I’ve had a few people reach out and ask me About how to control their stress levels when they need to prepare to get on a plane! During the holidays, many of us will go through this stressor and most of the time it will not only affect us emotionally but more so physiologically! The anxiety of navigating airports, the confinement of airplane seats, and the unpredictability of travel often lead to feelings of unease or panic. The pressure changes, crowded spaces, and the fear of flying can amplify these feelings, making it difficult to relax. Breathwork offers a practical solution to combat this stress. By focusing on your breath, you can activate the body's relaxation response, reducing anxiety and promoting a sense of calm. Techniques such as deep belly breathing (diaphragmatic) or the 4-7-8 method can be particularly effective. These practices encourage slower, deeper breaths, which help lower heart rates and decrease feelings of tension. Incorporating breathwork into your pre-flight routine or during the flight itself can transform your travel experience. Whether you’re in the airport or cruising at 30,000 feet, taking a few moments to breathe mindfully can ground you, alleviate stress, and enhance your overall sense of well-being. So next time you fly, remember to breathe deeply and embrace the journey. 4-7-8 technique 4 seconds inhale 7 seconds hold 8 seconds exhale Fly safe and remember that “You are stronger than your spiral”

I was reading about DaVInici and came across his seven principles for embracing innovation and creativity to drive progress and solve complex problems. These principles can be applied to innovation, creativity, and life. A key takeaway for me is that if you can accept that failure is a part of the process and navigate your stress response to these failures, you can grow both professionally and personally. Applying the Breath 2 Thrive protocol of stress response analysis is integral. IDENTIFY DECONSTRUCT RESPONSE As you read through the principles see how you would apply breathwork to each (or all) of the principles. Let me know you thoughts. DaVINCI's 7 PRINCIPLES: - Curiosita: An insatiable curious approach to life and an unrelenting quest for continuous learning. After all, have you ever met a successful person who does not claim to be a veracious learner? - Dimonstrazione: A commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence and a willingness to learn from past mistakes. This is pretty much the scientific method applied to everyday life. Thinking back to our WD 40 example in an earlier discussion, it wasn’t the first effort that worked, it was the 40th. - Sensazione: Continual refinement of the senses as the means to enliven experience. To be innovative we must be aware of what is going on around us. One of the important business topics that it relates to that is active listening. Far too often in business we only listen passively and as a result miss vital information that could serve as the inspiration for some new idea. - Sfumato: The literal translation for this term is going up in smoke. It is about our willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox and uncertainty. As the old saying goes, the only two things that are certain in business are uncertainty and change. - Arte/Scienza: Developing a balance between logic and imagination. After all, imagination without logic is daydreaming, and logic without imagination is boring. Other terms for this are balancing between art and science as well as whole brain thinking. - Corporalita: This is about maintaining a healthy body as well as a healthy mind. Have you ever seen a really unhealthy person who was creative? While there are a few exceptions here and there, they are very rare. One of the core concepts of da Vinci’s approach is keeping our bodies fit being a function of keeping our minds fit. Fit minds lead to more innovative and creative solutions. - Connessione: This is the simple recognition of the interconnectedness of all things and phenomena. As we talked about early on, it isn’t always just an issue of coming up with something totally new, sometimes it about seeing the links between how to use old things in new ways.

Today’s, breathing practice is focused on RELAXATION Laying on your back or sitting on a chair, close your eyes and inhale through your nose for 6 seconds and focus on breathing into your belly! Make sure your shoulders don’t rise as you breath in! If you are laying on the ground or a bed, place a book on your belly and use it as a reference to see when you are inhaling into your belly! Then exhale through pursed lips for 6 seconds! Repeat for 5-10 mins, 2-3 times today! As you do this practice focus on something that makes you happy and or a place, memory that brings you joy or peace.

Today I’m focusing on taking big bites out of life and breathing and chewing ! ♥️

In my last IG post, I spoke about accepting and learning from failure. I was asked about how to deal with situations when one's character is in question, which leads to being back into a corner, We have all been there and for sure it is tough to be questioned about your character. When we think of character we think of Values and Morals. Sometimes, when someone is questioning your character they are not necessarily questioning you the person, but your values and morals, This can be brought on by their not understanding where you are coming from or their having such strong values and morals of their own that everyone else's is wrong or unacceptable. Of course, there are a lot more reasons that someone may question your character but I find these to be the most common. As to be back into a corner, that raises a whole other question regarding power dynamics. If someone is questioning your character, it is natural to feel threatened and attacked. Most of the time, the "attacker" in this dynamic is utilizing fear and aggression to make the "attacker" question their self-worth and not knowing where to run to, thus the feeling of being back into a corner. I have put together some tips as it relates to how I have dealt with these situations in my life and what I have learned from them. Please feel free to add any additional tips that have worked for you all. And if you'd like to share stories or situations that you have been through please share. Remember this is a safe space for us to breath and grow. 1) The key in any situation is to handle it with care and intention, don't be reactive take a breath or a minute, and respond. 2) Avoid defensive responses, try to listen, and truly understand what is being said to you or about you. 3) If the questioning of your character is being induced because of a wrong that you truly committed, acknowledge the mistake and then "own up to your mistake". 4) Take the opportunity to provide context to why you did what you did by explaining actions, decisions, or events that may have led to the current perception