Everyone is triggered by something. One moment you are cool, calm, and collected and the next you're pissed off and ready give someone a piece of your mind. Just about anything can trigger someone--the stimuli can be external and internal. Meaning it can be another person or a figment of your imagination. But breathwork doesn't care what triggered you. It goes to work regardless of the source so long as you remember to do it. This episode covers what happens in your body when you're being triggered, how to use the breath to down regulate, and why breathwork works.

P.S. I mistakenly call this episode 14 in the opening greeting.

Most people with addictions suffer from nervous systems that are hardwired to provide an aggressive sympathetic response to a given stressor. The addiction is nothing more than an attempt to soothe the exaggerated sympathetic response. Enter yoga: an ancient practice that contains techniques for both increasing self-awareness--interoception--and for improving self-regulation, and the practice of which will slowly rebalance your nervous system and give you an edge in both interception and self-regulation.

This episode is a complete guided meditation that uses gratitude to shift your mindset.

In this episode of the Mindforge, learn how giving daily thanks rewires your brain as we explore the spiritual and secular reasons for doing so. We all know expressing gratitude feels good, but have you ever wanted to better understand why?

Mindset management cannot be achieved over night. It is a life's work. There are ups and downs. Successes and failures. 2500 years ago a man sat under a Bodhi tree and meditated until he knew the mind and the nature of reality. He came up with five hinderances common to all who seek to manage their mind and thus live at peace with his or her nature and the Greater Nature. This episode covers, in brief, the five hinderances you will face as you master your mindset.

This episode almost never happened. I had wanted to avoid the topic of God and Mindset in the hopes of avoiding a mess of baggage. However, as you will soon hear, there is no separating God from Mindset management. Not in the wisdom traditions of long ago and not today.

The placebo effect is common sense but does that mean people accept it as true for themselves? If it is indeed real, what does that mean for mindset management? And can the placebo effect be used to drop addictions?

You will be able to answer these questions by the end of the episode.

The placebo study referenced was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 2002, by Bruce Moseley.

Fake it till you make it is not just a pithy saying but a beginning mindset management tactic. In Episode 8, Alex explains how this relates to the science of mantra and positive affirmations. Included are practical tips for incorporating this into your mindset practice.

Learn the basics of posture dynamics: How the way that you hold your body effects your hormones, blood flow, energy levels, stress levels, and mindset. It's a lot packed into a short episode that is intended to nudge you into doing your own research. It also comes with a couple tips on how to use mindfulness and posture to begin overriding established addictions.

Listen to this once so you become familiar with the instructions. Afterwards, turn the podcast off, set a timer, and go through the instructions on your own.

Balanced breath for 2-3 minutes.

Observe the body breathing and perform the body scan and relaxation exercise.

Afterwards, return to observing the body breathing.

Everytime your mind wanders down a thought train, return to observing the breath.