What if one simple breathing technique could instantly lift your mood and calm your mind?

In the middle of uncertainty and stress, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or disconnected from yourself. This short guided practice introduces cyclic sighing—a research-backed breathing pattern shown to improve mood—giving you a quick, accessible way to reset your nervous system anytime you need it.

• Learn a science-backed breathing technique that can quickly elevate your mood
• Experience a simple, guided practice you can use anytime stress or tension arises
• Build a daily mindfulness habit that supports resilience and inner calm

Press play now to reset your breath, calm your mind, and feel more grounded in just a few minutes.

You can now download my Pause Breathe Reflect App with Microdose EQ for FREE in Apple’s App Store or Google Play. Discover how spend less time on your phone and more time on things that bring you joy. Also, find the support you need to navigate today’s uncertainty with more calm and grace.

Receive a FREE copy of my book: “My Last Bad Day Shift.”

Join me on Substack https://substack.com/@milkshakeswithmichael for more ways to stay resilient and navigate today’s uncertainty with more grace.

We can also connect on LinkedIn.

Subscribe to be sure you don’t miss any of the micro-meditations, wellness tips, and guidance that I publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:11 am.

With Whole Again: A Fresh Approach to Mindfulness and Resilience through Kintsugi Wisdom, listeners explore mindfulness and resilience through personal stories of trauma, scars, and injury while learning to overcome PTSD, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and perfectionism with self-compassion, self-love, and self-worth. Through insightful discussions on building resilience, fitness, and stress management, as well as mindfulness practices and digital wellness, the show offers practical tools such as breathwork, micro-dose meditation, grounding techniques, visualization, and daily affirmations for anxiety relief and stress reduction. Inspired by the art of kintsugi, the podcast embodies healing as a transformative process, encouraging a shift in perspective from worry and overwhelm to gratitude and personal growth. By exploring the mind-body connection, micro-dosing strategies for emotional well-being, and

 Hey there, it's Michael on Mondays. I love sharing a shorter practice with you to help you navigate today's uncertainty with more mindfulness, resilience, and grace. And today we'll sigh it out. This practice can be found on my pause, breathe, reflect app, which is totally free to download in Apple's App Store and on Google Play.

I hope you like it and I hope it's meaningful to you.

Researchers at. Did a study comparing breathwork patterns, and they found that cyclic sighing was the one that elevated mood the best. So in this practice, we'll play with this breathing pattern and I'll guide you through it.

When you're ready, settle into a comfortable position, and as you do, you can close the eyes or you can keep them open. I will begin as we usually do with three grounding inhales, a nice slow releasing exhales,

giving yourself permission. To come into the moment, come into your posture and tune in to your body, your heart, and your mind.

Settling in and slowing down

as you settle in to the natural rhythm of the breath. I'll share how we'll play with this breath work pattern. If you can breathe up through the nose and out through the mouth and with our in breath, we'll breathe in once. Filling up the lungs and then we'll breathe in a second time fully expanding the lungs.

And with your breath out, breathe out slowly at your own pace. So when you're ready, breathing up through the nose, take a full breath in

and take a second breath in. Fully expanding the lungs.

And then slowly sigh your breath out, breathing out through the mouth,

taking this at your own pace.

And now breathing up through the nose again, filling your lungs with air, taking a second breath in, fully expanding the lungs in a slow exhale, sighing out your breath, relaxing into this moment.

And I'll give you some space to play with this on your own. Two inhales and one slow, relaxing. Exhale.

When you're ready, you can begin to ease your attention.

You can start to flutter the eyes open and wiggle your fingers and toes.

I hope you enjoyed this practice, and if you know someone who might. Find it valuable as well. I hope you'll share it with them. You can find this practice as well as hundreds more on my pause. Breathe, reflect app, which is free to download in Apple's App Store and in Google Play.

And until Wednesday's episode, may our practice together benefit all living creatures and may we celebrate our scars as golden symbols of our strength and resilience.