doing down there right now. And then they step back. And then all of a sudden, they all come out of the woodwork. Like, my dad's dad comes out, steps forward. And he's like, speaking to me in Italian. And I don't understand. I'm like, oh my gosh, grandpa, I don't know how to speak Italian. He's like, don't worry, you will someday. And then he steps forward and holds my grandma's hand. And then my dad's mom steps forward and she died when I was five. And I was like, oh, Grandma LaGrasso, I'm so sorry that I didn't get to know you better. She's like, it's OK. I love the time we spent together and I'm so proud of you. And then she steps in the line. Then my grandpa, my mom's dad's mother steps forward. She died when my mom was like two months old. And she comes forward, Grandma Josephine, and says, I love you so much. I'm so grateful for the joy that you have. Like you have my joy. Like thank you for spreading my joy and my happiness. Then my grandpa's dad steps forward. So my great grandfather, I mean, he kind of just smiled at me and then stepped in line. And as this is happening, they're all going back to the line and holding hands and like sending me all this love. It's confusing. I know it's getting confusing, but like then my grandpa's dad who died at sea and his brother who died at sea stepped forward. And like, it was. kind of unbelievable. I'm like, oh, I don't even know some of you. Like, this is wild. And all just like emanating this love onto me. And then... My grandpa, my mom's dad, who I was so close to was my everything. Grandpa Roboto steps forward. He's like, I wouldn't miss this for the world. But he was always late to everything. And I kind of got the feeling that he was like up there holding court. And then he just like he had to get down. And my uncle Tony, who was my godfather, just passed away. Like they said, he's still up there resting, but he really wanted to be here. But he needed a little bit more time to rest because he just passed away. And it was just this feeling of immense love. And they said to me, like, you are never alone. Whenever you think you're alone, you're never alone. We are always around you and we're so proud of you. And we're so proud of the way you're carrying on the family line. So that happened. And then you ended it by saying, you know, if you have any remaining questions, bring them to the forefront. And at the time, my boyfriend and I. We're kind of going through an inflection point in our relationship and we were coming up against some conflict and trying to figure out really if we wanted the same things in life. And so I just put that out there to whatever or whoever I was asking this question to. I don't know. You're going to probably let me know what was going on. But I put that out there like, is there anything I need to know about my relationship? If so, please bring it up. I'm open to hearing anything. And I was shown. That it wasn't my relationship with my boyfriend that I needed to heal, but it was actually my relationship to love itself that was hurting. So I saw how love was to me in that time frame and my connection to it. And it was the image I was given was this plastic, jagged, broken little heart. And it was this weird, jagged connection to it. And then I saw my boyfriend and he was shown in this beautiful honey gold light. And we had like a. pure connection of light. So what I heard was the conflict you're having isn't about your connection to him. It's about connection to love itself. And that's what you need to heal. And then I woke up. So what happened?
Speaker #1
Wow. Wow. And that was my first time.
Speaker #0
That was my first time ever doing breathwork. So just if you ever, you listening ever get a chance to work with Terry, please, please, please do it. It will change your life. That was like 30 minutes. It wasn't even 30 minutes, I don't think, that all that happened.
Speaker #1
That's a lot that happened. And the beautiful thing about breathwork is everybody's journey is so unique to them and everybody's journey is different every time because your body shows you what you need at that moment. So that is exactly what you needed at that moment. And it's not me as a facilitator that's doing anything. I'm guiding you by these prompts that you mentioned, but again, you would get there on your own. Because the body is just that smart and you get out of your way. So that first 10 minutes that you're talking about, I'm going to die. That's your prefrontal cortex, just not wanting to shut down. It's really normal. And then once you sink past that, doesn't it feel just really beautiful? We go into this different brainwave state. So we're going into a Thetis brainwave state, which is kind of like a dream state. Sometimes people go into a non-sleep deep rest where they won't hear any music or anything I say, and they go on their own journey. And some people, when we get to the mysticism or the magic like you had, you're going even deeper into those brainwave states where when your prefrontal cortex is turned on, especially at our age, you don't allow yourself to get there. You know, you get in your head like, I can't be seeing my ancestors right now. I don't even know who some of them are. But you were so open to that and you were open to the messages. So the way I describe it is it's really just the veil being pulled back a little bit. So there's this veil between our world. and the other world. And if you allow yourself to go there and ask for the messages, I think the biggest message that you got was we're never alone. And we do have people surrounding us all the time that are there to help us. And at the end of your session, when you really asked, like our guides are there to help us, but they're not allowed to interfere unless we ask. And you asked and they gave you this sign that you were able to interpret, you know, and I'm hoping that once you interpreted that. Then it's integration. So once you have your journey after the fact, after you come back into your prefrontal cortex and say, what the heck just happened to me? Then it's your job to start taking that information and integrating it. So that was a beautiful journey you had. Thank you for sharing all that with me. And it's fascinating to me that the thousands of people that I've led in breathwork classes, every time somebody shares their journey with me, everybody's just so different. It is not. abnormal for people to come through that have passed. Again, that's not something that I'm doing as a facilitator. That's something that you guys are doing. And then it's not unusual for people to get these messages. And I think as dramatic as it may seem, and you may see on the internet with people doing breath work, it's like an exorcism and crying and screaming and kicking and shaking. As dramatic as it is, at the end of the session, everybody... comes out feeling really euphoric, joyful, and connected, and that everything's just going to be okay. It's okay. I'm going to be okay. And that's the beauty of it.
Speaker #0
Yeah. And can I say something else that's really weird? I was so hungry. And I've done breathwork a couple of times since then, in various different capacities. And every time I'm starving, often I'm thinking about a burger. Is that normal?
Speaker #1
Well, I do tell you not to eat. before the session, you know, because I want you to be breathing on an empty stomach because digestive function takes breath. So if your breath is being used for digestion, I'm not getting the most benefit of it. So when somebody is told that they can't eat, even if it's just for a couple hours, then you get in your head that you're starving. And then I think also it's work, it's called breath work. You're working during that first 30 minutes when we're in that active cycle, but I bet we're burning a lot of calories doing that because you're... physically working. And, you know, at the end of the session, a lot of people get that sweat purge. So you get really cold during the beginning, that cryo effect. And at the end, you're just pouring sweat out. So you're doing a lot in your body physically. So you get the reward of the burger after I say, go for it.
Speaker #0
I did. It was great. It was one of the best burgers I ever had. Can we break down what was happening in each of those moments? Like, I want to go into what is bionic breath work, how you developed it and like, how is it playing out? Like, how did you come to those. prompts? How did you come to the length of time? Why the music?
Speaker #1
Yeah, I'd love to talk about that. So the way that I found breathwork is, you know, not a unique story throughout my life. You know, I got to the point in my life where I felt like I should be feeling happy and joyful. I had it all. I had the big job with the big salary. I had the family, I had everything. And I still was feeling a little bit lost. And I was feeling guilty about not waking up and feeling joyful and every day because On the surface, I felt like I had everything. So when people get to this point in life, and by this point, I had been living many decades. So when you're in the ring for that long, you're going to get beaten up a couple of times. So there were some things in my life where I had been beaten up. And what I didn't know was those things were stuck in my body. So as much work as I was trying to do from here, from the prefrontal cortex, I just wasn't getting the results that I needed. And I am a big proponent of talk. therapy, of cognitive behavioral therapy, of life coaching, of mindset coaching, all of that stuff. But the problem is that we need to also address what's in the body. And so I was going on the path of self-development. And I realized that even if I had Tony Robbins waking up with me in my bed every morning and whispering exactly what I was supposed to do with that raspy voice of his, I wasn't going to have the success until I dealt with conditioning in my body. Then I started going down a biohacking path and I found that biohacking where I was really dealing with human biology, that is connected to what's happening in my mind. And I started biohacking path and that led me to breathwork, but I had no expectations and I did not know that I was going to dedicate my life to respiratory biology or any of this. I really didn't. But I went to my first class, much like you, didn't know what to expect. I actually set my mat up near the door because I thought I was going to leave early. And I was like, I really didn't know what to expect. But much like you, once I got into it and started breathing, I had an experience like I could never have imagined. I really did. And at the end of my experience, I had this download that this is what I need to be doing. This is what I need to be sharing because how could I get to this point in my life where I've done everything and not have. this tool in my toolbox.
Speaker #0
But would you share any of what you recall from that first experience besides the download?
Speaker #1
Yeah, sure. So when I first started breathing, first of all, it was in a big ballroom with this Eastern European guy. He was relatively new on the scene. It popped up on my Instagram. I'm like, okay, I'll try it. Right. And so in this big room, you know, you have all this energy. So we started breathing and then people were starting to have their releases pretty quickly. and crying and screaming. And I just felt like laughing. I was like, I don't know if I should be laughing. People are seriously in pain here. But I was trying to stifle my laugh at first. And then I just got to the point where I couldn't. And then I began to laugh louder.
Speaker #0
And not worry. Once your prefrontal cortex shuts down, you're not worried about what anybody else is doing. So I started laughing. I got myself into the most euphoric, ecstatic state of laughter at the beginning of the session. And then it turned to tears. So I was on this roller coaster. I was like, what is going on? Once I surrendered myself to that, it was very similar to your experience. I had some people come through that I then got the assurance that everything's okay. I am not behind in life. I was comparing myself to somebody who's like, I'm exactly, and I'll get emotional talking about, but I'm exactly where I needed to be at the moment I needed to be at. And I'm not alone and everything is just going to be okay. And when I was able to take that pressure off of myself and give myself that love, I felt like I've always had that personality though, that I'm having to be doing, and never good enough. Now I have the tools to kind of know where that came from. At the time I didn't and then had to go a little bit deeper there. But then I felt this sense of safety. Then I started my crying obnoxiously and then I started back into laughter because I said, universe, this is so simple. Why have I made it so hard? It's this simple. And all through life, I've just been struggling and fighting and not feeling good enough and not feeling loved enough. And, you know, it's all very simple. So that, and then at the end of the session, this is the craziest thing. And it happens is I got this download of me teaching breath work at Dodger Stadium, packed stadium. And I had never done breath work before, much less thought that I was going to become a facilitator. But it was so, Lauren, it was so clear to me. It was so clear to me that I said, okay, this is what I'm doing. Went home that day. Well, called my friends. They thought I was going to do it. was on drugs because I'm like, have you seen the moon? Like everything looked brighter to me. I went in to buy a lottery ticket at the gas station. I was making friends with the guy, like everything was just so beautiful. That night I signed up to get trained. And then the day after my training, I started teaching and it's just flow state. So during breathwork, you'll get these downloads. And if you listen to them and don't get in your own way, then the universe conspires with you. And that's really what happened.
Speaker #1
It's so true, Terry, because I also have been working with this coach named Victoria Song, and I did a workshop with her at the beginning of the year, and she led us through a breath work. That's why my hair is this color right now.
Speaker #0
That was your download to change your hair color? No,
Speaker #1
but I saw myself speaking on stage in front of like hundreds of people, and I had this color hair. And I was like, okay, well, if that's the first step, I'll go for it.
Speaker #0
No, I love that. And it is something. thing that I incorporate. It wasn't in your session, but I do incorporate in some, it's quantum jumping. And we go through that exercise when you're in that non-ordinary state, we know this future version of Lauren already exists. And we go on a journey there. And then part of it is seeing what are you wearing? What do you look like? How does this future version of Lauren walk, stand? And if you can become a vibrational match to that future version of you that already exists. You don't need to know how to get there. It's going to attract it. So I love that you're already doing that. And that was part of it. You're starting to become that future version of Lauren where you saw yourself.
Speaker #1
Totally.
Speaker #0
And she exists. I love that.
Speaker #1
My friend is a professional public speaker and she asked me to open up for her in a couple of weeks. So like, I feel like it's happening.
Speaker #0
And the Webby nomination.
Speaker #1
Yes, it was huge.
Speaker #0
Congratulations.
Speaker #1
Thank you so much.
Speaker #0
Massive. And you're one of those people where I just. look and just say, okay, Lauren's got it all. You have so much talent and you've just like, the second I met you just have this warmth and like, I don't feel like competitive. I don't know how to say it right. But you just, you just have this really authentic self and that's where people really want you to succeed. And even though you're so successful right now, I just see so much more like the sky is the limit and it's all coming together. And I think if you just don't Get in your own way. then everything that you're thinking of or dreaming of is all going to be attracted to you.
Speaker #1
Terri, that means so much to me because I really related to what you were talking about of feeling like I'm never doing enough. I've done all these things, but it's not enough. I'm not good enough. And the past two years of honestly, the podcast has been my biggest healing tool of anything because I've had to come on the mic and be as honest as I could be about my life week after week for the past five years. And what I really found out about myself like three years ago is that I was so attached to outcome that I was miserable. And so that's my biggest thing. And it sounds like through breathwork, you have found a way to let go of that attachment to outcome and get more into an attachment to authenticity, your connection with God or whatever your higher power is, flow. How does that happen through breathwork? Hi, creative. Are you yearning to share your story, expertise, and heart with the world? Well, I have some exciting news for you, and I want you to be amongst the first to hear this because I consider you a bestie. I am launching a podcasting course. It's called Podcasting for Self-Expression. It is a course and mastermind with live coaching to help you find your authentic voice and launch your dream podcast. During the course, I'll take you through everything you need to know to create a compelling show. from how to use your life story to find the topic you're meant to speak on, to how to find your podcast thesis statement, to the important technical aspects, to innovative ways to market your show, and more. I'm so excited to offer this because it really is different than anything else that's available on the market because it looks at podcasting not only from a tactical standpoint, but also through the lens of self-development because that's what makes a compelling show. Somebody who really knows who they are, who they want to connect with, and what their authentic voice sounds like. And in the course, I'm going to be using the same techniques I've employed to coach and produce dozens of hit podcasts like We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, Unlocking Us with Brene Brown, Lauren Conrad Asking for a Friend, and this sweet show you're listening to right now, Unleash Your Inner Creative. If you're interested, you can find all the information on the show notes and at my website, laurenlagrasso.com. Just click the word course. I also want to let you know there are payment plans as low as $99 a month. That was really important to me. You can do that through Affirm and Afterpay. Check it out. I would be honored to have you in. One last thing. If you sign up by Monday, May 20th at 12 a.m. Pacific, you can get $200 off with the code earlybird. That's one word, earlybird. And a free half an hour one-on-one coaching session with me for being an earlybird participant in this course. I would be honored to have you. So check out my website. Go to laurenlagrasso.com. Click on course and type in the word earlybird. early bird at checkout to get $200 off and a free one-on-one coaching session with me. Can't wait to be in community with you even more and to help you bring your authentic voice into the world.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I'll answer your question that I didn't answer before on how I created as well. Cause again, I'm not the creator of breath work, but what I wanted to do when I did create bionic is I thought it was really important to attract a crowd that wouldn't necessarily come into the room. Because the woo-woo people, the people that are already on their spiritual journey, they're already going to be in the room. But it was very important to me to attract people that wouldn't necessarily come in. And the way to do that is to make it bite-size and make it fun. Holotropic breathwork is really six hours. Three hours of breathing and three hours of sitting. And your everyday CEO that's stressed out or mom or, you know, we're not going to do it. especially when we don't know what it is. So it was really important for me to develop and curate a breath work. We were able to accomplish what we need to accomplish an hour and 15 minutes, including the intro so that I could get people in the room. And then most of the people that come in the room don't know what to expect. And then they get this result that in one session, you can really be transformed and get a lot of healing in one session. And then they're going to continue to come back. But if you never get them in the room, you're not doing your job. And people... then may want to go deeper, do other types of breath work, but they have to get in the room before they start knowing what it really is. It's really hard to describe, even though you've described what your experience was to your listeners. Until you do it, you really don't know. So that was my goal with Bionic was to create that. And then how I built in is I take a lot of psychotherapy tools that I have in my toolbox from my experience with therapy. And there's commonalities in the human condition. So some of the things we do, like writing the letter to somebody that you may not have forgiven, it is as a prompt to get you already thinking. And what we're doing is we're trying to weed out any low lying vibrations. And what most people don't know are the lowest vibrations that are stuck in the body. Lowest is shame. And shame is not even something that we control or do to ourselves. Shame is something that somebody else has made us feel. And that is the lowest vibration that gets stuck in our body. Next is guilt. Guilt is something that we did, but we can correct. Shame is you are bad. Guilt is you did something bad. And then grief and fear and these vibrations, these things are stuck in the body. The hardest one is grief too. That's why I bring up stuff and grief in the session, because once we know that we don't have to carry that around with us, we feel lighter and then it gets us out of functional freeze. And I feel like. when you have a license to allow yourself to release this regardless of what your circumstances were you know we're all adults now and it is our job to release this we may not get the answers we may not get The apologies, we may not get what we need to get. And once I realized that there's these commonalities, that's where I developed how the sessions are going to be led. But I use neuro-linguistic programming as well. But what's important is if I'm saying something that doesn't apply to you, your neurons aren't going to pick it up. So it doesn't matter. I don't really know when people come in and I have people in session, what their story is. So what I'm saying, if it applies to them and they need to work on it. then their neurons are going to pick it up. If it doesn't apply to them, it gets thrown away. And when we're able to access these memories, you can rewire and readapt. That's where the neuroplasticity comes in. So when I curated this method, I'm again, just using all of these tools that are common for the human condition. And I'm making it short enough that people are going to want to come and powerful enough, impactful enough that they're going to want to come back or tell their friends.
Speaker #1
Yeah, honestly. I would love to do it all the time.
Speaker #0
Yes, please. And people ask, how often should I do it?
Speaker #1
Yeah, how often?
Speaker #0
Yeah, it depends. If you're in active recovery from an addiction, then it's something that I feel like you can do daily. If you're just kind of working on things, it's a lot. I think breathwork is a daily practice. The style of breathwork is a lot on your body to do it daily. So it really just depends on what your goals are. Again, active addiction, I'd say, and I work with people that are coming right out of addiction. That's something we do daily and it's really powerful. And then everyday people, it just depends. Like life kind of, you might be getting through something and then something else comes up. So if you're really feeling highly in your sympathetic nervous system, waking up, stress, anxiety, stress hormones spiked, then that's a good idea to come back and do a session. So I'd say at most, probably most people would be good with once a week or once every two weeks, or maybe even once a month. If you're working on creativity, then anytime that you really want to get into your creative mind, breathwork is a great way to get there as well, because you're opening up this, you're going to see colors that you haven't seen, shapes, you're going to get ideas. So again, that's another benefit of breathwork. It's not all about releasing trauma and healing. It's also tapping in to a deep creative side, a deep side of spirituality and a deep connection to it. everything that you are. A lot of people also remember things like when I was a child, I liked doing this. I liked writing songs, but then they were conditioned to not write because they wanted to be a doctor or something. And then if they have that memory and they go back to it, it brings them real joy because that's more authentic than what they ever, they ended up into. So I don't know if I answered the question.
Speaker #1
I think you answered many questions that including the one I asked, but additional ones as well. You mentioned functional. freeze.
Speaker #0
Yes.
Speaker #1
What is that? And how can one know if they're in that? And how does breathwork help you come out of it?
Speaker #0
Easiest way to know if you're in functional freeze is if you know where you want to be, where you want to go, what you want to do, and you're not getting there, you're in functional freeze. That's as easy as that. There's a lot of reasons why we get in functional freeze. And a lot of it can be conditioning as well. We talk about trauma. There's big T trauma and there's little trauma, but trauma really isn't. the event, but it's how our body reacted to the event. So there could be things, maybe limiting beliefs. Perhaps I had limiting beliefs that I'm not good enough to be that. I'm not good enough to be up there being a breathwork facilitator, trying to heal other people when I'm not healed myself. So limiting beliefs can keep us in functional freeze, other types of condition. Perhaps somebody had a childhood where they didn't feel safe and they were always in a hypervigilance. you know, to keep themselves safe or shape-shifting or playing small. It could be scary for those types of people to all of a sudden put themselves out to do what they need to do. There's a lot of things, perfectionism, perfectionism could be a trauma response, you know, that you got rewarded or love when you did something perfectly. And if you feel like if you can't be perfect in what you're trying to do, you're going to stay in functional freeze because you're never going to be perfect. So there's a lot of ways we get in our own head on not becoming the people that we know we can become and then getting in a way of our own purpose. Other things with functional freezes, sometimes what you think you're supposed to be doing for your life's purpose isn't in alignment with your authenticity. So that will keep you in functional freeze because that's not what you're meant to be doing. That's what your mom wanted you to do or your dad wanted to do. So if you're not getting there, that is something that breathwork can help you redirect. And maybe in that sense, functional freeze is good because it's stopping you from going in a path that's not authentic to yourself. So the human body is just so amazing. it can also really hold us back from what we know. And I don't want people to get to their rocking chair moment and then have the regrets. You know, I don't want them to get all the way through their life and said, I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that. So Breathwork gives us the opportunity now to really know what we want to be doing authentically, you know, living for ourselves. And I also think that I get the feedback that a lot of people that... thought the big job or the big cars or the house was really what was important to them. But when they have those gratitude moments and I ask them to look at who's around, you know, and what made them the happiest, it's usually there's some place with their family or in nature. It's very rarely that they've got the Lambo and that's what really making them happy. It's inner work and we got to get rid of all the noise.
Speaker #1
Yeah. And you were so generous to share some of your personal experiences that led you to breathwork. You shared with me about a boating accident that you had with your sons where you almost lost your lives. And you wrote me this. This experience haunted me and created an unhealthy physiological response that I was finally able to clear through breathwork. Would you share a little bit about that? And I think something I think about a lot is like, can we ever actually heal? Like, is healing possible? Like, will I ever be like, I'm healed? It feels like it's ongoing, but I'm curious because you said you were able to clear it. So what does that mean?
Speaker #0
Thank you for bringing that up because that is really important. And it's an example that is really tangible. So if you think of something, whether it's big or small, and your body reacts to that, that is how you know it is living in your body and it's not cleared. So before I dealt with this accident. which was really traumatic. Anytime I thought about it or saw a big wave on TV or anything else, my nervous system would react as though I was back in that situation. So my endorphins, my adrenaline, my cortisol, everything would spike and I would get in survival mode again. Like I'm right there. But I knew that I'm not in danger. I'm in a movie theater. I'm safe. My body didn't know I was safe. And this was one example of one thing, but You can also use this example with anything else. You know, if you think about that person that wronged you and your body is having the, you get mad and your fists go up, that means it's not cleared. So I knew that this was something that was not cleared for me and creating undue stress on my body in moments where I really knew I was safe, but my body didn't know I was safe. So what happened, we were in Fiji and we were out at a surf break that was way out. And we had been going, we were in a village. We were helping the villagers with church and school this day. And my son was quite young at this time, but a big surfer. And he wanted to surf. It was our last day there. And he was just being kind of a bratty kid, you know, at that age and say, mom, we came, we had to help all these kids. And I didn't even get to serve. And I knew better than to go out that day because it was really choppy. But I gave in my mom guilt, you know, I was like, okay. So we went out there and the worst thing imaginable. happened. And we, we, a rogue wave came and knocked the entire boat over. The surfer boy was out surfing. So he wasn't on the boat, but my, my younger son was on it and it was really dramatic. We went all the way over. And then at the time you were underwater, the wreckage starts hitting you, you know, so you're getting hit. I didn't know which way was up or down. At some point I looked and I thought it was air, but it was water. So I took in more water. And I saw my life flash before my eyes. And I just thought, this is it. This is it. And I could just think about my sons at that moment. Finally, I was able to surface. And it's interesting. When I used to tell the story before I cleared it, I couldn't even get through the story. But now I can tell it because I know we survived. So that's a good thing. But when I did come up, we couldn't find my younger son for an extended period of time. And I thought we had lost him. And anybody's worst nightmare as a mother is losing a child. And it turns out he had found an air pocket. I just continued to relive that story in my head. It was taking up space in my head and my body, even though we were all safe for many, many years after. And so I intentionally wanted to clear that through breathwork. And that's where the neuroplasticity came in. It's like I can access that memory and rearrange the way that I was thinking about it. Now my body knows I survived and I'm safe and I'm not in danger. So I can even tell the story now, even though I see you getting emotional with the thought of the story, I can tell it knowing we're okay. And then my body knows I'm okay. And so I think that's the important thing. It doesn't have to be so dramatic. But anytime you think of something and your body has a physiological response. it's still there. Even if you, you know, somebody told you in the seventh grade that, you know, you're ugly or something like that. If you think of that moment and your body's reacting to that, that's a limiting belief that's sticking with you. And so that's a really good way of knowing, is this living with me? Is this taking up space? Is me holding on to, you know, this anger for something that somebody did to me? Is it impacting me? It's not impacting them. We already know that, but is it impacting me? And what can I do about it?
Speaker #1
Oh my gosh. The phrase you said, I know we survived, really stuck out to me. Because, wow, I never thought about the fact that whether you have a capital T trauma or lower T trauma, that sometimes your body and mind still feels like you're back there.
Speaker #0
Yeah.
Speaker #1
I think about that with some things I experienced in my 20s, you know. I took some big leaps in my 20s. And because they didn't go the way I thought they should. I think I've been reticent to like take similar leaps now because I felt that was so catastrophic. And my therapist has said to me, Lauren, you're a different person than you were back then. Like that's not the same situation you're in. But I feel like I'm like stunted back at like 23 feeling those failures. And so when you said, I know we survived, obviously it's a very different level than surviving a near-death experience. But I think my body almost like. categorize that as a part of my life is at risk right now.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I think your body doesn't know the circumstances. Your body's sympathetic nervous system is only going to react to what's been stored there. So again, there's not a differentiation between a big T trauma or a little T trauma or somebody saying something to you that impacted you in a certain way. But what really breathwork taught me is that I can take control of that now. And I don't have to let that rule my life. And I don't have to, even though that was really big, the little things I don't have to let ruin my life. And I have had little things that, you know, as we all do, like I said, when you're in the ring for this long, you're going to have to get beaten up a little bit. And I was waiting for apologies. I was waiting for other people to come and make it better. But you can't wait around. You've got to do it for yourself, you know? And I think that was one of the biggest benefits of breathwork is knowing that you are in control of your body. You're in control of your life and you're in control of how you walk through life. And nobody can take that away from you. So powerful.
Speaker #1
Hey, creative, if you love the show and it has meant a lot to you, could you do me a favor? Rate and review on Apple. Give it a review on Spotify. Share it with a friend. These things all make a major difference in a podcaster's life and in growing their show. I really want to build up this community of creatives who love, trust, and know themselves and love, trust, and deeply know others. So if you could do that and share the show with someone you care about, that would mean so much. All right. I love you. And when you are working on clearing a specific trauma that you've kind of gotten to the center of and you know this is something that's holding you back, it's still very alive in my body. Do you go into the breathwork session thinking, I want to work through this, or is it still best to kind of stay open?
Speaker #0
Yeah. As much as I would love to say, okay, Lauren, we're going to work on this and your body's going to work on that. It won't. So your body's going to know what to work on and eventually it will get there and may get there in a different path, but you'll eventually get there. So it's not like a talk therapy session where I'm like, Lauren, today we're going to talk about your childhood, age seven, your body's going to know what. comes up, but people often ask, like, am I going to feel re-traumatized if I'm working on this boating accident? Am I going to feel re-traumatized during it? And I don't know exactly why you don't, but I feel like there's two reasons just from my research and my science brain. One is that we are doing energetic releases. So I don't really have people come up to me after a class saying, Oh, I saw the guy in the yellow hat. that abused me when I was seven. It's not that specific. So you're not getting images of the actual event. And even with the boating accident, I didn't go back to be on the boat that day to clear it. It just cleared. And people often say, I just feel lighter. It's just not there anymore. So that's why I don't feel like we get re-traumatized during breathwork because it's not taking you back to that specific event. It's just clearing energetically. And my other reason is when we're activating different parts of our brain, like we talked about and deactivating certain. parts. Part of what happens in a psilocybin journey is that your amygdala, part of your brain that's responsible for fear. and pain and panic, that softened and kind of turned off a little bit. So I think if the same effect in breathwork is softening and kind of letting the amygdala go to sleep, then we're more open to readdressing these things so that we can deal with them in the body too. So I don't know, there's not scientific research. I'm very data-driven. And the problem with breathwork and psychedelic research right now is we're way behind. Good research takes time. Good science takes time. And because of what they did in the 70s, all of that stopped for decades. And it's only in the last five years that it's come to the forefront. So we are going to have more data on why people are able to heal through breathwork. The VA has sanctioned studies on having it treat PTSD very effectively. And not just like a numb out or a cover up. They're saying that once you do your breathwork, the PTSD doesn't come back. We are in a really exciting time that we have not been getting better as a society in mental health. As much as, you know, you'd like to say that these SSRIs were working, which is the class of drugs, antidepressants, anti-anxiety, nobody's getting better. Mostly when things don't work, you like to fail fast and pivot. But because it was so politicized, it was really hard to pivot and say, OK, maybe let's go back and see if psychedelics work or breathwork works. And then it's also really hard to. monetize.
Speaker #1
Well, because you actually are healing some of the things. So you're not keeping people on a hamster wheel just into perpetuity. And Terry, tell me, because it is Mental Health Awareness Month, how does breath work? I know you've given a lot of examples, but specifically, how does it work for people who have anxiety or depression or even PTSD or complex PTSD? What is it that, you know, from the research you've been looking at and from what you've witness that it does.
Speaker #0
So I think it's, again, treating symptoms, not only from one part of the body. So even the word mental health is, you know, even though there's not a uniformly adopted definition of mental health, it's still, it has a word mental in it. So we're treating brain disorders and things that are happening in your mind. And what you really have to do is now pay attention to the whole body because we're all connected. It's all connected. And I feel like symptomatically when you're treating a symptom. What's wrong is you're not seeing with every action, there's a reaction, right? And so I feel like with the mental health awareness, once we start treating the entire body and realizing that there is a connection there, there is a biological connection, a chemical connection, and a neurological connection. So when you're treating all three of these, like we do in breath work, then you're going to get a result. Stress anxiety that's in the body, it can create chronic pain. And that's not something I'm making up. It's true. And then it can create disease. It can create pathology. We are making ourselves sick because we are not treating the root cause of these things. So once we start using these modalities that treat the whole body, like breathwork, we're seeing the better results. And then people are able to, like you said, not be on the hamster wheel of continuing to do that, not numbing out, you know, they're able to live their life in a joyful way. And I think that's really what I'm loving about this trend towards looking at these different modalities. There's a lot of no cost modalities that are available to people that have stress and anxiety, cold therapy, walking in nature, breathing. You know, these are no cost and there's no barrier of entry. You don't have to have money. You don't have to live in a certain place, you know? So the more we can get that out there, I think that's our start to really being able to heal. And that's what I'd really like to see in mental health is a real urgency of treating everything and getting away. I've always had a healthy skepticism of big pharma and I'm not on that soapbox or anything, but I feel like it's great for some people, but not everybody needs to do that. And there's these different paths to joy, you know, and I just want to get that word out there.
Speaker #1
For sure. I think it's good to look at all of our options. I know I definitely have friends who, you know, feel that. the SSRIs they're on have been life-saving for them. And I think that's beautiful. And I've also known some people that didn't quite work for. And so the fact that there are options and there's like a bevy of options that they can try, I think is so beautiful. And for sure, no matter what your journey is, your body is part of healing, whatever things are playing out in your mental health arena. If you're not getting into your body, you're missing a big piece of the picture because it holds on to a lot for us.
Speaker #0
Yeah. It really does.
Speaker #1
Let's also talk about psychedelics because I know you're super passionate about that right now. And I'm super curious because I don't think I told you this, but the first time I wrote a song, like it was because I smoked too much pot. It was the second time I'd ever smoked pot. I smoked five hits off a water bong, hit the floor, and then I started freaking out. And I like made my good friend Michael Cleland hold my hand and walk all around Michigan State's campus with me. And then I sang every single thought I had for two hours straight. And I kept saying, this is the real me. This is the real me. Had no clue what I was talking about, but I just knew I was singing every thought I had. And then a week later, had never been able to figure out how to play guitar. And suddenly I was playing guitar. And then shortly thereafter, That was pot. So I can only imagine what a psychedelic can do.
Speaker #0
Yeah, I love that story. I do love that story. And it's really about getting out of your own way. So a lot of times with creatives. there's the blocks, right? You get creative blocks. And that's, again, your prefrontal cortex just taking over and being so fully developed. Sometimes you have to turn off your brain to open your mind. And when you open your mind, all this stuff comes flowing through. The prefrontal cortex is like a spigot. When it's turned off and then everything else kind of floods, then you get all these beautiful, creative things. So my passion for psychedelics, and I'm not somebody that really does psychedelics. The first time I ever did psilocybin was you a little over a year ago at a retreat that I was hired to do breath work. And I was a little bit in my head about it too, just because, you know, I grew up with the war on drugs and I was told drugs are bad. I'm not a drug person going into the retreat. I didn't even think I was going to do the journey, but I felt really safe with the provider and I did it. And I just had a beautiful, beautiful journey. And again, it was like that veil being kind of peeled back. And that was one where I saw all my ancestors and everything. And I just thought, wow, this is really beautiful. I know some journeys can get dark. Mine wasn't. But why I'm passionate about the work that's being done around psychedelics right now is in the healing realm. Big universities like Johns Hopkins are now dedicating time and money to the study of how this can help our mental health epidemic, our opioid epidemic, how it can help people with alcohol addiction, how it can help anorexia, how it might be tied to Alzheimer's. This field of medicine, you know, is exploding. And again, it was suppressed because of politics and the fact that this was a category one drug. And now we're kind of playing catch up. So my fascination with it is in that field, in the therapeutic field. And I do think it's going to be continuing to be more and more popular. Tim Ferriss, you know, he's part of the John Hopskin studies and he's put a lot of his own personal money into this study. MAPS has been on the board since the 80s and they continue to work to really get the stigma off of it so that we can start healing people with this type of therapy. And I think in a... therapeutic setting where you have a guided and you have a therapist there, it can be really powerful. And these are not addictive. So that's a big difference between some of the things we are doing that are addictive. So I do think that's where my passion is. I'm curious to see the data as to how this is really going to help people that are really suffering.
Speaker #1
Yeah, me too. Now, here's my question, Terry. How do you do mushrooms? Because it's still not legal in the United States. But I know a bunch of people who have done it and I would want to do it with a professional, a professional mushroom giver. No, but a professional practitioner. So like, how does one go about getting a hold of a psychedelic?
Speaker #0
Yeah. So some states now they're legal for therapeutic purposes. I think Oregon and Colorado, but most states they're decriminalized. So now if you were to go into your local dispensary and, you know, buy marijuana, Most dispensaries now have also mushroom products. It's decriminalized, but not fully legal. So people are using it recreationally now, which I'm sure they always were. I just wasn't in the room, but people are using it. But they're also, what's become really popular is the microdosing, which is what we're all hearing about. And people are just taking small bits of psilocybin to help improve their mood and help function. And some people are saying that. that's more effective than other types of things they had been doing pharmaceutically. If you wanted to take it in a therapeutic session, which is like a higher dose, then I would recommend everybody to be there with a guide, you know, because that's going to keep you safe and kind of guide your journey. The difference between breathwork and a psilocybin journey is breathwork can get you to the same place, but you can get off the ride. If you decide you're going to take two and a half grams of mushrooms, you're in it. for four hours, whether you want to be there or not. With breath work, you can decide that you want to get off the ride and you start breathing in and out through your nose and you can come out of it. Mushroom psilocybin will get you there even if you're resistant. With breath work, you need to do the work. So if somebody comes in the room and they're really resistant to it, and they're not going to breathe the way that I want them to breathe, they're not going to have the effect that I want them to have. So that's where the difference is. But I think that's why There's also contraindications. more contraindications to doing psilocybin than there are to breathwork. Breathwork, there are some contraindications, but not as many. So I say, if somebody really wants to take a journey like that, start with breathwork. And then if they want to go on and do psychedelic, just know, set in setting and know what you're getting into. If people are doing it recreational, great, whatever you want. But if you're wanting to go deep and clear trauma and rewire and readapt, then you're going to need a guide there that knows what they're doing.
Speaker #1
Yeah. Very much for me, like I'm intrigued by my dispensary having it potentially, but like I don't want to do it without somebody who can help me because I know what I experienced with breathwork. So I can only imagine what a therapeutic dose of a mushroom is going to do. So I definitely think for you listening, I feel like all my little creative cuties are sensitive like me. Definitely try the breathwork first. And then if you're going to go for the mushroom, if you want to do it for healing, do it with practitioner. So did you say you did a retreat? Would you recommend that retreat you did?
Speaker #0
Yeah, I do. I do. She does wonderful retreats. So these retreats are mainly not in the US, but mine was in Costa Rica. And it was with OM Yoga. And again, I had never done a psychedelic in my entire life before I got there. And it was just a really beautiful journey. And we actually did two. So we did psilocybin and then breathwork. So they all kind of worked together. But some people during the The psilocybin journey did have some dark stuff come up. And I'm not qualified for that. I'm qualified to be a breathwork facilitator. I was there with a facilitator, a shaman that is qualified. So I recommend if you are going to do that, don't just try to do it with your friends. It could be fun, but you never know. So be smart about it. But one of the beautiful things that people report back on in psychedelics, especially when it comes to creativity, is that you do feel a heightened sense of creativity. And some people will come off and write a whole song or unleash things that they've been holding back on. you Again, I'm not an expert on that stuff. I am passionate about the possibility of the healing benefits of it. And I've seen, you know, people come into the creative part. But again, it's everybody's going to have to make their own decision on that one. Try breathwork first.
Speaker #1
Bionic breathwork. Can't recommend it enough. So speaking of which, you have been so generous to offer to do a little breathwork session with us today to give people a little peek of what you do. And I'll let you introduce it because I know it's a specific thing, but I'm so excited.
Speaker #0
We've been talking this whole podcast about a certain style of healing breath work, which I can't really do on air right now because it's not safe. We would go into a non-ordinary state of consciousness. And if you're driving, if you're walking, if you're working out, not safe to do that. And we can't really get the benefit in a short period of time. So what I'm doing, I had mentioned that daily breath work could be really good. to get you into your parasympathetic if you're having stress or anxiety or you have a big meeting or something like that. And there's two styles of this daily breath work that I wanted to share with you and your listeners. Very simple. Anybody can do it. And again, very simple. So I'm going to start with what is known as the box breath or box breathing. And what we do in the box breath, it's going to be in and out through our nose. We're going to make it an equal box. So kind of visualize a box as I'm doing it. And we're going to inhale for five seconds and then hold for five seconds, exhale for five seconds, hold for five seconds. If you can't do five, you can do four. But I don't know if you're familiar with the James Nestor book. He's done all this research and he said the ideal breath pace is five and a half seconds. So I try to aim for that.
Speaker #1
Let's be ideal.
Speaker #0
Yeah, let's be ideal. And then we'll do the second one, which has been proven to be the most effective breath work to calm yourself down. But this one's the most simple one. So let's go ahead and inhale through our nose. Hold for 5, 4, 3,
Speaker #2
2, exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold, 2, 3, 4, 5. Inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold, 2, 3, 4, 5. Exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. five, good. And hold four, three, two, five. Beautiful. It's as simple as that.
Speaker #1
That's so cool. I have a question. I always get stressed out when I have to hold my breath. Tell me why that's good. It calmed down by the second time, but the first time I have to hold my breath whenever I do that, it stresses me out. Tell me about that.
Speaker #0
Yeah. So it is really good to improve your heart rate variability by trying to control your breath like this, but It's again, a survival response. So when you're holding your breath and not being able to breathe, that means like when the CO2 in your body builds up, your automatic response is to exhale, but you're not allowing yourself to do that. So you're going against what your body is naturally meant to do. And it takes a while to kind of override that because again, your body's always in a survival mode and trying to keep you safe. And so that doesn't feel safe. So again, just keep working on it. And then. When people get panic attacks, you always hear people say, just breathe, just breathe. The reason why they do it, and it's better to do it before you get too panicky. But the reason is like when you are taking control again of an automatic function, taking control of your breath, you are in control of your body and your body's response. So that is why that is really important is for people that are feeling stress, anxiety, or panic to take control. And when you're thinking about your breath and counting, you can't think about the million other things that are stressing you out. So that one's really effective. Again, that response is your body is taught to exhale when CO2 builds up and you're not exhaling when your body is supposed to exhale. And that's why at the beginning, you might feel a little panic. Then it's your survival instincts.
Speaker #1
All right. Good to know. I'm on track.
Speaker #0
Okay. And then the second one is the cyclic sigh. And that one has been proven to be the quickest in balancing you back to your parasympathetic nervous system. And what it is, it's going to be two. quick breaths through your nose and then a long exhale after. So it goes like this. Beautiful. So it's a really quick, simple tool.
Speaker #1
For some reason, breathing out through my mouth always makes me feel more calm because I can actually picture the breath like going through my body.
Speaker #0
We are most of the time supposed to be breathing in and out through our noses, but there are times again, when we're trying to control things that the mouth breathing is really important. And like, as you mentioned in bionic, that was kind of weird for you. It's all through your mouth. And that is designed because we're trying to Thank you. create a physiological change in the body. If we just breathe like we normally would, then we're not going to make that change. You have to do something different than you would normally do to effectuate change with everything in life. So same with breathing. That's why I'm pushing you during the class and the first two songs are really hard, but I'm like, you can do this because what's on the other side is really beautiful.
Speaker #1
Yeah. And I just want to say one thing about the class. If you can, I would say your first time doing it in a group setting. it was really, really special because some of the people, like I could just hear how brave they were being and it helped me feel more brave. Like I actually like there were people who were like sobbing and then I like started connecting to their experience too and started like sobbing with them. And then I was like, oh wait, no, I got to come back. But it was really nice to be with them for a while and like resonate. And I'll never know who that person was that I was like holding their pain with them, but it felt like an honor and really beautiful. And like, an equal release for me that I got to be with them on that journey and then come back to what I was feeling.
Speaker #0
I love that. That says so much about you just as a person that you're holding space for others as you're going on your journey. And I was glad that you and your boyfriend weren't able to be together because sometimes what happens is, especially if you have the nurturer in you, you may have heard him having a release and then you might come out of it to want to go nurture him. I tried to split up. parents, couples, anything for that reason, because we don't want to soothe. Yes. We want this to come out and heal. And it's a purge. So if you're there soothing and you're, you're feeling the pain of them going through what they're going through, it takes away from what they're doing. So when you guys came in, I was actually really glad that you had to split up and I don't know how his journey ended up being, but he was such a beautiful man. I felt there was something very special about him and the two of you together that I did not. forget him either.
Speaker #1
Oh, Terry, that makes me so happy. Yeah, he had a really beautiful experience too. And you know, obviously, he was in the relationship with me still is. And so he was, you know, feeling that kind of point we were at, we're trying to figure out how we're going to move forward. And it's interesting, because despite being apart, he had the exact same realization as me. He realized he also needed to heal around love itself, and that it wasn't about me. I don't know. I don't know if we would have. been gifted that if we had been right next to each other, because I would have maybe felt embarrassed about the way I was releasing. I could see the same thing happening with him. The caretaking would have come out in us. So you know what you're doing. I've done breathwork a few times since then. And I will always think this one was most special. And I can't wait until the next time I get to work with you again, because it truly is a life changing experience. If you listening, get the opportunity, please, please work with Terry. do a workshop and then tell them how they can work with you. And if you have any workshops coming up.
Speaker #0
Yeah. Thank you for saying that. So I think we decided that we're going to link a session, right? A Zoom session. So they're going to get a taste of what we do. Again, when you're doing it at home, recorded Zoom session, it's not the same as going in the room. So I recommend, whether it's with me or somebody else, if you can get to an in-person session, and like you were saying to the collective energy of the room. really helps too, but that's going to give them a kind of a sneak peek. And then I do retreats all over the world. I do trainings and I do in-person classes. So everything is linked. The easiest way is in at my website, bionicbreathwork.com or my Instagram has a link tree and I'm kind of all over the place. So my goal is to spread this benefits of breathwork far and wide in that sense. I'm creating all these soldiers that are out there teaching the method. And that's really where my focus is right now is on the training so that I can get more people out there and getting the word out. I've just been really lucky to have really great people come through their training and they're out there teaching. And that's what we need. We all need more, more breath work, I think.
Speaker #1
Wow. Maybe I'll do that with you someday.
Speaker #0
Yes, please. I would love to have you in a training anytime. I think you would be an amazing facilitator. You've got all the tools. You've just got the most. pure energy, I think you would be an amazing facilitator.
Speaker #1
Well, that is an honor coming from you. And I feel the same way about you. You're so encouraging and loving and yourself in all settings. And you hold so much space for people and you see them. And you're not afraid to step out yourself. And I just feel really, really honored to get to share you, your wisdom, your methodology, and just who you are with my beautiful listeners. So thank you for being here and for all that you shared today. You are a gift.
Speaker #0
You're going to make me cry now. Thank you so much. Thanks for the opportunity.
Speaker #1
My pleasure and honor and creative cutie listening resonate on this dream and this vision that Terry had so that she can spread this incredible healing to the world even more. I know you will. Terry, I feel like I want to say this with you. Every time I end an episode, I tell my listeners I love them and I believe in them. Would you say it with me?
Speaker #0
A hundred percent.
Speaker #1
Okay, here we go. To you, my sweet listener. Terri and I want you to know I love you.
Speaker #0
I love you.
Speaker #1
And I believe in you.
Speaker #0
And I believe in you.
Speaker #1
Thank you, Terri.
Speaker #0
Thank you.
Speaker #1
Thank you for listening and thanks to my guest, Terri Mosley. For more info on Terri, follow her at Bionic Breathwork and visit her website, bionicbreathwork.com to learn more about her work and how you can take her workshop or even work with her one-on-one. Thanks Rachel Fulton for helping edit and associate produce this episode. Follow her at Rachel M. Fulton. Thanks to Liz Full for the show's theme music. Follow her at Liz Full. And again, thank you. If you like what you heard today, remember to rate, review, and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share the show with a friend and post about it on social media. Tag me at Lauren LaGrasso and at Unleash Your Inner Creative, and I will repost to share my gratitude. Also tag the guests at Bionic Breathwork so they can share as well. My wish for you this week is that you explore the depths of your emotional and physical well-being, finding peace, clarity, and joy in the process. You are not alone in the simple act of breathing intentionally can be a powerful tool for transformation and growth. I love you. And I believe in you. Talk with you next week.

About Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LoGrasso (A Creativity Podcast)

Unleash Your Inner Creative is a Webby Award-winning podcast designed to help you break free from self-doubt, embrace your creativity, and live an authentic, purpose-filled life. I’m Lauren LoGrasso, a multi-passionate creative, and I believe that repressed creativity is one of the root causes of unhappiness—which is why I’m here to help you unleash yours! Through a blend of inspiring interviews, solo episodes, and coaching sessions, this show explores creativity, mental health, spirituality, and self-development.

On the pod, you'll hear from incredible guests like The Artist’s Way author Julia Cameron, How I Built This host Guy Raz, brain coach Jim Kwik, and Codependent No More's Melody Beattie, as well as artists and performers like Chrisette Michele and Hannah Berner. Together, we share the tools and insights to help you rewire your mindset, overcome fear, and follow your heart’s deepest desires. Whether you’re a lifelong creative or just feeling a spark, I invite you to tune in, tap into your true potential, and unleash your inner creative!

New episodes are out every Thursday - follow, rate and review wherever you get your podcasts :)

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LoGrasso (A Creativity Podcast)

New episodes are out every Thursday - follow, rate and review wherever you get your podcasts :)

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Description

Also! I am putting out a new song on Friday, July 10th! Please pre-save it here: https://ffm.to/walkingonair2026

Original Description:

Have you ever considered how the simple act of breathing could unlock profound changes in your mental, emotional, and physical well-being?

From this conversation you’ll learn:

-What breathwork is

-How it can help you release trauma

-The Full Story of my (Lauren’s) WILD breathwork experience--this is a must-hear!

-What functional freeze is and how to get out of it

-The connection between breathwork and therapeutic psychedelics & how to know which one is right for you

-AND we will even walk you through a little breathwork at the end of the pod!

Try a FREE Bionic Breathwork Class with Terry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpzBk3wXYWc

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
Have you ever just needed to take a breath? Sometimes we all do. And today I'm going to share an episode with you on breath work. But before I get into that, I just want to say, hello, welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso, your host, your friend, future mother, business owner. She does it all, folks. I'm trying. But I have to say that in preparing for my baby and getting, I don't know why I said preparing like that. But in preparing for my baby, getting the business together, just figuring out all of life, it has been hard to figure out the balance of things. And I'm sure that that's going to continue as I go through my journey to motherhood and continue expanding my business and creating more things. I'm also putting out a single. I didn't even tell you that. How could I have missed that? I'm putting out a single on Friday. And Friday, July 10th. I'll put the link in bio. It's called Walking on Air. And I really just, I didn't put a lot of like thought behind it. Haven't really considered marketing it at all. I just wanted my music to be out there. This is something I talked about a while ago, but as I'm thinking about my sweet baby boy coming to this earth, I want to continue to build my creative legacy because the things that we make, yes, they're to unleash our soul and therefore the world to enjoy, of course, as well, you know, number one us, but also for the world. But if you have people that you care about, specifically family members, whether it is children of your own or nieces and nephews, or your parents, you know, siblings, when we put creativity out in the world, it's building our creative legacy. And it's really leaving a gift for people. Yes, while you're here on this earth, but even after we leave to understand who we really were as... artists and creatives and give them insight into our soul and to hear. I mean, like, how cool is it that my grandkids someday, if my child or possible future children decide to procreate, will be able to listen to this podcast, listen to this music. So anyway, rambly, long story short, not at all short. I wanted to put out this song before my son got here so that we could listen to it together and he could enjoy it. And... Yeah, and just to do one more like purely creative act before I embark on this journey. But with all that being said, you know, a lot of things have been piling up. And I'm just trying to be realistic with myself. And I really think in order to give you the best content possible in the months where it seems like people are most interested in consuming content, which would be not the month of July, I am most likely. going to do re-airs for the rest of the month. I might do a solo episode here or there, one with my husband, Tim, about parenthood and how we're going to approach it creatively. And just, you know, you haven't heard from him since last year when we wed. So it might be a good time to check in. People tend, I guess he was on the Christmas episode. Sorry, babe. I forgot. Pregnancy brain, don't blame me. But all that's to say. I need to take a little bit of a pause from churning out new content on the podcast so that I can get the stuff ready for when I'm on maternity leave so I can put out new content then. I'm working diligently on a lot of amazing episodes for you, but I don't want to keep living hand-to-mouth on the podcast as I have been recently. And so I'm just taking this little break to reconfigure, get my shows ready for August and September, and get prepared for my baby, which is... a really important creative project as you can imagine. So today's episode is a re-air. It's one on breathwork, as I mentioned. It's also very timely for me because I'm thinking a lot about this as I'm going into giving birth. But it's one I did with my friend, Terry Mosley, who is an incredible breathwork practitioner. And on this episode, I talk about how the first time I did breathwork with her, which if you don't know what that is, it's breathing in this really intentional way that can literally give you like a psychedelic experience, drug-free. It is wild. I cannot recommend it enough. But when I did this breathwork with her, I literally got a visit from my ancestors. And so I'm thinking a lot about it because a big part of birth is breathing. And I'm kind of hoping that my ancestors come back and like guide me through it. I've heard from some woo-woo people that that can happen, but that's neither here nor there. Just check out this episode. It's so cool. She goes into breathwork. She even does a demonstration for you. She talks about how you can experience her work. it for either free or low barrier to entry costs. So definitely check it out. You're going to love this one. It's one of my favorites. I share my wild story of my first breath work and why simply breathing can release trauma and increase creativity. As I mentioned, you will have content all this month. It's just going to be mostly re-airs. I might even do a new episode next week. I don't know. I might want to do something about my song and putting that out. But anyway. We will see. I'm just giving myself a little grace during this time, and I hope you can do the same for me. I appreciate you. I hope you're having a great summer. Unleash today, babes. Bye. Have you ever considered how the simple act of breathing could unlock profound changes in you, in your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being? Well, it really, really can. Let me be the first to tell you. And today's guest is here to share the transformative power of breathwork and how it can not only enhance your daily life, but also lead to deep healing and personal growth. Welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso. I'm a Webby Award-winning podcast host and producer, singer-songwriter, public speaker, and multi-passionate creative. This show sits at the intersection of creativity, mental health, self-development, and spirituality, and it is meant to give you tools to love, trust, and know yourself enough to claim your right to creativity and pursue whatever it is that's on your heart. Today's guest is Terry Mosley. She's a seasoned expert in breathwork and healing who created something called bionic breathwork, which is honestly a mind-blowing experience that uses breathing techniques backed by science. Stay tuned for the wild story of the first time I did one of her breathwork workshops. It changed my life. Breathwork exercises can be used to relieve stress, anxiety, heal trauma, chronic pain, hormone imbalances, and they promote a sense of balance and well-being. As I mentioned, I've had the privilege of working with Terri and taking one of her classes. And I can truly say it changed my life. It is such an intense emotional, physiological, and mental workout. And the healing I gain from our session is something that I literally take with me every single day. Breathwork has the ability to shift people from fight or flight into deep healing states. And it can even yield similar results to psychedelic experiences. You have visions when you're in one of these states. You have visits from past ancestors sometimes when you're in these states. It is wild. So Terri is just a light in the world and her mission to help people through her work is inspiring. I also just personally love her. Can't wait to share this interview with you. From today's chat, you'll learn what breathwork is, how it can help you release your trauma, what functional freezes and how to get out. And we will even walk you through a little breathwork session at the end of our chat. Okay, now here she is, Terri Mosley. Terri, I am so grateful to have you on Unleash Your Inner Creative. I took your Breathwork workshop about a year ago now, and we've been following each other on Instagram, and you're just such a supportive light in the world. Also, your Breathwork workshop changed my life. So can't wait to get into all of it. But thank you for being here.
Speaker #1
Thank you for having me, Lauren. I'm so excited to be here to talk to you. learn about your experience in the class, because this will be the first time that I am hearing your full experience as well. So I'm so excited to hear that and just here to spread the word about the benefits of breathwork. So thank you so much for having me.
Speaker #0
Oh my gosh, my pleasure and honor. So before we get into anything, I feel like breathwork is a very confusing concept to people who aren't in this world, because what is, is it just breathing? I mean, It's something that isn't necessarily intuitive because I had no clue what it was until I experienced it myself. So what is breathwork?
Speaker #1
A lot of people are thinking it's being sold as snake oil right now because it's something that we do as an automatic function, like from the second that we're born until our last breath. And it wasn't until recently that there's been so much focus on how taking control of your breathing can really improve your life. And breathwork has been around. for centuries, but it's only recently that people are starting to see how we can use breathwork therapeutically and to really help us go about our everyday business. And I feel like the most benefit of breathwork is really taking control of your autonomic nervous system. So in a world where we've just, we're so much in our fight or flight at all times, breathwork allows us to kind of step back, really connect with our body and balance out the autonomic nervous system and kind of guide ourselves. back into a parasympathetic mode, which is rest or digest. And we just don't have the time in our everyday life to do that anymore. So what we do with breath work, and there's so many different styles and types, some are designed to upregulate your nervous system and some are designed to downregulate it. So again, it depends on what effect you want. So if you're trying to calm your nervous system, if you have a big meeting or maybe a big event, then we're going to focus on breath work that's down-regulating to get you into your parasympathetic, to get you out of fight or flight. And if you're wanting to do some deep healing work and release things that may have been held in the body, so somatic work, then we are going to intentionally go into your sympathetic nervous system. two very different results, both using your breath in different ways. But the commonality is that we are consciously taking control of an automatic function. And when we do that, we can create neuroplasticity.
Speaker #0
Wow. After I experienced her workshop, I went to my therapist and I was like, Hey, this is what just came up. And she let me know, she's a talk therapist, so licensed psychotherapist, but she also does energy healing. And she's trained in this thing called core energetics and radical aliveness, which is like a somatic-based healing. It's like very complementary to breathwork. And she was telling me that it started back in the day when they outlawed psychedelics and that people were like, we have to help people still get to this place where they can have this profound healing. What can we do? And then that's where breathwork popped up. Is that true? Or did my therapist lie to me?
Speaker #1
Yes, it's absolutely true. So no, it's true. And I love your talk therapist because she gets it and she's incorporating not just the mind, but the body too. So this style of breath work that I teach is most similar to a style called holotropic breath work. And that was indeed developed by Stanislav Grof. He was a psychiatrist back in the late sixties, and he was very effectively treating conditions, mental health conditions, mostly PTSD, with psychedelics. LSD in particular. And then in 1971, the US and the world started to bastardize psychedelics. It became a schedule one drug, and he was unable to legally treat people, even though the results of what he was doing with psychedelics were outstanding. So he created this style of breathwork that actually simulates what would happen in your body, in your brain, when you're doing a psychedelic drug. And the benefit of it is that you are in control of your own journey. Whereas if you're going to do a psychedelic, then you take the pill and you're on that ride, whether you want to get off or not. With breathwork, you can get off the ride at any time. But he's a hero in my book because he developed this type of breathing and it really does work. And it works, you know, sometimes better for people than an actual plant medicine. And we have such sophisticated scientific measuring now. that we can see what it is doing to our body and our brain. So we have neuroimaging, we have biofeedback. So we can see what effect just this breathwork is having on our physiology. So it's not a mistake that these two modalities, breathwork and psychedelics, are often grouped together.
Speaker #0
And what effect is it having on our physiology? What have the scans found?
Speaker #1
Okay, so I'm going to be talking about the style of breathwork. I teach, which again is most similar to the holotropic, what we use this for is kind of a deep healing. And what the scans find is like, if you have human physiology and you breathe in the way that I'm going to cue you to breathe, then what eventually happens is the blood alkaline changes. So our blood becomes highly alkaline, highly oxygenated, and then we're offloading CO2. So it's going to create that physiological change in our body. And what happens, It's different for everybody, but... In about 10 minutes of doing this type of breath work, your prefrontal cortex, which is our default mode network, which really is our strongest part of our brain that we use every day. It's our default mode. We wake up and that's what's triggered. That slows down and takes an app. And then it allows us to get into these non-ordinary states of consciousness, the parts of our brain that we don't access, especially as our prefrontal cortex gets more and more developed the older we get. So it allows it to really just calm down and not get in our way. and allows these non-ordinary states to kind of take over. And I think that at the beginning, and when you're doing this type of breath work, our memories are stored there. So you release some trauma that may have been held in your body. And as you continue to do this work, then we can get into some really mystical and magical things when we allow ourselves to go there.
Speaker #0
Okay. Well, I'd like to go into some of the mystical and magical things that happened to me when I experienced your breath work class, because I really tried to go in having no expectations because I've gone into things like this before and I was like, oh my God, this is going to change my life. And then I was disappointed. It wasn't a breathwork thing, but like, I just wanted to go in just having no expectations and being open. So I went in and my boyfriend and I, we both went to the class. We were originally going to try to sit right next to each other, but we ended up having to get separated, which I think was the best thing for us. Cause then we didn't influence each other's experience, but you had to start out by writing to someone who we felt wronged us, which I thought was so interesting. And then we start the breath. And I was surprised that it was in through the mouth and out through the mouth. The first song, because you do it to music and you prompt us the whole time, which is so cool. The first song, I was like literally just trying to stay alive because something was happening in my body that I was like, what the hell? I felt like there was lightning going through my hands. And I was like, I don't know if I'm going to make it. So I was just like moving my legs and trying to stay alive. But after the first song and a half, it passed. And then you led us into like this first visualization, which was. a time of the greatest joy in our lives. And I recalled this moment where I did a show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Detroit. And I remember just standing on the stage and just feeling so much presence and love and like a hundred people that I knew from my hometown were there. And I was singing and I just felt like, God, this is just as good as it gets. Like, this is so good. We were donating money from the show to a Detroit-based charity. And the message I got was, sing. It doesn't matter how it's received. It doesn't matter how many people hear it. The only thing that matters is that you're making music and you're expressing yourself. Stop thinking so much about the outcome. Stop thinking about past perceived failures. Just make music. Go for what's on your heart. You need to put out your music and sing more. And then you told us to ask the universe for what we want. And I envision myself putting out the music, doing public speaking. Growing my podcast, continuing to mentor people, having a family, getting married. And then this is the moment that I was like, whoa. This next moment you said, if you have grief, and I had to take notes on this because this is so many different things that happened. It was just like one revelation after the next. Then there was a moment where you said, if you have grief, if there's anyone or anything you have grief over, let that thing or person step forward to the forefront. And then I saw my maternal grandmother, my mom's mom, step forward. And then I saw her mom step forward, my grandmother's mother. And this is an interesting thing because my grandmother was abused by her mother very badly. Like she was chased around with a butcher knife when she was a little girl. And even the night before her wedding, her mom threatened to come over to her house and chop up her wedding dress. So they had a very my grandma always loved her mom. But they had a very difficult relationship. like one of the things that I remember my grandma talking about before she got sick, she would cry and say, my mother never loved me. And so I saw them standing next to each other holding hands. And my grandma said, like, we're working on a relationship now. We're healing here. Everything is good between us. Like we're working on healing. And thank you for like the work that you've done, that you took the sacrifices and you're actually trying to close the loop. And they gave me a message from my mom that basically I think because my grandma couldn't feel anger toward her mother because she was her mother. My mom kind of like took on the anger herself and has a lot of anger toward her grandmother who we called Nona. And my grandmother, my mom's mom, gave me a message that encourage your mom to try to forgive because it's standing between her and healing. And then. Yeah, they just said, we love you so much. We're so proud of you. And we want you to know we're together. And like, we're working on healing the relationship up here and forming love up here. And thank you for like what you're doing down there right now. And then they step back. And then all of a sudden, they all come out of the woodwork. Like, my dad's dad comes out, steps forward. And he's like, speaking to me in Italian. And I don't understand. I'm like, oh my gosh, grandpa, I don't know how to speak Italian. He's like, don't worry, you will someday. And then he steps forward and holds my grandma's hand. And then my dad's mom steps forward and she died when I was five. And I was like, oh, Grandma LaGrasso, I'm so sorry that I didn't get to know you better. She's like, it's OK. I love the time we spent together and I'm so proud of you. And then she steps in the line. Then my grandpa, my mom's dad's mother steps forward. She died when my mom was like two months old. And she comes forward, Grandma Josephine, and says, I love you so much. I'm so grateful for the joy that you have. Like you have my joy. Like thank you for spreading my joy and my happiness. Then my grandpa's dad steps forward. So my great grandfather, I mean, he kind of just smiled at me and then stepped in line. And as this is happening, they're all going back to the line and holding hands and like sending me all this love. It's confusing. I know it's getting confusing, but like then my grandpa's dad who died at sea and his brother who died at sea stepped forward. And like, it was. kind of unbelievable. I'm like, oh, I don't even know some of you. Like, this is wild. And all just like emanating this love onto me. And then... My grandpa, my mom's dad, who I was so close to was my everything. Grandpa Roboto steps forward. He's like, I wouldn't miss this for the world. But he was always late to everything. And I kind of got the feeling that he was like up there holding court. And then he just like he had to get down. And my uncle Tony, who was my godfather, just passed away. Like they said, he's still up there resting, but he really wanted to be here. But he needed a little bit more time to rest because he just passed away. And it was just this feeling of immense love. And they said to me, like, you are never alone. Whenever you think you're alone, you're never alone. We are always around you and we're so proud of you. And we're so proud of the way you're carrying on the family line. So that happened. And then you ended it by saying, you know, if you have any remaining questions, bring them to the forefront. And at the time, my boyfriend and I. We're kind of going through an inflection point in our relationship and we were coming up against some conflict and trying to figure out really if we wanted the same things in life. And so I just put that out there to whatever or whoever I was asking this question to. I don't know. You're going to probably let me know what was going on. But I put that out there like, is there anything I need to know about my relationship? If so, please bring it up. I'm open to hearing anything. And I was shown. That it wasn't my relationship with my boyfriend that I needed to heal, but it was actually my relationship to love itself that was hurting. So I saw how love was to me in that time frame and my connection to it. And it was the image I was given was this plastic, jagged, broken little heart. And it was this weird, jagged connection to it. And then I saw my boyfriend and he was shown in this beautiful honey gold light. And we had like a. pure connection of light. So what I heard was the conflict you're having isn't about your connection to him. It's about connection to love itself. And that's what you need to heal. And then I woke up. So what happened?
Speaker #1
Wow. Wow. And that was my first time.
Speaker #0
That was my first time ever doing breathwork. So just if you ever, you listening ever get a chance to work with Terry, please, please, please do it. It will change your life. That was like 30 minutes. It wasn't even 30 minutes, I don't think, that all that happened.
Speaker #1
That's a lot that happened. And the beautiful thing about breathwork is everybody's journey is so unique to them and everybody's journey is different every time because your body shows you what you need at that moment. So that is exactly what you needed at that moment. And it's not me as a facilitator that's doing anything. I'm guiding you by these prompts that you mentioned, but again, you would get there on your own. Because the body is just that smart and you get out of your way. So that first 10 minutes that you're talking about, I'm going to die. That's your prefrontal cortex, just not wanting to shut down. It's really normal. And then once you sink past that, doesn't it feel just really beautiful? We go into this different brainwave state. So we're going into a Thetis brainwave state, which is kind of like a dream state. Sometimes people go into a non-sleep deep rest where they won't hear any music or anything I say, and they go on their own journey. And some people, when we get to the mysticism or the magic like you had, you're going even deeper into those brainwave states where when your prefrontal cortex is turned on, especially at our age, you don't allow yourself to get there. You know, you get in your head like, I can't be seeing my ancestors right now. I don't even know who some of them are. But you were so open to that and you were open to the messages. So the way I describe it is it's really just the veil being pulled back a little bit. So there's this veil between our world. and the other world. And if you allow yourself to go there and ask for the messages, I think the biggest message that you got was we're never alone. And we do have people surrounding us all the time that are there to help us. And at the end of your session, when you really asked, like our guides are there to help us, but they're not allowed to interfere unless we ask. And you asked and they gave you this sign that you were able to interpret, you know, and I'm hoping that once you interpreted that. Then it's integration. So once you have your journey after the fact, after you come back into your prefrontal cortex and say, what the heck just happened to me? Then it's your job to start taking that information and integrating it. So that was a beautiful journey you had. Thank you for sharing all that with me. And it's fascinating to me that the thousands of people that I've led in breathwork classes, every time somebody shares their journey with me, everybody's just so different. It is not. abnormal for people to come through that have passed. Again, that's not something that I'm doing as a facilitator. That's something that you guys are doing. And then it's not unusual for people to get these messages. And I think as dramatic as it may seem, and you may see on the internet with people doing breath work, it's like an exorcism and crying and screaming and kicking and shaking. As dramatic as it is, at the end of the session, everybody... comes out feeling really euphoric, joyful, and connected, and that everything's just going to be okay. It's okay. I'm going to be okay. And that's the beauty of it.
Speaker #0
Yeah. And can I say something else that's really weird? I was so hungry. And I've done breathwork a couple of times since then, in various different capacities. And every time I'm starving, often I'm thinking about a burger. Is that normal?
Speaker #1
Well, I do tell you not to eat. before the session, you know, because I want you to be breathing on an empty stomach because digestive function takes breath. So if your breath is being used for digestion, I'm not getting the most benefit of it. So when somebody is told that they can't eat, even if it's just for a couple hours, then you get in your head that you're starving. And then I think also it's work, it's called breath work. You're working during that first 30 minutes when we're in that active cycle, but I bet we're burning a lot of calories doing that because you're... physically working. And, you know, at the end of the session, a lot of people get that sweat purge. So you get really cold during the beginning, that cryo effect. And at the end, you're just pouring sweat out. So you're doing a lot in your body physically. So you get the reward of the burger after I say, go for it.
Speaker #0
I did. It was great. It was one of the best burgers I ever had. Can we break down what was happening in each of those moments? Like, I want to go into what is bionic breath work, how you developed it and like, how is it playing out? Like, how did you come to those. prompts? How did you come to the length of time? Why the music?
Speaker #1
Yeah, I'd love to talk about that. So the way that I found breathwork is, you know, not a unique story throughout my life. You know, I got to the point in my life where I felt like I should be feeling happy and joyful. I had it all. I had the big job with the big salary. I had the family, I had everything. And I still was feeling a little bit lost. And I was feeling guilty about not waking up and feeling joyful and every day because On the surface, I felt like I had everything. So when people get to this point in life, and by this point, I had been living many decades. So when you're in the ring for that long, you're going to get beaten up a couple of times. So there were some things in my life where I had been beaten up. And what I didn't know was those things were stuck in my body. So as much work as I was trying to do from here, from the prefrontal cortex, I just wasn't getting the results that I needed. And I am a big proponent of talk. therapy, of cognitive behavioral therapy, of life coaching, of mindset coaching, all of that stuff. But the problem is that we need to also address what's in the body. And so I was going on the path of self-development. And I realized that even if I had Tony Robbins waking up with me in my bed every morning and whispering exactly what I was supposed to do with that raspy voice of his, I wasn't going to have the success until I dealt with conditioning in my body. Then I started going down a biohacking path and I found that biohacking where I was really dealing with human biology, that is connected to what's happening in my mind. And I started biohacking path and that led me to breathwork, but I had no expectations and I did not know that I was going to dedicate my life to respiratory biology or any of this. I really didn't. But I went to my first class, much like you, didn't know what to expect. I actually set my mat up near the door because I thought I was going to leave early. And I was like, I really didn't know what to expect. But much like you, once I got into it and started breathing, I had an experience like I could never have imagined. I really did. And at the end of my experience, I had this download that this is what I need to be doing. This is what I need to be sharing because how could I get to this point in my life where I've done everything and not have. this tool in my toolbox.
Speaker #0
But would you share any of what you recall from that first experience besides the download?
Speaker #1
Yeah, sure. So when I first started breathing, first of all, it was in a big ballroom with this Eastern European guy. He was relatively new on the scene. It popped up on my Instagram. I'm like, okay, I'll try it. Right. And so in this big room, you know, you have all this energy. So we started breathing and then people were starting to have their releases pretty quickly. and crying and screaming. And I just felt like laughing. I was like, I don't know if I should be laughing. People are seriously in pain here. But I was trying to stifle my laugh at first. And then I just got to the point where I couldn't. And then I began to laugh louder.
Speaker #0
And not worry. Once your prefrontal cortex shuts down, you're not worried about what anybody else is doing. So I started laughing. I got myself into the most euphoric, ecstatic state of laughter at the beginning of the session. And then it turned to tears. So I was on this roller coaster. I was like, what is going on? Once I surrendered myself to that, it was very similar to your experience. I had some people come through that I then got the assurance that everything's okay. I am not behind in life. I was comparing myself to somebody who's like, I'm exactly, and I'll get emotional talking about, but I'm exactly where I needed to be at the moment I needed to be at. And I'm not alone and everything is just going to be okay. And when I was able to take that pressure off of myself and give myself that love, I felt like I've always had that personality though, that I'm having to be doing, and never good enough. Now I have the tools to kind of know where that came from. At the time I didn't and then had to go a little bit deeper there. But then I felt this sense of safety. Then I started my crying obnoxiously and then I started back into laughter because I said, universe, this is so simple. Why have I made it so hard? It's this simple. And all through life, I've just been struggling and fighting and not feeling good enough and not feeling loved enough. And, you know, it's all very simple. So that, and then at the end of the session, this is the craziest thing. And it happens is I got this download of me teaching breath work at Dodger Stadium, packed stadium. And I had never done breath work before, much less thought that I was going to become a facilitator. But it was so, Lauren, it was so clear to me. It was so clear to me that I said, okay, this is what I'm doing. Went home that day. Well, called my friends. They thought I was going to do it. was on drugs because I'm like, have you seen the moon? Like everything looked brighter to me. I went in to buy a lottery ticket at the gas station. I was making friends with the guy, like everything was just so beautiful. That night I signed up to get trained. And then the day after my training, I started teaching and it's just flow state. So during breathwork, you'll get these downloads. And if you listen to them and don't get in your own way, then the universe conspires with you. And that's really what happened.
Speaker #1
It's so true, Terry, because I also have been working with this coach named Victoria Song, and I did a workshop with her at the beginning of the year, and she led us through a breath work. That's why my hair is this color right now.
Speaker #0
That was your download to change your hair color? No,
Speaker #1
but I saw myself speaking on stage in front of like hundreds of people, and I had this color hair. And I was like, okay, well, if that's the first step, I'll go for it.
Speaker #0
No, I love that. And it is something. thing that I incorporate. It wasn't in your session, but I do incorporate in some, it's quantum jumping. And we go through that exercise when you're in that non-ordinary state, we know this future version of Lauren already exists. And we go on a journey there. And then part of it is seeing what are you wearing? What do you look like? How does this future version of Lauren walk, stand? And if you can become a vibrational match to that future version of you that already exists. You don't need to know how to get there. It's going to attract it. So I love that you're already doing that. And that was part of it. You're starting to become that future version of Lauren where you saw yourself.
Speaker #1
Totally.
Speaker #0
And she exists. I love that.
Speaker #1
My friend is a professional public speaker and she asked me to open up for her in a couple of weeks. So like, I feel like it's happening.
Speaker #0
And the Webby nomination.
Speaker #1
Yes, it was huge.
Speaker #0
Congratulations.
Speaker #1
Thank you so much.
Speaker #0
Massive. And you're one of those people where I just. look and just say, okay, Lauren's got it all. You have so much talent and you've just like, the second I met you just have this warmth and like, I don't feel like competitive. I don't know how to say it right. But you just, you just have this really authentic self and that's where people really want you to succeed. And even though you're so successful right now, I just see so much more like the sky is the limit and it's all coming together. And I think if you just don't Get in your own way. then everything that you're thinking of or dreaming of is all going to be attracted to you.
Speaker #1
Terri, that means so much to me because I really related to what you were talking about of feeling like I'm never doing enough. I've done all these things, but it's not enough. I'm not good enough. And the past two years of honestly, the podcast has been my biggest healing tool of anything because I've had to come on the mic and be as honest as I could be about my life week after week for the past five years. And what I really found out about myself like three years ago is that I was so attached to outcome that I was miserable. And so that's my biggest thing. And it sounds like through breathwork, you have found a way to let go of that attachment to outcome and get more into an attachment to authenticity, your connection with God or whatever your higher power is, flow. How does that happen through breathwork? Hi, creative. Are you yearning to share your story, expertise, and heart with the world? Well, I have some exciting news for you, and I want you to be amongst the first to hear this because I consider you a bestie. I am launching a podcasting course. It's called Podcasting for Self-Expression. It is a course and mastermind with live coaching to help you find your authentic voice and launch your dream podcast. During the course, I'll take you through everything you need to know to create a compelling show. from how to use your life story to find the topic you're meant to speak on, to how to find your podcast thesis statement, to the important technical aspects, to innovative ways to market your show, and more. I'm so excited to offer this because it really is different than anything else that's available on the market because it looks at podcasting not only from a tactical standpoint, but also through the lens of self-development because that's what makes a compelling show. Somebody who really knows who they are, who they want to connect with, and what their authentic voice sounds like. And in the course, I'm going to be using the same techniques I've employed to coach and produce dozens of hit podcasts like We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, Unlocking Us with Brene Brown, Lauren Conrad Asking for a Friend, and this sweet show you're listening to right now, Unleash Your Inner Creative. If you're interested, you can find all the information on the show notes and at my website, laurenlagrasso.com. Just click the word course. I also want to let you know there are payment plans as low as $99 a month. That was really important to me. You can do that through Affirm and Afterpay. Check it out. I would be honored to have you in. One last thing. If you sign up by Monday, May 20th at 12 a.m. Pacific, you can get $200 off with the code earlybird. That's one word, earlybird. And a free half an hour one-on-one coaching session with me for being an earlybird participant in this course. I would be honored to have you. So check out my website. Go to laurenlagrasso.com. Click on course and type in the word earlybird. early bird at checkout to get $200 off and a free one-on-one coaching session with me. Can't wait to be in community with you even more and to help you bring your authentic voice into the world.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I'll answer your question that I didn't answer before on how I created as well. Cause again, I'm not the creator of breath work, but what I wanted to do when I did create bionic is I thought it was really important to attract a crowd that wouldn't necessarily come into the room. Because the woo-woo people, the people that are already on their spiritual journey, they're already going to be in the room. But it was very important to me to attract people that wouldn't necessarily come in. And the way to do that is to make it bite-size and make it fun. Holotropic breathwork is really six hours. Three hours of breathing and three hours of sitting. And your everyday CEO that's stressed out or mom or, you know, we're not going to do it. especially when we don't know what it is. So it was really important for me to develop and curate a breath work. We were able to accomplish what we need to accomplish an hour and 15 minutes, including the intro so that I could get people in the room. And then most of the people that come in the room don't know what to expect. And then they get this result that in one session, you can really be transformed and get a lot of healing in one session. And then they're going to continue to come back. But if you never get them in the room, you're not doing your job. And people... then may want to go deeper, do other types of breath work, but they have to get in the room before they start knowing what it really is. It's really hard to describe, even though you've described what your experience was to your listeners. Until you do it, you really don't know. So that was my goal with Bionic was to create that. And then how I built in is I take a lot of psychotherapy tools that I have in my toolbox from my experience with therapy. And there's commonalities in the human condition. So some of the things we do, like writing the letter to somebody that you may not have forgiven, it is as a prompt to get you already thinking. And what we're doing is we're trying to weed out any low lying vibrations. And what most people don't know are the lowest vibrations that are stuck in the body. Lowest is shame. And shame is not even something that we control or do to ourselves. Shame is something that somebody else has made us feel. And that is the lowest vibration that gets stuck in our body. Next is guilt. Guilt is something that we did, but we can correct. Shame is you are bad. Guilt is you did something bad. And then grief and fear and these vibrations, these things are stuck in the body. The hardest one is grief too. That's why I bring up stuff and grief in the session, because once we know that we don't have to carry that around with us, we feel lighter and then it gets us out of functional freeze. And I feel like. when you have a license to allow yourself to release this regardless of what your circumstances were you know we're all adults now and it is our job to release this we may not get the answers we may not get The apologies, we may not get what we need to get. And once I realized that there's these commonalities, that's where I developed how the sessions are going to be led. But I use neuro-linguistic programming as well. But what's important is if I'm saying something that doesn't apply to you, your neurons aren't going to pick it up. So it doesn't matter. I don't really know when people come in and I have people in session, what their story is. So what I'm saying, if it applies to them and they need to work on it. then their neurons are going to pick it up. If it doesn't apply to them, it gets thrown away. And when we're able to access these memories, you can rewire and readapt. That's where the neuroplasticity comes in. So when I curated this method, I'm again, just using all of these tools that are common for the human condition. And I'm making it short enough that people are going to want to come and powerful enough, impactful enough that they're going to want to come back or tell their friends.
Speaker #1
Yeah, honestly. I would love to do it all the time.
Speaker #0
Yes, please. And people ask, how often should I do it?
Speaker #1
Yeah, how often?
Speaker #0
Yeah, it depends. If you're in active recovery from an addiction, then it's something that I feel like you can do daily. If you're just kind of working on things, it's a lot. I think breathwork is a daily practice. The style of breathwork is a lot on your body to do it daily. So it really just depends on what your goals are. Again, active addiction, I'd say, and I work with people that are coming right out of addiction. That's something we do daily and it's really powerful. And then everyday people, it just depends. Like life kind of, you might be getting through something and then something else comes up. So if you're really feeling highly in your sympathetic nervous system, waking up, stress, anxiety, stress hormones spiked, then that's a good idea to come back and do a session. So I'd say at most, probably most people would be good with once a week or once every two weeks, or maybe even once a month. If you're working on creativity, then anytime that you really want to get into your creative mind, breathwork is a great way to get there as well, because you're opening up this, you're going to see colors that you haven't seen, shapes, you're going to get ideas. So again, that's another benefit of breathwork. It's not all about releasing trauma and healing. It's also tapping in to a deep creative side, a deep side of spirituality and a deep connection to it. everything that you are. A lot of people also remember things like when I was a child, I liked doing this. I liked writing songs, but then they were conditioned to not write because they wanted to be a doctor or something. And then if they have that memory and they go back to it, it brings them real joy because that's more authentic than what they ever, they ended up into. So I don't know if I answered the question.
Speaker #1
I think you answered many questions that including the one I asked, but additional ones as well. You mentioned functional. freeze.
Speaker #0
Yes.
Speaker #1
What is that? And how can one know if they're in that? And how does breathwork help you come out of it?
Speaker #0
Easiest way to know if you're in functional freeze is if you know where you want to be, where you want to go, what you want to do, and you're not getting there, you're in functional freeze. That's as easy as that. There's a lot of reasons why we get in functional freeze. And a lot of it can be conditioning as well. We talk about trauma. There's big T trauma and there's little trauma, but trauma really isn't. the event, but it's how our body reacted to the event. So there could be things, maybe limiting beliefs. Perhaps I had limiting beliefs that I'm not good enough to be that. I'm not good enough to be up there being a breathwork facilitator, trying to heal other people when I'm not healed myself. So limiting beliefs can keep us in functional freeze, other types of condition. Perhaps somebody had a childhood where they didn't feel safe and they were always in a hypervigilance. you know, to keep themselves safe or shape-shifting or playing small. It could be scary for those types of people to all of a sudden put themselves out to do what they need to do. There's a lot of things, perfectionism, perfectionism could be a trauma response, you know, that you got rewarded or love when you did something perfectly. And if you feel like if you can't be perfect in what you're trying to do, you're going to stay in functional freeze because you're never going to be perfect. So there's a lot of ways we get in our own head on not becoming the people that we know we can become and then getting in a way of our own purpose. Other things with functional freezes, sometimes what you think you're supposed to be doing for your life's purpose isn't in alignment with your authenticity. So that will keep you in functional freeze because that's not what you're meant to be doing. That's what your mom wanted you to do or your dad wanted to do. So if you're not getting there, that is something that breathwork can help you redirect. And maybe in that sense, functional freeze is good because it's stopping you from going in a path that's not authentic to yourself. So the human body is just so amazing. it can also really hold us back from what we know. And I don't want people to get to their rocking chair moment and then have the regrets. You know, I don't want them to get all the way through their life and said, I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that. So Breathwork gives us the opportunity now to really know what we want to be doing authentically, you know, living for ourselves. And I also think that I get the feedback that a lot of people that... thought the big job or the big cars or the house was really what was important to them. But when they have those gratitude moments and I ask them to look at who's around, you know, and what made them the happiest, it's usually there's some place with their family or in nature. It's very rarely that they've got the Lambo and that's what really making them happy. It's inner work and we got to get rid of all the noise.
Speaker #1
Yeah. And you were so generous to share some of your personal experiences that led you to breathwork. You shared with me about a boating accident that you had with your sons where you almost lost your lives. And you wrote me this. This experience haunted me and created an unhealthy physiological response that I was finally able to clear through breathwork. Would you share a little bit about that? And I think something I think about a lot is like, can we ever actually heal? Like, is healing possible? Like, will I ever be like, I'm healed? It feels like it's ongoing, but I'm curious because you said you were able to clear it. So what does that mean?
Speaker #0
Thank you for bringing that up because that is really important. And it's an example that is really tangible. So if you think of something, whether it's big or small, and your body reacts to that, that is how you know it is living in your body and it's not cleared. So before I dealt with this accident. which was really traumatic. Anytime I thought about it or saw a big wave on TV or anything else, my nervous system would react as though I was back in that situation. So my endorphins, my adrenaline, my cortisol, everything would spike and I would get in survival mode again. Like I'm right there. But I knew that I'm not in danger. I'm in a movie theater. I'm safe. My body didn't know I was safe. And this was one example of one thing, but You can also use this example with anything else. You know, if you think about that person that wronged you and your body is having the, you get mad and your fists go up, that means it's not cleared. So I knew that this was something that was not cleared for me and creating undue stress on my body in moments where I really knew I was safe, but my body didn't know I was safe. So what happened, we were in Fiji and we were out at a surf break that was way out. And we had been going, we were in a village. We were helping the villagers with church and school this day. And my son was quite young at this time, but a big surfer. And he wanted to surf. It was our last day there. And he was just being kind of a bratty kid, you know, at that age and say, mom, we came, we had to help all these kids. And I didn't even get to serve. And I knew better than to go out that day because it was really choppy. But I gave in my mom guilt, you know, I was like, okay. So we went out there and the worst thing imaginable. happened. And we, we, a rogue wave came and knocked the entire boat over. The surfer boy was out surfing. So he wasn't on the boat, but my, my younger son was on it and it was really dramatic. We went all the way over. And then at the time you were underwater, the wreckage starts hitting you, you know, so you're getting hit. I didn't know which way was up or down. At some point I looked and I thought it was air, but it was water. So I took in more water. And I saw my life flash before my eyes. And I just thought, this is it. This is it. And I could just think about my sons at that moment. Finally, I was able to surface. And it's interesting. When I used to tell the story before I cleared it, I couldn't even get through the story. But now I can tell it because I know we survived. So that's a good thing. But when I did come up, we couldn't find my younger son for an extended period of time. And I thought we had lost him. And anybody's worst nightmare as a mother is losing a child. And it turns out he had found an air pocket. I just continued to relive that story in my head. It was taking up space in my head and my body, even though we were all safe for many, many years after. And so I intentionally wanted to clear that through breathwork. And that's where the neuroplasticity came in. It's like I can access that memory and rearrange the way that I was thinking about it. Now my body knows I survived and I'm safe and I'm not in danger. So I can even tell the story now, even though I see you getting emotional with the thought of the story, I can tell it knowing we're okay. And then my body knows I'm okay. And so I think that's the important thing. It doesn't have to be so dramatic. But anytime you think of something and your body has a physiological response. it's still there. Even if you, you know, somebody told you in the seventh grade that, you know, you're ugly or something like that. If you think of that moment and your body's reacting to that, that's a limiting belief that's sticking with you. And so that's a really good way of knowing, is this living with me? Is this taking up space? Is me holding on to, you know, this anger for something that somebody did to me? Is it impacting me? It's not impacting them. We already know that, but is it impacting me? And what can I do about it?
Speaker #1
Oh my gosh. The phrase you said, I know we survived, really stuck out to me. Because, wow, I never thought about the fact that whether you have a capital T trauma or lower T trauma, that sometimes your body and mind still feels like you're back there.
Speaker #0
Yeah.
Speaker #1
I think about that with some things I experienced in my 20s, you know. I took some big leaps in my 20s. And because they didn't go the way I thought they should. I think I've been reticent to like take similar leaps now because I felt that was so catastrophic. And my therapist has said to me, Lauren, you're a different person than you were back then. Like that's not the same situation you're in. But I feel like I'm like stunted back at like 23 feeling those failures. And so when you said, I know we survived, obviously it's a very different level than surviving a near-death experience. But I think my body almost like. categorize that as a part of my life is at risk right now.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I think your body doesn't know the circumstances. Your body's sympathetic nervous system is only going to react to what's been stored there. So again, there's not a differentiation between a big T trauma or a little T trauma or somebody saying something to you that impacted you in a certain way. But what really breathwork taught me is that I can take control of that now. And I don't have to let that rule my life. And I don't have to, even though that was really big, the little things I don't have to let ruin my life. And I have had little things that, you know, as we all do, like I said, when you're in the ring for this long, you're going to have to get beaten up a little bit. And I was waiting for apologies. I was waiting for other people to come and make it better. But you can't wait around. You've got to do it for yourself, you know? And I think that was one of the biggest benefits of breathwork is knowing that you are in control of your body. You're in control of your life and you're in control of how you walk through life. And nobody can take that away from you. So powerful.
Speaker #1
Hey, creative, if you love the show and it has meant a lot to you, could you do me a favor? Rate and review on Apple. Give it a review on Spotify. Share it with a friend. These things all make a major difference in a podcaster's life and in growing their show. I really want to build up this community of creatives who love, trust, and know themselves and love, trust, and deeply know others. So if you could do that and share the show with someone you care about, that would mean so much. All right. I love you. And when you are working on clearing a specific trauma that you've kind of gotten to the center of and you know this is something that's holding you back, it's still very alive in my body. Do you go into the breathwork session thinking, I want to work through this, or is it still best to kind of stay open?
Speaker #0
Yeah. As much as I would love to say, okay, Lauren, we're going to work on this and your body's going to work on that. It won't. So your body's going to know what to work on and eventually it will get there and may get there in a different path, but you'll eventually get there. So it's not like a talk therapy session where I'm like, Lauren, today we're going to talk about your childhood, age seven, your body's going to know what. comes up, but people often ask, like, am I going to feel re-traumatized if I'm working on this boating accident? Am I going to feel re-traumatized during it? And I don't know exactly why you don't, but I feel like there's two reasons just from my research and my science brain. One is that we are doing energetic releases. So I don't really have people come up to me after a class saying, Oh, I saw the guy in the yellow hat. that abused me when I was seven. It's not that specific. So you're not getting images of the actual event. And even with the boating accident, I didn't go back to be on the boat that day to clear it. It just cleared. And people often say, I just feel lighter. It's just not there anymore. So that's why I don't feel like we get re-traumatized during breathwork because it's not taking you back to that specific event. It's just clearing energetically. And my other reason is when we're activating different parts of our brain, like we talked about and deactivating certain. parts. Part of what happens in a psilocybin journey is that your amygdala, part of your brain that's responsible for fear. and pain and panic, that softened and kind of turned off a little bit. So I think if the same effect in breathwork is softening and kind of letting the amygdala go to sleep, then we're more open to readdressing these things so that we can deal with them in the body too. So I don't know, there's not scientific research. I'm very data-driven. And the problem with breathwork and psychedelic research right now is we're way behind. Good research takes time. Good science takes time. And because of what they did in the 70s, all of that stopped for decades. And it's only in the last five years that it's come to the forefront. So we are going to have more data on why people are able to heal through breathwork. The VA has sanctioned studies on having it treat PTSD very effectively. And not just like a numb out or a cover up. They're saying that once you do your breathwork, the PTSD doesn't come back. We are in a really exciting time that we have not been getting better as a society in mental health. As much as, you know, you'd like to say that these SSRIs were working, which is the class of drugs, antidepressants, anti-anxiety, nobody's getting better. Mostly when things don't work, you like to fail fast and pivot. But because it was so politicized, it was really hard to pivot and say, OK, maybe let's go back and see if psychedelics work or breathwork works. And then it's also really hard to. monetize.
Speaker #1
Well, because you actually are healing some of the things. So you're not keeping people on a hamster wheel just into perpetuity. And Terry, tell me, because it is Mental Health Awareness Month, how does breath work? I know you've given a lot of examples, but specifically, how does it work for people who have anxiety or depression or even PTSD or complex PTSD? What is it that, you know, from the research you've been looking at and from what you've witness that it does.
Speaker #0
So I think it's, again, treating symptoms, not only from one part of the body. So even the word mental health is, you know, even though there's not a uniformly adopted definition of mental health, it's still, it has a word mental in it. So we're treating brain disorders and things that are happening in your mind. And what you really have to do is now pay attention to the whole body because we're all connected. It's all connected. And I feel like symptomatically when you're treating a symptom. What's wrong is you're not seeing with every action, there's a reaction, right? And so I feel like with the mental health awareness, once we start treating the entire body and realizing that there is a connection there, there is a biological connection, a chemical connection, and a neurological connection. So when you're treating all three of these, like we do in breath work, then you're going to get a result. Stress anxiety that's in the body, it can create chronic pain. And that's not something I'm making up. It's true. And then it can create disease. It can create pathology. We are making ourselves sick because we are not treating the root cause of these things. So once we start using these modalities that treat the whole body, like breathwork, we're seeing the better results. And then people are able to, like you said, not be on the hamster wheel of continuing to do that, not numbing out, you know, they're able to live their life in a joyful way. And I think that's really what I'm loving about this trend towards looking at these different modalities. There's a lot of no cost modalities that are available to people that have stress and anxiety, cold therapy, walking in nature, breathing. You know, these are no cost and there's no barrier of entry. You don't have to have money. You don't have to live in a certain place, you know? So the more we can get that out there, I think that's our start to really being able to heal. And that's what I'd really like to see in mental health is a real urgency of treating everything and getting away. I've always had a healthy skepticism of big pharma and I'm not on that soapbox or anything, but I feel like it's great for some people, but not everybody needs to do that. And there's these different paths to joy, you know, and I just want to get that word out there.
Speaker #1
For sure. I think it's good to look at all of our options. I know I definitely have friends who, you know, feel that. the SSRIs they're on have been life-saving for them. And I think that's beautiful. And I've also known some people that didn't quite work for. And so the fact that there are options and there's like a bevy of options that they can try, I think is so beautiful. And for sure, no matter what your journey is, your body is part of healing, whatever things are playing out in your mental health arena. If you're not getting into your body, you're missing a big piece of the picture because it holds on to a lot for us.
Speaker #0
Yeah. It really does.
Speaker #1
Let's also talk about psychedelics because I know you're super passionate about that right now. And I'm super curious because I don't think I told you this, but the first time I wrote a song, like it was because I smoked too much pot. It was the second time I'd ever smoked pot. I smoked five hits off a water bong, hit the floor, and then I started freaking out. And I like made my good friend Michael Cleland hold my hand and walk all around Michigan State's campus with me. And then I sang every single thought I had for two hours straight. And I kept saying, this is the real me. This is the real me. Had no clue what I was talking about, but I just knew I was singing every thought I had. And then a week later, had never been able to figure out how to play guitar. And suddenly I was playing guitar. And then shortly thereafter, That was pot. So I can only imagine what a psychedelic can do.
Speaker #0
Yeah, I love that story. I do love that story. And it's really about getting out of your own way. So a lot of times with creatives. there's the blocks, right? You get creative blocks. And that's, again, your prefrontal cortex just taking over and being so fully developed. Sometimes you have to turn off your brain to open your mind. And when you open your mind, all this stuff comes flowing through. The prefrontal cortex is like a spigot. When it's turned off and then everything else kind of floods, then you get all these beautiful, creative things. So my passion for psychedelics, and I'm not somebody that really does psychedelics. The first time I ever did psilocybin was you a little over a year ago at a retreat that I was hired to do breath work. And I was a little bit in my head about it too, just because, you know, I grew up with the war on drugs and I was told drugs are bad. I'm not a drug person going into the retreat. I didn't even think I was going to do the journey, but I felt really safe with the provider and I did it. And I just had a beautiful, beautiful journey. And again, it was like that veil being kind of peeled back. And that was one where I saw all my ancestors and everything. And I just thought, wow, this is really beautiful. I know some journeys can get dark. Mine wasn't. But why I'm passionate about the work that's being done around psychedelics right now is in the healing realm. Big universities like Johns Hopkins are now dedicating time and money to the study of how this can help our mental health epidemic, our opioid epidemic, how it can help people with alcohol addiction, how it can help anorexia, how it might be tied to Alzheimer's. This field of medicine, you know, is exploding. And again, it was suppressed because of politics and the fact that this was a category one drug. And now we're kind of playing catch up. So my fascination with it is in that field, in the therapeutic field. And I do think it's going to be continuing to be more and more popular. Tim Ferriss, you know, he's part of the John Hopskin studies and he's put a lot of his own personal money into this study. MAPS has been on the board since the 80s and they continue to work to really get the stigma off of it so that we can start healing people with this type of therapy. And I think in a... therapeutic setting where you have a guided and you have a therapist there, it can be really powerful. And these are not addictive. So that's a big difference between some of the things we are doing that are addictive. So I do think that's where my passion is. I'm curious to see the data as to how this is really going to help people that are really suffering.
Speaker #1
Yeah, me too. Now, here's my question, Terry. How do you do mushrooms? Because it's still not legal in the United States. But I know a bunch of people who have done it and I would want to do it with a professional, a professional mushroom giver. No, but a professional practitioner. So like, how does one go about getting a hold of a psychedelic?
Speaker #0
Yeah. So some states now they're legal for therapeutic purposes. I think Oregon and Colorado, but most states they're decriminalized. So now if you were to go into your local dispensary and, you know, buy marijuana, Most dispensaries now have also mushroom products. It's decriminalized, but not fully legal. So people are using it recreationally now, which I'm sure they always were. I just wasn't in the room, but people are using it. But they're also, what's become really popular is the microdosing, which is what we're all hearing about. And people are just taking small bits of psilocybin to help improve their mood and help function. And some people are saying that. that's more effective than other types of things they had been doing pharmaceutically. If you wanted to take it in a therapeutic session, which is like a higher dose, then I would recommend everybody to be there with a guide, you know, because that's going to keep you safe and kind of guide your journey. The difference between breathwork and a psilocybin journey is breathwork can get you to the same place, but you can get off the ride. If you decide you're going to take two and a half grams of mushrooms, you're in it. for four hours, whether you want to be there or not. With breath work, you can decide that you want to get off the ride and you start breathing in and out through your nose and you can come out of it. Mushroom psilocybin will get you there even if you're resistant. With breath work, you need to do the work. So if somebody comes in the room and they're really resistant to it, and they're not going to breathe the way that I want them to breathe, they're not going to have the effect that I want them to have. So that's where the difference is. But I think that's why There's also contraindications. more contraindications to doing psilocybin than there are to breathwork. Breathwork, there are some contraindications, but not as many. So I say, if somebody really wants to take a journey like that, start with breathwork. And then if they want to go on and do psychedelic, just know, set in setting and know what you're getting into. If people are doing it recreational, great, whatever you want. But if you're wanting to go deep and clear trauma and rewire and readapt, then you're going to need a guide there that knows what they're doing.
Speaker #1
Yeah. Very much for me, like I'm intrigued by my dispensary having it potentially, but like I don't want to do it without somebody who can help me because I know what I experienced with breathwork. So I can only imagine what a therapeutic dose of a mushroom is going to do. So I definitely think for you listening, I feel like all my little creative cuties are sensitive like me. Definitely try the breathwork first. And then if you're going to go for the mushroom, if you want to do it for healing, do it with practitioner. So did you say you did a retreat? Would you recommend that retreat you did?
Speaker #0
Yeah, I do. I do. She does wonderful retreats. So these retreats are mainly not in the US, but mine was in Costa Rica. And it was with OM Yoga. And again, I had never done a psychedelic in my entire life before I got there. And it was just a really beautiful journey. And we actually did two. So we did psilocybin and then breathwork. So they all kind of worked together. But some people during the The psilocybin journey did have some dark stuff come up. And I'm not qualified for that. I'm qualified to be a breathwork facilitator. I was there with a facilitator, a shaman that is qualified. So I recommend if you are going to do that, don't just try to do it with your friends. It could be fun, but you never know. So be smart about it. But one of the beautiful things that people report back on in psychedelics, especially when it comes to creativity, is that you do feel a heightened sense of creativity. And some people will come off and write a whole song or unleash things that they've been holding back on. you Again, I'm not an expert on that stuff. I am passionate about the possibility of the healing benefits of it. And I've seen, you know, people come into the creative part. But again, it's everybody's going to have to make their own decision on that one. Try breathwork first.
Speaker #1
Bionic breathwork. Can't recommend it enough. So speaking of which, you have been so generous to offer to do a little breathwork session with us today to give people a little peek of what you do. And I'll let you introduce it because I know it's a specific thing, but I'm so excited.
Speaker #0
We've been talking this whole podcast about a certain style of healing breath work, which I can't really do on air right now because it's not safe. We would go into a non-ordinary state of consciousness. And if you're driving, if you're walking, if you're working out, not safe to do that. And we can't really get the benefit in a short period of time. So what I'm doing, I had mentioned that daily breath work could be really good. to get you into your parasympathetic if you're having stress or anxiety or you have a big meeting or something like that. And there's two styles of this daily breath work that I wanted to share with you and your listeners. Very simple. Anybody can do it. And again, very simple. So I'm going to start with what is known as the box breath or box breathing. And what we do in the box breath, it's going to be in and out through our nose. We're going to make it an equal box. So kind of visualize a box as I'm doing it. And we're going to inhale for five seconds and then hold for five seconds, exhale for five seconds, hold for five seconds. If you can't do five, you can do four. But I don't know if you're familiar with the James Nestor book. He's done all this research and he said the ideal breath pace is five and a half seconds. So I try to aim for that.
Speaker #1
Let's be ideal.
Speaker #0
Yeah, let's be ideal. And then we'll do the second one, which has been proven to be the most effective breath work to calm yourself down. But this one's the most simple one. So let's go ahead and inhale through our nose. Hold for 5, 4, 3,
Speaker #2
2, exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold, 2, 3, 4, 5. Inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold, 2, 3, 4, 5. Exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. five, good. And hold four, three, two, five. Beautiful. It's as simple as that.
Speaker #1
That's so cool. I have a question. I always get stressed out when I have to hold my breath. Tell me why that's good. It calmed down by the second time, but the first time I have to hold my breath whenever I do that, it stresses me out. Tell me about that.
Speaker #0
Yeah. So it is really good to improve your heart rate variability by trying to control your breath like this, but It's again, a survival response. So when you're holding your breath and not being able to breathe, that means like when the CO2 in your body builds up, your automatic response is to exhale, but you're not allowing yourself to do that. So you're going against what your body is naturally meant to do. And it takes a while to kind of override that because again, your body's always in a survival mode and trying to keep you safe. And so that doesn't feel safe. So again, just keep working on it. And then. When people get panic attacks, you always hear people say, just breathe, just breathe. The reason why they do it, and it's better to do it before you get too panicky. But the reason is like when you are taking control again of an automatic function, taking control of your breath, you are in control of your body and your body's response. So that is why that is really important is for people that are feeling stress, anxiety, or panic to take control. And when you're thinking about your breath and counting, you can't think about the million other things that are stressing you out. So that one's really effective. Again, that response is your body is taught to exhale when CO2 builds up and you're not exhaling when your body is supposed to exhale. And that's why at the beginning, you might feel a little panic. Then it's your survival instincts.
Speaker #1
All right. Good to know. I'm on track.
Speaker #0
Okay. And then the second one is the cyclic sigh. And that one has been proven to be the quickest in balancing you back to your parasympathetic nervous system. And what it is, it's going to be two. quick breaths through your nose and then a long exhale after. So it goes like this. Beautiful. So it's a really quick, simple tool.
Speaker #1
For some reason, breathing out through my mouth always makes me feel more calm because I can actually picture the breath like going through my body.
Speaker #0
We are most of the time supposed to be breathing in and out through our noses, but there are times again, when we're trying to control things that the mouth breathing is really important. And like, as you mentioned in bionic, that was kind of weird for you. It's all through your mouth. And that is designed because we're trying to Thank you. create a physiological change in the body. If we just breathe like we normally would, then we're not going to make that change. You have to do something different than you would normally do to effectuate change with everything in life. So same with breathing. That's why I'm pushing you during the class and the first two songs are really hard, but I'm like, you can do this because what's on the other side is really beautiful.
Speaker #1
Yeah. And I just want to say one thing about the class. If you can, I would say your first time doing it in a group setting. it was really, really special because some of the people, like I could just hear how brave they were being and it helped me feel more brave. Like I actually like there were people who were like sobbing and then I like started connecting to their experience too and started like sobbing with them. And then I was like, oh wait, no, I got to come back. But it was really nice to be with them for a while and like resonate. And I'll never know who that person was that I was like holding their pain with them, but it felt like an honor and really beautiful. And like, an equal release for me that I got to be with them on that journey and then come back to what I was feeling.
Speaker #0
I love that. That says so much about you just as a person that you're holding space for others as you're going on your journey. And I was glad that you and your boyfriend weren't able to be together because sometimes what happens is, especially if you have the nurturer in you, you may have heard him having a release and then you might come out of it to want to go nurture him. I tried to split up. parents, couples, anything for that reason, because we don't want to soothe. Yes. We want this to come out and heal. And it's a purge. So if you're there soothing and you're, you're feeling the pain of them going through what they're going through, it takes away from what they're doing. So when you guys came in, I was actually really glad that you had to split up and I don't know how his journey ended up being, but he was such a beautiful man. I felt there was something very special about him and the two of you together that I did not. forget him either.
Speaker #1
Oh, Terry, that makes me so happy. Yeah, he had a really beautiful experience too. And you know, obviously, he was in the relationship with me still is. And so he was, you know, feeling that kind of point we were at, we're trying to figure out how we're going to move forward. And it's interesting, because despite being apart, he had the exact same realization as me. He realized he also needed to heal around love itself, and that it wasn't about me. I don't know. I don't know if we would have. been gifted that if we had been right next to each other, because I would have maybe felt embarrassed about the way I was releasing. I could see the same thing happening with him. The caretaking would have come out in us. So you know what you're doing. I've done breathwork a few times since then. And I will always think this one was most special. And I can't wait until the next time I get to work with you again, because it truly is a life changing experience. If you listening, get the opportunity, please, please work with Terry. do a workshop and then tell them how they can work with you. And if you have any workshops coming up.
Speaker #0
Yeah. Thank you for saying that. So I think we decided that we're going to link a session, right? A Zoom session. So they're going to get a taste of what we do. Again, when you're doing it at home, recorded Zoom session, it's not the same as going in the room. So I recommend, whether it's with me or somebody else, if you can get to an in-person session, and like you were saying to the collective energy of the room. really helps too, but that's going to give them a kind of a sneak peek. And then I do retreats all over the world. I do trainings and I do in-person classes. So everything is linked. The easiest way is in at my website, bionicbreathwork.com or my Instagram has a link tree and I'm kind of all over the place. So my goal is to spread this benefits of breathwork far and wide in that sense. I'm creating all these soldiers that are out there teaching the method. And that's really where my focus is right now is on the training so that I can get more people out there and getting the word out. I've just been really lucky to have really great people come through their training and they're out there teaching. And that's what we need. We all need more, more breath work, I think.
Speaker #1
Wow. Maybe I'll do that with you someday.
Speaker #0
Yes, please. I would love to have you in a training anytime. I think you would be an amazing facilitator. You've got all the tools. You've just got the most. pure energy, I think you would be an amazing facilitator.
Speaker #1
Well, that is an honor coming from you. And I feel the same way about you. You're so encouraging and loving and yourself in all settings. And you hold so much space for people and you see them. And you're not afraid to step out yourself. And I just feel really, really honored to get to share you, your wisdom, your methodology, and just who you are with my beautiful listeners. So thank you for being here and for all that you shared today. You are a gift.
Speaker #0
You're going to make me cry now. Thank you so much. Thanks for the opportunity.
Speaker #1
My pleasure and honor and creative cutie listening resonate on this dream and this vision that Terry had so that she can spread this incredible healing to the world even more. I know you will. Terry, I feel like I want to say this with you. Every time I end an episode, I tell my listeners I love them and I believe in them. Would you say it with me?
Speaker #0
A hundred percent.
Speaker #1
Okay, here we go. To you, my sweet listener. Terri and I want you to know I love you.
Speaker #0
I love you.
Speaker #1
And I believe in you.
Speaker #0
And I believe in you.
Speaker #1
Thank you, Terri.
Speaker #0
Thank you.
Speaker #1
Thank you for listening and thanks to my guest, Terri Mosley. For more info on Terri, follow her at Bionic Breathwork and visit her website, bionicbreathwork.com to learn more about her work and how you can take her workshop or even work with her one-on-one. Thanks Rachel Fulton for helping edit and associate produce this episode. Follow her at Rachel M. Fulton. Thanks to Liz Full for the show's theme music. Follow her at Liz Full. And again, thank you. If you like what you heard today, remember to rate, review, and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share the show with a friend and post about it on social media. Tag me at Lauren LaGrasso and at Unleash Your Inner Creative, and I will repost to share my gratitude. Also tag the guests at Bionic Breathwork so they can share as well. My wish for you this week is that you explore the depths of your emotional and physical well-being, finding peace, clarity, and joy in the process. You are not alone in the simple act of breathing intentionally can be a powerful tool for transformation and growth. I love you. And I believe in you. Talk with you next week.

About Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LoGrasso (A Creativity Podcast)

New episodes are out every Thursday - follow, rate and review wherever you get your podcasts :)

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About Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LoGrasso (A Creativity Podcast)

New episodes are out every Thursday - follow, rate and review wherever you get your podcasts :)

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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Description

Also! I am putting out a new song on Friday, July 10th! Please pre-save it here: https://ffm.to/walkingonair2026

Original Description:

Have you ever considered how the simple act of breathing could unlock profound changes in your mental, emotional, and physical well-being?

From this conversation you’ll learn:

-What breathwork is

-How it can help you release trauma

-The Full Story of my (Lauren’s) WILD breathwork experience--this is a must-hear!

-What functional freeze is and how to get out of it

-The connection between breathwork and therapeutic psychedelics & how to know which one is right for you

-AND we will even walk you through a little breathwork at the end of the pod!

Try a FREE Bionic Breathwork Class with Terry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpzBk3wXYWc

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
Have you ever just needed to take a breath? Sometimes we all do. And today I'm going to share an episode with you on breath work. But before I get into that, I just want to say, hello, welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso, your host, your friend, future mother, business owner. She does it all, folks. I'm trying. But I have to say that in preparing for my baby and getting, I don't know why I said preparing like that. But in preparing for my baby, getting the business together, just figuring out all of life, it has been hard to figure out the balance of things. And I'm sure that that's going to continue as I go through my journey to motherhood and continue expanding my business and creating more things. I'm also putting out a single. I didn't even tell you that. How could I have missed that? I'm putting out a single on Friday. And Friday, July 10th. I'll put the link in bio. It's called Walking on Air. And I really just, I didn't put a lot of like thought behind it. Haven't really considered marketing it at all. I just wanted my music to be out there. This is something I talked about a while ago, but as I'm thinking about my sweet baby boy coming to this earth, I want to continue to build my creative legacy because the things that we make, yes, they're to unleash our soul and therefore the world to enjoy, of course, as well, you know, number one us, but also for the world. But if you have people that you care about, specifically family members, whether it is children of your own or nieces and nephews, or your parents, you know, siblings, when we put creativity out in the world, it's building our creative legacy. And it's really leaving a gift for people. Yes, while you're here on this earth, but even after we leave to understand who we really were as... artists and creatives and give them insight into our soul and to hear. I mean, like, how cool is it that my grandkids someday, if my child or possible future children decide to procreate, will be able to listen to this podcast, listen to this music. So anyway, rambly, long story short, not at all short. I wanted to put out this song before my son got here so that we could listen to it together and he could enjoy it. And... Yeah, and just to do one more like purely creative act before I embark on this journey. But with all that being said, you know, a lot of things have been piling up. And I'm just trying to be realistic with myself. And I really think in order to give you the best content possible in the months where it seems like people are most interested in consuming content, which would be not the month of July, I am most likely. going to do re-airs for the rest of the month. I might do a solo episode here or there, one with my husband, Tim, about parenthood and how we're going to approach it creatively. And just, you know, you haven't heard from him since last year when we wed. So it might be a good time to check in. People tend, I guess he was on the Christmas episode. Sorry, babe. I forgot. Pregnancy brain, don't blame me. But all that's to say. I need to take a little bit of a pause from churning out new content on the podcast so that I can get the stuff ready for when I'm on maternity leave so I can put out new content then. I'm working diligently on a lot of amazing episodes for you, but I don't want to keep living hand-to-mouth on the podcast as I have been recently. And so I'm just taking this little break to reconfigure, get my shows ready for August and September, and get prepared for my baby, which is... a really important creative project as you can imagine. So today's episode is a re-air. It's one on breathwork, as I mentioned. It's also very timely for me because I'm thinking a lot about this as I'm going into giving birth. But it's one I did with my friend, Terry Mosley, who is an incredible breathwork practitioner. And on this episode, I talk about how the first time I did breathwork with her, which if you don't know what that is, it's breathing in this really intentional way that can literally give you like a psychedelic experience, drug-free. It is wild. I cannot recommend it enough. But when I did this breathwork with her, I literally got a visit from my ancestors. And so I'm thinking a lot about it because a big part of birth is breathing. And I'm kind of hoping that my ancestors come back and like guide me through it. I've heard from some woo-woo people that that can happen, but that's neither here nor there. Just check out this episode. It's so cool. She goes into breathwork. She even does a demonstration for you. She talks about how you can experience her work. it for either free or low barrier to entry costs. So definitely check it out. You're going to love this one. It's one of my favorites. I share my wild story of my first breath work and why simply breathing can release trauma and increase creativity. As I mentioned, you will have content all this month. It's just going to be mostly re-airs. I might even do a new episode next week. I don't know. I might want to do something about my song and putting that out. But anyway. We will see. I'm just giving myself a little grace during this time, and I hope you can do the same for me. I appreciate you. I hope you're having a great summer. Unleash today, babes. Bye. Have you ever considered how the simple act of breathing could unlock profound changes in you, in your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being? Well, it really, really can. Let me be the first to tell you. And today's guest is here to share the transformative power of breathwork and how it can not only enhance your daily life, but also lead to deep healing and personal growth. Welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso. I'm a Webby Award-winning podcast host and producer, singer-songwriter, public speaker, and multi-passionate creative. This show sits at the intersection of creativity, mental health, self-development, and spirituality, and it is meant to give you tools to love, trust, and know yourself enough to claim your right to creativity and pursue whatever it is that's on your heart. Today's guest is Terry Mosley. She's a seasoned expert in breathwork and healing who created something called bionic breathwork, which is honestly a mind-blowing experience that uses breathing techniques backed by science. Stay tuned for the wild story of the first time I did one of her breathwork workshops. It changed my life. Breathwork exercises can be used to relieve stress, anxiety, heal trauma, chronic pain, hormone imbalances, and they promote a sense of balance and well-being. As I mentioned, I've had the privilege of working with Terri and taking one of her classes. And I can truly say it changed my life. It is such an intense emotional, physiological, and mental workout. And the healing I gain from our session is something that I literally take with me every single day. Breathwork has the ability to shift people from fight or flight into deep healing states. And it can even yield similar results to psychedelic experiences. You have visions when you're in one of these states. You have visits from past ancestors sometimes when you're in these states. It is wild. So Terri is just a light in the world and her mission to help people through her work is inspiring. I also just personally love her. Can't wait to share this interview with you. From today's chat, you'll learn what breathwork is, how it can help you release your trauma, what functional freezes and how to get out. And we will even walk you through a little breathwork session at the end of our chat. Okay, now here she is, Terri Mosley. Terri, I am so grateful to have you on Unleash Your Inner Creative. I took your Breathwork workshop about a year ago now, and we've been following each other on Instagram, and you're just such a supportive light in the world. Also, your Breathwork workshop changed my life. So can't wait to get into all of it. But thank you for being here.
Speaker #1
Thank you for having me, Lauren. I'm so excited to be here to talk to you. learn about your experience in the class, because this will be the first time that I am hearing your full experience as well. So I'm so excited to hear that and just here to spread the word about the benefits of breathwork. So thank you so much for having me.
Speaker #0
Oh my gosh, my pleasure and honor. So before we get into anything, I feel like breathwork is a very confusing concept to people who aren't in this world, because what is, is it just breathing? I mean, It's something that isn't necessarily intuitive because I had no clue what it was until I experienced it myself. So what is breathwork?
Speaker #1
A lot of people are thinking it's being sold as snake oil right now because it's something that we do as an automatic function, like from the second that we're born until our last breath. And it wasn't until recently that there's been so much focus on how taking control of your breathing can really improve your life. And breathwork has been around. for centuries, but it's only recently that people are starting to see how we can use breathwork therapeutically and to really help us go about our everyday business. And I feel like the most benefit of breathwork is really taking control of your autonomic nervous system. So in a world where we've just, we're so much in our fight or flight at all times, breathwork allows us to kind of step back, really connect with our body and balance out the autonomic nervous system and kind of guide ourselves. back into a parasympathetic mode, which is rest or digest. And we just don't have the time in our everyday life to do that anymore. So what we do with breath work, and there's so many different styles and types, some are designed to upregulate your nervous system and some are designed to downregulate it. So again, it depends on what effect you want. So if you're trying to calm your nervous system, if you have a big meeting or maybe a big event, then we're going to focus on breath work that's down-regulating to get you into your parasympathetic, to get you out of fight or flight. And if you're wanting to do some deep healing work and release things that may have been held in the body, so somatic work, then we are going to intentionally go into your sympathetic nervous system. two very different results, both using your breath in different ways. But the commonality is that we are consciously taking control of an automatic function. And when we do that, we can create neuroplasticity.
Speaker #0
Wow. After I experienced her workshop, I went to my therapist and I was like, Hey, this is what just came up. And she let me know, she's a talk therapist, so licensed psychotherapist, but she also does energy healing. And she's trained in this thing called core energetics and radical aliveness, which is like a somatic-based healing. It's like very complementary to breathwork. And she was telling me that it started back in the day when they outlawed psychedelics and that people were like, we have to help people still get to this place where they can have this profound healing. What can we do? And then that's where breathwork popped up. Is that true? Or did my therapist lie to me?
Speaker #1
Yes, it's absolutely true. So no, it's true. And I love your talk therapist because she gets it and she's incorporating not just the mind, but the body too. So this style of breath work that I teach is most similar to a style called holotropic breath work. And that was indeed developed by Stanislav Grof. He was a psychiatrist back in the late sixties, and he was very effectively treating conditions, mental health conditions, mostly PTSD, with psychedelics. LSD in particular. And then in 1971, the US and the world started to bastardize psychedelics. It became a schedule one drug, and he was unable to legally treat people, even though the results of what he was doing with psychedelics were outstanding. So he created this style of breathwork that actually simulates what would happen in your body, in your brain, when you're doing a psychedelic drug. And the benefit of it is that you are in control of your own journey. Whereas if you're going to do a psychedelic, then you take the pill and you're on that ride, whether you want to get off or not. With breathwork, you can get off the ride at any time. But he's a hero in my book because he developed this type of breathing and it really does work. And it works, you know, sometimes better for people than an actual plant medicine. And we have such sophisticated scientific measuring now. that we can see what it is doing to our body and our brain. So we have neuroimaging, we have biofeedback. So we can see what effect just this breathwork is having on our physiology. So it's not a mistake that these two modalities, breathwork and psychedelics, are often grouped together.
Speaker #0
And what effect is it having on our physiology? What have the scans found?
Speaker #1
Okay, so I'm going to be talking about the style of breathwork. I teach, which again is most similar to the holotropic, what we use this for is kind of a deep healing. And what the scans find is like, if you have human physiology and you breathe in the way that I'm going to cue you to breathe, then what eventually happens is the blood alkaline changes. So our blood becomes highly alkaline, highly oxygenated, and then we're offloading CO2. So it's going to create that physiological change in our body. And what happens, It's different for everybody, but... In about 10 minutes of doing this type of breath work, your prefrontal cortex, which is our default mode network, which really is our strongest part of our brain that we use every day. It's our default mode. We wake up and that's what's triggered. That slows down and takes an app. And then it allows us to get into these non-ordinary states of consciousness, the parts of our brain that we don't access, especially as our prefrontal cortex gets more and more developed the older we get. So it allows it to really just calm down and not get in our way. and allows these non-ordinary states to kind of take over. And I think that at the beginning, and when you're doing this type of breath work, our memories are stored there. So you release some trauma that may have been held in your body. And as you continue to do this work, then we can get into some really mystical and magical things when we allow ourselves to go there.
Speaker #0
Okay. Well, I'd like to go into some of the mystical and magical things that happened to me when I experienced your breath work class, because I really tried to go in having no expectations because I've gone into things like this before and I was like, oh my God, this is going to change my life. And then I was disappointed. It wasn't a breathwork thing, but like, I just wanted to go in just having no expectations and being open. So I went in and my boyfriend and I, we both went to the class. We were originally going to try to sit right next to each other, but we ended up having to get separated, which I think was the best thing for us. Cause then we didn't influence each other's experience, but you had to start out by writing to someone who we felt wronged us, which I thought was so interesting. And then we start the breath. And I was surprised that it was in through the mouth and out through the mouth. The first song, because you do it to music and you prompt us the whole time, which is so cool. The first song, I was like literally just trying to stay alive because something was happening in my body that I was like, what the hell? I felt like there was lightning going through my hands. And I was like, I don't know if I'm going to make it. So I was just like moving my legs and trying to stay alive. But after the first song and a half, it passed. And then you led us into like this first visualization, which was. a time of the greatest joy in our lives. And I recalled this moment where I did a show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Detroit. And I remember just standing on the stage and just feeling so much presence and love and like a hundred people that I knew from my hometown were there. And I was singing and I just felt like, God, this is just as good as it gets. Like, this is so good. We were donating money from the show to a Detroit-based charity. And the message I got was, sing. It doesn't matter how it's received. It doesn't matter how many people hear it. The only thing that matters is that you're making music and you're expressing yourself. Stop thinking so much about the outcome. Stop thinking about past perceived failures. Just make music. Go for what's on your heart. You need to put out your music and sing more. And then you told us to ask the universe for what we want. And I envision myself putting out the music, doing public speaking. Growing my podcast, continuing to mentor people, having a family, getting married. And then this is the moment that I was like, whoa. This next moment you said, if you have grief, and I had to take notes on this because this is so many different things that happened. It was just like one revelation after the next. Then there was a moment where you said, if you have grief, if there's anyone or anything you have grief over, let that thing or person step forward to the forefront. And then I saw my maternal grandmother, my mom's mom, step forward. And then I saw her mom step forward, my grandmother's mother. And this is an interesting thing because my grandmother was abused by her mother very badly. Like she was chased around with a butcher knife when she was a little girl. And even the night before her wedding, her mom threatened to come over to her house and chop up her wedding dress. So they had a very my grandma always loved her mom. But they had a very difficult relationship. like one of the things that I remember my grandma talking about before she got sick, she would cry and say, my mother never loved me. And so I saw them standing next to each other holding hands. And my grandma said, like, we're working on a relationship now. We're healing here. Everything is good between us. Like we're working on healing. And thank you for like the work that you've done, that you took the sacrifices and you're actually trying to close the loop. And they gave me a message from my mom that basically I think because my grandma couldn't feel anger toward her mother because she was her mother. My mom kind of like took on the anger herself and has a lot of anger toward her grandmother who we called Nona. And my grandmother, my mom's mom, gave me a message that encourage your mom to try to forgive because it's standing between her and healing. And then. Yeah, they just said, we love you so much. We're so proud of you. And we want you to know we're together. And like, we're working on healing the relationship up here and forming love up here. And thank you for like what you're doing down there right now. And then they step back. And then all of a sudden, they all come out of the woodwork. Like, my dad's dad comes out, steps forward. And he's like, speaking to me in Italian. And I don't understand. I'm like, oh my gosh, grandpa, I don't know how to speak Italian. He's like, don't worry, you will someday. And then he steps forward and holds my grandma's hand. And then my dad's mom steps forward and she died when I was five. And I was like, oh, Grandma LaGrasso, I'm so sorry that I didn't get to know you better. She's like, it's OK. I love the time we spent together and I'm so proud of you. And then she steps in the line. Then my grandpa, my mom's dad's mother steps forward. She died when my mom was like two months old. And she comes forward, Grandma Josephine, and says, I love you so much. I'm so grateful for the joy that you have. Like you have my joy. Like thank you for spreading my joy and my happiness. Then my grandpa's dad steps forward. So my great grandfather, I mean, he kind of just smiled at me and then stepped in line. And as this is happening, they're all going back to the line and holding hands and like sending me all this love. It's confusing. I know it's getting confusing, but like then my grandpa's dad who died at sea and his brother who died at sea stepped forward. And like, it was. kind of unbelievable. I'm like, oh, I don't even know some of you. Like, this is wild. And all just like emanating this love onto me. And then... My grandpa, my mom's dad, who I was so close to was my everything. Grandpa Roboto steps forward. He's like, I wouldn't miss this for the world. But he was always late to everything. And I kind of got the feeling that he was like up there holding court. And then he just like he had to get down. And my uncle Tony, who was my godfather, just passed away. Like they said, he's still up there resting, but he really wanted to be here. But he needed a little bit more time to rest because he just passed away. And it was just this feeling of immense love. And they said to me, like, you are never alone. Whenever you think you're alone, you're never alone. We are always around you and we're so proud of you. And we're so proud of the way you're carrying on the family line. So that happened. And then you ended it by saying, you know, if you have any remaining questions, bring them to the forefront. And at the time, my boyfriend and I. We're kind of going through an inflection point in our relationship and we were coming up against some conflict and trying to figure out really if we wanted the same things in life. And so I just put that out there to whatever or whoever I was asking this question to. I don't know. You're going to probably let me know what was going on. But I put that out there like, is there anything I need to know about my relationship? If so, please bring it up. I'm open to hearing anything. And I was shown. That it wasn't my relationship with my boyfriend that I needed to heal, but it was actually my relationship to love itself that was hurting. So I saw how love was to me in that time frame and my connection to it. And it was the image I was given was this plastic, jagged, broken little heart. And it was this weird, jagged connection to it. And then I saw my boyfriend and he was shown in this beautiful honey gold light. And we had like a. pure connection of light. So what I heard was the conflict you're having isn't about your connection to him. It's about connection to love itself. And that's what you need to heal. And then I woke up. So what happened?
Speaker #1
Wow. Wow. And that was my first time.
Speaker #0
That was my first time ever doing breathwork. So just if you ever, you listening ever get a chance to work with Terry, please, please, please do it. It will change your life. That was like 30 minutes. It wasn't even 30 minutes, I don't think, that all that happened.
Speaker #1
That's a lot that happened. And the beautiful thing about breathwork is everybody's journey is so unique to them and everybody's journey is different every time because your body shows you what you need at that moment. So that is exactly what you needed at that moment. And it's not me as a facilitator that's doing anything. I'm guiding you by these prompts that you mentioned, but again, you would get there on your own. Because the body is just that smart and you get out of your way. So that first 10 minutes that you're talking about, I'm going to die. That's your prefrontal cortex, just not wanting to shut down. It's really normal. And then once you sink past that, doesn't it feel just really beautiful? We go into this different brainwave state. So we're going into a Thetis brainwave state, which is kind of like a dream state. Sometimes people go into a non-sleep deep rest where they won't hear any music or anything I say, and they go on their own journey. And some people, when we get to the mysticism or the magic like you had, you're going even deeper into those brainwave states where when your prefrontal cortex is turned on, especially at our age, you don't allow yourself to get there. You know, you get in your head like, I can't be seeing my ancestors right now. I don't even know who some of them are. But you were so open to that and you were open to the messages. So the way I describe it is it's really just the veil being pulled back a little bit. So there's this veil between our world. and the other world. And if you allow yourself to go there and ask for the messages, I think the biggest message that you got was we're never alone. And we do have people surrounding us all the time that are there to help us. And at the end of your session, when you really asked, like our guides are there to help us, but they're not allowed to interfere unless we ask. And you asked and they gave you this sign that you were able to interpret, you know, and I'm hoping that once you interpreted that. Then it's integration. So once you have your journey after the fact, after you come back into your prefrontal cortex and say, what the heck just happened to me? Then it's your job to start taking that information and integrating it. So that was a beautiful journey you had. Thank you for sharing all that with me. And it's fascinating to me that the thousands of people that I've led in breathwork classes, every time somebody shares their journey with me, everybody's just so different. It is not. abnormal for people to come through that have passed. Again, that's not something that I'm doing as a facilitator. That's something that you guys are doing. And then it's not unusual for people to get these messages. And I think as dramatic as it may seem, and you may see on the internet with people doing breath work, it's like an exorcism and crying and screaming and kicking and shaking. As dramatic as it is, at the end of the session, everybody... comes out feeling really euphoric, joyful, and connected, and that everything's just going to be okay. It's okay. I'm going to be okay. And that's the beauty of it.
Speaker #0
Yeah. And can I say something else that's really weird? I was so hungry. And I've done breathwork a couple of times since then, in various different capacities. And every time I'm starving, often I'm thinking about a burger. Is that normal?
Speaker #1
Well, I do tell you not to eat. before the session, you know, because I want you to be breathing on an empty stomach because digestive function takes breath. So if your breath is being used for digestion, I'm not getting the most benefit of it. So when somebody is told that they can't eat, even if it's just for a couple hours, then you get in your head that you're starving. And then I think also it's work, it's called breath work. You're working during that first 30 minutes when we're in that active cycle, but I bet we're burning a lot of calories doing that because you're... physically working. And, you know, at the end of the session, a lot of people get that sweat purge. So you get really cold during the beginning, that cryo effect. And at the end, you're just pouring sweat out. So you're doing a lot in your body physically. So you get the reward of the burger after I say, go for it.
Speaker #0
I did. It was great. It was one of the best burgers I ever had. Can we break down what was happening in each of those moments? Like, I want to go into what is bionic breath work, how you developed it and like, how is it playing out? Like, how did you come to those. prompts? How did you come to the length of time? Why the music?
Speaker #1
Yeah, I'd love to talk about that. So the way that I found breathwork is, you know, not a unique story throughout my life. You know, I got to the point in my life where I felt like I should be feeling happy and joyful. I had it all. I had the big job with the big salary. I had the family, I had everything. And I still was feeling a little bit lost. And I was feeling guilty about not waking up and feeling joyful and every day because On the surface, I felt like I had everything. So when people get to this point in life, and by this point, I had been living many decades. So when you're in the ring for that long, you're going to get beaten up a couple of times. So there were some things in my life where I had been beaten up. And what I didn't know was those things were stuck in my body. So as much work as I was trying to do from here, from the prefrontal cortex, I just wasn't getting the results that I needed. And I am a big proponent of talk. therapy, of cognitive behavioral therapy, of life coaching, of mindset coaching, all of that stuff. But the problem is that we need to also address what's in the body. And so I was going on the path of self-development. And I realized that even if I had Tony Robbins waking up with me in my bed every morning and whispering exactly what I was supposed to do with that raspy voice of his, I wasn't going to have the success until I dealt with conditioning in my body. Then I started going down a biohacking path and I found that biohacking where I was really dealing with human biology, that is connected to what's happening in my mind. And I started biohacking path and that led me to breathwork, but I had no expectations and I did not know that I was going to dedicate my life to respiratory biology or any of this. I really didn't. But I went to my first class, much like you, didn't know what to expect. I actually set my mat up near the door because I thought I was going to leave early. And I was like, I really didn't know what to expect. But much like you, once I got into it and started breathing, I had an experience like I could never have imagined. I really did. And at the end of my experience, I had this download that this is what I need to be doing. This is what I need to be sharing because how could I get to this point in my life where I've done everything and not have. this tool in my toolbox.
Speaker #0
But would you share any of what you recall from that first experience besides the download?
Speaker #1
Yeah, sure. So when I first started breathing, first of all, it was in a big ballroom with this Eastern European guy. He was relatively new on the scene. It popped up on my Instagram. I'm like, okay, I'll try it. Right. And so in this big room, you know, you have all this energy. So we started breathing and then people were starting to have their releases pretty quickly. and crying and screaming. And I just felt like laughing. I was like, I don't know if I should be laughing. People are seriously in pain here. But I was trying to stifle my laugh at first. And then I just got to the point where I couldn't. And then I began to laugh louder.
Speaker #0
And not worry. Once your prefrontal cortex shuts down, you're not worried about what anybody else is doing. So I started laughing. I got myself into the most euphoric, ecstatic state of laughter at the beginning of the session. And then it turned to tears. So I was on this roller coaster. I was like, what is going on? Once I surrendered myself to that, it was very similar to your experience. I had some people come through that I then got the assurance that everything's okay. I am not behind in life. I was comparing myself to somebody who's like, I'm exactly, and I'll get emotional talking about, but I'm exactly where I needed to be at the moment I needed to be at. And I'm not alone and everything is just going to be okay. And when I was able to take that pressure off of myself and give myself that love, I felt like I've always had that personality though, that I'm having to be doing, and never good enough. Now I have the tools to kind of know where that came from. At the time I didn't and then had to go a little bit deeper there. But then I felt this sense of safety. Then I started my crying obnoxiously and then I started back into laughter because I said, universe, this is so simple. Why have I made it so hard? It's this simple. And all through life, I've just been struggling and fighting and not feeling good enough and not feeling loved enough. And, you know, it's all very simple. So that, and then at the end of the session, this is the craziest thing. And it happens is I got this download of me teaching breath work at Dodger Stadium, packed stadium. And I had never done breath work before, much less thought that I was going to become a facilitator. But it was so, Lauren, it was so clear to me. It was so clear to me that I said, okay, this is what I'm doing. Went home that day. Well, called my friends. They thought I was going to do it. was on drugs because I'm like, have you seen the moon? Like everything looked brighter to me. I went in to buy a lottery ticket at the gas station. I was making friends with the guy, like everything was just so beautiful. That night I signed up to get trained. And then the day after my training, I started teaching and it's just flow state. So during breathwork, you'll get these downloads. And if you listen to them and don't get in your own way, then the universe conspires with you. And that's really what happened.
Speaker #1
It's so true, Terry, because I also have been working with this coach named Victoria Song, and I did a workshop with her at the beginning of the year, and she led us through a breath work. That's why my hair is this color right now.
Speaker #0
That was your download to change your hair color? No,
Speaker #1
but I saw myself speaking on stage in front of like hundreds of people, and I had this color hair. And I was like, okay, well, if that's the first step, I'll go for it.
Speaker #0
No, I love that. And it is something. thing that I incorporate. It wasn't in your session, but I do incorporate in some, it's quantum jumping. And we go through that exercise when you're in that non-ordinary state, we know this future version of Lauren already exists. And we go on a journey there. And then part of it is seeing what are you wearing? What do you look like? How does this future version of Lauren walk, stand? And if you can become a vibrational match to that future version of you that already exists. You don't need to know how to get there. It's going to attract it. So I love that you're already doing that. And that was part of it. You're starting to become that future version of Lauren where you saw yourself.
Speaker #1
Totally.
Speaker #0
And she exists. I love that.
Speaker #1
My friend is a professional public speaker and she asked me to open up for her in a couple of weeks. So like, I feel like it's happening.
Speaker #0
And the Webby nomination.
Speaker #1
Yes, it was huge.
Speaker #0
Congratulations.
Speaker #1
Thank you so much.
Speaker #0
Massive. And you're one of those people where I just. look and just say, okay, Lauren's got it all. You have so much talent and you've just like, the second I met you just have this warmth and like, I don't feel like competitive. I don't know how to say it right. But you just, you just have this really authentic self and that's where people really want you to succeed. And even though you're so successful right now, I just see so much more like the sky is the limit and it's all coming together. And I think if you just don't Get in your own way. then everything that you're thinking of or dreaming of is all going to be attracted to you.
Speaker #1
Terri, that means so much to me because I really related to what you were talking about of feeling like I'm never doing enough. I've done all these things, but it's not enough. I'm not good enough. And the past two years of honestly, the podcast has been my biggest healing tool of anything because I've had to come on the mic and be as honest as I could be about my life week after week for the past five years. And what I really found out about myself like three years ago is that I was so attached to outcome that I was miserable. And so that's my biggest thing. And it sounds like through breathwork, you have found a way to let go of that attachment to outcome and get more into an attachment to authenticity, your connection with God or whatever your higher power is, flow. How does that happen through breathwork? Hi, creative. Are you yearning to share your story, expertise, and heart with the world? Well, I have some exciting news for you, and I want you to be amongst the first to hear this because I consider you a bestie. I am launching a podcasting course. It's called Podcasting for Self-Expression. It is a course and mastermind with live coaching to help you find your authentic voice and launch your dream podcast. During the course, I'll take you through everything you need to know to create a compelling show. from how to use your life story to find the topic you're meant to speak on, to how to find your podcast thesis statement, to the important technical aspects, to innovative ways to market your show, and more. I'm so excited to offer this because it really is different than anything else that's available on the market because it looks at podcasting not only from a tactical standpoint, but also through the lens of self-development because that's what makes a compelling show. Somebody who really knows who they are, who they want to connect with, and what their authentic voice sounds like. And in the course, I'm going to be using the same techniques I've employed to coach and produce dozens of hit podcasts like We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, Unlocking Us with Brene Brown, Lauren Conrad Asking for a Friend, and this sweet show you're listening to right now, Unleash Your Inner Creative. If you're interested, you can find all the information on the show notes and at my website, laurenlagrasso.com. Just click the word course. I also want to let you know there are payment plans as low as $99 a month. That was really important to me. You can do that through Affirm and Afterpay. Check it out. I would be honored to have you in. One last thing. If you sign up by Monday, May 20th at 12 a.m. Pacific, you can get $200 off with the code earlybird. That's one word, earlybird. And a free half an hour one-on-one coaching session with me for being an earlybird participant in this course. I would be honored to have you. So check out my website. Go to laurenlagrasso.com. Click on course and type in the word earlybird. early bird at checkout to get $200 off and a free one-on-one coaching session with me. Can't wait to be in community with you even more and to help you bring your authentic voice into the world.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I'll answer your question that I didn't answer before on how I created as well. Cause again, I'm not the creator of breath work, but what I wanted to do when I did create bionic is I thought it was really important to attract a crowd that wouldn't necessarily come into the room. Because the woo-woo people, the people that are already on their spiritual journey, they're already going to be in the room. But it was very important to me to attract people that wouldn't necessarily come in. And the way to do that is to make it bite-size and make it fun. Holotropic breathwork is really six hours. Three hours of breathing and three hours of sitting. And your everyday CEO that's stressed out or mom or, you know, we're not going to do it. especially when we don't know what it is. So it was really important for me to develop and curate a breath work. We were able to accomplish what we need to accomplish an hour and 15 minutes, including the intro so that I could get people in the room. And then most of the people that come in the room don't know what to expect. And then they get this result that in one session, you can really be transformed and get a lot of healing in one session. And then they're going to continue to come back. But if you never get them in the room, you're not doing your job. And people... then may want to go deeper, do other types of breath work, but they have to get in the room before they start knowing what it really is. It's really hard to describe, even though you've described what your experience was to your listeners. Until you do it, you really don't know. So that was my goal with Bionic was to create that. And then how I built in is I take a lot of psychotherapy tools that I have in my toolbox from my experience with therapy. And there's commonalities in the human condition. So some of the things we do, like writing the letter to somebody that you may not have forgiven, it is as a prompt to get you already thinking. And what we're doing is we're trying to weed out any low lying vibrations. And what most people don't know are the lowest vibrations that are stuck in the body. Lowest is shame. And shame is not even something that we control or do to ourselves. Shame is something that somebody else has made us feel. And that is the lowest vibration that gets stuck in our body. Next is guilt. Guilt is something that we did, but we can correct. Shame is you are bad. Guilt is you did something bad. And then grief and fear and these vibrations, these things are stuck in the body. The hardest one is grief too. That's why I bring up stuff and grief in the session, because once we know that we don't have to carry that around with us, we feel lighter and then it gets us out of functional freeze. And I feel like. when you have a license to allow yourself to release this regardless of what your circumstances were you know we're all adults now and it is our job to release this we may not get the answers we may not get The apologies, we may not get what we need to get. And once I realized that there's these commonalities, that's where I developed how the sessions are going to be led. But I use neuro-linguistic programming as well. But what's important is if I'm saying something that doesn't apply to you, your neurons aren't going to pick it up. So it doesn't matter. I don't really know when people come in and I have people in session, what their story is. So what I'm saying, if it applies to them and they need to work on it. then their neurons are going to pick it up. If it doesn't apply to them, it gets thrown away. And when we're able to access these memories, you can rewire and readapt. That's where the neuroplasticity comes in. So when I curated this method, I'm again, just using all of these tools that are common for the human condition. And I'm making it short enough that people are going to want to come and powerful enough, impactful enough that they're going to want to come back or tell their friends.
Speaker #1
Yeah, honestly. I would love to do it all the time.
Speaker #0
Yes, please. And people ask, how often should I do it?
Speaker #1
Yeah, how often?
Speaker #0
Yeah, it depends. If you're in active recovery from an addiction, then it's something that I feel like you can do daily. If you're just kind of working on things, it's a lot. I think breathwork is a daily practice. The style of breathwork is a lot on your body to do it daily. So it really just depends on what your goals are. Again, active addiction, I'd say, and I work with people that are coming right out of addiction. That's something we do daily and it's really powerful. And then everyday people, it just depends. Like life kind of, you might be getting through something and then something else comes up. So if you're really feeling highly in your sympathetic nervous system, waking up, stress, anxiety, stress hormones spiked, then that's a good idea to come back and do a session. So I'd say at most, probably most people would be good with once a week or once every two weeks, or maybe even once a month. If you're working on creativity, then anytime that you really want to get into your creative mind, breathwork is a great way to get there as well, because you're opening up this, you're going to see colors that you haven't seen, shapes, you're going to get ideas. So again, that's another benefit of breathwork. It's not all about releasing trauma and healing. It's also tapping in to a deep creative side, a deep side of spirituality and a deep connection to it. everything that you are. A lot of people also remember things like when I was a child, I liked doing this. I liked writing songs, but then they were conditioned to not write because they wanted to be a doctor or something. And then if they have that memory and they go back to it, it brings them real joy because that's more authentic than what they ever, they ended up into. So I don't know if I answered the question.
Speaker #1
I think you answered many questions that including the one I asked, but additional ones as well. You mentioned functional. freeze.
Speaker #0
Yes.
Speaker #1
What is that? And how can one know if they're in that? And how does breathwork help you come out of it?
Speaker #0
Easiest way to know if you're in functional freeze is if you know where you want to be, where you want to go, what you want to do, and you're not getting there, you're in functional freeze. That's as easy as that. There's a lot of reasons why we get in functional freeze. And a lot of it can be conditioning as well. We talk about trauma. There's big T trauma and there's little trauma, but trauma really isn't. the event, but it's how our body reacted to the event. So there could be things, maybe limiting beliefs. Perhaps I had limiting beliefs that I'm not good enough to be that. I'm not good enough to be up there being a breathwork facilitator, trying to heal other people when I'm not healed myself. So limiting beliefs can keep us in functional freeze, other types of condition. Perhaps somebody had a childhood where they didn't feel safe and they were always in a hypervigilance. you know, to keep themselves safe or shape-shifting or playing small. It could be scary for those types of people to all of a sudden put themselves out to do what they need to do. There's a lot of things, perfectionism, perfectionism could be a trauma response, you know, that you got rewarded or love when you did something perfectly. And if you feel like if you can't be perfect in what you're trying to do, you're going to stay in functional freeze because you're never going to be perfect. So there's a lot of ways we get in our own head on not becoming the people that we know we can become and then getting in a way of our own purpose. Other things with functional freezes, sometimes what you think you're supposed to be doing for your life's purpose isn't in alignment with your authenticity. So that will keep you in functional freeze because that's not what you're meant to be doing. That's what your mom wanted you to do or your dad wanted to do. So if you're not getting there, that is something that breathwork can help you redirect. And maybe in that sense, functional freeze is good because it's stopping you from going in a path that's not authentic to yourself. So the human body is just so amazing. it can also really hold us back from what we know. And I don't want people to get to their rocking chair moment and then have the regrets. You know, I don't want them to get all the way through their life and said, I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that. So Breathwork gives us the opportunity now to really know what we want to be doing authentically, you know, living for ourselves. And I also think that I get the feedback that a lot of people that... thought the big job or the big cars or the house was really what was important to them. But when they have those gratitude moments and I ask them to look at who's around, you know, and what made them the happiest, it's usually there's some place with their family or in nature. It's very rarely that they've got the Lambo and that's what really making them happy. It's inner work and we got to get rid of all the noise.
Speaker #1
Yeah. And you were so generous to share some of your personal experiences that led you to breathwork. You shared with me about a boating accident that you had with your sons where you almost lost your lives. And you wrote me this. This experience haunted me and created an unhealthy physiological response that I was finally able to clear through breathwork. Would you share a little bit about that? And I think something I think about a lot is like, can we ever actually heal? Like, is healing possible? Like, will I ever be like, I'm healed? It feels like it's ongoing, but I'm curious because you said you were able to clear it. So what does that mean?
Speaker #0
Thank you for bringing that up because that is really important. And it's an example that is really tangible. So if you think of something, whether it's big or small, and your body reacts to that, that is how you know it is living in your body and it's not cleared. So before I dealt with this accident. which was really traumatic. Anytime I thought about it or saw a big wave on TV or anything else, my nervous system would react as though I was back in that situation. So my endorphins, my adrenaline, my cortisol, everything would spike and I would get in survival mode again. Like I'm right there. But I knew that I'm not in danger. I'm in a movie theater. I'm safe. My body didn't know I was safe. And this was one example of one thing, but You can also use this example with anything else. You know, if you think about that person that wronged you and your body is having the, you get mad and your fists go up, that means it's not cleared. So I knew that this was something that was not cleared for me and creating undue stress on my body in moments where I really knew I was safe, but my body didn't know I was safe. So what happened, we were in Fiji and we were out at a surf break that was way out. And we had been going, we were in a village. We were helping the villagers with church and school this day. And my son was quite young at this time, but a big surfer. And he wanted to surf. It was our last day there. And he was just being kind of a bratty kid, you know, at that age and say, mom, we came, we had to help all these kids. And I didn't even get to serve. And I knew better than to go out that day because it was really choppy. But I gave in my mom guilt, you know, I was like, okay. So we went out there and the worst thing imaginable. happened. And we, we, a rogue wave came and knocked the entire boat over. The surfer boy was out surfing. So he wasn't on the boat, but my, my younger son was on it and it was really dramatic. We went all the way over. And then at the time you were underwater, the wreckage starts hitting you, you know, so you're getting hit. I didn't know which way was up or down. At some point I looked and I thought it was air, but it was water. So I took in more water. And I saw my life flash before my eyes. And I just thought, this is it. This is it. And I could just think about my sons at that moment. Finally, I was able to surface. And it's interesting. When I used to tell the story before I cleared it, I couldn't even get through the story. But now I can tell it because I know we survived. So that's a good thing. But when I did come up, we couldn't find my younger son for an extended period of time. And I thought we had lost him. And anybody's worst nightmare as a mother is losing a child. And it turns out he had found an air pocket. I just continued to relive that story in my head. It was taking up space in my head and my body, even though we were all safe for many, many years after. And so I intentionally wanted to clear that through breathwork. And that's where the neuroplasticity came in. It's like I can access that memory and rearrange the way that I was thinking about it. Now my body knows I survived and I'm safe and I'm not in danger. So I can even tell the story now, even though I see you getting emotional with the thought of the story, I can tell it knowing we're okay. And then my body knows I'm okay. And so I think that's the important thing. It doesn't have to be so dramatic. But anytime you think of something and your body has a physiological response. it's still there. Even if you, you know, somebody told you in the seventh grade that, you know, you're ugly or something like that. If you think of that moment and your body's reacting to that, that's a limiting belief that's sticking with you. And so that's a really good way of knowing, is this living with me? Is this taking up space? Is me holding on to, you know, this anger for something that somebody did to me? Is it impacting me? It's not impacting them. We already know that, but is it impacting me? And what can I do about it?
Speaker #1
Oh my gosh. The phrase you said, I know we survived, really stuck out to me. Because, wow, I never thought about the fact that whether you have a capital T trauma or lower T trauma, that sometimes your body and mind still feels like you're back there.
Speaker #0
Yeah.
Speaker #1
I think about that with some things I experienced in my 20s, you know. I took some big leaps in my 20s. And because they didn't go the way I thought they should. I think I've been reticent to like take similar leaps now because I felt that was so catastrophic. And my therapist has said to me, Lauren, you're a different person than you were back then. Like that's not the same situation you're in. But I feel like I'm like stunted back at like 23 feeling those failures. And so when you said, I know we survived, obviously it's a very different level than surviving a near-death experience. But I think my body almost like. categorize that as a part of my life is at risk right now.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I think your body doesn't know the circumstances. Your body's sympathetic nervous system is only going to react to what's been stored there. So again, there's not a differentiation between a big T trauma or a little T trauma or somebody saying something to you that impacted you in a certain way. But what really breathwork taught me is that I can take control of that now. And I don't have to let that rule my life. And I don't have to, even though that was really big, the little things I don't have to let ruin my life. And I have had little things that, you know, as we all do, like I said, when you're in the ring for this long, you're going to have to get beaten up a little bit. And I was waiting for apologies. I was waiting for other people to come and make it better. But you can't wait around. You've got to do it for yourself, you know? And I think that was one of the biggest benefits of breathwork is knowing that you are in control of your body. You're in control of your life and you're in control of how you walk through life. And nobody can take that away from you. So powerful.
Speaker #1
Hey, creative, if you love the show and it has meant a lot to you, could you do me a favor? Rate and review on Apple. Give it a review on Spotify. Share it with a friend. These things all make a major difference in a podcaster's life and in growing their show. I really want to build up this community of creatives who love, trust, and know themselves and love, trust, and deeply know others. So if you could do that and share the show with someone you care about, that would mean so much. All right. I love you. And when you are working on clearing a specific trauma that you've kind of gotten to the center of and you know this is something that's holding you back, it's still very alive in my body. Do you go into the breathwork session thinking, I want to work through this, or is it still best to kind of stay open?
Speaker #0
Yeah. As much as I would love to say, okay, Lauren, we're going to work on this and your body's going to work on that. It won't. So your body's going to know what to work on and eventually it will get there and may get there in a different path, but you'll eventually get there. So it's not like a talk therapy session where I'm like, Lauren, today we're going to talk about your childhood, age seven, your body's going to know what. comes up, but people often ask, like, am I going to feel re-traumatized if I'm working on this boating accident? Am I going to feel re-traumatized during it? And I don't know exactly why you don't, but I feel like there's two reasons just from my research and my science brain. One is that we are doing energetic releases. So I don't really have people come up to me after a class saying, Oh, I saw the guy in the yellow hat. that abused me when I was seven. It's not that specific. So you're not getting images of the actual event. And even with the boating accident, I didn't go back to be on the boat that day to clear it. It just cleared. And people often say, I just feel lighter. It's just not there anymore. So that's why I don't feel like we get re-traumatized during breathwork because it's not taking you back to that specific event. It's just clearing energetically. And my other reason is when we're activating different parts of our brain, like we talked about and deactivating certain. parts. Part of what happens in a psilocybin journey is that your amygdala, part of your brain that's responsible for fear. and pain and panic, that softened and kind of turned off a little bit. So I think if the same effect in breathwork is softening and kind of letting the amygdala go to sleep, then we're more open to readdressing these things so that we can deal with them in the body too. So I don't know, there's not scientific research. I'm very data-driven. And the problem with breathwork and psychedelic research right now is we're way behind. Good research takes time. Good science takes time. And because of what they did in the 70s, all of that stopped for decades. And it's only in the last five years that it's come to the forefront. So we are going to have more data on why people are able to heal through breathwork. The VA has sanctioned studies on having it treat PTSD very effectively. And not just like a numb out or a cover up. They're saying that once you do your breathwork, the PTSD doesn't come back. We are in a really exciting time that we have not been getting better as a society in mental health. As much as, you know, you'd like to say that these SSRIs were working, which is the class of drugs, antidepressants, anti-anxiety, nobody's getting better. Mostly when things don't work, you like to fail fast and pivot. But because it was so politicized, it was really hard to pivot and say, OK, maybe let's go back and see if psychedelics work or breathwork works. And then it's also really hard to. monetize.
Speaker #1
Well, because you actually are healing some of the things. So you're not keeping people on a hamster wheel just into perpetuity. And Terry, tell me, because it is Mental Health Awareness Month, how does breath work? I know you've given a lot of examples, but specifically, how does it work for people who have anxiety or depression or even PTSD or complex PTSD? What is it that, you know, from the research you've been looking at and from what you've witness that it does.
Speaker #0
So I think it's, again, treating symptoms, not only from one part of the body. So even the word mental health is, you know, even though there's not a uniformly adopted definition of mental health, it's still, it has a word mental in it. So we're treating brain disorders and things that are happening in your mind. And what you really have to do is now pay attention to the whole body because we're all connected. It's all connected. And I feel like symptomatically when you're treating a symptom. What's wrong is you're not seeing with every action, there's a reaction, right? And so I feel like with the mental health awareness, once we start treating the entire body and realizing that there is a connection there, there is a biological connection, a chemical connection, and a neurological connection. So when you're treating all three of these, like we do in breath work, then you're going to get a result. Stress anxiety that's in the body, it can create chronic pain. And that's not something I'm making up. It's true. And then it can create disease. It can create pathology. We are making ourselves sick because we are not treating the root cause of these things. So once we start using these modalities that treat the whole body, like breathwork, we're seeing the better results. And then people are able to, like you said, not be on the hamster wheel of continuing to do that, not numbing out, you know, they're able to live their life in a joyful way. And I think that's really what I'm loving about this trend towards looking at these different modalities. There's a lot of no cost modalities that are available to people that have stress and anxiety, cold therapy, walking in nature, breathing. You know, these are no cost and there's no barrier of entry. You don't have to have money. You don't have to live in a certain place, you know? So the more we can get that out there, I think that's our start to really being able to heal. And that's what I'd really like to see in mental health is a real urgency of treating everything and getting away. I've always had a healthy skepticism of big pharma and I'm not on that soapbox or anything, but I feel like it's great for some people, but not everybody needs to do that. And there's these different paths to joy, you know, and I just want to get that word out there.
Speaker #1
For sure. I think it's good to look at all of our options. I know I definitely have friends who, you know, feel that. the SSRIs they're on have been life-saving for them. And I think that's beautiful. And I've also known some people that didn't quite work for. And so the fact that there are options and there's like a bevy of options that they can try, I think is so beautiful. And for sure, no matter what your journey is, your body is part of healing, whatever things are playing out in your mental health arena. If you're not getting into your body, you're missing a big piece of the picture because it holds on to a lot for us.
Speaker #0
Yeah. It really does.
Speaker #1
Let's also talk about psychedelics because I know you're super passionate about that right now. And I'm super curious because I don't think I told you this, but the first time I wrote a song, like it was because I smoked too much pot. It was the second time I'd ever smoked pot. I smoked five hits off a water bong, hit the floor, and then I started freaking out. And I like made my good friend Michael Cleland hold my hand and walk all around Michigan State's campus with me. And then I sang every single thought I had for two hours straight. And I kept saying, this is the real me. This is the real me. Had no clue what I was talking about, but I just knew I was singing every thought I had. And then a week later, had never been able to figure out how to play guitar. And suddenly I was playing guitar. And then shortly thereafter, That was pot. So I can only imagine what a psychedelic can do.
Speaker #0
Yeah, I love that story. I do love that story. And it's really about getting out of your own way. So a lot of times with creatives. there's the blocks, right? You get creative blocks. And that's, again, your prefrontal cortex just taking over and being so fully developed. Sometimes you have to turn off your brain to open your mind. And when you open your mind, all this stuff comes flowing through. The prefrontal cortex is like a spigot. When it's turned off and then everything else kind of floods, then you get all these beautiful, creative things. So my passion for psychedelics, and I'm not somebody that really does psychedelics. The first time I ever did psilocybin was you a little over a year ago at a retreat that I was hired to do breath work. And I was a little bit in my head about it too, just because, you know, I grew up with the war on drugs and I was told drugs are bad. I'm not a drug person going into the retreat. I didn't even think I was going to do the journey, but I felt really safe with the provider and I did it. And I just had a beautiful, beautiful journey. And again, it was like that veil being kind of peeled back. And that was one where I saw all my ancestors and everything. And I just thought, wow, this is really beautiful. I know some journeys can get dark. Mine wasn't. But why I'm passionate about the work that's being done around psychedelics right now is in the healing realm. Big universities like Johns Hopkins are now dedicating time and money to the study of how this can help our mental health epidemic, our opioid epidemic, how it can help people with alcohol addiction, how it can help anorexia, how it might be tied to Alzheimer's. This field of medicine, you know, is exploding. And again, it was suppressed because of politics and the fact that this was a category one drug. And now we're kind of playing catch up. So my fascination with it is in that field, in the therapeutic field. And I do think it's going to be continuing to be more and more popular. Tim Ferriss, you know, he's part of the John Hopskin studies and he's put a lot of his own personal money into this study. MAPS has been on the board since the 80s and they continue to work to really get the stigma off of it so that we can start healing people with this type of therapy. And I think in a... therapeutic setting where you have a guided and you have a therapist there, it can be really powerful. And these are not addictive. So that's a big difference between some of the things we are doing that are addictive. So I do think that's where my passion is. I'm curious to see the data as to how this is really going to help people that are really suffering.
Speaker #1
Yeah, me too. Now, here's my question, Terry. How do you do mushrooms? Because it's still not legal in the United States. But I know a bunch of people who have done it and I would want to do it with a professional, a professional mushroom giver. No, but a professional practitioner. So like, how does one go about getting a hold of a psychedelic?
Speaker #0
Yeah. So some states now they're legal for therapeutic purposes. I think Oregon and Colorado, but most states they're decriminalized. So now if you were to go into your local dispensary and, you know, buy marijuana, Most dispensaries now have also mushroom products. It's decriminalized, but not fully legal. So people are using it recreationally now, which I'm sure they always were. I just wasn't in the room, but people are using it. But they're also, what's become really popular is the microdosing, which is what we're all hearing about. And people are just taking small bits of psilocybin to help improve their mood and help function. And some people are saying that. that's more effective than other types of things they had been doing pharmaceutically. If you wanted to take it in a therapeutic session, which is like a higher dose, then I would recommend everybody to be there with a guide, you know, because that's going to keep you safe and kind of guide your journey. The difference between breathwork and a psilocybin journey is breathwork can get you to the same place, but you can get off the ride. If you decide you're going to take two and a half grams of mushrooms, you're in it. for four hours, whether you want to be there or not. With breath work, you can decide that you want to get off the ride and you start breathing in and out through your nose and you can come out of it. Mushroom psilocybin will get you there even if you're resistant. With breath work, you need to do the work. So if somebody comes in the room and they're really resistant to it, and they're not going to breathe the way that I want them to breathe, they're not going to have the effect that I want them to have. So that's where the difference is. But I think that's why There's also contraindications. more contraindications to doing psilocybin than there are to breathwork. Breathwork, there are some contraindications, but not as many. So I say, if somebody really wants to take a journey like that, start with breathwork. And then if they want to go on and do psychedelic, just know, set in setting and know what you're getting into. If people are doing it recreational, great, whatever you want. But if you're wanting to go deep and clear trauma and rewire and readapt, then you're going to need a guide there that knows what they're doing.
Speaker #1
Yeah. Very much for me, like I'm intrigued by my dispensary having it potentially, but like I don't want to do it without somebody who can help me because I know what I experienced with breathwork. So I can only imagine what a therapeutic dose of a mushroom is going to do. So I definitely think for you listening, I feel like all my little creative cuties are sensitive like me. Definitely try the breathwork first. And then if you're going to go for the mushroom, if you want to do it for healing, do it with practitioner. So did you say you did a retreat? Would you recommend that retreat you did?
Speaker #0
Yeah, I do. I do. She does wonderful retreats. So these retreats are mainly not in the US, but mine was in Costa Rica. And it was with OM Yoga. And again, I had never done a psychedelic in my entire life before I got there. And it was just a really beautiful journey. And we actually did two. So we did psilocybin and then breathwork. So they all kind of worked together. But some people during the The psilocybin journey did have some dark stuff come up. And I'm not qualified for that. I'm qualified to be a breathwork facilitator. I was there with a facilitator, a shaman that is qualified. So I recommend if you are going to do that, don't just try to do it with your friends. It could be fun, but you never know. So be smart about it. But one of the beautiful things that people report back on in psychedelics, especially when it comes to creativity, is that you do feel a heightened sense of creativity. And some people will come off and write a whole song or unleash things that they've been holding back on. you Again, I'm not an expert on that stuff. I am passionate about the possibility of the healing benefits of it. And I've seen, you know, people come into the creative part. But again, it's everybody's going to have to make their own decision on that one. Try breathwork first.
Speaker #1
Bionic breathwork. Can't recommend it enough. So speaking of which, you have been so generous to offer to do a little breathwork session with us today to give people a little peek of what you do. And I'll let you introduce it because I know it's a specific thing, but I'm so excited.
Speaker #0
We've been talking this whole podcast about a certain style of healing breath work, which I can't really do on air right now because it's not safe. We would go into a non-ordinary state of consciousness. And if you're driving, if you're walking, if you're working out, not safe to do that. And we can't really get the benefit in a short period of time. So what I'm doing, I had mentioned that daily breath work could be really good. to get you into your parasympathetic if you're having stress or anxiety or you have a big meeting or something like that. And there's two styles of this daily breath work that I wanted to share with you and your listeners. Very simple. Anybody can do it. And again, very simple. So I'm going to start with what is known as the box breath or box breathing. And what we do in the box breath, it's going to be in and out through our nose. We're going to make it an equal box. So kind of visualize a box as I'm doing it. And we're going to inhale for five seconds and then hold for five seconds, exhale for five seconds, hold for five seconds. If you can't do five, you can do four. But I don't know if you're familiar with the James Nestor book. He's done all this research and he said the ideal breath pace is five and a half seconds. So I try to aim for that.
Speaker #1
Let's be ideal.
Speaker #0
Yeah, let's be ideal. And then we'll do the second one, which has been proven to be the most effective breath work to calm yourself down. But this one's the most simple one. So let's go ahead and inhale through our nose. Hold for 5, 4, 3,
Speaker #2
2, exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold, 2, 3, 4, 5. Inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold, 2, 3, 4, 5. Exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. five, good. And hold four, three, two, five. Beautiful. It's as simple as that.
Speaker #1
That's so cool. I have a question. I always get stressed out when I have to hold my breath. Tell me why that's good. It calmed down by the second time, but the first time I have to hold my breath whenever I do that, it stresses me out. Tell me about that.
Speaker #0
Yeah. So it is really good to improve your heart rate variability by trying to control your breath like this, but It's again, a survival response. So when you're holding your breath and not being able to breathe, that means like when the CO2 in your body builds up, your automatic response is to exhale, but you're not allowing yourself to do that. So you're going against what your body is naturally meant to do. And it takes a while to kind of override that because again, your body's always in a survival mode and trying to keep you safe. And so that doesn't feel safe. So again, just keep working on it. And then. When people get panic attacks, you always hear people say, just breathe, just breathe. The reason why they do it, and it's better to do it before you get too panicky. But the reason is like when you are taking control again of an automatic function, taking control of your breath, you are in control of your body and your body's response. So that is why that is really important is for people that are feeling stress, anxiety, or panic to take control. And when you're thinking about your breath and counting, you can't think about the million other things that are stressing you out. So that one's really effective. Again, that response is your body is taught to exhale when CO2 builds up and you're not exhaling when your body is supposed to exhale. And that's why at the beginning, you might feel a little panic. Then it's your survival instincts.
Speaker #1
All right. Good to know. I'm on track.
Speaker #0
Okay. And then the second one is the cyclic sigh. And that one has been proven to be the quickest in balancing you back to your parasympathetic nervous system. And what it is, it's going to be two. quick breaths through your nose and then a long exhale after. So it goes like this. Beautiful. So it's a really quick, simple tool.
Speaker #1
For some reason, breathing out through my mouth always makes me feel more calm because I can actually picture the breath like going through my body.
Speaker #0
We are most of the time supposed to be breathing in and out through our noses, but there are times again, when we're trying to control things that the mouth breathing is really important. And like, as you mentioned in bionic, that was kind of weird for you. It's all through your mouth. And that is designed because we're trying to Thank you. create a physiological change in the body. If we just breathe like we normally would, then we're not going to make that change. You have to do something different than you would normally do to effectuate change with everything in life. So same with breathing. That's why I'm pushing you during the class and the first two songs are really hard, but I'm like, you can do this because what's on the other side is really beautiful.
Speaker #1
Yeah. And I just want to say one thing about the class. If you can, I would say your first time doing it in a group setting. it was really, really special because some of the people, like I could just hear how brave they were being and it helped me feel more brave. Like I actually like there were people who were like sobbing and then I like started connecting to their experience too and started like sobbing with them. And then I was like, oh wait, no, I got to come back. But it was really nice to be with them for a while and like resonate. And I'll never know who that person was that I was like holding their pain with them, but it felt like an honor and really beautiful. And like, an equal release for me that I got to be with them on that journey and then come back to what I was feeling.
Speaker #0
I love that. That says so much about you just as a person that you're holding space for others as you're going on your journey. And I was glad that you and your boyfriend weren't able to be together because sometimes what happens is, especially if you have the nurturer in you, you may have heard him having a release and then you might come out of it to want to go nurture him. I tried to split up. parents, couples, anything for that reason, because we don't want to soothe. Yes. We want this to come out and heal. And it's a purge. So if you're there soothing and you're, you're feeling the pain of them going through what they're going through, it takes away from what they're doing. So when you guys came in, I was actually really glad that you had to split up and I don't know how his journey ended up being, but he was such a beautiful man. I felt there was something very special about him and the two of you together that I did not. forget him either.
Speaker #1
Oh, Terry, that makes me so happy. Yeah, he had a really beautiful experience too. And you know, obviously, he was in the relationship with me still is. And so he was, you know, feeling that kind of point we were at, we're trying to figure out how we're going to move forward. And it's interesting, because despite being apart, he had the exact same realization as me. He realized he also needed to heal around love itself, and that it wasn't about me. I don't know. I don't know if we would have. been gifted that if we had been right next to each other, because I would have maybe felt embarrassed about the way I was releasing. I could see the same thing happening with him. The caretaking would have come out in us. So you know what you're doing. I've done breathwork a few times since then. And I will always think this one was most special. And I can't wait until the next time I get to work with you again, because it truly is a life changing experience. If you listening, get the opportunity, please, please work with Terry. do a workshop and then tell them how they can work with you. And if you have any workshops coming up.
Speaker #0
Yeah. Thank you for saying that. So I think we decided that we're going to link a session, right? A Zoom session. So they're going to get a taste of what we do. Again, when you're doing it at home, recorded Zoom session, it's not the same as going in the room. So I recommend, whether it's with me or somebody else, if you can get to an in-person session, and like you were saying to the collective energy of the room. really helps too, but that's going to give them a kind of a sneak peek. And then I do retreats all over the world. I do trainings and I do in-person classes. So everything is linked. The easiest way is in at my website, bionicbreathwork.com or my Instagram has a link tree and I'm kind of all over the place. So my goal is to spread this benefits of breathwork far and wide in that sense. I'm creating all these soldiers that are out there teaching the method. And that's really where my focus is right now is on the training so that I can get more people out there and getting the word out. I've just been really lucky to have really great people come through their training and they're out there teaching. And that's what we need. We all need more, more breath work, I think.
Speaker #1
Wow. Maybe I'll do that with you someday.
Speaker #0
Yes, please. I would love to have you in a training anytime. I think you would be an amazing facilitator. You've got all the tools. You've just got the most. pure energy, I think you would be an amazing facilitator.
Speaker #1
Well, that is an honor coming from you. And I feel the same way about you. You're so encouraging and loving and yourself in all settings. And you hold so much space for people and you see them. And you're not afraid to step out yourself. And I just feel really, really honored to get to share you, your wisdom, your methodology, and just who you are with my beautiful listeners. So thank you for being here and for all that you shared today. You are a gift.
Speaker #0
You're going to make me cry now. Thank you so much. Thanks for the opportunity.
Speaker #1
My pleasure and honor and creative cutie listening resonate on this dream and this vision that Terry had so that she can spread this incredible healing to the world even more. I know you will. Terry, I feel like I want to say this with you. Every time I end an episode, I tell my listeners I love them and I believe in them. Would you say it with me?
Speaker #0
A hundred percent.
Speaker #1
Okay, here we go. To you, my sweet listener. Terri and I want you to know I love you.
Speaker #0
I love you.
Speaker #1
And I believe in you.
Speaker #0
And I believe in you.
Speaker #1
Thank you, Terri.
Speaker #0
Thank you.
Speaker #1
Thank you for listening and thanks to my guest, Terri Mosley. For more info on Terri, follow her at Bionic Breathwork and visit her website, bionicbreathwork.com to learn more about her work and how you can take her workshop or even work with her one-on-one. Thanks Rachel Fulton for helping edit and associate produce this episode. Follow her at Rachel M. Fulton. Thanks to Liz Full for the show's theme music. Follow her at Liz Full. And again, thank you. If you like what you heard today, remember to rate, review, and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share the show with a friend and post about it on social media. Tag me at Lauren LaGrasso and at Unleash Your Inner Creative, and I will repost to share my gratitude. Also tag the guests at Bionic Breathwork so they can share as well. My wish for you this week is that you explore the depths of your emotional and physical well-being, finding peace, clarity, and joy in the process. You are not alone in the simple act of breathing intentionally can be a powerful tool for transformation and growth. I love you. And I believe in you. Talk with you next week.

About Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LoGrasso (A Creativity Podcast)

New episodes are out every Thursday - follow, rate and review wherever you get your podcasts :)

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LoGrasso (A Creativity Podcast)

New episodes are out every Thursday - follow, rate and review wherever you get your podcasts :)

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Description

Also! I am putting out a new song on Friday, July 10th! Please pre-save it here: https://ffm.to/walkingonair2026

Original Description:

Have you ever considered how the simple act of breathing could unlock profound changes in your mental, emotional, and physical well-being?

From this conversation you’ll learn:

-What breathwork is

-How it can help you release trauma

-The Full Story of my (Lauren’s) WILD breathwork experience--this is a must-hear!

-What functional freeze is and how to get out of it

-The connection between breathwork and therapeutic psychedelics & how to know which one is right for you

-AND we will even walk you through a little breathwork at the end of the pod!

Try a FREE Bionic Breathwork Class with Terry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpzBk3wXYWc

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Transcription

Speaker #0
Have you ever just needed to take a breath? Sometimes we all do. And today I'm going to share an episode with you on breath work. But before I get into that, I just want to say, hello, welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso, your host, your friend, future mother, business owner. She does it all, folks. I'm trying. But I have to say that in preparing for my baby and getting, I don't know why I said preparing like that. But in preparing for my baby, getting the business together, just figuring out all of life, it has been hard to figure out the balance of things. And I'm sure that that's going to continue as I go through my journey to motherhood and continue expanding my business and creating more things. I'm also putting out a single. I didn't even tell you that. How could I have missed that? I'm putting out a single on Friday. And Friday, July 10th. I'll put the link in bio. It's called Walking on Air. And I really just, I didn't put a lot of like thought behind it. Haven't really considered marketing it at all. I just wanted my music to be out there. This is something I talked about a while ago, but as I'm thinking about my sweet baby boy coming to this earth, I want to continue to build my creative legacy because the things that we make, yes, they're to unleash our soul and therefore the world to enjoy, of course, as well, you know, number one us, but also for the world. But if you have people that you care about, specifically family members, whether it is children of your own or nieces and nephews, or your parents, you know, siblings, when we put creativity out in the world, it's building our creative legacy. And it's really leaving a gift for people. Yes, while you're here on this earth, but even after we leave to understand who we really were as... artists and creatives and give them insight into our soul and to hear. I mean, like, how cool is it that my grandkids someday, if my child or possible future children decide to procreate, will be able to listen to this podcast, listen to this music. So anyway, rambly, long story short, not at all short. I wanted to put out this song before my son got here so that we could listen to it together and he could enjoy it. And... Yeah, and just to do one more like purely creative act before I embark on this journey. But with all that being said, you know, a lot of things have been piling up. And I'm just trying to be realistic with myself. And I really think in order to give you the best content possible in the months where it seems like people are most interested in consuming content, which would be not the month of July, I am most likely. going to do re-airs for the rest of the month. I might do a solo episode here or there, one with my husband, Tim, about parenthood and how we're going to approach it creatively. And just, you know, you haven't heard from him since last year when we wed. So it might be a good time to check in. People tend, I guess he was on the Christmas episode. Sorry, babe. I forgot. Pregnancy brain, don't blame me. But all that's to say. I need to take a little bit of a pause from churning out new content on the podcast so that I can get the stuff ready for when I'm on maternity leave so I can put out new content then. I'm working diligently on a lot of amazing episodes for you, but I don't want to keep living hand-to-mouth on the podcast as I have been recently. And so I'm just taking this little break to reconfigure, get my shows ready for August and September, and get prepared for my baby, which is... a really important creative project as you can imagine. So today's episode is a re-air. It's one on breathwork, as I mentioned. It's also very timely for me because I'm thinking a lot about this as I'm going into giving birth. But it's one I did with my friend, Terry Mosley, who is an incredible breathwork practitioner. And on this episode, I talk about how the first time I did breathwork with her, which if you don't know what that is, it's breathing in this really intentional way that can literally give you like a psychedelic experience, drug-free. It is wild. I cannot recommend it enough. But when I did this breathwork with her, I literally got a visit from my ancestors. And so I'm thinking a lot about it because a big part of birth is breathing. And I'm kind of hoping that my ancestors come back and like guide me through it. I've heard from some woo-woo people that that can happen, but that's neither here nor there. Just check out this episode. It's so cool. She goes into breathwork. She even does a demonstration for you. She talks about how you can experience her work. it for either free or low barrier to entry costs. So definitely check it out. You're going to love this one. It's one of my favorites. I share my wild story of my first breath work and why simply breathing can release trauma and increase creativity. As I mentioned, you will have content all this month. It's just going to be mostly re-airs. I might even do a new episode next week. I don't know. I might want to do something about my song and putting that out. But anyway. We will see. I'm just giving myself a little grace during this time, and I hope you can do the same for me. I appreciate you. I hope you're having a great summer. Unleash today, babes. Bye. Have you ever considered how the simple act of breathing could unlock profound changes in you, in your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being? Well, it really, really can. Let me be the first to tell you. And today's guest is here to share the transformative power of breathwork and how it can not only enhance your daily life, but also lead to deep healing and personal growth. Welcome to Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LaGrasso. I'm Lauren LaGrasso. I'm a Webby Award-winning podcast host and producer, singer-songwriter, public speaker, and multi-passionate creative. This show sits at the intersection of creativity, mental health, self-development, and spirituality, and it is meant to give you tools to love, trust, and know yourself enough to claim your right to creativity and pursue whatever it is that's on your heart. Today's guest is Terry Mosley. She's a seasoned expert in breathwork and healing who created something called bionic breathwork, which is honestly a mind-blowing experience that uses breathing techniques backed by science. Stay tuned for the wild story of the first time I did one of her breathwork workshops. It changed my life. Breathwork exercises can be used to relieve stress, anxiety, heal trauma, chronic pain, hormone imbalances, and they promote a sense of balance and well-being. As I mentioned, I've had the privilege of working with Terri and taking one of her classes. And I can truly say it changed my life. It is such an intense emotional, physiological, and mental workout. And the healing I gain from our session is something that I literally take with me every single day. Breathwork has the ability to shift people from fight or flight into deep healing states. And it can even yield similar results to psychedelic experiences. You have visions when you're in one of these states. You have visits from past ancestors sometimes when you're in these states. It is wild. So Terri is just a light in the world and her mission to help people through her work is inspiring. I also just personally love her. Can't wait to share this interview with you. From today's chat, you'll learn what breathwork is, how it can help you release your trauma, what functional freezes and how to get out. And we will even walk you through a little breathwork session at the end of our chat. Okay, now here she is, Terri Mosley. Terri, I am so grateful to have you on Unleash Your Inner Creative. I took your Breathwork workshop about a year ago now, and we've been following each other on Instagram, and you're just such a supportive light in the world. Also, your Breathwork workshop changed my life. So can't wait to get into all of it. But thank you for being here.
Speaker #1
Thank you for having me, Lauren. I'm so excited to be here to talk to you. learn about your experience in the class, because this will be the first time that I am hearing your full experience as well. So I'm so excited to hear that and just here to spread the word about the benefits of breathwork. So thank you so much for having me.
Speaker #0
Oh my gosh, my pleasure and honor. So before we get into anything, I feel like breathwork is a very confusing concept to people who aren't in this world, because what is, is it just breathing? I mean, It's something that isn't necessarily intuitive because I had no clue what it was until I experienced it myself. So what is breathwork?
Speaker #1
A lot of people are thinking it's being sold as snake oil right now because it's something that we do as an automatic function, like from the second that we're born until our last breath. And it wasn't until recently that there's been so much focus on how taking control of your breathing can really improve your life. And breathwork has been around. for centuries, but it's only recently that people are starting to see how we can use breathwork therapeutically and to really help us go about our everyday business. And I feel like the most benefit of breathwork is really taking control of your autonomic nervous system. So in a world where we've just, we're so much in our fight or flight at all times, breathwork allows us to kind of step back, really connect with our body and balance out the autonomic nervous system and kind of guide ourselves. back into a parasympathetic mode, which is rest or digest. And we just don't have the time in our everyday life to do that anymore. So what we do with breath work, and there's so many different styles and types, some are designed to upregulate your nervous system and some are designed to downregulate it. So again, it depends on what effect you want. So if you're trying to calm your nervous system, if you have a big meeting or maybe a big event, then we're going to focus on breath work that's down-regulating to get you into your parasympathetic, to get you out of fight or flight. And if you're wanting to do some deep healing work and release things that may have been held in the body, so somatic work, then we are going to intentionally go into your sympathetic nervous system. two very different results, both using your breath in different ways. But the commonality is that we are consciously taking control of an automatic function. And when we do that, we can create neuroplasticity.
Speaker #0
Wow. After I experienced her workshop, I went to my therapist and I was like, Hey, this is what just came up. And she let me know, she's a talk therapist, so licensed psychotherapist, but she also does energy healing. And she's trained in this thing called core energetics and radical aliveness, which is like a somatic-based healing. It's like very complementary to breathwork. And she was telling me that it started back in the day when they outlawed psychedelics and that people were like, we have to help people still get to this place where they can have this profound healing. What can we do? And then that's where breathwork popped up. Is that true? Or did my therapist lie to me?
Speaker #1
Yes, it's absolutely true. So no, it's true. And I love your talk therapist because she gets it and she's incorporating not just the mind, but the body too. So this style of breath work that I teach is most similar to a style called holotropic breath work. And that was indeed developed by Stanislav Grof. He was a psychiatrist back in the late sixties, and he was very effectively treating conditions, mental health conditions, mostly PTSD, with psychedelics. LSD in particular. And then in 1971, the US and the world started to bastardize psychedelics. It became a schedule one drug, and he was unable to legally treat people, even though the results of what he was doing with psychedelics were outstanding. So he created this style of breathwork that actually simulates what would happen in your body, in your brain, when you're doing a psychedelic drug. And the benefit of it is that you are in control of your own journey. Whereas if you're going to do a psychedelic, then you take the pill and you're on that ride, whether you want to get off or not. With breathwork, you can get off the ride at any time. But he's a hero in my book because he developed this type of breathing and it really does work. And it works, you know, sometimes better for people than an actual plant medicine. And we have such sophisticated scientific measuring now. that we can see what it is doing to our body and our brain. So we have neuroimaging, we have biofeedback. So we can see what effect just this breathwork is having on our physiology. So it's not a mistake that these two modalities, breathwork and psychedelics, are often grouped together.
Speaker #0
And what effect is it having on our physiology? What have the scans found?
Speaker #1
Okay, so I'm going to be talking about the style of breathwork. I teach, which again is most similar to the holotropic, what we use this for is kind of a deep healing. And what the scans find is like, if you have human physiology and you breathe in the way that I'm going to cue you to breathe, then what eventually happens is the blood alkaline changes. So our blood becomes highly alkaline, highly oxygenated, and then we're offloading CO2. So it's going to create that physiological change in our body. And what happens, It's different for everybody, but... In about 10 minutes of doing this type of breath work, your prefrontal cortex, which is our default mode network, which really is our strongest part of our brain that we use every day. It's our default mode. We wake up and that's what's triggered. That slows down and takes an app. And then it allows us to get into these non-ordinary states of consciousness, the parts of our brain that we don't access, especially as our prefrontal cortex gets more and more developed the older we get. So it allows it to really just calm down and not get in our way. and allows these non-ordinary states to kind of take over. And I think that at the beginning, and when you're doing this type of breath work, our memories are stored there. So you release some trauma that may have been held in your body. And as you continue to do this work, then we can get into some really mystical and magical things when we allow ourselves to go there.
Speaker #0
Okay. Well, I'd like to go into some of the mystical and magical things that happened to me when I experienced your breath work class, because I really tried to go in having no expectations because I've gone into things like this before and I was like, oh my God, this is going to change my life. And then I was disappointed. It wasn't a breathwork thing, but like, I just wanted to go in just having no expectations and being open. So I went in and my boyfriend and I, we both went to the class. We were originally going to try to sit right next to each other, but we ended up having to get separated, which I think was the best thing for us. Cause then we didn't influence each other's experience, but you had to start out by writing to someone who we felt wronged us, which I thought was so interesting. And then we start the breath. And I was surprised that it was in through the mouth and out through the mouth. The first song, because you do it to music and you prompt us the whole time, which is so cool. The first song, I was like literally just trying to stay alive because something was happening in my body that I was like, what the hell? I felt like there was lightning going through my hands. And I was like, I don't know if I'm going to make it. So I was just like moving my legs and trying to stay alive. But after the first song and a half, it passed. And then you led us into like this first visualization, which was. a time of the greatest joy in our lives. And I recalled this moment where I did a show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Detroit. And I remember just standing on the stage and just feeling so much presence and love and like a hundred people that I knew from my hometown were there. And I was singing and I just felt like, God, this is just as good as it gets. Like, this is so good. We were donating money from the show to a Detroit-based charity. And the message I got was, sing. It doesn't matter how it's received. It doesn't matter how many people hear it. The only thing that matters is that you're making music and you're expressing yourself. Stop thinking so much about the outcome. Stop thinking about past perceived failures. Just make music. Go for what's on your heart. You need to put out your music and sing more. And then you told us to ask the universe for what we want. And I envision myself putting out the music, doing public speaking. Growing my podcast, continuing to mentor people, having a family, getting married. And then this is the moment that I was like, whoa. This next moment you said, if you have grief, and I had to take notes on this because this is so many different things that happened. It was just like one revelation after the next. Then there was a moment where you said, if you have grief, if there's anyone or anything you have grief over, let that thing or person step forward to the forefront. And then I saw my maternal grandmother, my mom's mom, step forward. And then I saw her mom step forward, my grandmother's mother. And this is an interesting thing because my grandmother was abused by her mother very badly. Like she was chased around with a butcher knife when she was a little girl. And even the night before her wedding, her mom threatened to come over to her house and chop up her wedding dress. So they had a very my grandma always loved her mom. But they had a very difficult relationship. like one of the things that I remember my grandma talking about before she got sick, she would cry and say, my mother never loved me. And so I saw them standing next to each other holding hands. And my grandma said, like, we're working on a relationship now. We're healing here. Everything is good between us. Like we're working on healing. And thank you for like the work that you've done, that you took the sacrifices and you're actually trying to close the loop. And they gave me a message from my mom that basically I think because my grandma couldn't feel anger toward her mother because she was her mother. My mom kind of like took on the anger herself and has a lot of anger toward her grandmother who we called Nona. And my grandmother, my mom's mom, gave me a message that encourage your mom to try to forgive because it's standing between her and healing. And then. Yeah, they just said, we love you so much. We're so proud of you. And we want you to know we're together. And like, we're working on healing the relationship up here and forming love up here. And thank you for like what you're doing down there right now. And then they step back. And then all of a sudden, they all come out of the woodwork. Like, my dad's dad comes out, steps forward. And he's like, speaking to me in Italian. And I don't understand. I'm like, oh my gosh, grandpa, I don't know how to speak Italian. He's like, don't worry, you will someday. And then he steps forward and holds my grandma's hand. And then my dad's mom steps forward and she died when I was five. And I was like, oh, Grandma LaGrasso, I'm so sorry that I didn't get to know you better. She's like, it's OK. I love the time we spent together and I'm so proud of you. And then she steps in the line. Then my grandpa, my mom's dad's mother steps forward. She died when my mom was like two months old. And she comes forward, Grandma Josephine, and says, I love you so much. I'm so grateful for the joy that you have. Like you have my joy. Like thank you for spreading my joy and my happiness. Then my grandpa's dad steps forward. So my great grandfather, I mean, he kind of just smiled at me and then stepped in line. And as this is happening, they're all going back to the line and holding hands and like sending me all this love. It's confusing. I know it's getting confusing, but like then my grandpa's dad who died at sea and his brother who died at sea stepped forward. And like, it was. kind of unbelievable. I'm like, oh, I don't even know some of you. Like, this is wild. And all just like emanating this love onto me. And then... My grandpa, my mom's dad, who I was so close to was my everything. Grandpa Roboto steps forward. He's like, I wouldn't miss this for the world. But he was always late to everything. And I kind of got the feeling that he was like up there holding court. And then he just like he had to get down. And my uncle Tony, who was my godfather, just passed away. Like they said, he's still up there resting, but he really wanted to be here. But he needed a little bit more time to rest because he just passed away. And it was just this feeling of immense love. And they said to me, like, you are never alone. Whenever you think you're alone, you're never alone. We are always around you and we're so proud of you. And we're so proud of the way you're carrying on the family line. So that happened. And then you ended it by saying, you know, if you have any remaining questions, bring them to the forefront. And at the time, my boyfriend and I. We're kind of going through an inflection point in our relationship and we were coming up against some conflict and trying to figure out really if we wanted the same things in life. And so I just put that out there to whatever or whoever I was asking this question to. I don't know. You're going to probably let me know what was going on. But I put that out there like, is there anything I need to know about my relationship? If so, please bring it up. I'm open to hearing anything. And I was shown. That it wasn't my relationship with my boyfriend that I needed to heal, but it was actually my relationship to love itself that was hurting. So I saw how love was to me in that time frame and my connection to it. And it was the image I was given was this plastic, jagged, broken little heart. And it was this weird, jagged connection to it. And then I saw my boyfriend and he was shown in this beautiful honey gold light. And we had like a. pure connection of light. So what I heard was the conflict you're having isn't about your connection to him. It's about connection to love itself. And that's what you need to heal. And then I woke up. So what happened?
Speaker #1
Wow. Wow. And that was my first time.
Speaker #0
That was my first time ever doing breathwork. So just if you ever, you listening ever get a chance to work with Terry, please, please, please do it. It will change your life. That was like 30 minutes. It wasn't even 30 minutes, I don't think, that all that happened.
Speaker #1
That's a lot that happened. And the beautiful thing about breathwork is everybody's journey is so unique to them and everybody's journey is different every time because your body shows you what you need at that moment. So that is exactly what you needed at that moment. And it's not me as a facilitator that's doing anything. I'm guiding you by these prompts that you mentioned, but again, you would get there on your own. Because the body is just that smart and you get out of your way. So that first 10 minutes that you're talking about, I'm going to die. That's your prefrontal cortex, just not wanting to shut down. It's really normal. And then once you sink past that, doesn't it feel just really beautiful? We go into this different brainwave state. So we're going into a Thetis brainwave state, which is kind of like a dream state. Sometimes people go into a non-sleep deep rest where they won't hear any music or anything I say, and they go on their own journey. And some people, when we get to the mysticism or the magic like you had, you're going even deeper into those brainwave states where when your prefrontal cortex is turned on, especially at our age, you don't allow yourself to get there. You know, you get in your head like, I can't be seeing my ancestors right now. I don't even know who some of them are. But you were so open to that and you were open to the messages. So the way I describe it is it's really just the veil being pulled back a little bit. So there's this veil between our world. and the other world. And if you allow yourself to go there and ask for the messages, I think the biggest message that you got was we're never alone. And we do have people surrounding us all the time that are there to help us. And at the end of your session, when you really asked, like our guides are there to help us, but they're not allowed to interfere unless we ask. And you asked and they gave you this sign that you were able to interpret, you know, and I'm hoping that once you interpreted that. Then it's integration. So once you have your journey after the fact, after you come back into your prefrontal cortex and say, what the heck just happened to me? Then it's your job to start taking that information and integrating it. So that was a beautiful journey you had. Thank you for sharing all that with me. And it's fascinating to me that the thousands of people that I've led in breathwork classes, every time somebody shares their journey with me, everybody's just so different. It is not. abnormal for people to come through that have passed. Again, that's not something that I'm doing as a facilitator. That's something that you guys are doing. And then it's not unusual for people to get these messages. And I think as dramatic as it may seem, and you may see on the internet with people doing breath work, it's like an exorcism and crying and screaming and kicking and shaking. As dramatic as it is, at the end of the session, everybody... comes out feeling really euphoric, joyful, and connected, and that everything's just going to be okay. It's okay. I'm going to be okay. And that's the beauty of it.
Speaker #0
Yeah. And can I say something else that's really weird? I was so hungry. And I've done breathwork a couple of times since then, in various different capacities. And every time I'm starving, often I'm thinking about a burger. Is that normal?
Speaker #1
Well, I do tell you not to eat. before the session, you know, because I want you to be breathing on an empty stomach because digestive function takes breath. So if your breath is being used for digestion, I'm not getting the most benefit of it. So when somebody is told that they can't eat, even if it's just for a couple hours, then you get in your head that you're starving. And then I think also it's work, it's called breath work. You're working during that first 30 minutes when we're in that active cycle, but I bet we're burning a lot of calories doing that because you're... physically working. And, you know, at the end of the session, a lot of people get that sweat purge. So you get really cold during the beginning, that cryo effect. And at the end, you're just pouring sweat out. So you're doing a lot in your body physically. So you get the reward of the burger after I say, go for it.
Speaker #0
I did. It was great. It was one of the best burgers I ever had. Can we break down what was happening in each of those moments? Like, I want to go into what is bionic breath work, how you developed it and like, how is it playing out? Like, how did you come to those. prompts? How did you come to the length of time? Why the music?
Speaker #1
Yeah, I'd love to talk about that. So the way that I found breathwork is, you know, not a unique story throughout my life. You know, I got to the point in my life where I felt like I should be feeling happy and joyful. I had it all. I had the big job with the big salary. I had the family, I had everything. And I still was feeling a little bit lost. And I was feeling guilty about not waking up and feeling joyful and every day because On the surface, I felt like I had everything. So when people get to this point in life, and by this point, I had been living many decades. So when you're in the ring for that long, you're going to get beaten up a couple of times. So there were some things in my life where I had been beaten up. And what I didn't know was those things were stuck in my body. So as much work as I was trying to do from here, from the prefrontal cortex, I just wasn't getting the results that I needed. And I am a big proponent of talk. therapy, of cognitive behavioral therapy, of life coaching, of mindset coaching, all of that stuff. But the problem is that we need to also address what's in the body. And so I was going on the path of self-development. And I realized that even if I had Tony Robbins waking up with me in my bed every morning and whispering exactly what I was supposed to do with that raspy voice of his, I wasn't going to have the success until I dealt with conditioning in my body. Then I started going down a biohacking path and I found that biohacking where I was really dealing with human biology, that is connected to what's happening in my mind. And I started biohacking path and that led me to breathwork, but I had no expectations and I did not know that I was going to dedicate my life to respiratory biology or any of this. I really didn't. But I went to my first class, much like you, didn't know what to expect. I actually set my mat up near the door because I thought I was going to leave early. And I was like, I really didn't know what to expect. But much like you, once I got into it and started breathing, I had an experience like I could never have imagined. I really did. And at the end of my experience, I had this download that this is what I need to be doing. This is what I need to be sharing because how could I get to this point in my life where I've done everything and not have. this tool in my toolbox.
Speaker #0
But would you share any of what you recall from that first experience besides the download?
Speaker #1
Yeah, sure. So when I first started breathing, first of all, it was in a big ballroom with this Eastern European guy. He was relatively new on the scene. It popped up on my Instagram. I'm like, okay, I'll try it. Right. And so in this big room, you know, you have all this energy. So we started breathing and then people were starting to have their releases pretty quickly. and crying and screaming. And I just felt like laughing. I was like, I don't know if I should be laughing. People are seriously in pain here. But I was trying to stifle my laugh at first. And then I just got to the point where I couldn't. And then I began to laugh louder.
Speaker #0
And not worry. Once your prefrontal cortex shuts down, you're not worried about what anybody else is doing. So I started laughing. I got myself into the most euphoric, ecstatic state of laughter at the beginning of the session. And then it turned to tears. So I was on this roller coaster. I was like, what is going on? Once I surrendered myself to that, it was very similar to your experience. I had some people come through that I then got the assurance that everything's okay. I am not behind in life. I was comparing myself to somebody who's like, I'm exactly, and I'll get emotional talking about, but I'm exactly where I needed to be at the moment I needed to be at. And I'm not alone and everything is just going to be okay. And when I was able to take that pressure off of myself and give myself that love, I felt like I've always had that personality though, that I'm having to be doing, and never good enough. Now I have the tools to kind of know where that came from. At the time I didn't and then had to go a little bit deeper there. But then I felt this sense of safety. Then I started my crying obnoxiously and then I started back into laughter because I said, universe, this is so simple. Why have I made it so hard? It's this simple. And all through life, I've just been struggling and fighting and not feeling good enough and not feeling loved enough. And, you know, it's all very simple. So that, and then at the end of the session, this is the craziest thing. And it happens is I got this download of me teaching breath work at Dodger Stadium, packed stadium. And I had never done breath work before, much less thought that I was going to become a facilitator. But it was so, Lauren, it was so clear to me. It was so clear to me that I said, okay, this is what I'm doing. Went home that day. Well, called my friends. They thought I was going to do it. was on drugs because I'm like, have you seen the moon? Like everything looked brighter to me. I went in to buy a lottery ticket at the gas station. I was making friends with the guy, like everything was just so beautiful. That night I signed up to get trained. And then the day after my training, I started teaching and it's just flow state. So during breathwork, you'll get these downloads. And if you listen to them and don't get in your own way, then the universe conspires with you. And that's really what happened.
Speaker #1
It's so true, Terry, because I also have been working with this coach named Victoria Song, and I did a workshop with her at the beginning of the year, and she led us through a breath work. That's why my hair is this color right now.
Speaker #0
That was your download to change your hair color? No,
Speaker #1
but I saw myself speaking on stage in front of like hundreds of people, and I had this color hair. And I was like, okay, well, if that's the first step, I'll go for it.
Speaker #0
No, I love that. And it is something. thing that I incorporate. It wasn't in your session, but I do incorporate in some, it's quantum jumping. And we go through that exercise when you're in that non-ordinary state, we know this future version of Lauren already exists. And we go on a journey there. And then part of it is seeing what are you wearing? What do you look like? How does this future version of Lauren walk, stand? And if you can become a vibrational match to that future version of you that already exists. You don't need to know how to get there. It's going to attract it. So I love that you're already doing that. And that was part of it. You're starting to become that future version of Lauren where you saw yourself.
Speaker #1
Totally.
Speaker #0
And she exists. I love that.
Speaker #1
My friend is a professional public speaker and she asked me to open up for her in a couple of weeks. So like, I feel like it's happening.
Speaker #0
And the Webby nomination.
Speaker #1
Yes, it was huge.
Speaker #0
Congratulations.
Speaker #1
Thank you so much.
Speaker #0
Massive. And you're one of those people where I just. look and just say, okay, Lauren's got it all. You have so much talent and you've just like, the second I met you just have this warmth and like, I don't feel like competitive. I don't know how to say it right. But you just, you just have this really authentic self and that's where people really want you to succeed. And even though you're so successful right now, I just see so much more like the sky is the limit and it's all coming together. And I think if you just don't Get in your own way. then everything that you're thinking of or dreaming of is all going to be attracted to you.
Speaker #1
Terri, that means so much to me because I really related to what you were talking about of feeling like I'm never doing enough. I've done all these things, but it's not enough. I'm not good enough. And the past two years of honestly, the podcast has been my biggest healing tool of anything because I've had to come on the mic and be as honest as I could be about my life week after week for the past five years. And what I really found out about myself like three years ago is that I was so attached to outcome that I was miserable. And so that's my biggest thing. And it sounds like through breathwork, you have found a way to let go of that attachment to outcome and get more into an attachment to authenticity, your connection with God or whatever your higher power is, flow. How does that happen through breathwork? Hi, creative. Are you yearning to share your story, expertise, and heart with the world? Well, I have some exciting news for you, and I want you to be amongst the first to hear this because I consider you a bestie. I am launching a podcasting course. It's called Podcasting for Self-Expression. It is a course and mastermind with live coaching to help you find your authentic voice and launch your dream podcast. During the course, I'll take you through everything you need to know to create a compelling show. from how to use your life story to find the topic you're meant to speak on, to how to find your podcast thesis statement, to the important technical aspects, to innovative ways to market your show, and more. I'm so excited to offer this because it really is different than anything else that's available on the market because it looks at podcasting not only from a tactical standpoint, but also through the lens of self-development because that's what makes a compelling show. Somebody who really knows who they are, who they want to connect with, and what their authentic voice sounds like. And in the course, I'm going to be using the same techniques I've employed to coach and produce dozens of hit podcasts like We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle, Unlocking Us with Brene Brown, Lauren Conrad Asking for a Friend, and this sweet show you're listening to right now, Unleash Your Inner Creative. If you're interested, you can find all the information on the show notes and at my website, laurenlagrasso.com. Just click the word course. I also want to let you know there are payment plans as low as $99 a month. That was really important to me. You can do that through Affirm and Afterpay. Check it out. I would be honored to have you in. One last thing. If you sign up by Monday, May 20th at 12 a.m. Pacific, you can get $200 off with the code earlybird. That's one word, earlybird. And a free half an hour one-on-one coaching session with me for being an earlybird participant in this course. I would be honored to have you. So check out my website. Go to laurenlagrasso.com. Click on course and type in the word earlybird. early bird at checkout to get $200 off and a free one-on-one coaching session with me. Can't wait to be in community with you even more and to help you bring your authentic voice into the world.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I'll answer your question that I didn't answer before on how I created as well. Cause again, I'm not the creator of breath work, but what I wanted to do when I did create bionic is I thought it was really important to attract a crowd that wouldn't necessarily come into the room. Because the woo-woo people, the people that are already on their spiritual journey, they're already going to be in the room. But it was very important to me to attract people that wouldn't necessarily come in. And the way to do that is to make it bite-size and make it fun. Holotropic breathwork is really six hours. Three hours of breathing and three hours of sitting. And your everyday CEO that's stressed out or mom or, you know, we're not going to do it. especially when we don't know what it is. So it was really important for me to develop and curate a breath work. We were able to accomplish what we need to accomplish an hour and 15 minutes, including the intro so that I could get people in the room. And then most of the people that come in the room don't know what to expect. And then they get this result that in one session, you can really be transformed and get a lot of healing in one session. And then they're going to continue to come back. But if you never get them in the room, you're not doing your job. And people... then may want to go deeper, do other types of breath work, but they have to get in the room before they start knowing what it really is. It's really hard to describe, even though you've described what your experience was to your listeners. Until you do it, you really don't know. So that was my goal with Bionic was to create that. And then how I built in is I take a lot of psychotherapy tools that I have in my toolbox from my experience with therapy. And there's commonalities in the human condition. So some of the things we do, like writing the letter to somebody that you may not have forgiven, it is as a prompt to get you already thinking. And what we're doing is we're trying to weed out any low lying vibrations. And what most people don't know are the lowest vibrations that are stuck in the body. Lowest is shame. And shame is not even something that we control or do to ourselves. Shame is something that somebody else has made us feel. And that is the lowest vibration that gets stuck in our body. Next is guilt. Guilt is something that we did, but we can correct. Shame is you are bad. Guilt is you did something bad. And then grief and fear and these vibrations, these things are stuck in the body. The hardest one is grief too. That's why I bring up stuff and grief in the session, because once we know that we don't have to carry that around with us, we feel lighter and then it gets us out of functional freeze. And I feel like. when you have a license to allow yourself to release this regardless of what your circumstances were you know we're all adults now and it is our job to release this we may not get the answers we may not get The apologies, we may not get what we need to get. And once I realized that there's these commonalities, that's where I developed how the sessions are going to be led. But I use neuro-linguistic programming as well. But what's important is if I'm saying something that doesn't apply to you, your neurons aren't going to pick it up. So it doesn't matter. I don't really know when people come in and I have people in session, what their story is. So what I'm saying, if it applies to them and they need to work on it. then their neurons are going to pick it up. If it doesn't apply to them, it gets thrown away. And when we're able to access these memories, you can rewire and readapt. That's where the neuroplasticity comes in. So when I curated this method, I'm again, just using all of these tools that are common for the human condition. And I'm making it short enough that people are going to want to come and powerful enough, impactful enough that they're going to want to come back or tell their friends.
Speaker #1
Yeah, honestly. I would love to do it all the time.
Speaker #0
Yes, please. And people ask, how often should I do it?
Speaker #1
Yeah, how often?
Speaker #0
Yeah, it depends. If you're in active recovery from an addiction, then it's something that I feel like you can do daily. If you're just kind of working on things, it's a lot. I think breathwork is a daily practice. The style of breathwork is a lot on your body to do it daily. So it really just depends on what your goals are. Again, active addiction, I'd say, and I work with people that are coming right out of addiction. That's something we do daily and it's really powerful. And then everyday people, it just depends. Like life kind of, you might be getting through something and then something else comes up. So if you're really feeling highly in your sympathetic nervous system, waking up, stress, anxiety, stress hormones spiked, then that's a good idea to come back and do a session. So I'd say at most, probably most people would be good with once a week or once every two weeks, or maybe even once a month. If you're working on creativity, then anytime that you really want to get into your creative mind, breathwork is a great way to get there as well, because you're opening up this, you're going to see colors that you haven't seen, shapes, you're going to get ideas. So again, that's another benefit of breathwork. It's not all about releasing trauma and healing. It's also tapping in to a deep creative side, a deep side of spirituality and a deep connection to it. everything that you are. A lot of people also remember things like when I was a child, I liked doing this. I liked writing songs, but then they were conditioned to not write because they wanted to be a doctor or something. And then if they have that memory and they go back to it, it brings them real joy because that's more authentic than what they ever, they ended up into. So I don't know if I answered the question.
Speaker #1
I think you answered many questions that including the one I asked, but additional ones as well. You mentioned functional. freeze.
Speaker #0
Yes.
Speaker #1
What is that? And how can one know if they're in that? And how does breathwork help you come out of it?
Speaker #0
Easiest way to know if you're in functional freeze is if you know where you want to be, where you want to go, what you want to do, and you're not getting there, you're in functional freeze. That's as easy as that. There's a lot of reasons why we get in functional freeze. And a lot of it can be conditioning as well. We talk about trauma. There's big T trauma and there's little trauma, but trauma really isn't. the event, but it's how our body reacted to the event. So there could be things, maybe limiting beliefs. Perhaps I had limiting beliefs that I'm not good enough to be that. I'm not good enough to be up there being a breathwork facilitator, trying to heal other people when I'm not healed myself. So limiting beliefs can keep us in functional freeze, other types of condition. Perhaps somebody had a childhood where they didn't feel safe and they were always in a hypervigilance. you know, to keep themselves safe or shape-shifting or playing small. It could be scary for those types of people to all of a sudden put themselves out to do what they need to do. There's a lot of things, perfectionism, perfectionism could be a trauma response, you know, that you got rewarded or love when you did something perfectly. And if you feel like if you can't be perfect in what you're trying to do, you're going to stay in functional freeze because you're never going to be perfect. So there's a lot of ways we get in our own head on not becoming the people that we know we can become and then getting in a way of our own purpose. Other things with functional freezes, sometimes what you think you're supposed to be doing for your life's purpose isn't in alignment with your authenticity. So that will keep you in functional freeze because that's not what you're meant to be doing. That's what your mom wanted you to do or your dad wanted to do. So if you're not getting there, that is something that breathwork can help you redirect. And maybe in that sense, functional freeze is good because it's stopping you from going in a path that's not authentic to yourself. So the human body is just so amazing. it can also really hold us back from what we know. And I don't want people to get to their rocking chair moment and then have the regrets. You know, I don't want them to get all the way through their life and said, I wish I would have done this or I wish I would have done that. So Breathwork gives us the opportunity now to really know what we want to be doing authentically, you know, living for ourselves. And I also think that I get the feedback that a lot of people that... thought the big job or the big cars or the house was really what was important to them. But when they have those gratitude moments and I ask them to look at who's around, you know, and what made them the happiest, it's usually there's some place with their family or in nature. It's very rarely that they've got the Lambo and that's what really making them happy. It's inner work and we got to get rid of all the noise.
Speaker #1
Yeah. And you were so generous to share some of your personal experiences that led you to breathwork. You shared with me about a boating accident that you had with your sons where you almost lost your lives. And you wrote me this. This experience haunted me and created an unhealthy physiological response that I was finally able to clear through breathwork. Would you share a little bit about that? And I think something I think about a lot is like, can we ever actually heal? Like, is healing possible? Like, will I ever be like, I'm healed? It feels like it's ongoing, but I'm curious because you said you were able to clear it. So what does that mean?
Speaker #0
Thank you for bringing that up because that is really important. And it's an example that is really tangible. So if you think of something, whether it's big or small, and your body reacts to that, that is how you know it is living in your body and it's not cleared. So before I dealt with this accident. which was really traumatic. Anytime I thought about it or saw a big wave on TV or anything else, my nervous system would react as though I was back in that situation. So my endorphins, my adrenaline, my cortisol, everything would spike and I would get in survival mode again. Like I'm right there. But I knew that I'm not in danger. I'm in a movie theater. I'm safe. My body didn't know I was safe. And this was one example of one thing, but You can also use this example with anything else. You know, if you think about that person that wronged you and your body is having the, you get mad and your fists go up, that means it's not cleared. So I knew that this was something that was not cleared for me and creating undue stress on my body in moments where I really knew I was safe, but my body didn't know I was safe. So what happened, we were in Fiji and we were out at a surf break that was way out. And we had been going, we were in a village. We were helping the villagers with church and school this day. And my son was quite young at this time, but a big surfer. And he wanted to surf. It was our last day there. And he was just being kind of a bratty kid, you know, at that age and say, mom, we came, we had to help all these kids. And I didn't even get to serve. And I knew better than to go out that day because it was really choppy. But I gave in my mom guilt, you know, I was like, okay. So we went out there and the worst thing imaginable. happened. And we, we, a rogue wave came and knocked the entire boat over. The surfer boy was out surfing. So he wasn't on the boat, but my, my younger son was on it and it was really dramatic. We went all the way over. And then at the time you were underwater, the wreckage starts hitting you, you know, so you're getting hit. I didn't know which way was up or down. At some point I looked and I thought it was air, but it was water. So I took in more water. And I saw my life flash before my eyes. And I just thought, this is it. This is it. And I could just think about my sons at that moment. Finally, I was able to surface. And it's interesting. When I used to tell the story before I cleared it, I couldn't even get through the story. But now I can tell it because I know we survived. So that's a good thing. But when I did come up, we couldn't find my younger son for an extended period of time. And I thought we had lost him. And anybody's worst nightmare as a mother is losing a child. And it turns out he had found an air pocket. I just continued to relive that story in my head. It was taking up space in my head and my body, even though we were all safe for many, many years after. And so I intentionally wanted to clear that through breathwork. And that's where the neuroplasticity came in. It's like I can access that memory and rearrange the way that I was thinking about it. Now my body knows I survived and I'm safe and I'm not in danger. So I can even tell the story now, even though I see you getting emotional with the thought of the story, I can tell it knowing we're okay. And then my body knows I'm okay. And so I think that's the important thing. It doesn't have to be so dramatic. But anytime you think of something and your body has a physiological response. it's still there. Even if you, you know, somebody told you in the seventh grade that, you know, you're ugly or something like that. If you think of that moment and your body's reacting to that, that's a limiting belief that's sticking with you. And so that's a really good way of knowing, is this living with me? Is this taking up space? Is me holding on to, you know, this anger for something that somebody did to me? Is it impacting me? It's not impacting them. We already know that, but is it impacting me? And what can I do about it?
Speaker #1
Oh my gosh. The phrase you said, I know we survived, really stuck out to me. Because, wow, I never thought about the fact that whether you have a capital T trauma or lower T trauma, that sometimes your body and mind still feels like you're back there.
Speaker #0
Yeah.
Speaker #1
I think about that with some things I experienced in my 20s, you know. I took some big leaps in my 20s. And because they didn't go the way I thought they should. I think I've been reticent to like take similar leaps now because I felt that was so catastrophic. And my therapist has said to me, Lauren, you're a different person than you were back then. Like that's not the same situation you're in. But I feel like I'm like stunted back at like 23 feeling those failures. And so when you said, I know we survived, obviously it's a very different level than surviving a near-death experience. But I think my body almost like. categorize that as a part of my life is at risk right now.
Speaker #0
Yeah. I think your body doesn't know the circumstances. Your body's sympathetic nervous system is only going to react to what's been stored there. So again, there's not a differentiation between a big T trauma or a little T trauma or somebody saying something to you that impacted you in a certain way. But what really breathwork taught me is that I can take control of that now. And I don't have to let that rule my life. And I don't have to, even though that was really big, the little things I don't have to let ruin my life. And I have had little things that, you know, as we all do, like I said, when you're in the ring for this long, you're going to have to get beaten up a little bit. And I was waiting for apologies. I was waiting for other people to come and make it better. But you can't wait around. You've got to do it for yourself, you know? And I think that was one of the biggest benefits of breathwork is knowing that you are in control of your body. You're in control of your life and you're in control of how you walk through life. And nobody can take that away from you. So powerful.
Speaker #1
Hey, creative, if you love the show and it has meant a lot to you, could you do me a favor? Rate and review on Apple. Give it a review on Spotify. Share it with a friend. These things all make a major difference in a podcaster's life and in growing their show. I really want to build up this community of creatives who love, trust, and know themselves and love, trust, and deeply know others. So if you could do that and share the show with someone you care about, that would mean so much. All right. I love you. And when you are working on clearing a specific trauma that you've kind of gotten to the center of and you know this is something that's holding you back, it's still very alive in my body. Do you go into the breathwork session thinking, I want to work through this, or is it still best to kind of stay open?
Speaker #0
Yeah. As much as I would love to say, okay, Lauren, we're going to work on this and your body's going to work on that. It won't. So your body's going to know what to work on and eventually it will get there and may get there in a different path, but you'll eventually get there. So it's not like a talk therapy session where I'm like, Lauren, today we're going to talk about your childhood, age seven, your body's going to know what. comes up, but people often ask, like, am I going to feel re-traumatized if I'm working on this boating accident? Am I going to feel re-traumatized during it? And I don't know exactly why you don't, but I feel like there's two reasons just from my research and my science brain. One is that we are doing energetic releases. So I don't really have people come up to me after a class saying, Oh, I saw the guy in the yellow hat. that abused me when I was seven. It's not that specific. So you're not getting images of the actual event. And even with the boating accident, I didn't go back to be on the boat that day to clear it. It just cleared. And people often say, I just feel lighter. It's just not there anymore. So that's why I don't feel like we get re-traumatized during breathwork because it's not taking you back to that specific event. It's just clearing energetically. And my other reason is when we're activating different parts of our brain, like we talked about and deactivating certain. parts. Part of what happens in a psilocybin journey is that your amygdala, part of your brain that's responsible for fear. and pain and panic, that softened and kind of turned off a little bit. So I think if the same effect in breathwork is softening and kind of letting the amygdala go to sleep, then we're more open to readdressing these things so that we can deal with them in the body too. So I don't know, there's not scientific research. I'm very data-driven. And the problem with breathwork and psychedelic research right now is we're way behind. Good research takes time. Good science takes time. And because of what they did in the 70s, all of that stopped for decades. And it's only in the last five years that it's come to the forefront. So we are going to have more data on why people are able to heal through breathwork. The VA has sanctioned studies on having it treat PTSD very effectively. And not just like a numb out or a cover up. They're saying that once you do your breathwork, the PTSD doesn't come back. We are in a really exciting time that we have not been getting better as a society in mental health. As much as, you know, you'd like to say that these SSRIs were working, which is the class of drugs, antidepressants, anti-anxiety, nobody's getting better. Mostly when things don't work, you like to fail fast and pivot. But because it was so politicized, it was really hard to pivot and say, OK, maybe let's go back and see if psychedelics work or breathwork works. And then it's also really hard to. monetize.
Speaker #1
Well, because you actually are healing some of the things. So you're not keeping people on a hamster wheel just into perpetuity. And Terry, tell me, because it is Mental Health Awareness Month, how does breath work? I know you've given a lot of examples, but specifically, how does it work for people who have anxiety or depression or even PTSD or complex PTSD? What is it that, you know, from the research you've been looking at and from what you've witness that it does.
Speaker #0
So I think it's, again, treating symptoms, not only from one part of the body. So even the word mental health is, you know, even though there's not a uniformly adopted definition of mental health, it's still, it has a word mental in it. So we're treating brain disorders and things that are happening in your mind. And what you really have to do is now pay attention to the whole body because we're all connected. It's all connected. And I feel like symptomatically when you're treating a symptom. What's wrong is you're not seeing with every action, there's a reaction, right? And so I feel like with the mental health awareness, once we start treating the entire body and realizing that there is a connection there, there is a biological connection, a chemical connection, and a neurological connection. So when you're treating all three of these, like we do in breath work, then you're going to get a result. Stress anxiety that's in the body, it can create chronic pain. And that's not something I'm making up. It's true. And then it can create disease. It can create pathology. We are making ourselves sick because we are not treating the root cause of these things. So once we start using these modalities that treat the whole body, like breathwork, we're seeing the better results. And then people are able to, like you said, not be on the hamster wheel of continuing to do that, not numbing out, you know, they're able to live their life in a joyful way. And I think that's really what I'm loving about this trend towards looking at these different modalities. There's a lot of no cost modalities that are available to people that have stress and anxiety, cold therapy, walking in nature, breathing. You know, these are no cost and there's no barrier of entry. You don't have to have money. You don't have to live in a certain place, you know? So the more we can get that out there, I think that's our start to really being able to heal. And that's what I'd really like to see in mental health is a real urgency of treating everything and getting away. I've always had a healthy skepticism of big pharma and I'm not on that soapbox or anything, but I feel like it's great for some people, but not everybody needs to do that. And there's these different paths to joy, you know, and I just want to get that word out there.
Speaker #1
For sure. I think it's good to look at all of our options. I know I definitely have friends who, you know, feel that. the SSRIs they're on have been life-saving for them. And I think that's beautiful. And I've also known some people that didn't quite work for. And so the fact that there are options and there's like a bevy of options that they can try, I think is so beautiful. And for sure, no matter what your journey is, your body is part of healing, whatever things are playing out in your mental health arena. If you're not getting into your body, you're missing a big piece of the picture because it holds on to a lot for us.
Speaker #0
Yeah. It really does.
Speaker #1
Let's also talk about psychedelics because I know you're super passionate about that right now. And I'm super curious because I don't think I told you this, but the first time I wrote a song, like it was because I smoked too much pot. It was the second time I'd ever smoked pot. I smoked five hits off a water bong, hit the floor, and then I started freaking out. And I like made my good friend Michael Cleland hold my hand and walk all around Michigan State's campus with me. And then I sang every single thought I had for two hours straight. And I kept saying, this is the real me. This is the real me. Had no clue what I was talking about, but I just knew I was singing every thought I had. And then a week later, had never been able to figure out how to play guitar. And suddenly I was playing guitar. And then shortly thereafter, That was pot. So I can only imagine what a psychedelic can do.
Speaker #0
Yeah, I love that story. I do love that story. And it's really about getting out of your own way. So a lot of times with creatives. there's the blocks, right? You get creative blocks. And that's, again, your prefrontal cortex just taking over and being so fully developed. Sometimes you have to turn off your brain to open your mind. And when you open your mind, all this stuff comes flowing through. The prefrontal cortex is like a spigot. When it's turned off and then everything else kind of floods, then you get all these beautiful, creative things. So my passion for psychedelics, and I'm not somebody that really does psychedelics. The first time I ever did psilocybin was you a little over a year ago at a retreat that I was hired to do breath work. And I was a little bit in my head about it too, just because, you know, I grew up with the war on drugs and I was told drugs are bad. I'm not a drug person going into the retreat. I didn't even think I was going to do the journey, but I felt really safe with the provider and I did it. And I just had a beautiful, beautiful journey. And again, it was like that veil being kind of peeled back. And that was one where I saw all my ancestors and everything. And I just thought, wow, this is really beautiful. I know some journeys can get dark. Mine wasn't. But why I'm passionate about the work that's being done around psychedelics right now is in the healing realm. Big universities like Johns Hopkins are now dedicating time and money to the study of how this can help our mental health epidemic, our opioid epidemic, how it can help people with alcohol addiction, how it can help anorexia, how it might be tied to Alzheimer's. This field of medicine, you know, is exploding. And again, it was suppressed because of politics and the fact that this was a category one drug. And now we're kind of playing catch up. So my fascination with it is in that field, in the therapeutic field. And I do think it's going to be continuing to be more and more popular. Tim Ferriss, you know, he's part of the John Hopskin studies and he's put a lot of his own personal money into this study. MAPS has been on the board since the 80s and they continue to work to really get the stigma off of it so that we can start healing people with this type of therapy. And I think in a... therapeutic setting where you have a guided and you have a therapist there, it can be really powerful. And these are not addictive. So that's a big difference between some of the things we are doing that are addictive. So I do think that's where my passion is. I'm curious to see the data as to how this is really going to help people that are really suffering.
Speaker #1
Yeah, me too. Now, here's my question, Terry. How do you do mushrooms? Because it's still not legal in the United States. But I know a bunch of people who have done it and I would want to do it with a professional, a professional mushroom giver. No, but a professional practitioner. So like, how does one go about getting a hold of a psychedelic?
Speaker #0
Yeah. So some states now they're legal for therapeutic purposes. I think Oregon and Colorado, but most states they're decriminalized. So now if you were to go into your local dispensary and, you know, buy marijuana, Most dispensaries now have also mushroom products. It's decriminalized, but not fully legal. So people are using it recreationally now, which I'm sure they always were. I just wasn't in the room, but people are using it. But they're also, what's become really popular is the microdosing, which is what we're all hearing about. And people are just taking small bits of psilocybin to help improve their mood and help function. And some people are saying that. that's more effective than other types of things they had been doing pharmaceutically. If you wanted to take it in a therapeutic session, which is like a higher dose, then I would recommend everybody to be there with a guide, you know, because that's going to keep you safe and kind of guide your journey. The difference between breathwork and a psilocybin journey is breathwork can get you to the same place, but you can get off the ride. If you decide you're going to take two and a half grams of mushrooms, you're in it. for four hours, whether you want to be there or not. With breath work, you can decide that you want to get off the ride and you start breathing in and out through your nose and you can come out of it. Mushroom psilocybin will get you there even if you're resistant. With breath work, you need to do the work. So if somebody comes in the room and they're really resistant to it, and they're not going to breathe the way that I want them to breathe, they're not going to have the effect that I want them to have. So that's where the difference is. But I think that's why There's also contraindications. more contraindications to doing psilocybin than there are to breathwork. Breathwork, there are some contraindications, but not as many. So I say, if somebody really wants to take a journey like that, start with breathwork. And then if they want to go on and do psychedelic, just know, set in setting and know what you're getting into. If people are doing it recreational, great, whatever you want. But if you're wanting to go deep and clear trauma and rewire and readapt, then you're going to need a guide there that knows what they're doing.
Speaker #1
Yeah. Very much for me, like I'm intrigued by my dispensary having it potentially, but like I don't want to do it without somebody who can help me because I know what I experienced with breathwork. So I can only imagine what a therapeutic dose of a mushroom is going to do. So I definitely think for you listening, I feel like all my little creative cuties are sensitive like me. Definitely try the breathwork first. And then if you're going to go for the mushroom, if you want to do it for healing, do it with practitioner. So did you say you did a retreat? Would you recommend that retreat you did?
Speaker #0
Yeah, I do. I do. She does wonderful retreats. So these retreats are mainly not in the US, but mine was in Costa Rica. And it was with OM Yoga. And again, I had never done a psychedelic in my entire life before I got there. And it was just a really beautiful journey. And we actually did two. So we did psilocybin and then breathwork. So they all kind of worked together. But some people during the The psilocybin journey did have some dark stuff come up. And I'm not qualified for that. I'm qualified to be a breathwork facilitator. I was there with a facilitator, a shaman that is qualified. So I recommend if you are going to do that, don't just try to do it with your friends. It could be fun, but you never know. So be smart about it. But one of the beautiful things that people report back on in psychedelics, especially when it comes to creativity, is that you do feel a heightened sense of creativity. And some people will come off and write a whole song or unleash things that they've been holding back on. you Again, I'm not an expert on that stuff. I am passionate about the possibility of the healing benefits of it. And I've seen, you know, people come into the creative part. But again, it's everybody's going to have to make their own decision on that one. Try breathwork first.
Speaker #1
Bionic breathwork. Can't recommend it enough. So speaking of which, you have been so generous to offer to do a little breathwork session with us today to give people a little peek of what you do. And I'll let you introduce it because I know it's a specific thing, but I'm so excited.
Speaker #0
We've been talking this whole podcast about a certain style of healing breath work, which I can't really do on air right now because it's not safe. We would go into a non-ordinary state of consciousness. And if you're driving, if you're walking, if you're working out, not safe to do that. And we can't really get the benefit in a short period of time. So what I'm doing, I had mentioned that daily breath work could be really good. to get you into your parasympathetic if you're having stress or anxiety or you have a big meeting or something like that. And there's two styles of this daily breath work that I wanted to share with you and your listeners. Very simple. Anybody can do it. And again, very simple. So I'm going to start with what is known as the box breath or box breathing. And what we do in the box breath, it's going to be in and out through our nose. We're going to make it an equal box. So kind of visualize a box as I'm doing it. And we're going to inhale for five seconds and then hold for five seconds, exhale for five seconds, hold for five seconds. If you can't do five, you can do four. But I don't know if you're familiar with the James Nestor book. He's done all this research and he said the ideal breath pace is five and a half seconds. So I try to aim for that.
Speaker #1
Let's be ideal.
Speaker #0
Yeah, let's be ideal. And then we'll do the second one, which has been proven to be the most effective breath work to calm yourself down. But this one's the most simple one. So let's go ahead and inhale through our nose. Hold for 5, 4, 3,
Speaker #2
2, exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold, 2, 3, 4, 5. Inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hold, 2, 3, 4, 5. Exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. five, good. And hold four, three, two, five. Beautiful. It's as simple as that.
Speaker #1
That's so cool. I have a question. I always get stressed out when I have to hold my breath. Tell me why that's good. It calmed down by the second time, but the first time I have to hold my breath whenever I do that, it stresses me out. Tell me about that.
Speaker #0
Yeah. So it is really good to improve your heart rate variability by trying to control your breath like this, but It's again, a survival response. So when you're holding your breath and not being able to breathe, that means like when the CO2 in your body builds up, your automatic response is to exhale, but you're not allowing yourself to do that. So you're going against what your body is naturally meant to do. And it takes a while to kind of override that because again, your body's always in a survival mode and trying to keep you safe. And so that doesn't feel safe. So again, just keep working on it. And then. When people get panic attacks, you always hear people say, just breathe, just breathe. The reason why they do it, and it's better to do it before you get too panicky. But the reason is like when you are taking control again of an automatic function, taking control of your breath, you are in control of your body and your body's response. So that is why that is really important is for people that are feeling stress, anxiety, or panic to take control. And when you're thinking about your breath and counting, you can't think about the million other things that are stressing you out. So that one's really effective. Again, that response is your body is taught to exhale when CO2 builds up and you're not exhaling when your body is supposed to exhale. And that's why at the beginning, you might feel a little panic. Then it's your survival instincts.
Speaker #1
All right. Good to know. I'm on track.
Speaker #0
Okay. And then the second one is the cyclic sigh. And that one has been proven to be the quickest in balancing you back to your parasympathetic nervous system. And what it is, it's going to be two. quick breaths through your nose and then a long exhale after. So it goes like this. Beautiful. So it's a really quick, simple tool.
Speaker #1
For some reason, breathing out through my mouth always makes me feel more calm because I can actually picture the breath like going through my body.
Speaker #0
We are most of the time supposed to be breathing in and out through our noses, but there are times again, when we're trying to control things that the mouth breathing is really important. And like, as you mentioned in bionic, that was kind of weird for you. It's all through your mouth. And that is designed because we're trying to Thank you. create a physiological change in the body. If we just breathe like we normally would, then we're not going to make that change. You have to do something different than you would normally do to effectuate change with everything in life. So same with breathing. That's why I'm pushing you during the class and the first two songs are really hard, but I'm like, you can do this because what's on the other side is really beautiful.
Speaker #1
Yeah. And I just want to say one thing about the class. If you can, I would say your first time doing it in a group setting. it was really, really special because some of the people, like I could just hear how brave they were being and it helped me feel more brave. Like I actually like there were people who were like sobbing and then I like started connecting to their experience too and started like sobbing with them. And then I was like, oh wait, no, I got to come back. But it was really nice to be with them for a while and like resonate. And I'll never know who that person was that I was like holding their pain with them, but it felt like an honor and really beautiful. And like, an equal release for me that I got to be with them on that journey and then come back to what I was feeling.
Speaker #0
I love that. That says so much about you just as a person that you're holding space for others as you're going on your journey. And I was glad that you and your boyfriend weren't able to be together because sometimes what happens is, especially if you have the nurturer in you, you may have heard him having a release and then you might come out of it to want to go nurture him. I tried to split up. parents, couples, anything for that reason, because we don't want to soothe. Yes. We want this to come out and heal. And it's a purge. So if you're there soothing and you're, you're feeling the pain of them going through what they're going through, it takes away from what they're doing. So when you guys came in, I was actually really glad that you had to split up and I don't know how his journey ended up being, but he was such a beautiful man. I felt there was something very special about him and the two of you together that I did not. forget him either.
Speaker #1
Oh, Terry, that makes me so happy. Yeah, he had a really beautiful experience too. And you know, obviously, he was in the relationship with me still is. And so he was, you know, feeling that kind of point we were at, we're trying to figure out how we're going to move forward. And it's interesting, because despite being apart, he had the exact same realization as me. He realized he also needed to heal around love itself, and that it wasn't about me. I don't know. I don't know if we would have. been gifted that if we had been right next to each other, because I would have maybe felt embarrassed about the way I was releasing. I could see the same thing happening with him. The caretaking would have come out in us. So you know what you're doing. I've done breathwork a few times since then. And I will always think this one was most special. And I can't wait until the next time I get to work with you again, because it truly is a life changing experience. If you listening, get the opportunity, please, please work with Terry. do a workshop and then tell them how they can work with you. And if you have any workshops coming up.
Speaker #0
Yeah. Thank you for saying that. So I think we decided that we're going to link a session, right? A Zoom session. So they're going to get a taste of what we do. Again, when you're doing it at home, recorded Zoom session, it's not the same as going in the room. So I recommend, whether it's with me or somebody else, if you can get to an in-person session, and like you were saying to the collective energy of the room. really helps too, but that's going to give them a kind of a sneak peek. And then I do retreats all over the world. I do trainings and I do in-person classes. So everything is linked. The easiest way is in at my website, bionicbreathwork.com or my Instagram has a link tree and I'm kind of all over the place. So my goal is to spread this benefits of breathwork far and wide in that sense. I'm creating all these soldiers that are out there teaching the method. And that's really where my focus is right now is on the training so that I can get more people out there and getting the word out. I've just been really lucky to have really great people come through their training and they're out there teaching. And that's what we need. We all need more, more breath work, I think.
Speaker #1
Wow. Maybe I'll do that with you someday.
Speaker #0
Yes, please. I would love to have you in a training anytime. I think you would be an amazing facilitator. You've got all the tools. You've just got the most. pure energy, I think you would be an amazing facilitator.
Speaker #1
Well, that is an honor coming from you. And I feel the same way about you. You're so encouraging and loving and yourself in all settings. And you hold so much space for people and you see them. And you're not afraid to step out yourself. And I just feel really, really honored to get to share you, your wisdom, your methodology, and just who you are with my beautiful listeners. So thank you for being here and for all that you shared today. You are a gift.
Speaker #0
You're going to make me cry now. Thank you so much. Thanks for the opportunity.
Speaker #1
My pleasure and honor and creative cutie listening resonate on this dream and this vision that Terry had so that she can spread this incredible healing to the world even more. I know you will. Terry, I feel like I want to say this with you. Every time I end an episode, I tell my listeners I love them and I believe in them. Would you say it with me?
Speaker #0
A hundred percent.
Speaker #1
Okay, here we go. To you, my sweet listener. Terri and I want you to know I love you.
Speaker #0
I love you.
Speaker #1
And I believe in you.
Speaker #0
And I believe in you.
Speaker #1
Thank you, Terri.
Speaker #0
Thank you.
Speaker #1
Thank you for listening and thanks to my guest, Terri Mosley. For more info on Terri, follow her at Bionic Breathwork and visit her website, bionicbreathwork.com to learn more about her work and how you can take her workshop or even work with her one-on-one. Thanks Rachel Fulton for helping edit and associate produce this episode. Follow her at Rachel M. Fulton. Thanks to Liz Full for the show's theme music. Follow her at Liz Full. And again, thank you. If you like what you heard today, remember to rate, review, and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share the show with a friend and post about it on social media. Tag me at Lauren LaGrasso and at Unleash Your Inner Creative, and I will repost to share my gratitude. Also tag the guests at Bionic Breathwork so they can share as well. My wish for you this week is that you explore the depths of your emotional and physical well-being, finding peace, clarity, and joy in the process. You are not alone in the simple act of breathing intentionally can be a powerful tool for transformation and growth. I love you. And I believe in you. Talk with you next week.

About Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LoGrasso (A Creativity Podcast)

New episodes are out every Thursday - follow, rate and review wherever you get your podcasts :)

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Unleash Your Inner Creative with Lauren LoGrasso (A Creativity Podcast)

New episodes are out every Thursday - follow, rate and review wherever you get your podcasts :)

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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