Episode 2 – Full Transcript
This podcast aims to simplify the fundamentals of health and well being
Michelle: Hey everyone, my name is Michelle.
Lindsay: And I’m Lindsay, and you’re listening to nurse verse.
Michelle: Through being submerged in the world of medicine, we have realized that our healthcare system is oftentimes missing the fundamentals of health and well being. In this podcast, we aim to share our experience as nurses and also as two human beings striving to be healthy, happy, and the best version of ourselves. Our goal is to simplify the fundamentals of health and well being and provide individuals with a starting point from which they can grow on their health journey. We are not trying to reinvent the wheel, provide medical advice or treatment plans. We hope through sharing our experience, others may find the courage to start or continue their own journeys.
Lindsay: The information provided in the following conversation is intended for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. While we strive to provide accurate and up to date information, the content presented here should not be considered as a replacement for medical consultation with a qualified healthcare professional. Every individual has a unique medical history and set of circumstances, and what may be appropriate for one person may not be suitable for another. The information provided is intended to offer a more holistic perspective on health and wellness, and it should not be used as a definitive guide to your healthcare decisions. Always consult with your qualified healthcare provider before making any changes to your healthcare regimen or embarking on a new treatment plan. Your personal healthcare provider is the best source of information regarding your specific health concerns and medical history.
For this episode, we wanted to talk about breathing. Lindsey says learning how to breathe changed his career
Michelle: For this episode, we wanted to talk about breathing. I think breathing is probably the most important aspect of anybody’s health and is probably our greatest disservice in the health industry that we don’t talk about with our patients. Lindsey, were you ever taught how to breathe when you were young or at any point in your life?
Lindsay: No. You just do it. I didn’t know there was a right and wrong way.
Michelle: Yeah, I didn’t either. But I was very lucky that I had a professor in college that literally taught me how to breathe. It was very mind blowing. At the time, I had no idea that there was a right or a wrong way of doing it. and I think it’s also dependent on your anatomy. So, growing up as a kid, I always had sinus issues. I had a lot of sinus infections, congestion, and I do have a little bit, I think I’ve been told of a deviated septum. So all of these anatomical differences can cause us to start to breathe differently as well as our environment. So if you feel, that you are in a high stress situation or high acuity situation, your breathing is going to start to change or you’re going to breathe differently than if you are in a relaxed scenario. So little did I know that for the majority of my life, up until I was about, I think, 19 or 20, I was predominantly breathing just through my chest. I was never taking a full breath. and my professor sat me down and taught me and trained me, really, how to take a full breath, how to breathe with my diaphragm. And this all started because I was playing rugby and I kept getting injured. this was in college, and, it wasn’t the fact that I was injured that was upsetting. It was more the fact that I couldn’t play rugby. And so the stress of every time I came back and recovered from my injury, I had so much stress playing again because I was afraid that I was going to get injured and not be able to play. So it was this whole psychological warfare going on. And I, caused me to basically be a self fulfilling prophecy and keep injuring myself. that’s what led my professor to take a look at just how I breathe. And that’s what she noticed. I was really only breathing out of my chest. And so I was never really taking a full breath and I was never truly relaxing my body. So she gave me this little device, and there was a blue light and a green light, and you basically follow the lights so that, when it’s. I think it was like, when it was blue, you inhale, and when it’s green, you exhale. And I had to keep one hand on my stomach, the other one on my chest. And with each breath, full breath that I took, I had to make sure my diaphragm fully expanded and therefore my stomach expanded and came out, and then fully exhale. And so after weeks of this training, I started to, started to become a little bit more ingrained, and I would focus on that technique. and another thing that this is a whole nother side note, but it was also the thought process. She helped me become aware of my, my mindset, what was going on in my brain that I wasn’t quite aware of. so this not only started my journey into breathing and breath work, but it also started my journey in becoming more aware of what conversations I was having with myself that I really wasn’t aware of at the time. and thus diving more into meditation and just general self awareness. But with the assistance of training how to breathe properly, I went from being injured, you know, every couple of months to, thriving in my sport and even getting invited to train at the Olympic training center. So learning how to breathe appropriately truly changed the trajectory of my life. It changed how I played as an athlete, and it not only changed my ability to perform, I was able to calm myself down in the midst of my sport so that I could successfully make those kicks or successfully make those throws and passes, and I could think better. And, I had greater stamina. But it also changed the way I trained. I was able to do more, I was able to run longer, sprint harder. basically, it improved my athleticism as a whole. And seeing how something so simple as breathing was able to change my life so dramatically. that’s when I really started to, expand on this practice, not just for my career as an athlete, but just as a human being. and pretty much from there, then that’s when I continued to go into, meditation and training on breathing. And I can’t say how much it has made a difference.
Lindsay: and it also has led to us taping our mouths shut at night. So we are retraining ourselves on how to breathe out our nose. For those who snore like I do, this will definitely help you.
Michelle: Absolutely.
Lindsay: it has helped me. So you get a piece of tape. It’s like medical grade tape, and you place it vertically, like, from the bottom of your nose to the middle of your chin. We don’t go full throttle, like, across your lips.
Michelle: Yeah, we don’t, like, completely cover our mouths. We leave little gaps on the sides. Just in case.
Lindsay: Yeah, just in case.
Michelle: Yeah, just in case. You, like, really feel like you gotta take a deep breath. You can breathe out the side of your mouth?
Lindsay: Pretty much, yeah. We told our, like, one of our doctors about this, and she was joking that we were trying to kill ourselves. And we’re like, no, absolutely not. But, yeah, it is a crazy idea, taping your mouth shut, but it has definitely saved me from having to get a sleep apnea. Ah. Like cpap machine.
Michelle: So, yeah, it’s like night and day with her snoring. It’s the difference between, like, the bright line flying by versus, like, a subtle little purr of our cat.
Lindsay: So it’s saving our marriage.
Michelle: Yeah, I mean, it wasn’t a problem. I still slept through it.
Lindsay says she feels way more refreshed when she tapes her mouth
Anyways, but for the reference behind taping your mouth, really, really good book that I recommend is breathe by James Nestor, and he pretty much goes into the evolution of our anatomy and how the way we live our lives has changed just everything about our physiological, structure, how we breathe, our posture, and how everything affects everything else. And we are not built to breathe out of our mouths. We’re built to breathe out of our noses. And there’s a lot of processes that need to happen when we breathe that can only take place through our nasal passageway. our mouths are meant for talking, eating and others, but breathing should predominantly take place through your nose. And so, I kind of started to experiment with it. Just put some tape over my mouth, see how it went. And, you know, whether it was placebo or not, I definitely feel way more refreshed, when I sleep with the tape over my mouth and I breathe out of my nose. and just from what I’ve witnessed, Lindsay’s snoring has changed on a dramatic level.
Lindsay: Dramatic, very dramatic. We also have, like, smartwatches. I have a Samsung and my sleep score. It’s always better after I tape my mouth shut. my oxygenation status still is fine. It’s good, you guys. I am living. It’s not like I’m deprived of oxygen. It’s good. I’m still in the nineties percentile, so this is good.
Michelle: And a little side note, because you mentioned the watches, I think, for anybody that’s starting off on their health journey, having some type of metric or measurement for whatever it is, whatever your goal is, I bias. I like having metrics, numbers, I like having things to compare that are as least biased as possible. So then this way, when you change something, you have a actual number to show you whether or not you’re making progress or you’re going in the other direction. and I’m biased. I’m a Garmin person. I prefer garmin because they are the longstanding, tried and true.
Lindsay: I have garmin and also samsung. I’ve worn both on each wrist on the same night and drastic differences. But, yeah, I like samsung because it says I’m a sleep lion. My sleep animal is a lion.
Michelle: Yeah. Well, keep, that in mind. Whatever device you use, just stick with that.
Lindsay: Stick with one.
Michelle: Yeah, stick with one because you want to be able to compare it to that same, you know, whatever the algorithm that is used, whether you use apple watch, a, whoop band, oura ring, garmin watch, just keep the device consistent so that you can have an appropriate comparison, you know, even if those numbers might be off or different. but garmin has been along, been around forever and I feel they are the most reliable.
Lindsay: Yeah, I feel like a directions like when Mapquest soon was like a thing at the past. I think we had, like, a Garmin based device.
Michelle: Garmin is everywhere.
Lindsay: Like, driving directions device. I don’t remember what it’s called, but you, like, plugged it in.
Michelle: Yeah.
Lindsay: And put it on your dash.
Michelle: Yeah. This was before smartphones. Yeah, I think this was around the time of the Nokia phone, maybe?
Lindsay: Yeah, something like that. But I’m pretty sure my parents had one and I got to use it.
Michelle: Nice, nice, nice.
Lindsay: Yeah.
Michelle: But, yeah.
Breathing is incredibly important when you are under stress or anxiety
we will definitely continue to bring up, breathing and, breath work throughout the course of the podcast. But we just wanted to touch on how important it is. It’s such a simple thing, and it is supposed to be something that is innate for us. But since we live in a society today where we are so overstimulated and we, our bodies can’t sometimes can recognize, that this stressor that in front of us, that is in front of us is not a actual threat to our lives. So we can come out of the fight or flight response. and really, the only way to know whether you are in a fight or flight response all the time, or if you are under chronic stress, is to become more aware. And, the fastest way to self awareness is through your breath. You have to be able to get in touch with your body and your breathing. And, that is the most, at least my personal opinion I have found, has been the fastest way to get there.
Lindsay: Yeah. In nursing school, one of our professors said if you’re ever super stressed or you’re in a stressful situation, it doesn’t take long to just count four breaths.
Michelle: Yeah.
Lindsay: Like, inhale, exhale, like, on four counts. And you’re. You should be ready to conquer whatever it is after that fourth breath.
Michelle: Yeah, 100%. I think when I started, the simplest breath for me was in two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four, out, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four. So you breathe in on a count of four, hold for a count of four, exhale for a count for hold. I think another term for it is box breathing. but also do what is comfortable and sustainable for you. so I think I actually had to work up to the box breathing, I think I did, into three, four, and then I think I held it for 2 seconds and then exhaled for four and then held for 2 seconds. So you want to do, like, closest to what is natural for you right now and just really focus on getting a full, expansion of your diaphragm, so you can take a full breath and get as much oxygen as you can, into your bloodstream. And then as you practice, as you do it more and more, it’s just like a muscle that you’re training in the gym. You will be able, your capacity will increase, your stamina will increase. You’ll, be able to take deeper breaths, longer exhales longer holds. and there are so many resources out there nowadays, whether you. I think most phones do like a, ah, breathing thing where you kind of follow the ring. You follow the circle. Like, the circle expands on the inhale and then compresses on the exhale. And you just follow that ring up and down on your watch. That is a tremendous resource. and then even, YouTube videos, wim hof breathing. One of my favorites, but this is more along the lines of meditation, is the calm app. I have been using the calm app since, since it was actually first developed, and it is by far my favorite. But I know there’s also lots of other apps. headspace is a great one, too, that are out there that can help train you on how to breathe. And, whatever app you choose, what other method, whatever method you choose, in my personal opinion, I don’t think there is, like, the best one or like, the wrong one. It’s like as long as you’re focusing on it, you’re aware of it, and you are training yourself to take deep breaths. you are going to see improvement or progress. Not even just, ah, athletic related, but just your overall ability to maintain, a level of calmness. to be able to take a pause and not be so reactive in all situations, and also to be able to keep your head while you are under a very stressful situation. So for us as nurses, when you’re in an acute situation, it is so easy to panic or to just lose it and then everything. It’s the fan. But if you can stay calm, take that deep breath, stay in that moment now you can actually make decisions, logically instead of just from a place of emotion or panic. Yeah, yeah.
Lindsay: A lot of people, I’ve been in a lot of high stress situations, and I always take that second to breathe and to think about what is the best way to deal with whatever is going on. And I’ve been asked, like, or after the fact, like, wow, you stayed very cool and collected. Like, I would have panicked in your situation. And little did they know I was inside panicking, but on the outside, I was breathing and thinking, like, the best way to deal with a high stress situation is to actually remain calm on the outside. And meanwhile, just go through what’s the what’s your first priority in the situation? And then go from there. And it has. It has gone well for me. Knock on wood. Each time.
Michelle: Yeah, I think that, taking that breath, it’s. What we’re saying is it’s not going to eliminate those emotions from occurring. Like, those emotions are still there. But my metaphor that I like to use is that you see the train rushing by and instead of jumping onto that train, you can stay where you are and just watch it go by. So you can be there in that moment and being like, holy, this is bad. Or you start to freak out. You’re really stressed out. but you can kind of keep your arms length from those emotions, so to speak. You can just let them exist, but you could still talk to yourself in a sense of like, okay, like, just take a breath. You got this. It’s gonna be okay. What do I need to do? And that 1 second. That 1 second of you deciding to not freak out and to just stay at your core is going to make the biggest difference.
Lindsay: All the difference. And your patients will appreciate you because you’re not freaking out like they are, they, because they’re looking to you to solve whatever it is and to do it quick.
Lindsay: And.
Lindsay: Yeah, that has happened on many occasions.
Michelle: Yeah, absolutely. Sometimes moving fast is not the best option. If you’re moving fast, doing the wrong thing, if you have to take a second, but that second you take gets you to the right thing, to the right decision, then that’s the way you gotta do it.
Lindsay: Awesome.
Michelle: But, yeah.
Keep breathing. Just keep breathing. Do you have anything else you wanna add? No, just keep breathing
Do you have anything else you wanna add?
Michelle: About breathing?
Lindsay: No, just keep breathing.
Michelle: Just keep breathing.
Lindsay: Yeah, just. Just play Ariana Grande. Keep breathing.
Michelle: Yeah, we actually used to do that in the NICU at children’s.
Lindsay: That song.
Michelle: Yeah, I made a whole playlist, for the Nikki babies.
Lindsay: Yeah, that reminds me of writing the metro and going into GW. On that note, thanks for listening.
Lindsay: Bye, guys.
Michelle: Bye.
Lindsay: Bye.