November 12, 2024 • 22 mins
Discover how breathwork and mindset can revolutionize your life with insights from Sean Pritchard, the visionary founder of INHABIT Mind and Body. Sean's inspiring journey from a college athlete to a leader in breathwork and mindset training reveals how subtle changes can have profound effects on performance and well-being. Through a unique blend of athletic training and mindfulness, Sean addresses common dysfunctional breathing patterns and shares how they impact stress, sleep, and energy levels. Join us as Sean discusses how optimizing breath can enhance focus, creativity, and performance, whether you're a professional athlete like Steph Curry or a career-driven parent.
In this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, we uncover the potential of breathwork to transform not just athletic performance but personal and professional wellness. Sean shares captivating success stories, including a New Jersey boys' high school soccer team that reached an undefeated season through these techniques. We also explore how these practices are making waves in corporate settings, offering a tangible link between mental state and performance. The conversation is peppered with pop culture references, such as the humorous breathing advice from "Bull Durham," adding a light-hearted touch to the discussion. Tune in to learn how simple shifts in breathing and mindset can empower you to focus on effort, attitude, and response, meeting challenges in sports and life head-on.
INHABIT
Sean Pritchard
sean@inhabitmindbody.com
inhabitmindbody.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Doug Drohan.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hey guys, and welcome to another episode of the Good
Neighbors Podcast.
I am your host, Doug Drohan,and the owner of the Bergen
Neighbors Media Group.
I am really thrilled to haveour guest today from Inhabit
Mind and Body, Sean Pritchard.
Sean, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Doug, thanks so much for having me, man.
How are you yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
So, sean, actually we spoke because you were doing, I
guess, a seminar, if you wantto call it that, at the high
school, the local high school,northern Valley, otapan.
But the cool thing about Seanis that he's a former college
athlete.
He spent a decade coachingsoccer teams and also working as
a personal trainer.
(00:54):
But he decided that there wasmore to training and sports than
just the physical aspect of itand he found it in habit to
really help people to understandhow to properly breathe, how to
use kind of mind and body toimprove not only their I guess
(01:17):
their training for sports, butit also goes beyond that.
It goes into businessperformance, skills, self-care
and a host of other things thatwe'll get into right now.
Does that kind of sum it up,Sean?
Yeah, it skills, self-care anda host of other things that
we'll get into right now.
Does that kind of sum it up,sean?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yeah, it does, Doug.
Nice work, man.
That does sum it up and yeah,they're really the three areas
that we focus on through ourtraining methodology which, as
you said, it's focused largelyon breath work and also mindset
training is that we focus onsports teams.
So, from youth to professionallevel.
We work with schools luckyenough to support Harrington
Park Shout out to all the greatpeople over there and other
(01:52):
schools in the Bergen County,New Jersey area.
And then we also work withcorporate, and that can be from
startups, folks that are justdoing their series A round, just
getting going, wanting to putsome good wellness practices in
place to help their employees tobe successful, all the way to
large investment banks likeHoulihan Loki.
So, yeah, it's been a greatjourney so far, man.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
That's great.
So you help people thatstruggle with stress, poor sleep
which is usually what anyparent or any professional deals
with as well as low energy.
So what is it about breathing?
Like you know, you talk aboutyour breathing pattern.
I have to say I don't thinkthat's the first thing people
(02:33):
think about when they want toimprove their sleep or their
energy levels.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
So how does?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
your breathing pattern impact that.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Yeah, so check this out.
So new research shows thataround 75% of adults have
dysfunctional breathing.
And what that looks like, doug,is folks are breathing from the
secondary muscles, so the upperchest, the shoulders and the
neck.
They're also breathing usingthe mouth, and then they're
actually taking in too much air,and what we found is that it's
(03:01):
very binary the way that youbreathe.
If you're breathing more fromthe mouth and the upper chest
and taking in too much air,you're going to be more engaging
that sympathetic side of thenervous system, so you're going
to be releasing unnecessarycortisol, unnecessary adrenaline
.
And what I do is I'm like amechanic in ways.
(03:21):
I go in and I help people tomake these small tune-ups to
their engine and help tooptimize the way that their body
and brain are working throughthe breath.
And so we take around 20,000breaths every day.
But what I'd like to say is notall breaths are created equal.
So if you can improve oxygendelivery to the 20 trillion plus
(03:42):
cells that are in your body,which proper breathing does you
have macro improvements to driveyour energy.
You can improve sleep throughthings like mouth taping I don't
know if folks are familiar withthat, but that's a big one, and
then you also.
There are cerebral componentsto this too, just having more
focus, more creativity.
So I work with a whole host ofindividuals on these challenges.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Now, you might be too young to be influenced by this,
but while you're talking aboutbreathing and I'm thinking about
sports I just remembered thescene from Bull Dorm where Susan
Sarandon gives Tim Robbins someadvice and tells him to breathe
through his eyes.
So I want you to breathethrough your eyelids like a lava
lizard.
And he's like what?
But you know that's she.
(04:31):
You know he's a pitcher andhe's dealing with the stress of
being in a game and he's notdoing well, and she wants him to
breathe through his eyelids.
So, but you weren't influencedby that movie.
I guess that's not what droveyou into this, this field, no no
, but now you've piqued mycuriosity.
I'm oh yeah yeah, I mean, that'sone of the best baseball movies
ever.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
You know, wait, what's it called?
Again no, no, how do you spellit?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
say it again bull b, like you know, like the, you
know toro and durham, uh,d-u-r-h-a-m.
Kevin Costner, tim Robbins,susan Sarandon.
It's a classic, is it 80s?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yeah, okay, I was born in 91.
All right.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Have you ever seen Wizard of Oz or the Godfather?
There's plenty of movies thatpredated me that I've seen.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I certainly love movies before my time, but that
one I haven't seen.
You've piqued my curiosity.
I love all things peakperformance, and the concept of
breathing through your eyelidsto really lock in is hilarious,
but also seems effective in someways did you get into this, um,
this field?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Obviously you know I read a bit of your bio being an
athlete and a personal trainerbut what kind of unlocked your
um kind of journey to startinhabit?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, yeah, great question.
Uh, so it's.
It's really two things.
So the first thing I'll I'llshare is that when I was, when I
was 15, um, I, I grew up herein in Ramsey, new Jersey.
Uh, so in Jersey, guy and um, Ihad a really good uh high
school soccer team that I w thatI was on.
Um, we had just uh been knockedout of the county tournament by
(06:16):
Bergen Catholic.
This was in 2007.
And, um, the previous summers Ihad been working at in Golden
goal, um, which is a soccer parkand lacrosse park in upstate
New York that my dad hadconstructed and founded, with
some other guys, and, uh, Iwould spend my summers man out
there on the turf, a hundreddegrees, watching my, uh, my old
(06:36):
man just riff these sessionsand he was just the impact that
he was having with kids, withteam building, with mental
skills.
Um, it was, uh, it wasincredible.
And so, uh, here we are, wejust get knocked out of the
counties.
And I'm talking to my coach, myother captains, I'm like, look
like we, we got to bring him in.
Um, he, he's going to be ableto bring us together.
(06:56):
Put some really goodfoundational mental toughness
strategies, get our team culturetight and lo and behold man, he
came in, he did, he did fivesessions and we got five wins
and we got our.
We lifted our first uh statestate championship as a school
in a hundred years and I.
I saw that happen.
I didn't even get chillstalking about that.
It's very, very deep andemotional, um, and I saw that
(07:19):
happen as a 15 year old and Iwas like, okay, this, this stuff
works.
You know I had seen with him,you know he had got me on John
Wooden and some of these otheruh, great, great coaches, um you
know Phil Knight, and, and Istarted to see that the mind was
just incredibly powerful as itrelates to sports, and so that
was my early introduction tothat.
(07:39):
And then, uh, when I wasplaying college soccer at
Montclair state, I was, uh, Iwas struggling with my mental
health.
I was struggling withdepression and anxiety, and I
saw just firsthand how difficultlife gets managing schoolwork,
relationships, um, you know,work and all that stuff.
When your mental health is onthe rocks, it just becomes a
chore every day.
(07:59):
And so with that, though youknow, I like to say that you
know my pain became my purpose.
In that moment, I just wentdeep, man, and I really started
to understand meditation,understand breath work,
understand habit creation andwhy I started to fall into this
space, and that was really my,my opening man.
Those two moments were prettyseminal in my existence.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That's amazing.
Yeah, you know, I interview alot of business owners and
entrepreneurs and there's oftenthat that story arc of the
struggle and then the thetriumph, you know, and the
trials and tribulations that gotyou to where you are.
And triumph, you know, and thetrials and tribulations that got
you to where you are.
And then you know it's justbecause you climbed one mountain
doesn't mean you're going toyou'll never have another peak
(08:44):
or valley in your career, inyour life.
So but it's great to see youknow the people that I talked to
, including yourself, how theymaybe face a challenge like this
but then find the positive andgrow from it.
And in your case you found itin habit, which is amazing,
which I guess your dad is alsopart of the team.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Yeah, I appreciate that.
Yeah, he is.
I just brought him on, actuallyrecently, as my co-founder.
I had founded the company alittle over four years ago and
he had helped me with thetraining methodology, being a
mental skills and team buildingexpert, and I was really focused
on, uh, meditation and breathwork, um and uh, visualization
those were my big lanes and alsophysical exercise, um.
(09:27):
But the the mental skills umside and team building side,
he's just, he's amazing.
He's really really good at it.
So brought him on and that'sbeen special to be able to
collaborate and yeah, we'reworking with teams right now,
helping them go deep into thestate tournaments and their
respective sports here in NewJersey and schools and otherwise
(09:49):
.
It's really fun to collaboratewith him.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So do you run into any resistance with coaches or
teams?
Because I'm thinking about theamount of time that is that's
demanded for an athlete and astudent athlete my son's 11.
Okay, so we're not quite highschool level yet, but he's
playing on club baseball, soccer, you know flag football.
We tried another club team.
(10:13):
So if you have all thesepractices and then on top of
that you say, oh, by the way,we're going to meet today to
work on our breathing, or we'regoing to work with Sean and
we're going to learn aboutvisualization, where are you
going to fit that into yourtraining program and is this
something that has been a bit ofa learning process?
Obviously, as you talk aboutthe success, I think any coach
(10:34):
who's looking for that edge, orany manager in a company who's
looking for that edge and seesthe results you're getting.
Okay, now, aside from our twodays a week or three days a week
practices, we're going to haveto build in another session of
(11:00):
breathing or meditation ormindfulness.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah, it's interesting, man, because one of
the things that I talk aboutearly on is that this work gives
you more capacity for yourschedule.
So it makes you feel becauseit's true is that because your
focus is better, because yourstress levels are lower, your
energy levels are higher, yourability to manage the rest of
the schedule becomes better.
(11:24):
So, for example, I do a lot ofwork with working moms and
sometimes three, four kids.
Both them and their husband arecareer driven and they're just
looking to have more capacity,and so that's a great client,
that that that all support.
So it's just that the mentalside of that is huge.
But it's funny because you justmentioned, uh, your 11 year old
(11:47):
son, Um.
I just started working with, uh,an AAU basketball player, um,
and also a baseball player,that's 12, and and we have him,
we meet, meet once a week for 30minutes, and then I have videos
in the app that are anywherefrom seven to 10 minutes long
that he does on his own, Um, andto be able to build that habit
and um, it's it's what I like totalk about it, as is, it's the
(12:09):
one thing that impacts allthings.
So, if you can get yourbreathing locked in and your
mindset locked in, um, not onlyis it going to make you feel
like you have capacity, but yourum, your performance just goes
up.
So, uh, just a quick story here.
Um, I do a lot of work withwith high school teams.
I mentioned me and my dad.
There's a program in Ramsey, um, the Ramsey boys team and girls
(12:31):
team, and we worked veryclosely with last year and, uh,
on the boy side, uh, using thismethodology, they were the only
team in New Jersey, uh, not tolose a game, and we won States
and counties, um, with this.
So the proof is we're getting toa point now, um, and you know,
especially as we're working withhigher athletes in the
professional level, that I meanyou look at Steph Curry like
(12:53):
Steph Curry has got a breathingcoach.
So if you, if you reverseengineer with the best they're
doing, they're spending time onthis.
So, uh, it's becoming easier tohave conversations with parents
that are serious, that want totake the next step, if their
kids are feeling stressed, ifthey're looking for elevation,
not just in sport, cause I'll becandid with you, man we look at
(13:13):
whether you're doing publicspeaking, you're about to take a
quiz or a test, or peakperformance is peak performance,
and regardless of what theevent is, there are clear steps
and things that you can do toget yourself ready to thrive in
any moment.
So that's a lot of what I workon with kids.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So tell me more about your.
So when you say you have asession, do they come to your
office?
Do you go to uh breath andintroductory program.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, so, uh, it is virtual, um, we, we do them all
over zoom.
So grateful for that tool.
It's, it's, it's really helpful.
And the program, how it works,is first we get benchmarks,
because we're very data driven,so there are two different, uh,
breathing um measurements thatwe'll take.
One is called a bolt score,which is the blood oxygen level
test, and that's a simple breathhold test.
(14:04):
And then there's another, alonger breath hold test that we
look at as well and that helpsus to understand how optimal
someone's breathing is.
And then what we do from thereis we program the 10 weeks with
exercises and sessions that helpthem to get their breathing
more optimal.
Um, and then the key thing,though, is that it's not just
about breathing.
(14:25):
I think sometimes, yes, it's,it's a huge skill, and I think
it's the platform of what anymate, any athlete and human
should really strive to just getdown.
But then we bring in themindset pieces of okay, uh, for
example, I teach kids about earuh, which is controlling the
controllable.
So E, a, r, ear three things inlife that you can control, and
(14:45):
in sports is your effort, yourattitude and your response.
So a lot of times, in youthsports, for example, you'll have
kids that will freak out aboutwhat the ref just called, or
that their coach didn't put themin in this specific play, or
that the parents are being loudin some dimension, or that the
other team played the best gameof their lives and you just lost
(15:07):
that day.
So we want to make sure thatwe're focusing on the right
things and that we'recontrolling the controllables
and really nail down that,because then exactly how that
ties into life, you know lifedoesn't always work out the way
that you want.
You don't always.
You can't control all outcomes,you know, it's just not so.
I just love working with youthsports, um athletes, because I
(15:31):
just think that sports are suchgreat arenas to practice life
and these like simulatedenvironments where you know kids
may get, you know, heard andthey may have challenges for
sure, but it's not like theintensity of you know it can be,
it can be controlled in someways, you know, with giving them
the right experience.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah, and that's amazing.
I mean I think, listen, I, mywife, is at a pretty big firm,
she's in HR.
They, they read Simon Sinek,they read about Angela Duckworth
and grit and you know yourhigher why and Patrick Lencioni
(16:10):
and all these guys that arereally you know they've written
books for different reasons butyou know big corporate America
is, is, is kind of adopting itbecause they, they understand
that.
You know there's so much ofyour performance as a company
and as an individual is tied toyour mental state and there's
(16:33):
something we always say asentrepreneurs every day.
You got to get your head rightand you know, when you were
talking about breathing, youcould tell from my voice that
I'm more of a guy that breathesfrom up here, right in my neck,
and I play guitar and I sing,not professionally, just as a
hobby, and one time I took asinging lesson.
(16:54):
He's like dude, you gotta youknow it's gotta be from down
here.
You're all up here in yourchest and in your throat and
that you know that's an obviousthing for singing where it's
about breathing patterns, butyou can see how that can.
You know that's an obviousthing for singing where it's
about breathing patterns, butyou can see how that, can you
know just through simple biology, how that could permeate
throughout your entirewell-being.
So you know it's amazing.
(17:16):
So not only do you, you knowyou have your virtual business
and your client base that spansmoms and corporations and
students and athletes, but youalso have an app and you have a
podcast.
So you're obviously a well, Iguess, structured business with
(17:38):
many tent poles, as I like tosay.
So, real, briefly, tell us alittle bit about your app and
then tell us about your podcast.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Yeah, so so the app is called the inhabit app, and
what it is is it's a culminationof videos that are laid out in
a few different categories, soeverything from meditation,
stretching, we also have a loton breathing.
So not only proper breathingtechnique, so how do you rewire
(18:11):
your breathing if you arelooking to improve how you're
breathing on a daily basis, butalso how do you leverage things
like intermittent hypoxictraining?
And what that is, doug, is it'sa.
It's a breath hold methodologythat helps people to elevate
their CO2 tolerance, andbasically what that means is
that, as you get higher CO2tolerance, that means that you
(18:32):
can withstand higher amounts ofCO2 in the body before your
chemoreceptors in your brain saythat hey, doug, it's really
time to breathe.
And that measurement what wefound in the breathing world is
that that's essential, and so ifyou can raise your CO2
tolerance, you can actuallydeliver more oxygen to the cells
(18:53):
, and this is through somethingcalled the Bohr effect.
So we teach people how to dothat over there.
And then, yeah, my podcast, theInhabit podcast.
We have about eight episodesthat are coming out now.
We don't have too many outright now, but we got a lot in
the chamber that we've recordedthat we're going to be pumping
out, which I love.
I love to do.
Exactly what we're doing here,buddy, is just talk about life
(19:17):
and business, and I learned somuch from my guests, so that's
always just scratches an itch.
That's super fun.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, yeah.
So that's.
That's exactly the reason why Istarted this, because, you know
, not only is it great to learnabout what you're doing and for
you to get kind of the word outto our listeners, but I think
there's also things that otherbusiness owners can learn from
each other.
You know how they overcomestruggles, what they've done,
not only mentally, but thetactical things like marketing
(19:45):
and business and things likethat.
So what's the best way forpeople to reach you, to contact
you, to learn more about yourcompany?
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Yeah, you can find us on Instagram, which is Inhabit
Mind Body at Inhabit Mind Body,or you can shoot me an email,
sean, at Inhabit Mind Body.
Love to meet new folks.
And one thing I'll say, doug,just to close on, is that one of
the things that we strive tocreate education on in the
(20:15):
market is that breathwork ismore than just a coping skill.
I think there's a lot ofinformation and training out
there as people look at how do Igo from a 10 to a five in a
moment, you know, and be able tode-stress, and there's tons of
value on that and we do talkabout that and we train our
clients in that, because it'svaluable to have that
information.
But the much bigger thing thatwe help people with is the
(20:37):
proactive micro training on adaily basis that creates the
right habit neurologically thathelps people to be in a better
space mentally and physically,thus making stress lower
throughout or over time.
And that's the thing that Ithink people miss a little bit
is that, um, this is a a way ofof being that if it's trained on
(21:00):
a small level each day and wehelp people do that, it can make
these large macro changesmentally and physically.
But it's a beautiful processthat is not just an emergency
break.
It's a way that in the goodmoments you can breathe.
In the bad moments, of course,you can too to get yourself down
, but it's just an essentialpart of helping each human,
(21:23):
because I always think about itlike we were given the car but
we never went to driver's ed toreally learn how to power it,
and so a lot of what I helppeople with is just getting the
fuel and the mechanics right sothat the car runs a bit better.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
That's great.
That's great.
All right, sean.
Well, thanks again for joiningus and being a guest on our
podcast, and I'll talk to you inabout 15 seconds.
Stay here.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Thanks for having me Doug All right, thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnpbergen.
com.
That's gnpbergen.
com or gnpbergen.
com, or call 201-298-8325.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Doug Drohan.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hey guys, and welcome to another episode of the Good
Neighbors Podcast.
I am your host, Doug Drohan,and the owner of the Bergen
Neighbors Media Group.
I am really thrilled to haveour guest today from Inhabit
Mind and Body, Sean Pritchard.
Sean, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Doug, thanks so much for having me, man.
How are you yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
So, sean, actually we spoke because you were doing, I
guess, a seminar, if you wantto call it that, at the high
school, the local high school,northern Valley, otapan.
But the cool thing about Seanis that he's a former college
athlete.
He spent a decade coachingsoccer teams and also working as
a personal trainer.
(00:54):
But he decided that there wasmore to training and sports than
just the physical aspect of itand he found it in habit to
really help people to understandhow to properly breathe, how to
use kind of mind and body toimprove not only their I guess
(01:17):
their training for sports, butit also goes beyond that.
It goes into businessperformance, skills, self-care
and a host of other things thatwe'll get into right now.
Does that kind of sum it up,Sean?
Yeah, it skills, self-care anda host of other things that
we'll get into right now.
Does that kind of sum it up,sean?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Yeah, it does, Doug.
Nice work, man.
That does sum it up and yeah,they're really the three areas
that we focus on through ourtraining methodology which, as
you said, it's focused largelyon breath work and also mindset
training is that we focus onsports teams.
So, from youth to professionallevel.
We work with schools luckyenough to support Harrington
Park Shout out to all the greatpeople over there and other
(01:52):
schools in the Bergen County,New Jersey area.
And then we also work withcorporate, and that can be from
startups, folks that are justdoing their series A round, just
getting going, wanting to putsome good wellness practices in
place to help their employees tobe successful, all the way to
large investment banks likeHoulihan Loki.
So, yeah, it's been a greatjourney so far, man.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
That's great.
So you help people thatstruggle with stress, poor sleep
which is usually what anyparent or any professional deals
with as well as low energy.
So what is it about breathing?
Like you know, you talk aboutyour breathing pattern.
I have to say I don't thinkthat's the first thing people
(02:33):
think about when they want toimprove their sleep or their
energy levels.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
So how does?
Speaker 2 (02:38):
your breathing pattern impact that.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Yeah, so check this out.
So new research shows thataround 75% of adults have
dysfunctional breathing.
And what that looks like, doug,is folks are breathing from the
secondary muscles, so the upperchest, the shoulders and the
neck.
They're also breathing usingthe mouth, and then they're
actually taking in too much air,and what we found is that it's
(03:01):
very binary the way that youbreathe.
If you're breathing more fromthe mouth and the upper chest
and taking in too much air,you're going to be more engaging
that sympathetic side of thenervous system, so you're going
to be releasing unnecessarycortisol, unnecessary adrenaline
.
And what I do is I'm like amechanic in ways.
(03:21):
I go in and I help people tomake these small tune-ups to
their engine and help tooptimize the way that their body
and brain are working throughthe breath.
And so we take around 20,000breaths every day.
But what I'd like to say is notall breaths are created equal.
So if you can improve oxygendelivery to the 20 trillion plus
(03:42):
cells that are in your body,which proper breathing does you
have macro improvements to driveyour energy.
You can improve sleep throughthings like mouth taping I don't
know if folks are familiar withthat, but that's a big one, and
then you also.
There are cerebral componentsto this too, just having more
focus, more creativity.
So I work with a whole host ofindividuals on these challenges.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
Now, you might be too young to be influenced by this,
but while you're talking aboutbreathing and I'm thinking about
sports I just remembered thescene from Bull Dorm where Susan
Sarandon gives Tim Robbins someadvice and tells him to breathe
through his eyes.
So I want you to breathethrough your eyelids like a lava
lizard.
And he's like what?
But you know that's she.
(04:31):
You know he's a pitcher andhe's dealing with the stress of
being in a game and he's notdoing well, and she wants him to
breathe through his eyelids.
So, but you weren't influencedby that movie.
I guess that's not what droveyou into this, this field, no no
, but now you've piqued mycuriosity.
I'm oh yeah yeah, I mean, that'sone of the best baseball movies
ever.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
You know, wait, what's it called?
Again no, no, how do you spellit?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
say it again bull b, like you know, like the, you
know toro and durham, uh,d-u-r-h-a-m.
Kevin Costner, tim Robbins,susan Sarandon.
It's a classic, is it 80s?
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Yeah, okay, I was born in 91.
All right.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Have you ever seen Wizard of Oz or the Godfather?
There's plenty of movies thatpredated me that I've seen.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I certainly love movies before my time, but that
one I haven't seen.
You've piqued my curiosity.
I love all things peakperformance, and the concept of
breathing through your eyelidsto really lock in is hilarious,
but also seems effective in someways did you get into this, um,
this field?
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Obviously you know I read a bit of your bio being an
athlete and a personal trainerbut what kind of unlocked your
um kind of journey to startinhabit?
Speaker 3 (05:53):
Yeah, yeah, great question.
Uh, so it's.
It's really two things.
So the first thing I'll I'llshare is that when I was, when I
was 15, um, I, I grew up herein in Ramsey, new Jersey.
Uh, so in Jersey, guy and um, Ihad a really good uh high
school soccer team that I w thatI was on.
Um, we had just uh been knockedout of the county tournament by
(06:16):
Bergen Catholic.
This was in 2007.
And, um, the previous summers Ihad been working at in Golden
goal, um, which is a soccer parkand lacrosse park in upstate
New York that my dad hadconstructed and founded, with
some other guys, and, uh, Iwould spend my summers man out
there on the turf, a hundreddegrees, watching my, uh, my old
(06:36):
man just riff these sessionsand he was just the impact that
he was having with kids, withteam building, with mental
skills.
Um, it was, uh, it wasincredible.
And so, uh, here we are, wejust get knocked out of the
counties.
And I'm talking to my coach, myother captains, I'm like, look
like we, we got to bring him in.
Um, he, he's going to be ableto bring us together.
(06:56):
Put some really goodfoundational mental toughness
strategies, get our team culturetight and lo and behold man, he
came in, he did, he did fivesessions and we got five wins
and we got our.
We lifted our first uh statestate championship as a school
in a hundred years and I.
I saw that happen.
I didn't even get chillstalking about that.
It's very, very deep andemotional, um, and I saw that
(07:19):
happen as a 15 year old and Iwas like, okay, this, this stuff
works.
You know I had seen with him,you know he had got me on John
Wooden and some of these otheruh, great, great coaches, um you
know Phil Knight, and, and Istarted to see that the mind was
just incredibly powerful as itrelates to sports, and so that
was my early introduction tothat.
(07:39):
And then, uh, when I wasplaying college soccer at
Montclair state, I was, uh, Iwas struggling with my mental
health.
I was struggling withdepression and anxiety, and I
saw just firsthand how difficultlife gets managing schoolwork,
relationships, um, you know,work and all that stuff.
When your mental health is onthe rocks, it just becomes a
chore every day.
(07:59):
And so with that, though youknow, I like to say that you
know my pain became my purpose.
In that moment, I just wentdeep, man, and I really started
to understand meditation,understand breath work,
understand habit creation andwhy I started to fall into this
space, and that was really my,my opening man.
Those two moments were prettyseminal in my existence.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
That's amazing.
Yeah, you know, I interview alot of business owners and
entrepreneurs and there's oftenthat that story arc of the
struggle and then the thetriumph, you know, and the
trials and tribulations that gotyou to where you are.
And triumph, you know, and thetrials and tribulations that got
you to where you are.
And then you know it's justbecause you climbed one mountain
doesn't mean you're going toyou'll never have another peak
(08:44):
or valley in your career, inyour life.
So but it's great to see youknow the people that I talked to
, including yourself, how theymaybe face a challenge like this
but then find the positive andgrow from it.
And in your case you found itin habit, which is amazing,
which I guess your dad is alsopart of the team.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
Yeah, I appreciate that.
Yeah, he is.
I just brought him on, actuallyrecently, as my co-founder.
I had founded the company alittle over four years ago and
he had helped me with thetraining methodology, being a
mental skills and team buildingexpert, and I was really focused
on, uh, meditation and breathwork, um and uh, visualization
those were my big lanes and alsophysical exercise, um.
(09:27):
But the the mental skills umside and team building side,
he's just, he's amazing.
He's really really good at it.
So brought him on and that'sbeen special to be able to
collaborate and yeah, we'reworking with teams right now,
helping them go deep into thestate tournaments and their
respective sports here in NewJersey and schools and otherwise
(09:49):
.
It's really fun to collaboratewith him.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So do you run into any resistance with coaches or
teams?
Because I'm thinking about theamount of time that is that's
demanded for an athlete and astudent athlete my son's 11.
Okay, so we're not quite highschool level yet, but he's
playing on club baseball, soccer, you know flag football.
We tried another club team.
(10:13):
So if you have all thesepractices and then on top of
that you say, oh, by the way,we're going to meet today to
work on our breathing, or we'regoing to work with Sean and
we're going to learn aboutvisualization, where are you
going to fit that into yourtraining program and is this
something that has been a bit ofa learning process?
Obviously, as you talk aboutthe success, I think any coach
(10:34):
who's looking for that edge, orany manager in a company who's
looking for that edge and seesthe results you're getting.
Okay, now, aside from our twodays a week or three days a week
practices, we're going to haveto build in another session of
(11:00):
breathing or meditation ormindfulness.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yeah, it's interesting, man, because one of
the things that I talk aboutearly on is that this work gives
you more capacity for yourschedule.
So it makes you feel becauseit's true is that because your
focus is better, because yourstress levels are lower, your
energy levels are higher, yourability to manage the rest of
the schedule becomes better.
(11:24):
So, for example, I do a lot ofwork with working moms and
sometimes three, four kids.
Both them and their husband arecareer driven and they're just
looking to have more capacity,and so that's a great client,
that that that all support.
So it's just that the mentalside of that is huge.
But it's funny because you justmentioned, uh, your 11 year old
(11:47):
son, Um.
I just started working with, uh,an AAU basketball player, um,
and also a baseball player,that's 12, and and we have him,
we meet, meet once a week for 30minutes, and then I have videos
in the app that are anywherefrom seven to 10 minutes long
that he does on his own, Um, andto be able to build that habit
and um, it's it's what I like totalk about it, as is, it's the
(12:09):
one thing that impacts allthings.
So, if you can get yourbreathing locked in and your
mindset locked in, um, not onlyis it going to make you feel
like you have capacity, but yourum, your performance just goes
up.
So, uh, just a quick story here.
Um, I do a lot of work withwith high school teams.
I mentioned me and my dad.
There's a program in Ramsey, um, the Ramsey boys team and girls
(12:31):
team, and we worked veryclosely with last year and, uh,
on the boy side, uh, using thismethodology, they were the only
team in New Jersey, uh, not tolose a game, and we won States
and counties, um, with this.
So the proof is we're getting toa point now, um, and you know,
especially as we're working withhigher athletes in the
professional level, that I meanyou look at Steph Curry like
(12:53):
Steph Curry has got a breathingcoach.
So if you, if you reverseengineer with the best they're
doing, they're spending time onthis.
So, uh, it's becoming easier tohave conversations with parents
that are serious, that want totake the next step, if their
kids are feeling stressed, ifthey're looking for elevation,
not just in sport, cause I'll becandid with you, man we look at
(13:13):
whether you're doing publicspeaking, you're about to take a
quiz or a test, or peakperformance is peak performance,
and regardless of what theevent is, there are clear steps
and things that you can do toget yourself ready to thrive in
any moment.
So that's a lot of what I workon with kids.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
So tell me more about your.
So when you say you have asession, do they come to your
office?
Do you go to uh breath andintroductory program.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Yeah, so, uh, it is virtual, um, we, we do them all
over zoom.
So grateful for that tool.
It's, it's, it's really helpful.
And the program, how it works,is first we get benchmarks,
because we're very data driven,so there are two different, uh,
breathing um measurements thatwe'll take.
One is called a bolt score,which is the blood oxygen level
test, and that's a simple breathhold test.
(14:04):
And then there's another, alonger breath hold test that we
look at as well and that helpsus to understand how optimal
someone's breathing is.
And then what we do from thereis we program the 10 weeks with
exercises and sessions that helpthem to get their breathing
more optimal.
Um, and then the key thing,though, is that it's not just
about breathing.
(14:25):
I think sometimes, yes, it's,it's a huge skill, and I think
it's the platform of what anymate, any athlete and human
should really strive to just getdown.
But then we bring in themindset pieces of okay, uh, for
example, I teach kids about earuh, which is controlling the
controllable.
So E, a, r, ear three things inlife that you can control, and
(14:45):
in sports is your effort, yourattitude and your response.
So a lot of times, in youthsports, for example, you'll have
kids that will freak out aboutwhat the ref just called, or
that their coach didn't put themin in this specific play, or
that the parents are being loudin some dimension, or that the
other team played the best gameof their lives and you just lost
(15:07):
that day.
So we want to make sure thatwe're focusing on the right
things and that we'recontrolling the controllables
and really nail down that,because then exactly how that
ties into life, you know lifedoesn't always work out the way
that you want.
You don't always.
You can't control all outcomes,you know, it's just not so.
I just love working with youthsports, um athletes, because I
(15:31):
just think that sports are suchgreat arenas to practice life
and these like simulatedenvironments where you know kids
may get, you know, heard andthey may have challenges for
sure, but it's not like theintensity of you know it can be,
it can be controlled in someways, you know, with giving them
the right experience.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah, and that's amazing.
I mean I think, listen, I, mywife, is at a pretty big firm,
she's in HR.
They, they read Simon Sinek,they read about Angela Duckworth
and grit and you know yourhigher why and Patrick Lencioni
(16:10):
and all these guys that arereally you know they've written
books for different reasons butyou know big corporate America
is, is, is kind of adopting itbecause they, they understand
that.
You know there's so much ofyour performance as a company
and as an individual is tied toyour mental state and there's
(16:33):
something we always say asentrepreneurs every day.
You got to get your head rightand you know, when you were
talking about breathing, youcould tell from my voice that
I'm more of a guy that breathesfrom up here, right in my neck,
and I play guitar and I sing,not professionally, just as a
hobby, and one time I took asinging lesson.
(16:54):
He's like dude, you gotta youknow it's gotta be from down
here.
You're all up here in yourchest and in your throat and
that you know that's an obviousthing for singing where it's
about breathing patterns, butyou can see how that can.
You know that's an obviousthing for singing where it's
about breathing patterns, butyou can see how that, can you
know just through simple biology, how that could permeate
throughout your entirewell-being.
So you know it's amazing.
(17:16):
So not only do you, you knowyou have your virtual business
and your client base that spansmoms and corporations and
students and athletes, but youalso have an app and you have a
podcast.
So you're obviously a well, Iguess, structured business with
(17:38):
many tent poles, as I like tosay.
So, real, briefly, tell us alittle bit about your app and
then tell us about your podcast.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Yeah, so so the app is called the inhabit app, and
what it is is it's a culminationof videos that are laid out in
a few different categories, soeverything from meditation,
stretching, we also have a loton breathing.
So not only proper breathingtechnique, so how do you rewire
(18:11):
your breathing if you arelooking to improve how you're
breathing on a daily basis, butalso how do you leverage things
like intermittent hypoxictraining?
And what that is, doug, is it'sa.
It's a breath hold methodologythat helps people to elevate
their CO2 tolerance, andbasically what that means is
that, as you get higher CO2tolerance, that means that you
(18:32):
can withstand higher amounts ofCO2 in the body before your
chemoreceptors in your brain saythat hey, doug, it's really
time to breathe.
And that measurement what wefound in the breathing world is
that that's essential, and so ifyou can raise your CO2
tolerance, you can actuallydeliver more oxygen to the cells
(18:53):
, and this is through somethingcalled the Bohr effect.
So we teach people how to dothat over there.
And then, yeah, my podcast, theInhabit podcast.
We have about eight episodesthat are coming out now.
We don't have too many outright now, but we got a lot in
the chamber that we've recordedthat we're going to be pumping
out, which I love.
I love to do.
Exactly what we're doing here,buddy, is just talk about life
(19:17):
and business, and I learned somuch from my guests, so that's
always just scratches an itch.
That's super fun.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Yeah, yeah.
So that's.
That's exactly the reason why Istarted this, because, you know
, not only is it great to learnabout what you're doing and for
you to get kind of the word outto our listeners, but I think
there's also things that otherbusiness owners can learn from
each other.
You know how they overcomestruggles, what they've done,
not only mentally, but thetactical things like marketing
(19:45):
and business and things likethat.
So what's the best way forpeople to reach you, to contact
you, to learn more about yourcompany?
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Yeah, you can find us on Instagram, which is Inhabit
Mind Body at Inhabit Mind Body,or you can shoot me an email,
sean, at Inhabit Mind Body.
Love to meet new folks.
And one thing I'll say, doug,just to close on, is that one of
the things that we strive tocreate education on in the
(20:15):
market is that breathwork ismore than just a coping skill.
I think there's a lot ofinformation and training out
there as people look at how do Igo from a 10 to a five in a
moment, you know, and be able tode-stress, and there's tons of
value on that and we do talkabout that and we train our
clients in that, because it'svaluable to have that
information.
But the much bigger thing thatwe help people with is the
(20:37):
proactive micro training on adaily basis that creates the
right habit neurologically thathelps people to be in a better
space mentally and physically,thus making stress lower
throughout or over time.
And that's the thing that Ithink people miss a little bit
is that, um, this is a a way ofof being that if it's trained on
(21:00):
a small level each day and wehelp people do that, it can make
these large macro changesmentally and physically.
But it's a beautiful processthat is not just an emergency
break.
It's a way that in the goodmoments you can breathe.
In the bad moments, of course,you can too to get yourself down
, but it's just an essentialpart of helping each human,
(21:23):
because I always think about itlike we were given the car but
we never went to driver's ed toreally learn how to power it,
and so a lot of what I helppeople with is just getting the
fuel and the mechanics right sothat the car runs a bit better.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
That's great.
That's great.
All right, sean.
Well, thanks again for joiningus and being a guest on our
podcast, and I'll talk to you inabout 15 seconds.
Stay here.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
Thanks for having me Doug All right, thank you.
Speaker 1 (21:53):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to gnpbergen.
com.
That's gnpbergen.
com or gnpbergen.
com, or call 201-298-8325.
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