Breathwork for Highly Sensitive People with Jana McKinny

Jana McKinney, the driving force behind getlivingfit.com, is a dedicated advocate for mental, physical, and energetic health. With a diverse skill set encompassing breathwork, physiology, nutrition, and life coaching, Jana is committed to helping individuals unlock their full potential and find balance in all aspects of their lives. Through her expertise in breathwork techniques, she guides individuals in harnessing the power of their breath to reduce stress, increase mindfulness, and enhance overall well-being. As a compassionate life coach, she empowers individuals to overcome obstacles, set meaningful goals, and create lasting positive change.

Today Jana shares how breathwork can be beneficial specifically for empaths and highly sensitive people. She shares a few breathing techniques as well as some of the science around breathwork. If you've been curious about this simple technique that is taking the world my storm, listen in!

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Transcript

0:17

Well, hello and welcome back. Today. I am interviewing Janet McKinney here on the show. She is a breathwork facilitator and we just finished recording and I wanted to get on here and rerecord my intro for her because I just want to tell you guys, I can't even believe how much more relaxed I am. After just doing a few short exercises with her. I didn't realize that I was stressed when we first started. But I did notice how much more relaxed I was at the end of our interview. If as you're listening and you're learning these different breathing techniques, and you're not quite sure what it is that she is explaining. I just want to remind you that there is also a video on YouTube. And so if you're a little bit confused as to what it is that she's explaining, you can come over and watch for the visual over on YouTube. But I do think she does a very good job explaining. And so you should be able to kind of figure it out if you're just listening. But if you are a visual person, come on over to YouTube and check it out there. All right. And with that, here is Jana McKinney.

MaryAnn: 1:18

Well, hello and welcome back. I am so excited for today. I have Jana McKinney with me today. Hello, Jana. Hi, I'm so excited to be here. Okay, so Jana is the driving force behind Get Living fit.com. She's a dedicated advocate for mental, physical, and energetic help with diverse skillset, encompassing breath work, physiology, nutrition, and life coaching. Jana is committed to helping individuals to unlock their full potential and find balance in all aspects of their lives. Through her expertise in breathwork techniques, she guides individuals into harnessing the power of their breath to reduce stress, increase mindfulness, and enhance overall well being. As a compassionate life coach, she empowers individuals to overcome obstacles, set meaningful goals, and create lasting, positive change. Oh, Jana, I am so excited for today. I can't even tell you. And I'm also going to add that at the time that this episode drops, then it's going to The largest energy healing conference in the world where Jana and I are both presenting. So if you are going to be at the conference, come in, say hello. I am so excited to meet you in person. It's going to be great. Yes, that

Jana: 2:31

is such a great event. And I, I love every time they host it and I meet so many good people. So I'm excited.

MaryAnn: 2:38

Yeah. Awesome. Well, to get started, then, can you please start by telling us a bit about breathwork? And specifically, I'm curious how it can benefit empaths and highly, highly sensitive people. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Jana: 2:50

Yeah, so breathwork is just like it sounds. It's breathing, but in a way that is controlled and on purpose, putting intention behind your breath. And so I've found that for intuitive or empathetic people, highly sensitive people, Breathwork is super powerful because it actually helps you tap into your own knowledge. Because I know for empaths, I'm, I'm M1 as well. You start to take on other people's energies and then you start to confuse if it's yours or theirs, right? So using the breath to kind of solidify that line of what's yours and what's theirs. is hugely powerful. I've used Breathwork to actually find out who I really am, and that's how I actually figured out I was an empath, was by doing Breathwork, because I was like, Whoa! Once I get clear on who I am, then the rest kind of dissipated and I realized a lot of that other stuff wasn't mine.

MaryAnn: 3:53

Hmm. Yeah. I love that idea of using breath work to differentiate self and to really identify. Okay. Cause once you do know who you are, it does make it a lot easier to sort through, okay, is this mine? Is this somebody else's what's happening for me? Am I just overstimulated by everything happening outside of me and really turning inward? So yeah. Thank you for sharing that.

Jana: 4:14

And then the breath also, not only does it help you figure out who you are, then the more you do breath work, it actually helps build your aura and your energetic field. And so it kind of pushes out your aura, which then creates a boundary as well. So then not only do you know who you are, But it forces, um, your energetic makeup out as like a bubble around you so that you aren't picking up as much, uh, from other people, unless you choose to, right. As an empathic, it's a huge gift and it's lovely to be able to use it when you want, but you can also have that bubble to be like, Hmm, I'm not even picking up anyone else's stuff because I'm so sure of myself.

MaryAnn: 4:53

Oh, so good. Yes. Because it's so good to know how to actually verbalize your physical boundaries, but to really set those energetic boundaries as well can help us to just stay in that clean place, show up more confidently and yeah, just show up in our own strength, right?

Jana: 5:08

Yeah. So powerful.

MaryAnn: 5:10

Yeah. So what are some of the key principles behind breath work that really make it effective for, um, first of all, helping us to calm the nervous system. Let's talk a bit about that. The physical impact.

Jana: 5:20

Yeah, so the physical impact is what the thing I lean into the most, because breathwork is very physical, emotional, and spiritual. But the physical part, there's so much scientific backing showing this stuff that I'd love to, I'd love to talk about it. So, the, not, Okay. Where do I start? There's on your nervous system. We've got their parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous system, right? And so the sympathetic is your fight or flight response. And so we do breath work. We can actually, it depends on which type of breath work. I maybe should have gone into that first, but if we do, um, a calming breath type of breath work, it actually decreases that sympathetic nervous system. And Turns on the parasympathetic nervous system and that happens through a multiple ways. There's first of all, the, the vagus nerve runs from the back of your brain and that 10th cranial nerve goes down through your larynx, goes down all the way into your digestive system. And through that, um, the diaphragm, which is the big muscle that controls those big belly breaths. And so since that vagus nerve runs through the larynx and the diaphragm, every single time we take an active breath where we're, you know, really working the larynx area and then really working that diaphragm area, our belly's moving in and out. It's actually stimulating that vagus nerve, toning it. Making it stronger so that, and that vagus nerve is in control of the parasympathetic nervous system, the rest and digest that calming side. So the more we stimulate it, it actually makes it so we are better at calming ourselves down naturally. It just kind of happens quicker and easier by toning that vagus nerve. Through breath, and then not only that, then also through when we breathe correctly through our nose, we are triggering that parasympathetic nervous system as well, because the sympathetic nervous system is Triggered by our mouth. So many of us walk around day to day and we're just kind of breathing through our mouth or we're sleeping with our mouth open where we're talking a lot like we do on these podcasts and we are breathing in through our mouth and that breath into the mouth literally is telling our body we're in a stress state. Like if we were running from a tiger we would open our mouth so we could get as much oxygen as we can. To run fast. Right.

MaryAnn: 7:46

But

Jana: 7:46

in our day to day life, when we breathe through our mouth, it's literally triggering that stress response. And so it's making us more in that fight or flight, more tension in our body, all of those things that really are not conducive to a healthy life. So as we close our mouth, start breathing through our nose, it actually calms us down. And there's some energy centers right on the inside of our nose called noddies that are responsible for that calming response and helping us get into the parasympathetic nervous system, rest and digest. And I'm like, what else? There's so many other, there's so many other different things. Just as we slow our breath down, it includes it in turn actually is calming our nervous system down as well. So there's so many different physical factors contributing to Thank you. You're really healing our nervous system just by controlling our breath.

MaryAnn: 8:43

I love hearing that because I think that we're a lot more aware of other symptoms in the body of stress, right? Like I noticed that my shoulders get tight or my jaw gets tight And thinking about the breath. I know it has impact right? Sometimes i'll just realize i'm breathing more shallow and And so that's really fascinating to hear how it really does impact you in that physiological way of, okay, it's okay to relax. It's okay. Calm down. And thinking about that in terms of stress management, what I worked as a reflexologist for years, they said, yeah, like 90 percent of disease is caused by stress. It causes that weakened immune system. And so these little things. Who knew? I mean, all of us are breathing, right? We're still here. We're still breathing. And that that can have such a significant impact on our levels of stress or relaxation, depending on how we use it is pretty cool to think that we have that much control over it.

Jana: 9:38

Yeah. And there's so many other different factors too, that I didn't, I just, as you were talking, I'm like, Oh my gosh, there's also the fact that the nitric oxide that comes through our nose is a vasodilator that then also relaxes us more. And then there's also the fact when we, when you said breathing in through your chest, um, shallow little breaths. That actually, um, causes it. So we're not getting as much carbon dioxide turnover. And if we're not used to carbon dioxide, we're trying to get rid of it too quickly and carbon dioxide is actually a vasodilator, which makes everything kind of open up a little bit so that there's less tension in the body, less tension in the blood flow and everything. And so, yeah, it's like so much of our health is. Impacted by stress and we can shift it simply by just something we're doing all day, every day.

MaryAnn: 10:31

So can you think of any specific examples or stories from your practice or from your personal life where breathwork has really helped somebody?

Jana: 10:40

Yeah. Yeah. I tons. In fact, I'm actually trying to get started my own podcast, just sharing these stories. Cause there's so many where it's been changing lives. So, um, let's see, let's I'll, let's I'll, I think I can think of three off the top of my head that would be fun to share. So the first one is, was one of my students that she was just coming to my group classes. So she would come maybe once a month and maybe six times. And around the sixth or seventh time, she said, I have to tell you something. And so she, you know, I kind of give her the floor because there's about a group of 12 people, all of us together. And she said, I, she's like, you know, I've been struggling with my health and I've been going to this functional doctor and she was like, I got these labs done, you know, months and months ago, but then kind of just decided to do breath work. The doctor said I could really benefit from breath work. So she's like, I didn't change my nutrition. I didn't start any medication. All I've been doing is coming to your classes once a month. And she was like, I went back and got my labs done again. And they're all back into normal range. And so, yeah, just by, Controlling her breath once a month. And I always teach in my classes, some things you can do at home and like the proper way to breathe. But the big effect was these breath journeys, which we can talk about kind of what those are a little later, but these once a month breath work journeys literally helped her relieve tension in her body and let go of maybe the. Some memories or trauma that had been held in her body that was causing physical illness. And that was the only change she made in her labs were back to normal. So that one's a really cool story because it's all about physical, right?

MaryAnn: 12:31

That is miraculous, right? I mean, that's exactly what we're just talking about, about the impact of stress on the body and illness, but to see it in the labs, to see it show up, like you said, from one month of group practice, and I'm sure she was doing some things on her own at home, but wow. Yeah.

Jana: 12:47

Yeah, it was a few months. But yeah, yeah. Once a month is powerful.

MaryAnn: 12:53

Oh, now I can't wait to hear the other two. What else happened? Okay.

Jana: 12:56

So then, so then another story, which this one is, um, one of my favorites is this. I, I was going to a doctor and she's like, can I just start sending people to you? And I was like, of course, of course you can. And so she messages me and says, Hey, I've got this, this young man who could really benefit from a session with you. Can I give him your number? So she, I say, of course, and he makes an appointment with me. And we did a one on one session. I have a home studio. And so we did a one on one session of breath work and a little bit of hands on Reiki. And, but the breath is, I feel like the powerful part in the story. Um, so he comes in and he's telling me that he is, Wanting to unalive himself. Like he's having tons of suicidal thoughts. He hates his life. He's an outsider in his family. He's not getting along with friends. He's, you know, been on every depression medication, every anxiety medication. And that's kind of why the doctor sent him to, she's like, we've tried. Everything.

MaryAnn: 14:00

Yeah.

Jana: 14:00

And so he, and he was probably like 22, maybe. So he's still pretty young, but just struggling in life and his whole family didn't know what to do, but also they were really hard on him as well. And so I, we did this one session and, um, this breath works. Journeys, these like one on one sessions or the group classes, we basically do this one breath over and over for over an hour. And it puts him in an altered state of consciousness. And during that time, you kind of get these aha moments. It's like the ego mind is able to step to the side and your higher self comes in with your answers. So I'm not giving him any answers. At all. I'm just coaching him through the breath, being there, holding space for him and educating him. And, you know, through the breath, he's crying. He's screaming. He's just letting go of all these old feelings and emotions and traumas during this simple breath pattern. And then, um, Once the breath is over, we kind of talk about it and I teach him the proper way to breathe. Like, okay, here's how I want you to breathe from now on. I want you to pay attention to the way you're breathing, what comes up during the day and what shifts your breath. Based on, you know, stressful events or exciting events. And that was it. That was all we did. And, um, he came and found me probably maybe three or so months later, I was at an event and he had seen me post that I was going to be somewhere. So he comes in with a friend and he comes just like bouncing through the doors and it's just like, hi, hi, hi. Just totally different child than I, Yeah. Seen before, right? Just so energetic and just smiley and he's just like, I had to come tell you how I've been doing. He's like, I have totally shifted. I'm happy. He's like, I have purpose in life. I've started school. I'm excited for life. I've had this girlfriend now I'm, and I'm just Whoa. We just did one session, bud.

MaryAnn: 16:04

And

Jana: 16:04

he was just like, I know he's like, but I got the answer that higher self, that answer came to him about, you know, maybe what was holding him back and what was making him feel that he didn't love this life. And he found that purpose and just one session plus learning the proper way to breathe. I feel like helped him keep the anxiety at bay because breathing the wrong way can cause anxiety actually. So

MaryAnn: 16:30

yeah,

Jana: 16:30

I think those two things. It's really made a huge change in just one session.

MaryAnn: 16:36

That is incredible. And to see that contrast, to see so much life jumping down the aisle to come and say hello. And then I love that you said, yeah, I didn't even have to really, you know, coach him through I took him on his breathing, but the, what you saw happening was, yep, ego can step to the side so that he could receive what it was. That he needed. I think we all have that inner wisdom within us. We all know what it is that we need deep down, but we just have to clear it out a little bit, clear out the cobwebs so that we can see things more clearly, see our purpose, find our joy.

Jana: 17:07

Yeah. And I truly believe that we really are our own healers and breath gives us that ability to do just like you said, clear out those cobwebs, find our own answers. So. Yeah.

MaryAnn: 17:17

That is beautiful. Oh, I'm loving these stories. I'm so glad to hear that you're doing your own podcast so that we can hear even more. I know. And like,

Jana: 17:23

but it won't even just be me talking, like I'm going to interview them because you don't hear it from the source, from the people. So yeah. So then my last one that I'm thinking of is, um, one of my students. So I teach a breath work facilitation certification course so people can become certified to, you know, help others with breath work as well. And this student, she was about in her, I think 45 ish Mm-Hmm. And she was, you know, working a corporate job and, you know, working for someone else. So she's just like, I know eventually I'm gonna retire and I wanna find something to do to retire when I retire. And why not? Help myself while I'm at it. Cause she'd come to some of my classes, you know, and, and felt the power of breath work. And so after she, you know, went through the certification program, cause it's 200 hours, it's lots of breath. It's lots of education and science and it's pretty in depth. And so finally, after about six to nine months of her doing this course with me, um, she gets certified and then she's off teaching other people breath work and. Then finally she reached out to me and she just said, you know, I've just got to let you know, cause I thought she was doing fine this whole time. She seemed great. But she's like, I've just got to let you know how this has changed my life. She's like I was struggling in my marriage. I was struggling with self worth. I was hating my job. I was, you know, just really not living a happy life. And she's like, but by going through the course, she's like, I've found confidence. I've found purpose. She's like, I've made a whole bunch of new friends within this little circle community of breathwork facilitators. And she's like, and now I am being able to help other people. And she's facilitating, you know, these classes on the weekends and stuff. And she's like, I'm ready to actually quit my job. I'm not going to wait until I retire now, because now this can. You know, it's, it's make me feel like I have purpose and can pay the bills. And so, you know, there's, I feel like that happens with a ton of my students, but it was just so fun to hear that, like, I didn't even know you were struggling before. So thank you for finally like sharing that, how it changed every part of your life. So,

MaryAnn: 19:40

yeah. And didn't just change her life, but inspired her to become a practitioner so that she could help other people as well.

Jana: 19:47

Yeah. Yeah. And it's just that beautiful ripple effect. As we do our own work, then we're able to, you know, help others who alone help others. And it's just like this ripple of changing the world. Really? I think.

MaryAnn: 20:00

Yeah. Well, I know that I'm wondering, and I'm sure that all my listeners are wondering, like, can you give us some practical like techniques that we could start doing now? And also before you teach us some basic techniques, uh, are there anything that they need to know Forehand, like, do they need to stop driving? Can they do this? Like eyes open, eyes closed. Like, what do they need to do in order to start a practice?

Jana: 20:20

Yeah. So I always teach three different ways to heal through breath work. And within those three ways, there's a whole bunch of different techniques, but the first way to heal your body, mind, and soul through breath work is, um, awareness, just knowing the right way to breathe, being aware if you are breathing correctly or not. So I'd love to teach you that first.

MaryAnn: 20:42

That'd be wonderful.

Jana: 20:42

The second way. Is, um, like a daily practice, having something, some type of breath practice that you can work on daily to improve your respiratory system, to help heal that nervous system and train your body, the, you know, it's like lifting weights, but for the breath. And so the more you do it and challenge that respiratory system, then it's easier to breathe the right way the rest of the day, that daily practice. And then the third way I'll think I'll teach you guys is. Well, I really can't teach, we don't have time to do it, but I'll kind of explain is these breathwork journeys. And that's kind of what I was talking about with those two first people we gave examples of like hour to two hour practices of journey that you can do maybe once a week, once a month.

MaryAnn: 21:29

So

Jana: 21:30

those are the three ways. And if you can kind of fit those three ways into your life, huge changes happen. So let's talk about the first one.

MaryAnn: 21:38

Yes, please.

Jana: 21:39

So, so to do the proper way to breathe. I kind of mentioned this earlier, but it's through your nose. Okay. We want to close that mouth as much as we can morning and night and really try and be inhaling in through the nose. And then we're going to be directing that breath. I'm going to show you move my camera. You can see my belly hair. Oh, it's dark. You can kind of see my belly, but you're going to be breathing into that belly. So really extending it, letting it come out and then also into the diaphragm moving outward to the sides as well. So I like the easiest way to show it is to kind of put your hands on your belly, on your sides like that. And then as you breathe in through your nose. I didn't think about cameras on this. There we go. So that you can see I'm breathing into my nose and really filling up this belly. You're just going to go. And so you should be able to see your fingers move forward and your hands move out. And it just should be nice and slow. The slower we breathe, the better it is for us. Okay. So slow through the nose. And so let's do maybe five more of those and I'll just kind of count it. So it's nice and slow. So we'll go in through the nose and then one, two. 3, 4, 5, and then out through the nose. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Let's keep going in through the nose. One, two. We're gonna stretch it out even further. 4, 5, 6, 7. Then out through the nose. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. One more into the nose. 4, 5, 6, 7, out through the nose, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. So that's just the proper way to breathe. And part of being aware is just noticing when you shift out of that. Let's say. You know, something stressful is happening at work. And all of a sudden you start noticing you're breathing up into your chest or you're holding your breath, or they're just little shallow breaths, or you're talking a lot and you're breathing in and out through your mouth.

MaryAnn: 24:08

And

Jana: 24:08

so once you notice that's happening, bring it back to that proper way. I noticed for me, when I'm like doing detailed work, like if I'm painting something small, or I'm really having to focus. that I will start breathing really shallow. And so it's like, Oh, bring it back, try and breathe nice and slow, big, deep into that belly, and that really will help. That's one of the biggest things really for overall health.

MaryAnn: 24:31

Yeah. Well, and it was interesting just to experience that and to see that it was, it was equal parts of inhale and exhale. I know for me, sometimes I'll get talking so much that I feel like I'm gasping to bring it in. And so, so that's really interesting for me. You know, I know I know homeschooled my kids, then we kind of thought about, okay, well, we want education and play and everything to have that inhale and that exhale to create that balance. Right. And so having those outward movements, but also being very intentional about the inward But to just use your breath to help you gauge that, to say, okay, so in conversation, you know, am I, what's the flow and the balance like there, or when I'm exercising, am I making space to actually inhale? And, and so all of the implications of just creating that balance and that being such a mindfulness practice, in addition to the physically breathing in and out, like, there's just so much there. I love it.

Jana: 25:29

Where we're either breathing too fast, or like I said, through the mouth,

MaryAnn: 25:32

which

Jana: 25:32

then totally. It changes our, um, blood dynamics as well, the oxygen and pH pH because of the oxygen and carbon dioxide balance. And so it's just like you said, being able to balance that breath in and out actually balances our pH, which helps us be a healthier person as well.

MaryAnn: 25:52

That is amazing.

Jana: 25:54

Yeah. So yeah. Being mindful. That's the biggest one. The breath awareness. So then second technique, I'll show you which one do we want to teach you today? Um, let's do just alternate nostril breathing. It's so simple, but I feel that it's very helpful. So, um, remember how I said earlier that it's important to be able to tolerate some carbon dioxide to be able to be healthy because it is. It's actually good for us. And so with this, we're going to do a little bit of a hold to get used to keeping some of that carbon dioxide in us for a minute. And so what we're going to do, you can use your finger like this, you can use your thumb, but a very common way to do it is to put two fingers on your forehead and then use your thumb to block a nostril.

MaryAnn: 26:35

Mm hmm.

Jana: 26:36

And then you're just going to breathe in through one nostril at a time. And so it's going to go in and you're gonna breathe in. And then once you get, you want to envision kind of like a rainbow of light. So I envisioned the light of air coming into one nostril. And once we get up here, we hold it. So we're holding our breath and then we're exhaling through the opposite side. Does that make sense? And so then. From there, we can then inhale through the same side, hold it, and then exhale through the opposite side. So it's just like this, um, this rainbow going back and forth, side to side, but we're breathing through one nostril at a time. And that hold is really important as well. Okay. So the, the point of this is it's really stimulating those energy centers I was talking about in the nostrils. And then the hold is helping with our, um, carbon dioxide tolerance. And when you're doing it, make sure you're really breathing into that belly as well, so that we're stimulating the vagus nerve through the diaphragm. Okay, so you can put your finger there and then you're going to breathe in through one side nice and slow very slow in And now we're going to hold and then nice and slow out through the other side. Okay now in Let's see. I'm trying to think if I need to be calling sides for you. So let's breathe. This is my right So let's breathe in through our right and when you're breathing into the opposite side You can use this other finger to kind of pinch off the other nostril. So in through the right Okay Nice and slow. Now hold, switch your fingers and out through the left. Now we're going to breathe in through the left, slow, hold at the top, switch your fingers. Now breathe out through the right and breathing in through the right, hold at the top, switch your fingers and out through the left. Okay, so you can repeat that one for maybe like two minutes or five minutes and you'll notice how balanced and calm you feel after that one. Like, everyone needs to try that, even though it's kind of funny, if it's weird to do the fingers, you can do it like this, this,

MaryAnn: 29:08

but

Jana: 29:08

just having that practice, it gives you your mind something to think about like, Oh, which side am I on? Where am I going with this? And so it really helps kind of clear your mind of any of the daily stresses. Plus you get all those benefits that we talked about from the breath itself.

MaryAnn: 29:24

Yeah. Yeah. So good. And are there any specific times of day or situations where it can be particularly effective?

Jana: 29:33

Well, first of all, what I love about breath is it can be done any time of day because you always have it with you. It's not like you have to like, Oh, I got to go get my weights to work out. Like you always your breath. So it can be done any time of day, but that one specifically is so great for the morning just to get yourself like starting on a very balanced foot.

MaryAnn: 29:53

Um,

Jana: 29:53

it's very cortisol levels because we're in a fasted state and this is the our blood sugar and cortisol. Work out over the night, we wake up with high cortisol levels. So being able to do some calming and grounding exercises. First thing in the morning is a great way to start. And then I would also use it anytime you need some calming. So if you are going to do a big presentation or you're about to take a test, do this breath. It's so good for bringing you back to center. And then when we're calm, we can remember what we were going to talk about or the answers to that test.

MaryAnn: 30:31

Mm hmm. Yeah, because it's interesting even just doing it for those few breaths with you. It's really interesting for me to observe how relaxed my whole body is. And that was such a short amount of time. So that's amazing to see such significant impact after just a few intentional breaths.

Jana: 30:49

Yeah. Yeah. I love that one. It's a fun one. And there are so many more that you can do as you start working through, you know, getting good at some of these breath techniques. So your daily practice can shift and change all the time. And so if you need, you know, More ideas. I definitely have some on my YouTube channel and on my Instagram and I'm teaching them all the time so people can hit me up on that.

MaryAnn: 31:12

Awesome. And yeah, I will be linking her Instagram and YouTube and the show notes so that you can go and check out more of what Jana has. And can you tell us a little bit about what the Breathwork journeys are like?

Jana: 31:22

Yes. Those are my favorite. So this is what I'm kind of known for is these breathwork journeys. I call the way I do it an emotional release journey because it's really powerful for helping people let go of maybe some stuck or stored emotions they've been holding. Right. So we go through life and we have incidences or experiences that put us in that fight or flight response. So maybe a traumatic event, or maybe it's just. Something that stressed us out. And so let's talk, like, even if it was something as simple as getting teased on the playground as a child, our body goes into the fight or flight response, and so our nerve impulses get sent to maybe our arms to punch the kid. Right. To be like, tease me or a nerve impulse will come to our eyes to cry, or maybe a nerve impulse will come to our legs to run away from the kids that you're teasing us, but socially it's not acceptable to really do those things. And so we just sit there and those nerve impulses actually get stored in the muscle and fascia of the area that it was sent to. And if we don't release that nerve impulse and like let it act out, it literally causes tension and inflammation in our body. And then tension in our body causes health issues or mental health issues, right? So I love these breathwork journeys because it gives you an open space to be able to actually finish off those nerve impulses. So we do this breath for, you know, like I said, maybe about an hour

MaryAnn: 32:59

and

Jana: 32:59

after about 10 minutes of doing that breath, a chemical called DMT, which is part of our body, it's dimethyltryptamine, it starts to kind of flow to the brain and puts us in that altered state of consciousness, a place that's just like it. Zen and a place where that ego mind steps to the side, the higher self can speak to you. And, um, so then any memories or emotions that come up during this breath actually can kind of be reprogrammed in the brain. And so it's like you're relearning a different response to it or a different feeling from it. And it allows. That nerve impulse to finish so during a breathwork journey, people will often cry. They might even scream. They might yell. They body might move and twist and they might feel maybe a pain in their shoulder or in their hip and. As they kind of breathe into it and kind of move and yell and scream, it actually releases that tension in that area. And when we finish that, they feel much better, much looser, much lighter in that area. And often those problems go away. Like if they were maybe like having, um, shoulder pain that they had for years and they don't know what it's from, it's often be that stored emotion being held there. And so once we release it through these breath journeys, It's not a problem anymore.

MaryAnn: 34:26

Yeah.

Jana: 34:27

So these breath journeys are, they're, they can be chaotic because you know, people will be releasing a lot of emotion, but they're so beautiful and everyone always finishes feeling amazing and with big answers and aha's that maybe they wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

MaryAnn: 34:42

Hmm. Yeah, that's beautiful. Cause I think specifically for the empaths and the highly sensitive, what a gift to be able to sort through all of that. I, just yesterday I was going shopping and just grocery shopping. And it was interesting as I was walking up and down the aisles, I recognized, Oh, how interesting. Like I have tears come into my eyes. And when you are somebody who's sensitive to other energies, it can be hard to distinguish, like you said, between, am I picking up on somebody near me? Is this something that's coming up for me that hasn't quite hit my brain yet that I'm still processing in the body? And so I'm so grateful for these tools that you're teaching us because yeah, your breath is with you wherever you are. And so having that as a Skillset to just practice that breathing and dec decide, you know, bringing it back into your own body, clearing out the ego so that you can, like you said, finish processing that. Uh, what a gift. And I'm totally gonna have to come to you for a journey one of these times, and try that out. Um, yeah.'cause that just sounds so amazing to just. Fully process it in your body so you can be more grounded, more centered, see things more clearly. What a gift.

Jana: 35:46

Yeah. And they, they really are. And these journeys you can do, like I offer them in the group setting, I offer them one on ones, but I also offer them online. So I have a free one on my Instagram, if anyone's interested, where you can just click and sign up or have it sent to you and you can do it in the comfort of your own home, on your bed, You know, put on some headphones, listen to the music and we guide you through this breathwork journey. So it's a great place to start if you're like curious, but like nervous to go out in a group or to make an appointment. And then, you know, once you've experienced it, just know that when you do it with a facilitator in live,

MaryAnn: 36:21

Yeah.

Jana: 36:22

The results are like tenfold or so, even bigger.

MaryAnn: 36:26

So amazing. Yeah. Okay. And I'll be sure to link that in the show notes too, so they can go right to your freebie and sign up for that and have it sent straight to their inbox. Cause yeah, I know a lot of people might get a little bit nervous about it because they might have some misconceptions. So that's my next question for you is what kind of misconceptions are out there around breathwork?

Jana: 36:43

Well, the first one is people just think it's like yoga or that meditation. They think they're just going to go sit there and calmly breathe. And yes, there are some daily practices that are like that, but often when you hear of a breathwork journey or a class that's breathwork, it's one of those bigger emotional releases. And with that comes big results as well. So. I think it just gets under looked at like people are just like, oh, it's just like sitting there breathing. No big deal. It's like, that's the biggest misconception. It's how powerful it really is.

MaryAnn: 37:17

Yeah.

Jana: 37:17

Then, um, yeah, I guess the other one is when the once people have seen the journey or like they're hearing me talk about it, they're like, that's weird. That's a woo woo. And, you know, but really. There's so much science behind it. There's, um, scientific and medical journals and even psychological, like psychology journals talking about the benefits of this. So it's, it's back. It's been happening and helping people for a long time. It's just finally, um, getting the science to prove it. And. You know, thanks to social media. It's pretty popular now.

MaryAnn: 37:54

Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely very popular now. And I love learning more ways to just naturally increase your levels of DMT and, and just find things that are more conducive to, you know, where you're at. Like you don't, you can leave the breathwork feeling pretty great and clear minded. And, um, yeah, I think that that's pretty neat.

Jana: 38:12

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And that's what, you know, the other thing you mentioned is there's natural ways to increase your DMT. There are so many other ways that people are, um, going on journeys using plant medicine and things like that. And I just love that breathwork, these breathwork journeys give you the exact same experience or a very similar experience, but without anything. Any type of substance. It's totally natural. It's all you, you're in control. And like you said, you're in charge with your breath. So if you get to a point where you're like, I don't want to do this anymore. Okay, cool. Stop breathing.

MaryAnn: 38:49

Yeah.

Jana: 38:50

Go back to your normal breath. That's right. And, and you, you just kind of come back to a normal state and everything's so great. So it just puts the healing. In our own hands and our lungs really so that we don't have to have a healer and we don't have to have these plant medicines. We can just do it on our own and for ourselves.

MaryAnn: 39:11

Yeah, I love that. Puts healing in our own lungs. I love that. Just breathe it in. Breathe in that

Jana: 39:16

healing.

MaryAnn: 39:17

Yeah. And now you have talked a bit about it. I'm wondering if you can expand a little bit around the connection between our breath and our emotions.

Jana: 39:25

Okay. So, so there's so many connections. Where do I start? Um, so like I talked about, our emotions can kind of get stuck in the fascia. They're not really, um, used or let finish out with those, um, um, fight or flight nerve impulses, but are, they've actually linked different emotions to different breath patterns. So Yeah. So somebody that maybe has a lot of anxiety and worry in the emotions in their makeup, they're really worrying a lot. They will actually be breathing higher up into their chest and shallow. And then they've even linked a different breath pattern to depression, to, um, bipolar disorder, like all these different, yeah, in mental and emotional, um, conditions are linked to specific breath patterns. And so. As we can shift our breath pattern, we can actually even shift our emotions and they've actually, okay, so there's a site, there was a study that they, um, let me make sure I tell it in the right order, but they brought these people in and they had them watching videos of. different emotions. So it's like, this person is crying, there's something sad happening. And then the next video would be someone laughing or, you know, so they're having them watch these videos and watching the, the people's heart rate, their, their breath and all of that. And they're noticing that as the emotion of each person, steady participant changes, then so did their breath.

MaryAnn: 41:00

And

Jana: 41:00

so they're like, wow, these are definitely linked. So then they get totally new, different, um, People, participants, and then they teach them that breath, okay, let's teach them this breath pattern and ask them what emotion they are now feeling. So they teach them this breath pattern. And then the people were reporting the same emotion that they had found with the other group to link that breath pattern. So it's like now, you know, they were feeling sad because they were doing one breath pattern and then they're like, okay, and now they're just this breath pattern. And then the people were feeling anxious or excited or happy. And so there's actual proof showing how our breath is linked to our emotions. And it goes both ways. Not only do our emotions affect our breath, but our breath can affect our emotions, which is a very powerful tool. If you want to shift your emotions and your emotional state.

MaryAnn: 41:57

Yeah, absolutely. It has me thinking of the book Feelings Buried Alive Never Die, where it's like, if you can access those, we do have all these trapped emotions in our body, in our fascia. We're just learning all of these things, you know, and pretty recently, this is all pretty new stuff. But to be able to access that and release that through our breath is so powerful.

Jana: 42:20

Yeah. It is very powerful. And just like you said, that book, there's so many other books similar to talking about like which emotion is held in what part of the body.

MaryAnn: 42:28

Yeah.

Jana: 42:28

So like we had talked about those journeys, maybe somebody's, you know, low back will start hurting in the breathwork journey. Then I'll often refer to the book if I don't know, you know what it is, but we'll, we'll look and say, Oh wow. So this is the emotion that's held there. And it's very much the same as what they've been experiencing in life. And so I love the Breathwork Journeys because it actually puts like a spotlight. On what they're doing day to day. It's like, okay, you really are struggling with, you know, financial support and you can really benefit from having some help in that area. And that's showing up as back pain in this breathwork session that you didn't even know you were having back pain until you did breathwork that showed it. And then it's like, then we were able to guide them. And so we use it in the life coaching. Avenue as well, because then we can all focus on this area of your life and help you get that support so that you can feel confident and secure or whatever. That has

MaryAnn: 43:30

me thinking about what you were talking about earlier about just making sure that you're breathing properly. It's almost like, okay, which came first, the chicken or the egg, right? Like if I'm breathing, how is it impacting me physically? And it might be negatively impacting me. And then how can I positively impact my health and overall wellbeing just by shifting my breath? Yeah.

Jana: 43:48

Yeah.

MaryAnn: 43:50

It puts us in the driver's seat of our own healing,

Jana: 43:53

which is exactly why I am obsessed with breathwork.

MaryAnn: 43:57

Yeah.

Jana: 43:58

Yes, it is. It puts us in the driver's seat.

MaryAnn: 44:03

Oh, so amazing. This has been such an enlightening discussion and I cannot wait to meet you in person. Is there anything else that you want to share with our listeners before we go?

Jana: 44:11

Um, no, I really feel like we covered some really good things. I would just encourage anyone to just give it a try, whether they do it in person or like they said, that was that free session you can do at home and, and see, because you don't know until you really try. And Um, often maybe it'll take 1 or 2 tries to really understand what's happening. We have, we tend to want to control things. So it's like, if it doesn't. You're not like astounded the first time, give it a second try, but I promise by the second try, you're going to be as addicted as I am.

MaryAnn: 44:46

Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate you're saying that, but yeah, give it at least twice. Cause I wonder how much the head gets in the way. And, and have you ever had somebody come to you and they like, well, that actually made me more anxious. Or have you noticed that everybody tends to relax? And

Jana: 45:00

yeah, I, it depends. on who they're going to as a facilitator. So I had people say, Oh, I went to that and it did make me more stressed or I got whatever. And finding a facilitator that speaks to you and you feel good and comfortable and safe with is very, very important. So Yeah. Usually if they're, they do get kind of like a negative feel or from it, it's the facilitator and they just get to find someone that does fit their vibe and their personality a little better.

MaryAnn: 45:32

Well, I got to say, I love your vibe. I can just feel your energy and, and the love and the passion that you have and that nurturing energy. I bet they are just amazing to work with one on one. So yeah, thank you so much for being willing to come on and to share your gifts and

Jana: 45:49

you're so very welcome. I love it.

MaryAnn: 45:51

I

Jana: 45:51

love meeting new people and getting the word out about breath to as many people as possible. So thank you so much for having me.

MaryAnn: 45:59

Oh, for sure. Yeah. And make sure you check out the show notes. I'll put all of Jana's contact information there, as well as the link to get her freebies so that you can try it out at home and maybe reach out to her for some one on one or some group work and try out those breathing journeys. It sounds amazing. Yes. Thank you so much. Great. Well, thank you so much for being here

46:19

and just as a reminder, both me and Jana are going to be at the energy healing conference this weekend in Sandy, Utah. So stop by and say hello. I'll see you there.