breathwork

Do you know best?

If our body can heal physical wounds doesn’t it make sense that it can heal emotional wounds too?

It’s a miracle!

When you cut or bruise yourself, do you tell your body how to heal the cut or bruise? Imagine if you actually had to initiate your body’s healing. It may sound something like this:

“Body, send some white blood cells there, send some extra collagen, send some inflammation to get that nasty cut to heal.”

But as we know, you have never had to say that! Your body just knows what to do, and the healing process begins automatically.

But what about emotional wounds? These can be just as real and impactful as physical injuries, yet we often struggle to heal them because we rely too heavily on our minds.

In a breathwork circle, you have the opportunity to take a break from overthinking and let your breath guide the healing process. Just like your body knows how to heal physical wounds, your breath knows how to heal emotional ones.

In a breathwork circle you are afforded a well deserved break from thinking about how to solve the problem. You get to trust and focus on the breath. Just like the switch on your smartphone, you put the mind on “silent mode” as it has nothing to control, solve, fix or change. It’s simply present.

Do you know best?

So why haven't we tapped into this power sooner? Perhaps it's because we've been conditioned to believe that “I know best!” Our minds are the ultimate problem solvers, right? Well, not always! Let’s be honest, if our minds knew how to do what the breath does--release and heal emotions, dissolve beliefs, recalibrate the nervous system and raise the body’s vibrational frequency--wouldn’t the mind have done so by now?! Wouldn’t that have been in the curriculum taught at schools, colleges and universities?

Let’s leave the mind to what it does best

The mind is brilliant at research, figuring out timetables, following directions, strategizing, and getting us to the moon!

Here’s what Max texted after a breathwork circle:

“I feel blessed and full of conviction.

This Breathwork put me in the happiest state of mind I have ever been in.

Most powerful for me yet.

That you so much. You really changed my life.”

My text response:

"Good for you... it’s YOU and your breath that changed your life!"

I look forward to seeing you soon!

Do you know who your silent healer is?

Do you tend to make things harder than they need to be?

Picture this: reaching the moon. It sounds incredibly challenging, doesn't it? The time, effort, and money required would (seemingly) be astronomical! 🚀

Now, imagine something different—holding the moon right in your hand. Easy, right?

Man holding out his hand just underneath the moon in the sky. Landscape of the Arizona desert.

We often associate healing with immense effort, as daunting as reaching the moon. What if healing could be as effortless as holding the moon in your hand?

That's the magic of breathwork. It's your silent healer, giving your racing thoughts a break and bringing your breath to the forefront. Instead of relying on words to analyze and mend, it taps into the wisdom of the breath to mend.

Your breath has been your faithful companion from the moment you were born. It's witnessed every pain, every hurt, and every memory etched in your body and mind. When you finally grant it the chance to unravel, realign, and heal, it works wonders. It knows where the hurts are hidden, and it knows exactly how to heal them—no textbooks or YouTube videos needed!

So, are you ready to make things easier for yourself? Are you ready to leave words behind for just an hour and let your breath work its magic? 🌬️

TMT (Text Message Testimonial):

"It was an amazing experience.

I’m usually too cerebral, but I found it fascinating.

I felt energized and less anxious.

It's making a difference!" 👍

Who (or what) has meddled with your mind?

Teachers, parents, partners, siblings, politicians, social media, movies, books, alcohol, drugs, colleagues, religion….

All these outside influences can meddle with your mind to the detriment of your well being.

Who has meddled with your breath?

Nobody and nothing can meddle with your breath...your breath is pure!

Just like a stroll through a beautiful walled garden, breathwork offers a sanctuary.

At the entrance to the garden, we check those meddling influences at the gate and turn inward to our pure breath.

In the Breathwork circles we breathe in a conscious, continuous connected pattern of breath. Breathing this way allows our breath to take center stage, ushering in peace, harmony and even bliss.

If you’ve been to a Virtual Breathwork Circle (VBC) before, you may recall that I ask you to share a word to describe how you felt after the session.

Here are some of the responses I received after a recent VBC:

gentle

lightness

grounded

peaceful

floating

restful

still

recalibrated

optimistic

clarity

traveling

depth

solutions

Word of the year

Now is the perfect time to choose your word for the year.

I’ve tucked the word patience into my wallet as my word for this year.

It's also on a post-it on my bathroom mirror, and for good measure, there’s one taped to my computer too!

I want to feel, think and breathe in and out patience this year!

If you were to choose just one word to be your companion and capture how you want to feel and show up this year (especially when you notice the meddlers interfering) what word would that be?

Bring your word with you into a Virtual Breathwork Circle!

Share it with me and I’ll be sure to mention it when you’re in the Circle.

The tip of the iceberg 🧊

Growing up in Scotland, I often wore three sweaters at the same time to keep warm in the summer (no joke!) so when I moved to Miami, Florida in my 20’s I was pretty sure life could not get any better! Aside from the warm weather, I loved my job and I threw myself into Miami’s social scene—by all appearances my life was really good!

So why was I feeling a sense of emptiness, a flatness, a feeling that there must be something more to life?

Was I missing something?

Tip of the iceberg

Like an iceberg floating in the sea, I was only aware of what was visible to me from the surface, in this case, my physical outer reality.

By chance, I attended a weekend seminar and one of the processes was a breathing meditation. That experience was truly life changing. During the session, my breath led me to my inner universe. I was feeling and seeing for the first time what I had missed before, the submerged part of the iceberg! The empty feeling vanished. What I found instead was a new sense of wholeness, peace and utter contentment.

It was only then that I realized that something had been missing; that what I had been doing by living it up in Miami (namely partying, shopping and comfort eating) was attempting to get rid of my empty feeling. I did succeed with those activities in the moment but soon after I would be left with that empty feeling again. In truth, our inner universe is always there, like the underbelly of the iceberg; it's just a question of whether we’re in tune with it.

As I discovered that fateful weekend, the breath has the magical ability to lead the way to your inner universe, where peace, tranquility and a sense of “place” await. Breathwork is now both my passion and purpose. Each week I share this experience with others by facilitating weekly Virtual Breathwork Circles.

After each VBC, I invite participants to share a word that describes how they felt during the breathwork or immediately following the session. Here is a sample of what they shared recently:

Peace | Grounded | Awake | Replenished | Calm | Quiet

I can see the smile  on the faces of those of you who come regularly to the VBC’s, because these may be your words. And sometimes there are no words, and yet I know you know the “filled up” feeling.

Whether it’s your first VBC or your 40th, all are welcome to experience breathwork meditation first hand by joining a virtual breathwork circle.

Sustain-my-ability 🌳

Sustainability is all the buzz these days. Most of the narrative consists of a macro view of the health of planet earth. We know that generations past and present have been thoughtless towards the ecosystem of the planet, resulting in severe damage…and now it’s time for us to step up, tread lightly and do our part to create a sustainable world.

Micro-me
We are ecosystems that need to be sustained too!

Like the planet we inhabit, we are living, breathing organisms. We may take it for granted but breathing is not only fundamental to our survival, it’s also a critical component of our health and well being.

With that well-being in mind, I invite you to join a Virtual Breathwork Circle this month, a restorative practice that sustains-your-ability through your magical breath.

Once we can fully sustain ourselves, we immediately have more bandwidth to turn our attention to the macro and help to sustain and restore our beautiful planet earth. 

Mind Candy

Words are powerful.
Once they’ve been thought or said, a feeling arises in the body that matches the word—either eliciting a good feeling or a bad feeling.

Mind candy.
While breathwork is an incredibly powerful tool for healing, it can feel challenging to keep the mind focused on the business of breathing during a VBC. One way to overcome this is to introduce “mind candy.” (And unlike the real thing, it’s readily available to you any time and it’s calorie-free!)

Mind candy in action.
While you’re practicing breathwork, if your mind is dwelling on negative thoughts, rather than trying to stop the thoughts, use mind candy instead.

Here’s an example, as you inhale, silently in your mind's eye, think “YES,” or “CALM” and on the exhale think, “ALLOW” or “RELAXATION.”

If there is negativity, it has now been quelled by a positive-feeling word. The once distracting thought is replaced by a positive affirmation.

Just as there are loads of varieties of candy to choose from (I grew up on Cadbury’s so that’s my personal favorite), likewise there are many positive, uplifting words available to you. If my selections don’t resonate, I encourage you to choose what feels supportive and relevant to you.

Taking it a step further into your everyday life:
January is the perfect time to choose your word for the year. I’ve chosen the word “focus.” I’ve written it on a piece of paper and put it in my purse. It’s stuck on the mirror in the bathroom and on my computer. Just seeing it makes me feel good, calm, confident and like I can accomplish whatever I set out to do. Yummy!

What word are you choosing (or have already chosen) to be your go-to for 2022?

Taking it another step further, action required:
Bring your word with you into a Virtual Breathwork Circle! If you share it with me, I’ll be sure to mention it when you’re in the Circle.

I look forward to seeing you on the inside,

Saci

The rule of threes ✨

In survival, the “rule of threes” outlines the priorities human beings need in order to sustain life. We can go:

  • three weeks without food 🥗

  • three days without water 🚰

  • three minutes without oxygen 🌫️

That’s right, we can only survive three minutes without life giving breath, and yet there is relatively little focus on cultivating the breath in our culture.

In contrast, a recent survey investigated the cooking habits of people living in the United States. It found that 50 percent of the respondents were happy to spend between 30 and 60 minutes per day cooking dinner.

I would be hard pressed to find a study that can tell me the number of people who spend that amount of time a day in breathwork practice.

Conscious breathing or breathwork has immense healing powers and yet it is rare that we acknowledge its abundance and ability to heal us, especially in comparison to how much thought and time we devote to food.

Imagine the widespread benefits if we gave breathwork as much attention as we do preparing our daily meals?

Why is conscious breathing and breathwork beneficial?

It soothes our nervous system and boosts our immune system, and connects us to deeper heart-self.⁣ The more we practice conscious breathing, the more calm and heart-centered we become. ⁣

Virtual Breathwork Circles

Why not devote an hour to cultivating this life giving breath we often take for granted? Breathwork is a healthy habit that will keep you living your best life.

Join a Virtual Breathwork Circle this month!

Wednesdays at 4pm
1st & 3rd Sundays at 5pm 
All other Sundays at 10am
All times are PST and subject to change 

If it's your first Virtual Breathwork Circle, click here. (Be sure to enter coupon code: FIRSTTIME for a special discount).

If you're in the middle of a package and ready to schedule your next Circle: click here.

Seasoned circler: purchase another package click here.

Fun Facts About Breathwork

It doesn’t care about the weather!
It doesn’t ruminate in the past
It has no opinion
It doesn’t judge you or anyone else
Because it’s pure.


It doesn’t need to be right
It has no shame
It doesn’t have a favourite colour
It has no hate
Because it’s pure.


It’s not greedy
It can’t be bought, bribed or blackmailed!
It’s not a people pleaser
It doesn’t feel superior
Because it’s pure.


It’s not looking for an identity
It doesn’t have a favourite ice cream, or TV show
It’s religion-less
It’s not trying to look good
Because it’s pure.


It’s not a victim
It doesn’t prefer one skin colour over another
It’s not trying to fit in
It doesn’t need to win
Because it’s pure.


It doesn’t prefer one political party over another
It doesn’t make demands or ultimatums
It doesn’t feel inferior
It’s not jealous
Because it’s pure.


It doesn’t get sick
It has no self doubt
It doesn’t argue
It’s not looking for approval
Because it’s pure.


It doesn’t get tired
It doesn't lack confidence
It doesn’t care how you look
It doesn’t have a sexual preference
Because it’s pure.


It doesn’t dream of the future
It’s not self righteous
It doesn’t lack integrity
It has no self confusion
Because it’s pure.


It’s the common denominator for all human beings
It’s your lifeline
It’s with you from your first moment to last moment on planet earth.
It’s abundant and free
It loves life
It’s always doing it’s best for you
It knows everything about you
It’s your connection to source energy
It knows how to heal you and can’t wait to be given the opportunity to do so.
It knows how to find home in your heart.
Because it’s pure.


Now take a full deep breath and know it’s pure...

-Saci McDonald 
 

Virtual Breathwork Circles

Join a Virtual Breathwork Circle

Wednesdays at 4pm
1st & 3rd Sundays at 5pm 
All other Sundays at 10am
All times are PST and subject to change 
 

Shiny Shoes

Shiny Shoes-Saci.png

When I was in primary (aka elementary) school, my 11 year old self made a pact: I'd wake early and polish my new shoes every single day before school.

I made this vow and told no one else.

I fondly remember my dad would acknowledge my extra effort saying, “wow, you’re polishing your shoes AGAIN,” as he spooned porridge into his mouth. It felt good. I needed only to gaze down at my shiny shoes sparkling back at me to feel my inner smile.

I could have relaxed this daily practice and only polished them once a semester. Sure, they would have been a tad shabby, perhaps a little dull, scuffed and tired.

If I had only polished them just once that year, I would have had an unkempt look and I’m sure that would have radiated upwards to reflect both my appearance and even my thoughts.

Instead, I made the commitment and held myself accountable to see it through each day. The memory of my shiny shoes stands out to me, even all these years later, because while other pupils and my own sisters excelled, school was more of a struggle for me. When looking down at my shiny shoes each day, I stood a little taller; I had a little more confidence.

Reflecting back, I realize that polishing shoes, like breathwork, is a practice, the more you practice the shinier you become.

The more you practice, the less room there is for unkempt, dull and scuffed thoughts.

Instead, a natural calm feeling, confidence and inner strength will accompany you through your days, weeks and months.

By committing to a regular weekly practice your breath is given the opportunity to recalibrate you back to balance, and reverberate the benefits throughout your life.

Only you can be accountable to yourself. Are you ready to explore your breath? If you’re feeling some scuffing and tiredness just now, it’s normal and the perfect time to take advantage and tap into your breath, with the first time pricing of only $27.00 (You save $23 off the regular price!).

Enter the code: FIRSTTIME here to redeem this offer.