Good evening. I'm your host, Shemeika Rhymes, and welcome to Soulbration. Before we get started, let me know where you are watching from and how you're doing this evening. I know it's been a whole week since I've seen you guys. always wanna know where you're checking in from. I see Charlotte. I see Asheville. Welcome, y'all. Welcome. And, yes, don't forget to share this with your network because if you never know who may be experiencing exactly what we're talking about tonight, and I feel like a lot of people are going through this. But also if you have any questions at all tonight, drop it in the chat because you guys are the co-hosts.

So April is Stress Awareness Month, and if stress or anxiety has been showing up in your body, you definitely wanna tune in because I don't know about y'all, I'm I feel like I'm stressed all the time. So tonight on Soulbration, we're talking about how the practice of breathwork can help reduce stress and anxiety by calming your nervous system in real time. Let me know if you've ever done breathwork in the chat. And if you remember last week, we mentioned it, when Dr. Denise was here. But tonight I have certified Flow Breathwork facilitator June Richardson, and she's also the founder of The Art of Sanctuary Living.

She is here to break down what breathwork is, why it works, and how simple techniques just such as breathing can help you feel more grounded and in control. And we'll also talk about, like, why access to these types of tools matters, and we're also gonna do a demonstration so that you can take that and practice it on your own, you know, whenever you need it.

So let's welcome June. Hi, June. Hey. How you doing? Doing well. So glad to see you. Good. Yes, I'm so happy to be here. Well, for people who hear the term breathwork and they think it just means, okay, it's just take one deep breath and that's it, what is breathwork? Well, the simplest way to explain what breathwork is is just intentional breathing. I mean, breathwork is something that you do automatically. We, we breathe at least 20,000 times a day. Can you believe that? Wow. I mean, that, that's an amazing fact. And, when you intentionally begin to, control the way that you breathe, that's breathwork.

I mean, that's really what it is in a nutshell. Now, there are many techniques, that you can use, dur- during breathwork, but that really is the long and short of it. it's the moment that we make it conscious. So every time you take a deep breath, that's breathwork. when, when you, when you sing in a choir- that's breathwork. when you sing, professionally, I used to be a p- professional singer, that is breathwork as well. and so that is It is something that has become mostly trendy right now- Mm-hmm but it is an ancient practice. and it is i- i- embedded in many, many cultures.

and so the, the techniques that you use can actually control what happens inside of your body. You can use breathwork to, make y- yourself more in a, active state. Like if you wanna wake up in the morning and you wanna do breathwork, there's breathwork for that. If you wanna relax, and which is what we're talking about now- Yeah there's different types of breathwork for that.

So, that's basically what it is in a nutshell. Okay. Well, tell me about your journey into this work. is there you know, I know it There was I think it I saw in your email to me that you said this breathwork, it's, is personal for you. Yes. Well, I started breathwork as part of my own healing journey. I, like many of us, have a very high-powered job. I'm I work in the financial industry doing all the things, having a family. And, you know, sometimes when you look back and you say, "Where is Where am I in my own life?" Yes. You know what I mean? Yes. All the things, going all the things, and yet you can't find yourself in it.

Mm-hmm. And, I had the I- what I now call a blessing, and that was a car accident where I was, hit by somebody going 80 miles an hour. And I spun across three lanes of traffic and hit a tree, and I was in the hospital for a week. And that- Geez made me stop. Like, hard stop, right? Mm-hmm. And the fact that I'm still here talking to you, I just realized that God was giving me, a signal that, yes, there was still something for me to do. Mm-hmm. And maybe I wanna be more intentional about what I'm doing with my life- Mm-hmm and not just, like, going a- about it, like, on autopilot.

Wow. And, s- so And I also realized that the thing that was gonna kill me was the extra drinks at night, the endless wine with dinner- Mm-hmm the 45 extra pounds I was carrying, the high blood pressure. All of those things were gonna kill me, and I realized I needed to make a change.

So I started my own healing journey. Mm-hmm. And as part of that I, you know, I used therapists and all sorts of techniques, and I was introduced to breathwork as part of that. And, I instantly took to it, mainly, well, because I'm a singer and because it's one of the fastest ways to change your state. Mm-hmm. And it's free.Because nobody's charging you for breathing. Right. At least not yet. Right. We love free. I mean, the, the techniques that you, you learn are not necessarily free to learn, but the practice itself is, is free. And so I really, took to it. And, what happened for me is that I was talking so much about it to everyone and talking so much about my own healing journey, which is how I started my company, The Sanctuary Circle, helping women, intentionally design their own lives- Mm-hmm as opposed to having somebody do it for them.

And this is one of the, the techniques that I use and I began to share. And, I have found, and so have the people within my community, that it oftentimes gets you to a place where years of therapy can take you to get there. It can take you there almost, like, immediately. Mm-hmm. And so that's how I came, to do it. And I started looking for people who look like me- Mm-hmm to teach me how to do it as a facilitator. Because, you know, one of the oldest tricks in the book as, as far as, patriarchy and, y- white supremacy and all of that is that you take something that belongs to an indigenous culture.

Mm-hmm. You strip the- you strip that from the culture.

You, divorce the people from even knowing that it was theirs to begin with, and then you package it up and make it nice and, and you pretend that it is now yours. Mm-hmm. and then you teach it, and then you say, "Well, you know, it's only for the elite," right? Right. Mm-hmm. And so that's the same kind of feeling that I was getting about, many of the people that were, you know, tr- training and teaching breathwork. They didn't look like me, you know? Mm-hmm. So I found, a, a, a teacher. Her name is Shanila Sattar and, and she is the founder of Flow Breathwork. And, I am just thrilled, to share it with my, my community and anyone really because it is I think it is so needed.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think I did a interview, with Black Girls Breathing. It was a few years ago, a few years ago, and I think they're based out of Atlanta, I think. Mm-hmm. And I had never heard of breathwork until, until then, and it was just a community of Black women, which I had not seen, doing breathwork to heal- Yes trauma, stress, all the things, and I had no idea it could heal all that. So let's talk about what's happening in our bodies during stress and anxiety that breathwork can change. Okay. Well, let's first about, talk about what, what happens in terms of stress- Okay in, in the body, and then we can, take it from there.

so stress is, is really something that is, it's really not a feeling. It's a physiological state. and when we're chronically stressed, which most of us are on some level. I mean, if you just think about it for a moment, where do you breathe from mostly?

Most of the time it's from the chest- Yeah up here. Yeah. And that is a, your body's, automatic response to stress- Mm-hmm. Yeah for you to breathe from the chest and to breathe more, to breathe faster. So when you live with that kind of stress on, on a, on a, ongoing basis, your body has trouble, being able to come out of that protection mode. Mm-hmm. So what happens is, your digestion is compromised. Your sleep is compromised. Your immune system gets compromised, and your nervous system is running like on a marathon. Mm-hmm. And, so that's really what stress is. it, it has all, all sorts of complications.

high blood pressure, autoimmune disease. Yeah. you name it. And so what breathwork can do, i- and this is actually there's research that shows this. it can in- lower your blood, blood pressure, which is an amazing thing. Um- Wow i- if you do it regularly. Like anything, you have to practice it, right? It's not a, it's not a magic bullet. You don't do breathwork one time and you're like, "Ta-da, I'm free," you know? It doesn't work that way. it also improves heart rate variability, which is one of the key markers, that tells, you how well your body can recover from stress.

Mm-hmm. it regulates the stress response directly, which means that it can interrupt your stress pattern as it is occurring. Oh. which is really an amazing thing. And there's also emerging evidence that certain techniques can reduce inflammation- Mm-hmm and, support immune function. And finally, it, it, it supports emotional regulation.

Well, what does that mean? It means that it gives you a tool to use that when you are in the middle of experiencing any really strong emotions, you can do that without being overtaken by it. Ah, okay. so, yeah, those are the main things that, breathwork can help you with. That's, that's, so many great things it can help you with, especially the regulating your emotions, especially at work. Yes. And, and it's great because you could actually be doing a technique and nobody would even know you're doing it. Right. Right. You know? Yeah. It's not like I mean, and, and no shade to any of the other, techniques because all of the tools are, are necessary in the toolbox.

Mm-hmm. But you can't just, like-Um, break out at the office and do a yoga pose, like w- in the middle of a meeting. You can't do that, right? Right. But you can stop and breathe. Yeah. And you can regulate your breath in a way that nobody else will know it. Mm-hmm. And here's another cool fact. Navy SEALs use it. professional athletes use it. psychiatrists and psychologists use it because of the amazing benefits that it c- it has. That's I love that. And I'm ch- curious for those in the chat, have you ever, Did you know about breathwork? I know nobody's said they've done it, but have you ever heard of it?

so when people hear 'Cause I feel like right now the buzzword is heal your n- or buh- buzz phrase, he- heal your nervous system. Mm-hmm. We hear that a lot. and so when they talk about nervous system regulation, what do you think that looks like in everyday life?

Okay. th- th- this is a big conversation. I'm, I'm trying to see how we can just, simplify it a little bit. Okay. Okay. So your nervous system is a s- i- is a system in your body. Let's talk about what it is first. Okay. And then we'll talk about, you know, healing and, and all of that. so, you have different systems in your body that basically help you live your life, right? Mm-hmm. The main function of your body is to keep you safe. Yes. it is not to keep you happy. It is not to keep you feeling in love. It's none of those things. It is to keep you safe. And so the body relies on information that it gets from external sources, like out in the world, like a tiger coming at you or an email that's an urgent email.

And believe it or not, your body does not know the difference between the two. A threat is a threat. Mm-hmm. and so those are things that can happen externally. Internally, your body has, messages that it gives. and those messages can come from the mind or the body. What happens, a lot is that your body, your mind disassociates from experiences that it can't resolve, but your body remembers it. So it's stored in your body. Mm-hmm. And so when you hear somebody talk about nervous system regulation, there are several states within your body, within the nervous system. One is called the, sympathetic state, which is the state where you are ready to fight.

There's a danger that your body has determined and it's ready to fight or it's ready to fl- to flee. Mm-hmm. It's called fight, flight, freeze, or fawn, right?

So these are your body's threat responses. Mm-hmm. Your heart rate goes up. Your breath goes shallow. Blood gets redirected to your muscles. Your body is preparing to fight. the problem is, is that many of us are living in this state permanently. Mm-hmm. Not because we're in danger, but because our bodies have never really been given the signal that it's over. Right. Then you have, the parasympathetic state. Well, let me go to dorsal first. Dorsal is the state where your body knows the jig is up, you know? Like- there's nothing left for us to do. Like, oh, let's shut everything down.

Yeah. That's what happened when I was in the hospital. Wow. When I, when I was in the hospital, my body shut down for a week. Like, all of my body's normal- Oh, my goodness responses totally shut down. My body thought, "Okay, this is it. It's the big one. We're out," right? Mm-hmm. Yeah. So it numbs you out. Oh, my gosh. It numbs you out and prepares you for the inevitable. Okay. So that's what dorsal is. It, and, it's basically doing what it's designed to do, to protect you from the pain of all of it and- Mm-hmm exhaustion. doesn't sleep doesn't fix dorsal. and so that's dorsal.

Then you have what we call, parasympathetic or, or ventral. And that is where we want to be. that is the state of calm and healing- Mm-hmm where rest, digest, and repair happen. And this is where your immune system does the work it needs to help you, heal. it's, it produces hormones that makes you feel well, and your body gets to fully recover.

and so when somebody talks about ner- nervous system regulation, it is the practice of being able to move between those states, and being able to, intentionally find the equilibrium. Mm-hmm. I believe that there's too much talk about regulation as if that's something that, As if your body needs to be regulated, right? Right. Like, it, it There is a, a, a very sort of alpha way of thinking about it in that way, like male alpha way. But what you really wanna do is think about it more of like a sine curve, you know? So you go in and out of states. And so what you wanna do is to shorten the time between your up and down and to stay as close to the center as possible.

Mm-hmm. And what breathwork does is that it, it is the fastest way to connect your body-Um, to your parasympathetic state- Mm-hmm from either the sympathetic or the dorsal state. Okay. Okay. Thank you for that explanation- 'cause I, I think about that a lot. Like, I've heard even in, I go to yoga and- Mm-hmm I've had instructors like, "Are you breathing?" And it's like, oh, it's coming from up here. And, you know, now I can, switch it to be like, wait, no, let me take a deep breath. And then sometimes that breath gets stuck, and it's probably because the body is in that fight or flight, you know, because I just read an email or, or s- traffic or whatever it was that, that put me over the edge.

you know, what do you think about breath, rhythm, the way we use our voices, and where do you see those practices showing up in our culture?

Especially when we think about using breathwork. I know you mentioned- Mm-hmm athletes, singers. Like, where else do you think we would see that? okay. So what I would say is that Western culture- Mm-hmm has made breathwork a standalone silo that you practice sort of individually. Which is nothing wrong with that. Yeah. and it, there are certainly benefits from it. but other cultures, embed breathwork as part of a cultural and communal experience. So for example, yoga has a whole thing with breathwork. And, within the African American com- community, church, singing in the choir, that's breathwork.

Singing in the pew, that's breathwork. Call and response, that's breathwork. All of those things are done in a community way without the, the label- Mm-hmm that, that has been, like, sort of deemed, the proper way of doing breathwork, which is just ridiculous. Yeah. You know? It's an ancient practice that- that belongs to the people of color really. Yeah. we are the ones who, who did it. So, I would say that is really the From a cultural perspective, that's a, a, a way to think about what breathwork is. Okay. Every culture has, breathwork practices in it. And every culture has a name for breath.

in the Yoruba language it's called emi, which is means breath, spirit, and soul. in Hebrew, the word ruach means breath- wind, and spirit. Every culture, arrived at the same thing independently, that the breath is the bridge between the body and the spirit. Okay. So when someone says, "I'm gonna try breathwork, I'm gonna see if I can, if I can do this," how quickly will they feel that shift where they're feeling regulated, grounded, where, you know, or they're actually taking those deep breaths, not shallow breathing?

Okay. So I think what, what we, what would be beneficial is for us to talk about the brain states of the, of the states of the brain and how breathwork helps us to get- Okay to those different states, and I think that might be a way of doing it. And the, the short answer to your question is time. Okay. How much time and practice- Gotcha is, is the short answer to your, to your question. You can do breathwork and very quickly, within three to five minutes, begin to feel your system calm down. Mm-hmm. the longer that you do it, you go through different brain states that actually, transcends, some of the normal states that we, that we live in.

Does that make sense? Yes, absolutely. Okay. So, beta is the first state, and that is the state that most of us are in when we're walking around. It's We're fully walking, alert, task-oriented. It's the state of the to-do list, the inbox, the meeting, the word o- the worry. Yeah. It's necessary. That's where we live. But it's also the state where the inner critic lives, where the analytical mind is in charge. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's very hard to heal in beta because the mind is too busy managing life. When we breathe intentionally, especially with a three-part breathing, which I'm gonna show you how to do later this evening, we begin to sh- to shift our breathwork activity.

So that is beta. And then the next state after beta is alpha. A- alpha is basically the state of meditation. It's the dream space, the daydream space. Tricia Hersey, who read the, who wrote the book The, The Nap Ministry.

Mm-hmm. she talks about the dream space. It's the place just before you actually go to sleep or when you just wake up, where everything feels softer and more open. Mm-hmm. So that's alpha. And that, you know, take Generally happens within three minutes, three to five minutes. And these are all general, generalizations. Everybody's different, right? Yeah. And then, after that you get to theta. Now theta is the, is where a lot of the amazing things happen. And, and most of the time you need to have a trained facilitator to help you to get to that place, and it happens with sustained breathwork.

it is the brainwave state of the subconscious. It's where shamanic journeying happens, where you're, you have access to deep intuition. Mm-hmm. where you can get downloads from your own body. Ancient practitioners used it. and indigenous healers use breathwork specifically to reach this state. It's to heal what ordinary waking consciousness cannot heal.Um, so, we now have a, a science to back up that that's what happens. Mm-hmm. and sometimes when we're in breathwork sess- sessions, this is why some people begin to cry, and they don't know why. Why they see colors or they feel the presence of someone they have lost.

it's because you have access to your, theta brain state. and it's the oldest technology we have- Mm-hmm for crossing from the ordinary mind into the deeper mind. So the, the short answer to your question is you can get, real benefits really quickly. Okay. The longer you do it, the more benefits you have.

I hope that wasn't too long of an ex- No, no, no an explanation. No, not at all. That was very interesting 'cause I, I didn't know that there were different states, to our brain. but I did- Mm-hmm wanna see if you're, if you're ready to, to give us a sample, a, a, guide us through a simple breathwork exercise that the audience- Mm-hmm can follow along with now. Audience, let me know if you're ready in the chat. Throw up some emojis or something. Okay. So before we begin, I just wanna, I want to explain what we're doing. Okay. and then, then I'll share with you how to do it, okay?

Perfect. So, the three-part breathing is what we're gonna be doing together. Okay. And that is done, by breathing from your mouth deeply into your belly. Okay. And then without exhaling, breathing again into your chest. So you take a deep breath into your belly, and then another into your chest. And I would invite you just to hold both areas because then you can feel the breath going in and out, and then you exhale. Okay. And the, the short thing is that the exhale should be longer than the, than the, inhales. Okay. so that's how you do it. Short, that's like a short explanation of how you do it, and your only real job is to listen to my voice.

if you have any thoughts, just let them go. Some people experience tingling in their body, which is very normal. Mm-hmm. if it gets too extreme, you can always slow it down. Remember, you're in control, nobody else. and my intention here with us tonight is just to bring us to a state of calm.

It's a very short practice, because we don't have that much time, but I just wanted to sort of introduce everyone to what you might be able to experience. Okay. Sounds good. I think we're all ready. Okay. We're ready. Okay. So I would invite you to just close your eyes and begin to, feel if you are seated, your feet on the ground. I would, ask you to, relax your shoulders. Just begin to be present in the room. Remember that you are supported by your feet on the ground. Now roll your head in one direction. Good. And you can roll it in the opposite direction. Move your right ear toward your right shoulder.

And your left ear toward your left shoulder. And we're gonna take a big deep breath in through the nose. And release it with a sigh, ahh. One more time. Take a big deep breath in through the nose. And release it with a sigh, ahh. One final time. Big deep breath in through the nose. And release it with a sigh, this time just shaking your body. Shake your arms out. And I'm going to begin setting the rhythm for us. Breathe deeply into the belly, into the chest, through your mouth, and release. Into the belly, chest, release through the mouth. Deeply into the belly, into the chest, and release.

Good. Into the belly, chest, release. Into the belly, chest, and release. Into the belly, chest, and release. Notice where you're holding any tension in your body, and just shake your body wherever that is. Belly, chest, and release. Belly-Chest, and release. Belly, chest, and release. Return to your normal breathing.

Notice if you're feeling any tingling in your body. You are safe in this moment. You are protected. Release your belly. Drop your shoulders. This is your time to be with your body. You might wanna even thank it for all the hard work it does. Enjoying this moment of peace and calm. I'm gonna begin the practice again. Breathe into the belly, into the chest, and release. Breathing deeply into the belly, into the chest, and release. Roll your shoulders, roll your hips. Belly, chest, and release. Returning to your normal breathing. Breathing in peace and releasing tension with an exhale.

Calm lives within your own body. You have access to it any time. Take a deep breath in through the nose, and release it with a sigh. One more deep breath in through the nose, and release it with a sigh. And when you're ready, wiggle your toes and your fingers and return to the room. June, I'm ready to go to bed. That was so relaxing. Thank you for that. Let me know how you guys felt in the chat if you did it along with us. That was 'Cause I could feel how tense I was at the beginning, and then as we did the deep breaths, 'cause I, I could feel it was, the breath was getting stuck here, and I was like, "Okay." I think it was the fact that people are watching.

But I kinda just, you know, tuned everybody out and, and it started to flow, so that was awesome, June. Well, thank you. Thank you. It's an honor. Let me check the chat and see what everybody, how everybody felt doing that. Let's see what they are saying.

but I did wanna ask you, what's the difference between doing breathwork and meditation? Well, breathwork is the practice of rhythmic breathing, so it's the, it's the rhythmic breathing itself. It can, it can i- introduce you into a state of meditation, but the difference is really what you're doing, you know? So breathwork is rhythmic breathing. Meditation, it happens when you begin to be more in the present and you turn off that analytic brain. So they are very, close to one another- Mm-hmm but different. Okay. I see a question- I think- but I'm not sure if, if you're able to answer this.

Um- Okay African Street Festival says, "What can cause a high pulse rate even when the blood pressure remains normal?" Yeah, and that, that I, is beyond what I can, I can answer. But if we do have some time, I did wanna give some people some practices they can do on their own. Sure, absolutely. Um- That was actually the next question. See? We're with each other. Yes. so there are, there's two real practices that I would, suggest that you use. One is called 6-7-8 breathing. Mm-hmm. and basically it means that you inhale for six counts, you hold it for seven, and you release for eight.

Okay. And doing that basically, interrupts your body's, sympathetic pattern, and brings you more into a relaxed state. and that's something you can do anywhere.Y- nobody has to know what you're doing. Okay. another one is called box breathing. Maybe you've heard of that. It's basically you inhale for four counts, hold for four counts, exhale for count- four counts, hold for four counts.

Mm-hmm. And some people find it helpful to think about a box with the arrow going up, inhale, and then to the right, exhale, and then down. So those are practices that you can do. It's practices to share with children. Mm-hmm. It's safe to share, to share with children. Children, by definition have a hard time regulating their emotions. and it's up to us as adults to help them with that, and so this is something that you can help, use with children. teachers use those techniques a lot. So those are the two that I would say. If you want something to activate you, if you feel like you need any confidence, there's something called the breath of fire.

which is basically breathing really quickly in and out through your nose. Oh. Like that. Okay. And you can use your hands to go back and forth like that. Mm-hmm. Don't do that too often, because you can really, hyperventilate if you're not doing it properly. Right. But that is something that if you feel like It's, it's an alternative to coffee, let's just put it that way. Oh, no, June. I want coffee. Now, there's something we do, sometimes in yoga, and I'm gonna get it all mixed up because I can never get the right fingers, but where you're holding one nostril, breathe in- Yes and then release and then- And then hold the other.

Yes breathe in. Yes. And that's considered breathwork? That is another technique. Yes. That is also a very good technique where you breathe in through one nostril and then, move your hand and breathe out through the other.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. that's also a All of those things are meant to interrupt the, sympathetic state and to get both of your left and your right brain talking to in o- each other- Mm-hmm and to have a deep connection with your body as well. Would breathwork help when you're experiencing, some kind of chronic pain? Or just even if it's something, you just stubbed your toe. you know, or that- coffee table jumped out in front of you and knocked you in the knee. Like mine does. Or the, or the end of the bed. Yes. That's the one that gets me all the time. yes. I, I think it can help because it shifts your The, basically it shifts your focus from- Mm-hmm what you're experiencing.

But like I said, it's not a magic bullet. You know? Right. It's not It, and, and the benefits of it are, are more pronounced the more you practice it. Okay. Okay. Are there any mistakes that can happen when people are doing I know you mentioned you might hyperventilate if you're doing that rapid one, but what about the one we just did or the ones you mentioned? well, a mistake is, is, is too strong of a word. Okay. I would say that it takes time to really learn the techniques well. Mm-hmm. breathing deeply into your belly and deep into your chest, that's not something you do every day, so it takes time to practice it.

Yeah. and so I would say the one thing to keep in mind is that your exhales should always be longer than your inhales, and that'll keep you from hyperventilating. And you can stop. Yeah. I mean, yeah, you're in control.

You can stop. Yes, yes. So those are some of the things that I would say. The only other thing that I would say is there are certain techniques that are done, best done with a facilitator. Okay. best done with somebody that can Especially if you're gonna be going past 10 minutes in your practice. Mm-hmm. Someone, because something may come up in your body. There's something that might happen, and you want somebody who's been trained to help you, in that circumstance- Okay so that, you don't, you know, experiencing anything, on your own. because that's the one thing I, we didn't mention, but integration is very important- Okay.

What's that? after a breathwork session. Because if you have experienced something, if something has come up, if something has cleared from your body that, that wasn't there before, you wanna be able to give it time to, metabolize in your system so that it actually lasts. In other words, if you've released some sort of pressure or you realize you had an aha moment about something in your life- Mm-hmm you wanna be able to sit, maybe journal about it- Okay and think about how you can incorporate that information into your everyday life. Otherwise, it, it becomes just another feel-good thing and, and, and it doesn't really become part of your whole life.

and I think that's really important. Okay. Well, how can people, reach out to you or find more information about what you do? And do you do virtual, um- Yes breathwork? Well, I, I do facilitate, I have private breathwork sessions that I offer.

you can find me at theartofsanctuaryliving.com, is my website. I offer private breathwork sessions. I also offer group sessions if, if an organization would like to have me come, whether it's in person or virtually, I do that. and I also have the Sanctuary Circle, which is where I work with women. and we are, are a community that is intentionally designing lives, that are built by us- a- and not by somebody else. Yeah. and, we do breathwork as part of it. and we lean heavily into joy and peace. We do floral arrangements, drinks, cakes, all the things. Because guess what?

You don't heal to heal.Mm-hmm You heal to live. Yeah. I mean, sometimes, I think sometimes people forget that, you know? You had me sold at cakes. I'm like, "What?" Yes. You know, that's the whole point. The point is to get to yourself to a place where your life is designed where there's a place for you- Mm-hmm where when life comes a-lifin' at you, 'cause it will- Yes you have tools to, to deal with, and where joy and beauty is at the center. a- and, and I really do in my heart believe that that's something that is missing. Mm-hmm. We spend so much time running, running, or some of us going from this technique to that technique to this- Yeah one.

but the end goal is to live a life of beauty, is to have life that, y- of joy. Mm-hmm. It's not the healing. Yes. Preach, June. Preach. Yes. And that's a great segue to my last question that I ask everybody. What feeds your soul? Ugh. Going out in nature. Mm-hmm. I love to go to nature reserves and parks, just being out in nature.

Music feeds my soul. of course, breathwork- Mm-hmm feeds my soul. Yeah. Being in community with other women and actually watching them heal and, step into their power, and become better versions of themselves, oh, that lights me up, you know? Mm-hmm. So those are the things that really just, you know, make me feel I'm good, you know? Yeah. Simple things. Yeah. Such a great answer. I wanna thank you so much, June, for, for coming- Yeah and taking the time to walk us through, like, a guided, demo of how to do breathwork. I know that I'm going to try to incorporate it into my, practice outside of just doing yoga.

Mm-hmm. 'cause sometimes I think I do it before I go to sleep, just taking the deep breaths to kinda calm my mind down, and then Or I'm listening to, like, the ocean waves on YouTube, and then deep breathing, and the next thing I know, I'm sleep. Right. Yes. I, I, I didn't mention, I also have some recorded guided meditations that you can- Okay download as well if you go to the website, so. Perfect. Well, thank you again, June- Yeah for joining us here- Thank you on Soulbration. I appreciate you, and we'll have to have you come back again sometime soon. I'd love to. Yes.

Yes. Yes. Thank you, Shamika. It was- Yes it's been a lot of fun. Yes. Thank you. Well, everybody, next week we're taking a look at the HRT shortage that's going on. I know you've heard about many women trying to get their estrogen patches, and they're not there 'cause there's a shortage going on. So we're gonna talk about what you can do in the meantime because I know there's tons of symptoms that those patches can help with.

So I'll have an OBGYN here to break it down for us. So make sure that you come back here on Wednesday at 7:30, and I hope everyone has a soul-filled rest of the week. And thank you again, June. My pleasure. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Have a great night, y'all.