Establish a consistent breath practice as the most fundamental self-care activity, integrating it into your daily routine even for just a minute or two, as it influences all other activities.
Actively work to enlarge the space between a stimulus and your response, as this choice point is where personal growth happens and leads to improved decision-making and relationships.
Avoid attaching your identity to achievements, roles, or labels (e.g., ‘runner,’ ‘vegan,’ ‘alcoholic’) to prevent self-limitation and experience true freedom beyond self-imposed ‘cages’.
Shift your focus from chasing constant happiness to cultivating contentment, understanding that life will have tough times but you can develop tools to manage stressful situations.
Recognize that living a life devoid of meaning and purpose is profoundly stressful, and actively seeking these elements can significantly reduce unhelpful stress.
Strive to reach a point where you take nothing personally, understanding that others’ actions and judgments often stem from their own internal workings and not from you.
In high-stress or panic situations, consciously control your breathing to prevent emotional disruption, facilitate an appropriate response, and maintain calm.
Understand that sufficient carbon dioxide is necessary for oxygen utilization in the body; improve your CO2 tolerance through breath patterns to gain greater control over shifting your physiological state.
Focus on effective recovery and processing between stressful events rather than just jumping from one exposure to the next, as this is crucial for managing modern life’s demands.
Take ownership of your personal narrative and actively change it to break free from negative patterns, as the stories you tell yourself can imprison or liberate you.
Practice being quietly aware and conscious of your breath for 2-10 minutes daily, as this simple act is enough to teach you more about yourself and your environment.
Focus on specific breathing patterns to quiet the ‘monkey mind’ and reduce distracting thoughts, allowing you to be present in the moment.
Approach breath work by giving different methods a try, experimenting, learning, and finding out what specific rhythms and patterns work best for your unique physiology and emotional state.
Consciously control your breathing to send signals of safety to your brain, influencing your internal state and helping you manage stress responses.
Recognize that both breath and vision are volitional controls over your autonomic nervous system; use peripheral vision, like observing a sunset, to downshift your state.
Be aware that chronic hyperventilation or over-breathing leads to excessive carbon dioxide loss, which hinders the body’s ability to utilize oxygen effectively.
In a panic attack, breathe into a brown paper bag for a few breaths to re-circulate carbon dioxide, which helps calm the brain and restore oxygen utilization.
Adopt a mindset of continuous learning over rigid beliefs, actively dismantling self-imposed limitations and embracing new perspectives.
Develop the ability to laugh at everything, as this enhances intelligence and provides a crucial perspective on life’s challenges.
Fully immerse yourself in every experience you are having, and apply profound lessons learned from significant events to even the most minute details of your daily life.
Use social media authentically to share information and express who you truly are, avoiding the creation of an inauthentic identity that is mentally fatiguing to maintain.
Actively manipulate or change your environment to align with your desired quality of life and self-awareness, even if it means significant changes like moving to nature.
Download and use the State app for customized breath exercises that adapt to your carbon dioxide response, helping you achieve state change and build CO2 tolerance.
Take advantage of one month’s free access to PSE Pro online training programs by visiting powerspeedendurance.com/PSEPro and using the code ‘feelbetterPSE’.
Choose a movement practice (e.g., hiking, CrossFit, running) that positively stimulates you, ensuring it remains a fun, learning experience rather than becoming a rigid identity.
Consider wearing minimalist shoes like Vivo Barefoot for comfort and to improve your movement, taking advantage of their 100-day trial and 20% discount for listeners.
Use Zendium toothpaste to support the health of your oral microbiome, which is an important part of your immune system, and can be ordered from Amazon.