Ep. 7 - The Power of Conscious Breathing | Tammy Lyons

When it comes to stress, anxiety, and grief, there’s one healing modality that’s free and accessible to every human being: the breath. On this episode of The Bounce Back we’re talking about the healing benefits of conscious breath work and taking you through techniques that you can try any place at any time! Our guest is Tammy Lyons, the owner of Inner Bliss Yoga Studios and Founder of Believe in CLE.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is FCB Radio. We're realClocklives. Visit us online at FCB radio
dot com. Hello, my friends, this is Andrea Echio. I want
to make an introduction note and messagebefore you listen to today's conversation. This
episode of The Bounce Back was recordedbefore the word breath became an emotionally charged

(00:22):
word because a human being, ablack man, screamed for his life by
saying I can't breathe and was ignoredwhile in police custody to the point of
death. On behalf of everyone involvedin the production of this podcast, we
dedicate this episode to George Floyd.Black lives Matter and stand in unity against

(00:44):
racism, hate and bigotry of anykind. No human should ever be ignored
when they speak the words I can'tbreathe. I'm sure there are many of

(01:19):
us who feel that the world needsa bounce backstory right now, or really
just progression forward, which is whatthis podcast is about at its core.
During times of extreme stress, grief, or pain, we're often met with
the phrase just breathe. On today'spodcast, we're going to be talking about

(01:40):
conscious breathwork and it's healing modalities foryour body. We'll also talk you through
different techniques that you can try athome, in your car, or during
an intense conversation without the other personever knowing. Joining me to talk about
the power of conscious breathwork is oneof my favorite people on the planet.

(02:00):
Tammy Lyons is the owner of InnerBliss Yoga Studios in Rocky River and Westlake,
Ohio. She received her Yoga teachercertificate at Silver Lodus Yoga Institute in
Rehobeth Beach, Delaware. Tammy's beenteaching Vinyasa yoga for almost two decades and
is the founder of Believe in Clle, which is a large scale yoga event

(02:20):
that has brought thousands of yogis togetherto practice under the Cleveland sky outside of
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her decades of yoga and meditation practice
have made her a huge advocate ofconscious breathwork and its healing benefits. So,
Tammy, I am so happy you'rehere to talk about breathwork because I
actually just want to get right intoit. Before you came, I had

(02:45):
a phone call and an interaction thatI was like, I am trying to
get ready for a podcast about breathwork. I need to be calm and
focus, and now this has totallythrown me off. And so then I
thought, okay, girl, anddo what you're going to be talking about.
Just breathe. But you know,I think sometimes often when we find
ourselves in stressful situations or situations wherewe feel a lot of anxiety, or

(03:10):
we're going through what we've just beengoing through in the world right now,
where we're surrounded with some negativity,people will say, just breathe. And
sometimes it seems like the most aggravatingthing to hear, right, just breathe,
Except it does start with the breath, doesn't it. I believe that
our state is directly impacted by thequality of our breath in any given moment.

(03:38):
So the beauty and that is thatyou can change your state with one
step, of course, to beaware that you you know that your state
is not really serving you, andthen to take that moment and consciously breathe
in, consciously breathe out. Andso that's where the term breathwork becomes powerful

(04:05):
in that, of course we're allwalking around as breathing beings, but breathwork
means that it becomes deliberate and intentional, and so that act of any kind
of practice that is deliberate and comesfrom a desire to grow. Then impacts

(04:29):
not just your state, but reallythe way you experience life. And I
love once I heard a teacher saya deep breath can save you from having
to say you're sorry. Wow,that is true, isn't it. That's
what stops, stops the negative act, right to just breathe in and stop

(04:50):
yourself. Yeah, and give yourselfa moment to collect yourself. You know,
as you talk about conscious breathwork,would you liken it to I mean,
it's something that we have to practiceon a daily basis to get better
at. Just like if you're exercisingto get your body toned, you have

(05:12):
to do it on a regular basis, not just once a week or every
now and then when you feel likeit. You're not going to get that
six pack. Right. Is itthe same thing with breadth work, where
you really need to consciously spend timedoing it every day. Yeah. So
we're you know, we're creatures ofrepetition, and so a practice is not

(05:34):
even necessarily to master, you know, whatever it is that you're practicing,
but to train your brain. Sothe act the act of carving out time
and then making it a priority inthat time to take care of yourself in
a way that you are committed tothe practice, no matter what, whether

(05:58):
it's yoga, running, cooking,meditation, breathwork is the same, and
that as you make that conscious decisionto sit down and practice pulling breath in
pressing it out. There's lots ofdifferent methods, and you might even be

(06:21):
able to argue that the method itselfisn't as important as the actual practice and
the commitment to it. I've practicedall different kinds of praniyama, which is
what it's referred to in the yogaworld, praniyama meaning that the prana is
that life force flowing through you,and praniyama is the direction of that life

(06:46):
force or the control of it,you could say. And so there's tons
of different styles of breathwork or praniyama, and I think they all have value.
But finding the one that resonates withyou and lights you up and draws
you back to the practice over andover, then that's the one. It
has the power to really create thebenefits that we know are possible with breathwork.

(07:13):
We'll get into talking about some ofthe different methods, or maybe you
can take us through a few ofthem, but to prep myself for today
and to take myself through some typeof breathwork. I did something. And
I know that you practice some versionof this, but I've watched a lot
of people doing videos online or Isee it also on documentaries of people taking

(07:39):
ice baths or like the submersion andsomething freezing cold. And I'll be honest,
every time I watched it, Iwas like, they're crazy, they
are crazy. I want to getinto a hot top or go lay by
the beach where it's eighty eight degrees. And then the more I watch it

(08:00):
and the more I read about it, and then someone in particular who I've
just started to dabble in, whoI know you have immersed yourself in the
last couple of Months's whim Hoff,who is fascinating to me, and we
can talk a little bit about him. But I thought, Okay, Tammy's
coming. I am going to givethis ice bath thing a tribe. This

(08:22):
is gonna be my prep work forus talking about breathwork. So I filled
up my bathtub with cold water.I went to the speedway down the street
and got gags of ice, andI threw the ice into my bathtub,
and then I googled how long areyou supposed to sit in an ice bath?

(08:46):
I tried to reach out to afriend who I knew did it,
and they didn't respond fast enough,so I googled it and they said the
first time or six to eight minutes, and I was like, oh boy,
okay, and the cold water alonealready felt cold, so then think
of putting the ice in. SoI put on my bathing suit and I
think I time myself. I lastedthree minutes and I did this like the

(09:11):
fast breath right like that, andit's whim hoffs, like breathe in like
thirty times, right, like breathein heavy and then just let a little
bit out and do that thirty times. And I felt myself getting lightheaded.
I couldn't make it six to eightminutes. I was impressed. I did
thirty sort of so impressed. Threeminutes and a ice bath is nothing to

(09:33):
you know, discount at all.Yeah, but you do you go into
lake erie, right, Well that'smy preference. Yeah, And I actually
think it's easier than doing what youdid because you just walk straight in versus
like your tub. First of allbrings up a visceral response of like hot,
you know, bubbly warm water,and now you're looking at your tub

(09:58):
filled with ice. I actually thinkthat's a harder entryway than just walking into
lake erie. It was painful,Yeah, it was pressed because my bath
is all the things that you talkedabout every night. It's candles, bubble
bath, right, like salts,It's all that wonderful stuff that like makes
you feel like you're reconnected to likethe womb or whatever. And now and

(10:22):
now it's like, oh my gosh, it looks like a frozen icicle to
me. But so breathwork, though, is a huge part of being able
to manage the discomfort. Yes,yes, And so when you first started
submerging yourself into freezing cold water,what was the breathwork practice that you incorporated

(10:48):
to make it tolerable? Well,Okay, I have to be honest.
First of all, I have notI don't have a regular practice of cold
water immersion, Okay, but Ihave. I have dabbled in it so
that I just have to be transparentand noness and I see it as incredibly

(11:09):
valuable and it's something that I goback to over and over as a way
to improve my like just overall vitality. I did feel that way after you,
I will tell you. Yeah,I'm it's terrible when you're in the
water. Like I don't want tosay like, oh, this feels awesome.
It felt terrible. And then Igot out because I put myself through

(11:31):
a hard workout before and I wassore, yeah, and my like knees
and in my hips and I waslike, wait a minute, they started
to feel a little warmed up,like I had no joint pain and that
was just from three minutes. Yeah, there's no I mean, I have
no science behind what I did,ye, but there is some science.
There is science, yes there is. And so when I first was,

(11:54):
you know, interested in that coldwater immersion, it was really through Tony
Robbins. And I didn't even knowanything about wim Hoff at that point.
So my familiarity with wim Hoff camemuch later. And so I didn't have
any like really breathwork that I waspracticing other than trying not to hyperventilate,

(12:18):
right, But of course I amfamiliar with the breath and so many other
aspects that you can apply, youknow, any pattern, any breathing pattern,
to any stressful moment, which isreally what immersing yourself in ice water
is. It's stressful, yes,and then you're using the breath to help,
you know, manage the discomfort.Very similar really to being in a

(12:43):
vignasa yoga setting and using the breathlinked with movement to keep your mind focused
on where you're headed. But alsowhen you rub up against those edges in
a physical practice where either it becomesuncomfortable because you're holding a post a long
time in your muscles are fatiguing,or you are working to stretch into an

(13:07):
area that's a little resistant, soyou're feeling discomfort from that. The breath
is there to accompany that experience,to decrease your sort of desire to get
out of it, you know,So the breath becomes like something you fixate
on in order to manage that thatsort of fight or flight response. Well,

(13:28):
I know you're an athlete, sobreathing would always be a part of
your like athleticism. But was itwhen you first started practicing yoga that you
truly understood the power of breathwork ordid that happen for you long before you
started practicing yoga. Definitely did nothappen until I started practicing yoga, for

(13:50):
sure. I was very unaware ofany sort of science behind breathing as as
a runner or triathlete or any youknow, swim or any of the other
athletic endeavors that I participated in.So yeah, for me, it was
definitely part of my yoga practice,and and over time, as as you

(14:18):
know, I went through teacher trainingand then started teaching, and then of
course you grow your body of knowledgeas a teacher, because what you teach
you learn, and what you learnyou teach, so experientially as well as
just from an academic standpoint, startedto see that the value of the breath

(14:39):
work stood by itself, and littleby little became I became, you know,
interested in studying the variety, thegiant variety of breath work out there,
sometimes separately, even just from myyoga practice, often as a compliment
to my meditation practice, and thenof course more recently as a way to

(15:03):
really improve just my life force,you know, the vitality of my life
force, which is I think reallywhat Wimhoff comes from. When you mentioned
that you also incorporated into your meditation. Do breathwork and meditation have to go
hand in hand? Or can?For people? Who are like, I
mean, I love meditation, andI know you do. You lead so

(15:26):
many classes on meditation and have reallyused social media, especially during a time
when businesses and your business was shutdown, and you wanted to be able
to reach out to anybody who neededsomething, some kind of positive energy in
their life for any of your students, So you were able to use the
social media platforms in this beautiful waynot only to offer our yoga classes,

(15:48):
but really to offer these meditation tenfifteen minute meditation which I think is so
helpful for our mental health during atime when we were missing connection with people.
Yeah, so I know that sayingthat, I know you believe in
meditation, but for those who don'tpractice it, they can still practice breath

(16:11):
work, right, Yeah. Ithink that's a great point. So I
find that a lot of people feelmeditation is daunting, you know. So
people will say to me, Ican't meditate, I can't sit still,
I can't concentrate, my mind isso busy, And those are all true
things. Meditation actually is just sittingwith yourself and being the witness to what's

(16:40):
sometimes is called the monkey mind,but all of the just NonStop thoughts,
the breath is a physical practice thatcan give your mind something to concentrate on
why you're trying to sit still.So breathwork and meditation definitely compliment each other
hand in hand. They can bepracticed separately. It is, you know,

(17:03):
possible to sit in meditation with adifferent focus than the breath. But
I do feel that a breath initiatedmeditation is friendlier because the breath. I've
heard it called fertilizer for the brain, which I love, and elixer for

(17:25):
the body and fertilizer for the brain. But the breath where gives you an
entry way. So you sit down, you know you're gonna try to meditate,
You sit down, you close youreyes, and all you can do
is think about, you know,what you're going to have for dinner,
or what you wish you wouldn't havesaid, or wish what you wish you
would have said, or the dogworking outside, and so the mind just

(17:48):
has nothing to really anchor itself.But then if you sit down, you
close your eyes, and you havea breath practice that you are that you
are moving towards, then the mindhas something very solid to settle into.
And there's some simple breathwork like myfavorite right now to teach, and then

(18:11):
I've actually encouraged other people like goteach this because you don't have to be
a yoga teacher to teach. Itis called the four seven eight I'm sorry,
four seven eight breath. I lovethe four seven eight breath that I
think I learned that from you.That's one of my favorites. So let's
talk about how the four seven eightworks. So the four seven eight,
which was developed I believe by AndrewWile, is an inhale for four counts

(18:36):
and then you hold the breath infor seven counts, and then you press
the breath out for eight counts andthen you just repeat that. You know,
on a loop. How often shouldyou repeat it? Is it about
the amount of is about the amountof time that you're doing the breath work
or is it about the number ofrepetitions? Well, I think you could
do it either way. You couldset an alarm. Let's say that you

(19:00):
wanted to practice for I think fiveminutes would be an outstanding amount of time,
or maybe you prefer to go throughrepetitions so you can say, Okay,
I'm gonna go through this. I'mgoing to do ten rounds of this
and in five minutes, I mean, any of us can do anything for
five men, do anything for fiveminutes, and it will change your state.

(19:22):
So if we go back and weremember, okay, like our state
impacts everything. If you're in agreat state, you are showing up for
the people you love in a reallyopen hearted way. If you're in a
great state, you're making good decisions. If you're in a great state,
your energy is high, you canaccomplish things, you feel hopeful. So

(19:44):
okay, So if we if webelieve that, if that's our premise that
a great state or a beautiful stateor an uplifted state, however we want
to identify that, if we allbelieve and agree that that's the foundation to
living a beautiful life, then weknow we need to have practices that we
can change our state. Because youknow, crappy things happen, We get

(20:06):
bad news, we get sick,we are you know, our whole world
shuts down, right you things happen. And so if we can, if
we can just have practices in ourback pocket that can alter that state in
any given moment, then we're nowand we're now in control of our internal
experience of the external world, whichof course we can't control, right.

(20:29):
So I love the four seven eightbreath because it's very simple. Anyone can
practice it. Now, I willsay one thing, a little side note
here. The only people who shouldnot practice breath retention, which is when
you hold it, is someone who'spregnant. Okay. I always like to
say that little note. Is thereanother alternative for pregnant women? Well,
they just would want to practice somemore fluid breath, okay. And similarly,

(20:52):
you know someone who has extreme healthconditions, you know, you always
want to ask your doctor about retention, even though the four seven eight breath
is only seven seconds, right,versus you know whim hoff who has you
exhale and retain the exhale for ninetyseconds, which is a little more intense.
It is is that where he wantsyou to breathe in it's like thirty

(21:14):
times right, thirty yeah, thirtyout yeah. So his Well, let's
do this first, okay, andthen we'll talk about I talk about what.
Sorry, I get excited. There'sso much to talk about. There's
so many different practice there's so manydifferent ones, and they're also great.
But I love so if we thinkabout starting at the basics. The four
seven eight breath is basic and isvery easily mastered by anyone. Kids like

(21:37):
kids love this breath. Yes,so you can do it with your ice
clothes. But you don't have there'snothing, you know, require there's not
a requirement to close your eyes.Okay, So you're going to exhale all
your breath completely and I'll take youthrough it. Okay, I'll count for
you. But let me say first, you're going to exhale all your breath
completely, okay, through your Well, let me ask this too, you

(22:00):
your nose or your mouth or doesit not really matter? Well for this
method, what is how it istaught is that you exhale with your mouth
slightly closed, and you make awash sound on the way out. Yeah,
good, so exhale, exhale,exhale now, inhale to the count
of four three two one, retainfor seven six five four three two one.

(22:33):
Exhale slowly eight seven that little washsix five four three two one,
close your mouth, breathe in threeyour nose four three two one. Hold
the breath seven six five four threetwo one. Exhale wash two three four

(23:02):
five, six seven eight one moreround inhale four three two one, hold
of breath seven six five four threetwo one wash seven six five four three

(23:22):
two and one allow your breath toreturn to normal. And just three feels
really good. You guys can't seeher, but and it looks like she's,
you know, floating off into Ikind of feel that way, especially

(23:45):
we've got the candles burning. Andyeah, that alone, just three breaths
alone, just it's almost like itbalances your pH or something inside. It
just balances everything. Yeah, asyou sort of this like clean slate of
emotions. Oh, I like that, a clean slate. I think that's

(24:07):
great. It's to begin again,Yes, begin again, Yes, and
that is your right, so easyin something that anybody can do at home.
You can do an your car beforelike an interview or yes, before
your game or your race or aconversation. Yes, what about those are
interesting points you bring up. Isthere something that you can do so that

(24:32):
it doesn't seem like you are doingbreathwork, like say you're having a heated
argument with someone and you don't wantto be the person who's like, yeah,
right, like these are heavy brads, right, you can tell like
that it's obvious that that person gotto you, or you're interviewing for a
job and you're in the middle ofit and you're starting to feel yourself sweat
a little bit inside and you dowant to breathe through it, yet at

(24:55):
the same time seem composed. Isthere something that you can do breath work
wise where nobody will really know thatyou're doing the breath work well in my
opinion, which is one of agazillion I think in the situation, do
you describe the best breath work?Is the ujaii breath, which is what

(25:15):
we practice in yoga, or Ishouldn't say yoga. We practice that in
vinyasa yoga, and that is vinyasayoga for those who don't practice yoga,
is what I know. There's somany different types. Yeah, there's so
many different types of Vinyasa. Isbreath linked with movement and tends to be
a little bit more dynamic in nature, fluid, you know, one breath,

(25:38):
one movement, moving fluidly, andso vinyasa is typically practiced with ujaii
and ujai is an inhale through thenose, a little contraction at the back
of the throat, pulling the breathin through the back of the throat that's
slightly contracted and then pressing the breathback out. Slight contraction comes back out.

(26:00):
Sometimes sounds like Darth Vader. Yes, so there is a sound to
it. But you can do aversion of ujaii and people don't know you're
doing it. How do you dothat? Because what Tammy saying is true?
That the ujaii? Am I sayingthat? Right? I know it?
When I hear it, I don't. I've just never said it you.
It feels very throaty, like you, very throaty. But notice I'm

(26:23):
going to do it right now,and tell me if you can tell I'm
doing it? Okay, not really. I hear like a little bit of
a sound, but in a room, whether it maybe the sound of an
air conditioning or a heater or someoneelse is talking, Like if you're doing
it right now and I'm talking,I don't know that you're doing it because

(26:45):
I'm only hearing the sound of myown voice. But as I'm watching you,
and of course you can't see,Tammy, but I'm assuming that you're
doing it right now. So that'sa good one. A very throaty yea
the Darth Vader. Yeah. Harrisonsreferred to as like the breath of victory.
Um. Easy to find. Youknow a lot of information on it,

(27:08):
but I like it because it isnot visible. You can't visibly tell
someone's doing it, and it justimmediately like shifts your mind from agitation to
presence, you know, to focus. It's not a breath that is particularly
related to like, um, youknow, complete relaxation, because there is

(27:33):
like an uplifted quality to it,but it does focus you and takes you
out of that state of fight orflight. And it's something that you're even
though we've called it a throat likethroaty breathing, it's all is it all
through the nose? You don't breathethat through them mouth? It's all through
the nose, which again is somethingthat makes it a little less obvious.

(27:53):
Yes, um. And a noteto make is the quality of the inhale
through the nose is always going tobe higher than the quality of an inhale
through the mouth. Oh I didn'tknow that, why? Um? Well,
from a scientific perspective, Um,you're slowing it down as you pull

(28:15):
it in, okay, and asit you know, comes as it comes
through the nasal passages and down theback of the throat, there's just a
slower entry. You know, you'llnotice you breathe through your mouth usually when
you're like out of breath, oryou know, anxious, or or have
a stuffy nose. Yeah. Soso like, for example, an athlete

(28:37):
who is standing a basketball player who'sstanding on the free throw line, and
their heart rates elevated, so theirnatural tendency is going to be to open
their mouth and breathe through their mouthas they stand there get ready to shoot
the ball. If that, ifthat athlete can close their mouth and take
even one or two rounds of theujie breath, they are going to immediately

(28:59):
presence them salts and gives themselves abetter shot at making that basket because of
the focus and concentration and a coupleof rounds of ujii breath will bring the
heart rate down fast, you know, very quickly. Would that be okay?
So what about like if you're running, like the other day I went
for I'm dating somebody who's very athletic, and I would, well, he's

(29:25):
an athlete. I would say,I'm athletic like I work out, But
he's athletic and an athlete and likesto run and to me. That is
like, I don't know, swimmingwith sharks. It's like awful, Like
the thought of it seems like tortureto me. But I like being active
together. So the halfway point islet's do a jog, right, let's

(29:48):
job through the child. And Ireally, I honestly it was my first
time. I went five point twomiles, which I feel like is what
I know. But that was Imean an ice bath five miles off the
bat. I mean, that's incredible. It's power of the mind though,
So that is that that tool thatwe have right where if we commit to
it and say I'm going to dothis, I mean I think I going

(30:11):
into it. I think he thoughtI was just going to go maybe five
or ten minutes, and then I'mlike, no, I'm going to just
go the whole way just to showI can't even though I don't like it,
something to prove. But the breathingthrough it. So when you're doing
something that's like highly athletic, whatis the best breath to use, Like
I mean you were a runner,is there like the uji e breath?
Is that good to use during running? Or would you recommend something different?

(30:34):
Is it just about the like cadenceof the run. Yeare through well,
I think you could use you coulduse you know, a version of uji.
I don't know that I run fastenough to need to need that,
but I think one of the mostbeneficial pieces to breathwork or a you know,

(30:59):
conscious breath when you're exercising is justthat to be conscious of it,
like, you know, to noticeyour breath. Is it. Are you
starting to like, you know,just open your mouth and almost in that
like you know, just short ofhyperventilating. If you get to that point,
that's your body telling you, youknow, you might need to back

(31:21):
off a little bit. Yeah,because that that can happen too where we
um in like moments of fear oranxiety or even like you're working out so
hard you end up holding your breath. I do that a lot, where
I hold my breath like I forgetalmost forget to breathe, right, And

(31:42):
so that is not healthy for us. We've got to breathe through those moments
of fear or those moments of whenwe're like really exerting our body athletically.
Yeah, and just like real likeexactly what you're saying. Having an awareness
and acute awareness of your breath andthen managing it appropriately. I think if

(32:05):
you you know, you just alwayslike go back to the point that the
breath is naturally occurring, non pharmaceuticalyou know, completely available to us and
free by the way, and yeah, you know in any moment to treat

(32:27):
whatever we need to be treated.It's medicine that is just waiting to be
accessed. And there's science behind this, the power of the breathwork. Like
and I know we'll get into someother methods of breathing too, I want
to talk about all of them.But there what are what are the what

(32:49):
are the benefits? I mean asidefrom like we know, okay, it's
going to calm me down right,it's gonna keep me centered, but physiologically,
I mean, what are the healthbenefits to practicing breathwork. Well,
I think it's almost an unlimited amountof benefits. I mean, they go
on and on and on, butsome of the ones that I find very

(33:10):
meaningful are of course, breathwork improvesour ability to focus. I mentioned earlier,
like a brain fertilizer, So oxygenatingour cells, whether you know their
brain cells or muscle cells, isjust going to enhance our ability to utilize

(33:36):
what we have before us at thein the best possible way. So when
you're trying to concentrate and focus,the breath really pulls the mind into like
a one, you know, pullsit into this like one pointed focus.
And also is oxygenating, you know, so that is a giant one.

(33:58):
And then of course because of thebreath taking us into our parasympathetic nervous system
and to rest and digest, thatone little piece, you know, leads
to a whole variety of benefits.But when we're in a state of fight
or flight, which we all spendway more time than we should, and

(34:22):
especially these last couple of months,the whole body is impacted and we have
these stress hormones. One for example, is cortisol, and when you're in
a state of fight or flight,the body is releasing these stress hormones as
it should. That's that's its job, you know, Like hey, there's

(34:43):
a bear coming, you know,speed the heart rate up, like run,
send off all these chemical hormones sothat you can, you know,
get away from the bear. Butwe don't have bears, well, at
least most of us don't have bears, like you know, knocking on our
front door, so we don't needto have those stress hormones coursing through our
bodies. And so a conscious breathpractice, breathwork takes us out of that

(35:08):
fight or flight state and into restand digest significantly decreasing the stress hormones that
are being released into our body.And when that happens, everything works better.
So we sleep better with less stresshormones coursing through our blood, we
are able to digest our food moreefficiently. Of course, we're able to

(35:35):
be present. So many benefits thatcome from that, just that shift out
of like you know, the bear'scoming into Okay here I am. I'm
still so I think that to me, like those pieces to the benefits are

(35:57):
so enormous that that's all I reallyneed to hear personally. But because it's
then like, well why not tryit? Like you said, it's part
of our being being able to breathe. It's so accessible, it doesn't cost
us anything. I think of peoplemaybe who don't. Maybe they are for

(36:19):
whatever reason, surrounded in a morenegative environment, or they don't have a
practice, a daily practice or evena weekly practice of something that calms them
in mind, body, and spirit, like a lot of the things we're
talking about, they just haven't done. Yeah, they have fear, and
they have chaos, and they haveworry in their life, and they are

(36:42):
like, just don't tell me tojust breathe, and don't tell me it's
going to get better, and don'ttell me we're going to get through this
together. Right. They just arenot in that headspace. But often if
they are not in that space,they can go into a really dark space.
So I want or if we canspeak to the people who are in
a really a dark space that ifyou don't have any of the history of

(37:07):
what we've just talked about, thatthe breath in that dark space may be
able to get you into the light. Sometimes we just need to be able
to get through the moment, right, get through the moment to get to
the other side, and the breathalone when can help. Yeah, yes,
with like depression and anxiety. Yeah, I think that's a great point.

(37:30):
It's like, we don't know whatwe don't know, and if you
haven't experienced, like you said,a lot of the different healing modalities that
we've touched on, it may justseem very like elusive. One of my
favorite breath practices to teach that Ithink is not just friendly but it's fun

(37:53):
and so powerful is Lion's breath.And I always use this with athletes because
most of them have like a littlekid inside of them and they like it.
But also it's just such a powerfuland productive and like there's a visceral
response that you have when you doit. Okay, so let's do let's

(38:15):
talk about and go through Lion's breath. So as it is a great one.
It's like the one that you cansort of feel a little like if
you're doing it around someone, youmay feel a little awkward about it.
So you have to like get getout of your head about it, but
just do it because it's a hugerelease. It's a huge release. This
is not one that you can practicein public because people think you're crazy.

(38:37):
And right now, if you,you know, practice this in public without
a mask on, you're gonna havesomebody to write you down with like sanitizer
or lysol or something. Yeah.But it's just such a i don't know,
like almost like a there's almost like, well, there is an animal
quality to it. Yeah, Soit takes us all back to just our

(39:00):
just ornate knee to release. Yes, So lion's breath is just it's a
deep breath in and I like toteach it with the in hand. Then
the arms come over the head,and then there's a slight bend in the
knees. The hands come to thethighs. You open your mouth, stick
out your tongue, and it's avery powerful exhalation, like loud and accompanied

(39:23):
by like a little bit of likea growl, you know, so like
you're not just you know, it'slike a really like powerful exhale and then
this really like strong sound, likejust getting letting something go. Okay.
So back when you could pack themin in a yoga studio. I know

(39:46):
we're living in a different world wherethat's going to change, But when you
could pack them in and you wouldhave a studio of ole people and you
would say, let's do a lion'sbreath. Percentage wise, how many just
did the little where you'd have toget them again to like really commit,
So you do it three times atleast. Okay, you know you can't
do it. You can't do ittwenty times because you would get lightheaded.

(40:07):
But yeah, but three or fourtimes, and I always do it in
a in a set of three,because the first one people might be a
little timid, yes, and thenthey hear it and they're like, oh,
okay, that's fun. And thenby the third time everyone is like
all in. You know, I'mdefinitely a timid one on the first one
because I'm like, I got tokeep to myself. I can't be too

(40:28):
loud. Yeah, but if everyonehere, I know, I brushed my
teeth before I came, but yeah, but what if? Yeah? And
then I and I try to likeencourage people, like close your eyes so
that no one can see you.Okay, it's like a little trick.
Yeah, of course people can stillsee you, but if you close your
eyes, you feel like no onecan see you. Um, so let's
talk. So let's give an exampleof what this sounds like. Okay,

(40:50):
no, like really, how muchblood is coming out so you guys can't
see it. But I'm going toput a paper over my face so I
don't spray Andrew with my lines breath. So it's going to be a deep
inhale, arms over the head,open the mouth, stick out the tongue,
and then as like that, Yeah, it is. There's almost a

(41:12):
hissing quality. There is like acat like quality to it. There is
a cat like quality, and I'vejust witnessed like some really cool shifts and
people just with three lines breaths.So if I'm teaching a Vinyasa yoga class,
I'll often do lions breath after balancingposes because the balance like sometimes you

(41:35):
know, it's hard, it's itrequires a lot of concentration, and there's
something just so like freeing about comingout of mounts or coming out of tree
pose. And then three lions brusto like start over, yes, because
I think what's happening is we're bottlingthings in, right, So if you're
holding a difficult pose, you're holdingsomething in. Yes, if you are

(41:57):
walking a path in life where you'vejust been bottling and and and suffocating yourself
with difficult emotions, that lion's breathreleases them. We've got if you if
you stuff something in, it's gotto go somewhere, got to go somewhere.
So why not let it just comeout of your mouth like without using

(42:17):
a swear word, you're just hissing. Yeah, And the sound alone like
just you know, makes you feellike you've just cleared it out, You've
just cleared it up. It's likesinging or you know, like that same
sort of energetic catharsis that happens whenyou yell really loud or you know,

(42:38):
chant really loud or sing really loud. So I love that about breath work,
the sound of it. I usedto be a combination of timid and
annoyed by sound of breath. Youknow what do they call that? I
can't remember what it was called,where it was like you're in complete silence,
but then you could just hear likethe sound of like water dripping or

(43:01):
I can't remember what kind of acousticsthey called it. But in any case,
I was somebody that was maybe botheredby a loud sound of a breath
until I realize that if you reallydo release it out, I could feel
the physical benefits of it. Itwas kind of like like because for me,

(43:24):
I do love to practice yoga,so that's where I would first without
even knowing, was becoming aware ofconscious breathwork, right because it's just sort
of a part of it, andthat's something that yoga instructors are talking about
and leading you into. And thenthat would be something I would practice when
I was away from it. Sowhether I was in usually some kind of

(43:46):
stressful situation, I would practice breathworkor something that would cause anxiety in my
life, I'd use breathwork, andI realized that when I was not fully
committed to it, like you knowwhere you were talking about, sometimes it's
just a like just a little likeI'm going to kind of keep this sound

(44:06):
to myself. When I fully committedto the breath and really released what I
was holding in in my lungs,it was like it was very symbolic of
releasing just sort of the toxicity ofthe negative emotion. So I do think
there's something to be said for gettingthe sound out, because I don't think

(44:28):
you've really committed to the breath exceptfor those times when we were talking about
me and you want to keep itto yourself. Right, Sometimes we've got
to make do with a situation likein the middle of an interview or a
heated argument with that on. Butotherwise, like if you can be by
yourself in a car, in aroom for people, in a yoga studio,
or at the dinner table with familymembers who like somebody wants to wear

(44:53):
a mask, the other person thinksa waste of time and money. Right
where you're like that could cause astressful situation. There's something to be said
for allowing the sound to come outright. Yeah, And I think what
you're referring to about being like alittle agitated by the sound, I would
always say if I had someone inclass who is breathing really really loud,

(45:16):
because and uji e breath is notoverly disruptive to those around you. So
I would always say, breathe loudenough that your neighbor can hear you,
but not so loud that someone acrossthe room is afraid of you. So
that's like how you sort of monitor, you know, And so the breath

(45:37):
should be audible, but only tosomeone who's very close to you. Otherwise
you're probably trying a little too hard, you know, Like and I'm not
talking about a lion's breath, I'mtalking about ugi eyes or I would say
most practices, there's um, youknow, the breath of fire, which
has not even a loud sound,but it's a very rapid, you know,

(45:59):
kind of whulstating breath, and thatthat has a little more sound to
it. Lion's breath, of course, is really loud. So I think
there's a measure to your breath thatis related to like, you know,
how much of that sound is likesupposed to be coming out? And then
are you trying too hard? Yes, it's like with anything you want to

(46:21):
try easy. Yes. So Iknow you said there are multiple different methods.
What's something else that we have leftout that you really like? Well?
I love the wim Hoff method thatwe did talk about a little bit,
but I just want to go backto that because I think there's a
really cool piece to the way heteaches the breath, which is circular in

(46:44):
nature. And we should say forpeople, I mean anybody who follows wim
Hoff like, and he's really increasingin popularity right now, I feel like,
but there are still some who maynot know who he is. He's
is he sweet Dish or I feellike or anotherland or Dutch maybe maybe somewhere

(47:06):
in that region. And he hasdone incredible things and um so his his
history. I think what set himon this path was that his wife died
by suicide and so because of itwas just like you know, obviously so
devastating to him. And I thinkhe went on this path of what can

(47:28):
we do to heal ourselves and certainlyand heal our minds? And so breathwork
became a big part of what hewas doing, and now he does like
amazing things. I think he climbedMount Kilimajaro with only shorts on, like
he wasn't wearing a shirt, andI don't even I think he did wear

(47:50):
shoes with spikes on them, andthat was it. And he there's a
lot of that, like swims infreezing water, and everything centers around the
breath. So if you study him, and you can Tammy, I know
you've been studying him, so youcan throw in a little bit more of
what you know about him. Buthe really is like he does things with
his body that we all of ushave been told are impossible, Like you

(48:17):
just can't do that, And soI think he set out to say,
well, I believe we can,because I believe that we were built to
do a lot of things that we'rebeing told we can't do. And then
he started getting attention, and soscientists started studying what he was doing and
found that there were incredible benefits tothe body into the mind because of the

(48:39):
practices that he was doing, whichstarted all with breathwork. Yeah, I
think, I mean, I thinkthat was a beautiful summary I do think,
you know, there was profound griefthat he was looking to work through,
which for any of any of uswho've experienced that, we know that
there is a moment where you feellike you want out of your own body.

(49:01):
Yeah, and you you know,crawling out of your skin. Yeah.
So while I have not experienced akind of grief he did, I
can imagine on some scale of howyou would be searching for anything that could
provide a relief. So I thinkfor him that's, you know, how

(49:23):
it began. But then the benefitswere so profound that he you know,
began sharing that he's worth looking up. I would say that I think his
story is pretty amazing. And sohis breathwork compliments the amazing physical feats that
he has somehow figured out how toendure. He's trained his mind to be

(49:46):
incredibly powerful, because of course themind quits first, you know, when
you're faced with those when you're facedwith those insurmountable odds, whether they're physical
or emotional, whether they're grief orclimbing a mountain in your s you know,
um, the mind, you know, the mind matters the most,
and the breath does train the mind, as does meditation, and you know,

(50:09):
so many other things. But thedifference is that the breath is friendly
and accessible. Um I like howhe teaches that. He teaches, you
know, sort of like you pullit in through the floor of the pelvis
into the belly, like he kindof pulls it in through the belly and
up and out and then back around. So it's like this really circular breath,

(50:30):
which um I actually really like.And he teaches it fast, which
is different again than like a yogicbreath, which is not really taught like
that or at least like it's slowand long off yeah yoga, whereas his
breathing is more rapid rapid, andit's circular and there's no pause between the
inhale and the exhale. And sowhat that does. It lights you up.

(50:51):
You can feel it like you're youcan feel like your circuit boards like
coming on, you know, likeyou're you can just feel it lighting up.
And then he'll have you do aretention. Um so I think you
do. You do three rounds.The first round is thirty breaths, you
know, in this sort of circularfast pace. Then you you press all

(51:12):
the breath out, you hold youhold that the exhale retention for sixty seconds.
Then you take a deep breath in, you hold it for fifteen seconds,
then you allow your breath to returnto normal, and then you begin
again. Second round, you holdthe exhale for ninety seconds, and then
the third one same thing. So, M do you practice this? Have

(51:35):
you tried it? I have?Yeah, I've been practicing it. It's
been my COVID practice. Doesn't matterreally, Okay, the so the whim
hoof method is called, has beenyour COVID practice? Yeah, well,
his breath work. I haven't beengetting in that. I haven't been doing
what you've been doing and getting ina tub of ice. But while you
might now that I might, youreminded me how great it is. It

(51:57):
so great. It feels like torchin the moment, but it's really worth
and he provides a lot of freematerials. I will say that too.
So you can look up that practicethat I just offered on his I think
he even offers it on his Instagrampage. He may. I just started
following him on Twitter. He's like, I think like the Wolfman or something
like that. I think that's whatsomething like I will. It's whim whim

(52:24):
and then half hof so he is. He has a website, so it's
probably even on his website. He'sgot a lot of a lot of materials
and offerings. I think he's agreat resource. And so do you since
you're incorporating his breath work or isthat something you're doing every day for him?
Or how many days a week doyou try to practice it? Try

(52:45):
to do it like three to fourtimes a week after my meditation practice.
And how do you since that's totallydifferent than the breath work that you have
been accustomed to all these years,because you've been how many years have you
been practicing yoga now over nineteen?Yeah, so basically just shy of two

(53:07):
decades. I started when I waslike seventh So okay, so your whole
life, so basically for the lastjust kidding, I did not just for
them, just for the last thirtyyears. Yeah. What now that you're
practicing his breath work, which israpid and faster, what does it feel

(53:28):
like? Well, it just feelslike something new for my brain to wrap
around. So I love that itfeels like a different, more explosive invigoration.
Like so when I practice vinyasa andI'm and I'm doing an UJII breath
that definitely uplifts me, but it'slike a little long and drawn out,

(53:52):
whereas this is like short and likeexplosive, yeah, like the lights are
on, yeah, you know,instead of like a slow slow you know,
coming to life. Yes. Iwas watching Joe Rogan's podcast Oh Yeah
with whim Hoff, and he tookhim through that breathwork and then the moment

(54:15):
where it was like Joe had tohold his breath, see how long he
could hold his breath after doing therapid breathing, and he went way longer
than you would normally think. SoI didn't I won't know it, but
I'm sure there's some science behind thatof like the rapid breath work, including
the like recalling it kind of likea belly breath work where you're like pushing

(54:36):
your belly out, yeah, likeningit to like when you look at infants
and children, Like when you watchbabies breathe, their whole belly pushes out
right, Whereas we don't really wantto do that. I feel like it's
because we've trained ourselves. I thinkwe've got to hold our tummies in rather
than push them out. So butthen when Joe Rogan got to that part

(54:58):
where he was holding his breath.It was a long time. I mean,
I want to say maybe about hewent maybe two and a half minutes
or something crazy like that. Yeah, you might be surprised how long you
could do it. Really, Yeah, I think it's surprising, but that
is that's I don't know. Maybehe has experience with it, because that's

(55:19):
a long hold. That's a reallylong hold. I used it was a
swimmer, and I used to thinkit was great, like when I could
swim two laps underwater on a lappool and I was like, oh,
but that final few like pools atthe end, Yeah, you're like,
am I gonna make it? AmI gonna make it? But so,

(55:39):
but we'll get back to the benefitsof the whim Hoff method. What are
you noticing like in your own life? Well, for me, what I
was looking for in that method isjust an increase of energy, just more

(56:01):
vitality. And similarly with the coldwater plunges, you know that that's what
I'm looking for And did you getit? Yes? I do feel like
the days that I practice that breathwork, I am more alert and able
to focus, and the cold waterplunges too. Did you have more entry

(56:21):
after those for sure? Yeah?Yeah, I think they deliver. You
know what he's teaching. In myopinion, it delivers. I'm not saying
it's for everyone, but for me, I see that it works. And
there's another practice by the name bya person who whose name is doctor Joe

(56:47):
Dispensa, and he wrote a bookcalled Becoming Supernatural, and he teaches a
similar not exactly the same, buta similar breath practice in relationship to his
meditation. And I love that aswell. I think we're just starting to
see, like there's so much sciencebehind it and then so many different ways

(57:10):
you can incorporate it. Like Ido see the breath as a healing modality
and as medicine. And one ofthe simple things that I would like to
share and sort of leave people withis and this is the most simple way
to implement a conscious breath. Ifyou feel that you need to be uplifted,

(57:35):
then you focus on your inhale becausethat's bringing the prana, the life
force up And if you feel superflighty or like agitated, then you focus
on the exhale and that is grounding, and that is a way that you
can prescribe yourself exactly what you needwith this natural fertilizer. I love that.

(57:57):
That's beautiful. That's so easy.It's something that we can do every
day, right in the moment,any moment. Either the breath in,
well we want a breath in andbreath out, but breath in for energy,
breath out to ground yourself. Yeah, where you're what you're paying attention
to. Of course you're still you'restill inhaling and exhaling, but what you're
paying attention to, where you're reallyputting the energy is either the inhale or

(58:20):
the exhale or you know, ifyou're feeling like very neutral, then you've
got them. You're matching inhale withthe exhale. But we want that's what
we're looking for, some balance rightnow. Yeah, then we're realizing how
much the breath and the nervous systemand everything's connected. But they're so play.
They still work hand in hand,don't they. Yeah, And you

(58:42):
know, I think it's also interestingon that point to note your breath and
your emotions are intimately related. Intimately, and so that emotional state that we
talked about earlier is it's Dela kitand it also is incredibly important, you

(59:07):
know. Yes, So maybe ratherthan telling somebody when they need it,
just breathe as a command, insteadit's don't forget to breathe in the most
gentle, beautiful way. Exhale,let it go. Yeah, like something
like that. Yeah, maybe thatthat offering is frustrating because it seems a

(59:30):
little what's that word, Well,it almost seems simplistic too, or like
is it like a trite thing tosay? But because often when we're going
through something so that seems so insurmountableor difficult or painful, or like when

(59:54):
does it end, especially given whatwe've been dealing with over the last few
months, and we don't know reallywhat it looks like. We're creatures,
as you mentioned, like creatures ofhabit. We also like certainty, and
there's a lot of uncertainty right now, and that makes us fearful. So

(01:00:15):
when we're in that state right now, sometimes we're looking for like a big
prescription, right like some like there'sgonna be magic that's just going to pop
out. Oh wow, that's that'sit. Like yeah, I'm big,
there has to be some big,huge cure. And I'm using that like
air quotes. I'm actually doing airquotes right now. So to say don't

(01:00:40):
forget to breathe, it seems like, oh, but that's been with me
all along? How could I Itcan't just be that. But sometimes what's
been with us all along really isthe answer. Yeah. My first you
know, my first teacher who reallybrought me to a place of curiosity with
the breath is Max Strom, andhe wrote a book. I love the

(01:01:05):
title of this book's one of myall time favorite books and titles A Life
worth Breathing. And I do feelthat you do you come to that place
to realize that my life is itis worth taking a few minutes to breathe
consciously, like my life is worththat, My life is worth sitting still
and paying attention to what is withinand the breath. You know, the

(01:01:31):
breath connects us to that internal landscapein a way that is undeniable. You
know, as you as you consciouslybreathe and you move into the present moment,
you all of a sudden can hearthe answers that have been there all
along. But suddenly your mind's quietenough to to actually, you know,

(01:01:55):
turn your attention to those whispers andhe or like, what are they saying
and Max, you know, overand over would remind me that not only
is my worth my life worth breathing, but what what like what do we

(01:02:15):
lose when we lose touch with thebreath? Like what do we lose when
we lose touch with stillness? Youknow? Like those are those are important
things. But a life worth breathing, I mean, that's that is a
beautiful title. It's a beautiful wayto approach life. I've learned some really
invaluable lessons from my brother, andI remember once I was with him and

(01:02:40):
he has a lot of kids.He has poor kids, and when you
have little children running around, somebody'sgoing to get hurt at some point.
And one of the kids, Idon't remember what happened, like, I
don't know if they fell off thecounter or what it was, but they
were wailing and crying and it Iwas worried and it kind of freaked me
out. There might have been alittle bit of blood. And my brother

(01:03:00):
said, if they're crying, thenthey're breathing, and if they're breathing,
then they're alive. Yeah, AndI thought, that's it, right,
So I always remember that even inour painful moments, even in our tearful
moments. If we're breathing them,we're alive. So just keep breathing.

(01:03:22):
Yeah, just keep breathing. Yeah, Tammy, this was awesome. Thank
you for being here. Thank youfor having me. It's such an honor
to talk about one of my favoritesubjects in the entire world. You talk
about it so beautifully, and thisis something that you will. This is
part of your life practice. Andso if anybody listening today wants to take

(01:03:45):
the next step and incorporate this moreinto your life, I mean, follow
Tammy on Instagram. It's free.She gives so much free information. You
do free meditation right now through yourintram which is at Tammy Lyons is it
or at so Yes. So myInstagram is Tammy at a t Interbliss Yoga
okay, and we're doing the stop, drop and meditate, which I think

(01:04:10):
is what you're referring to, justlike ten minute little practices. Those are
offered through the inter Bliss Instagram.Okay. So that's at inner Bliss.
Yeah. So you can find heron Instagram, certainly, on Facebook,
certainly, like on pretty much allthe platforms. But right now, I
know you're really active on Instagram andoffering a lot of that free material,

(01:04:31):
so why not. We have thetime right now, so use it.
Yeah, thank you, great timeto start a practice. Yeah, thank
you for all that you do.Thank you, Thank you for listening to
this episode of The bounce Back.It would mean so much to me if
you would subscribe to my podcast andrate it on iTunes five stars would be

(01:04:51):
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