How A 72-Year-Old Man Affirmed My Life’s Mission In An Unexpected Way
Initially, it caught me off guard. Then it made me smile. Here’s what happened
Last Friday night, I served 9 people 5g of mushrooms each.
30 minutes in, a 72-year-old man started shaking uncontrollably.
I’m used to this physical release because of my breathwork training.
I’ve also done lots of TRE work (trauma release exercises) that’s taught me that our cells store energy from the past and that, when it’s time to release them, they can begin to tremor or shake.
So, for me, tremoring is perfectly normal and a part of the healing process.
For Steve, however, it was something foreign, painful, and even shameful.
He was embarrassed by it and because of that, he tried to fight it.
This only made it worse, though.
“What you resist, persists” — Carl Jung
That’s when I decided to sit with him and breathe. I began extending my exhale and Steve followed along.
I even started to sigh and hum too as these have been proven to activate the vagus nerve which the body loves.
Later Steve said, “You saved my life. The only thing that helped me stop shaking was the breath.”
Another part of Friday night was that it was freakishly hot. So, much of the journey felt like we were in a sauna.
People were sweeeeeeeating!
I was too.
I started scratching around in my mind to see if I could find a solution.
That’s when I remembered my breathwork training and was taught that oxygen (inhaling) brings heat into the body while carbon dioxide (exhaling) brings coolness.
I’d warmed myself up (Wim Hof style) while being submerged in cold water before but I had never done it the other way around.
I’d never had to… until Friday night.
This made me curious so I began focusing my mind, slowing my breath down, and remaining very still.
After 10 minutes had passed, everyone was sweating their ass off while I was cool as a cucumber. I was amazed!
The breath has helped me in other ways too
For about 15 years, I suffered from anxiety.
It went undiagnosed because I was arrogant enough to think it was someone else’s problem.
I then stubbornly ignored it for a few more years before it became unbearable.
That’s when I turned to mindfulness practices like meditation, yoga, plant medicines, and breathwork.
Meditation helped me observed my anxiety for what it was and not attach myself to it.
Yoga gave me tools to get into my body and out of my head.
Plant medicines like mushrooms and ayahuasca showed me that I’m far greater than just my human body and that there’s nothing to worry about at all.
And breath control practices helped me self-regulate in the moment anxiety arose.
That’s what was so life-changing about it. And it’s a superpower I’m now obsessed with sharing with the world.
Closing thoughts
I’m not gonna lie and say anxiety is a thing of the past because it’s not.
It still comes knocking from time to time, but that’s okay.
I’m far from a perfect human and I’m not trying to be.
What I am so grateful for now is that I have a tool that makes me feel in control of my life. And through the experience of others on Friday night, I know it’s true for other people too.
This has reminded me once again of the power of the breath and it reaffirmed my life’s mission to spread its beauty.
Thanks for reading!
See you next week :)