On Power, Stress, and HRV

Dear Breather,

How's your breath today?

Not one day goes by in my life without me being reminded of just how powerful the breath is.

And lately I’ve been thinking a lot about just how much responsibility we carry by consciously using our breath.

I mean, think about it -

Your breath works like a remote device for your nervous system. The two are directly connected to each other:

When we “hack” into our breathing (ie. by consciously changing the way we breathe), we can essentially hack into our biology and physiology. This is HUGE.

Eg. with every inhale, your heart rate goes up and you activate your sympathetic nervous system, with every exhale your heart rate slows down and you stimulate your vagus nerve.

However, with a lot of power comes a lot of responsibility.

For example, consider this:

Whenever you engage in a guided breathwork session or experiment with a new technique, you essentially give away your remote device for your nervous system - and thus to how you feel and think.

So here is my advice:

1. Don’t just give away your remote device to anyone on the interwebs/YouTube/Instagram.
   ​Anyone and their dog are sharing breathing practices these days. Make sure they know what they’re doing, are at best trauma-informed and are certified (although - even certification doesn’t guarantee competence unfortunately, because many programs are less than awesome)
   ​

2. Study the breath. Understand your own physiology and nervous system.
   ​I am a huge believer in education as a way to empower ourselves - which is the reason I share educational information around the breath and the nervous system on Instagram and this newsletter.

The breath can be a powerful medicine - if we learn how to use it properly so it can actually benefit us.

Are you ready to be your own shaman, your own guru? Because, we are in 2021, in the Age of Aquarius - times are changing hard and the times of outsourcing all our healing and power are coming to an end. Our breath is the most powerful medicine we have and carry with us.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

🎥 Isn't breathing through the mouth bad for you? by Max Strom

I'm definitely team nose-breathing-for-the-win 24/7, but it's also important to consider when mouth breathing is the natural way to breathe. Oh, and who doesn't love Max and his divine voice? ;)

🎙 The pervasive effect of stress with Robert Sapolsky on The Peter Attia Drive

The issue of stress is so incredibly underrated in society, it truly boggles my mind - especially considering how many of us suffer from chronic health issues, depression, anxiety etc. This convo is a must-listen.

📝 2020 Meta Analysis: Slow Breathing Improves A Variety of Behavioral and Physiological Outcomes on The Breathing Diabetic

This is a great summary of a great study on slow breathing - in essence: HRV breathing and slow breathing both have wide-ranging benefits for overall health and wellness. The author Nick also sends out a really dope newsletter every week. You don't have to be diabetic to benefit from his emails.

Plus:

• Sooo, I ditched the Whoop and am currently experimenting with the Polar H10 chest strap in combination with the EliteHRV app to measure my heart rate variability in the mornings and use bio-feedback during my breathwork sessions. Loving it so far - much better than wearing a wearable tech device 24/7 on my body.

• 🇩🇪 I recently sat down with the wonderful Robin Stolberg to chat about my story and all things Breathwork for his Natural Biohacking Podcast: So meisterst du deine Atmung und hackst dein Nervensystem​

Here are some Instagram post highlights from me - in case you missed them:

• ​What is the right Breathwork method for me?​

• ​How stress affects your digestion and how Breathwork can help​

• ​A personal re-introduction from my end including some random personal facts about me :)​

• ​Breathing and flow states​

BREATHE WITH ME

🦩 1-on-1 Coaching Program to Improve Emotional Regulation, Psychological Well-Being and Stress Resilience

I am currently temporarily working with clients as part of a new 1-on-1 coaching program I developed.

I don’t usually do much private coaching and will focus on other projects again come July.

It's by application only and I have 1 or 2 spots available right now.

If this speaks to you, you can schedule a no-strings-attached intro call with me.

🤠 Breathwork Teacher Training 2021/2022

My partner and truly amazing Breathworker of many years, Christine Schmid, and I will be running a 6-month Breathwork Teacher Training starting end of October (online + offline).

We will open up registration in about a month mid-July-ish and it will be in German only this first time around (sorry international friends!).

There will be 20 spots for this intensive 300-hour training.

​Get on the waitlist here to be notified when we open the doors.

⚡️TODAY: Live Breathwork for Nervous System Regulation With Me on Instagram

Let's breathe together - join me live on Insta today!

I will share a little on the topic of nervous system regulation, then I'll guide you through a Breathwork practice and then we'll do some Q+A.

So that's today, Monday June 21st at 6pm CET / 12pm EST / 9am PST.

I hope to see you later!

I appreciate you :)

Conni. 🐋

PS: I just officially launched my new website for Breathwork Alchemy. Have a look around.​

PPS:

​This song.