The Breathing Edge with Shane and Angelina Saunders Podcast

When you’re in a role that is stressful and demanding, it can affect you in many different ways. Having so much on your plate can lead to a lack of sleep, procrastination, or even paralysis.In this episode, we chat to Vera Anderson, Performance Coach and Strategist at Global Elements Consulting, whom we met at AFest in Bali last year.Vera helps business owners, CEOs and entrepreneurs shift their focus, make better decisions and manage their energy levels to double their performance and reach their goals.Through strategic coaching, Vera creates a vision for her clients’ business and personal lives and helps eliminate distractions so they can get where they want to in life.  She is also the founder and CEO of HeadRehab, which develops Virtual Reality software to assess and track brain health for various markets, and sits on the Board of Advisors for OR TRAX.Topics discussed in this episode:What Vera does - helps people double their performance in any area of their lifeWho Vera helps - CEOs, business owners, entrepreneursExamples of the biggest impacts on doubling your performance - focus, making good decisions and managing energy levelsWhy energy management is so importantHow Vera helps people make big decisions - breaking them down into smaller chunksThe many distractions that are blocking our developmentWhy people tend to overthink decisionsWhy creating a routine with meditation, breathing or exercise is critical to good performanceVera’s experience of our sessions at AFest - her shift in energyThe benefits of walking and breathingThree things that help Vera perform at her best - breathing, walking and journalingWhat drives Vera?Useful Links:Angelina Saunders LinkedInShane Saunders LinkedInBreathe Me InstagramBreathing Edge Facebook Group  Breathe Me FacebookComplementary 30 minute session with VeraGet in touch with VeraVera Anderson WebsiteVera on LinkedInVera Twitter

“If you can get your body back on track, your mind will follow.”That quote pretty much sums up the point of this episode. It’s a ‘feel good episode’. Literally!The quality of your life is determined by the quality of your habits and if your mental health isn’t optimal, the most important thing you can do is to develop physical habits that create the chemicals that make you feel good - dopamine and the like.Cognitive approaches, such as therapy help for sure, but the things that will move the needle most and get you feeling good about life, and about yourself, are pretty simple: Sunlight, breathing, hydration and movement.Even if you don’t think you have mental health issues, make a habit of getting more of these in your life and everything will change for the better. That’s our promise to you...Episode highlights:What is a habit?Shifting from mental health issues to mental habitsUnderstanding what makes a habit - the release of the feel-good hormone dopamineAngie’s personal experience with anxiety and postnatal depressionEmotional and behavioural ‘disorders’A 3-step framework to followAddressing the body first - getting your circadian rhythm back on trackGrounding yourself by getting out for a walk in the morning sunlightForming quality habits and routinesBoosting the health of the cells in your bodyBreathing to relax through anxiety and depressionRe-coding your brain - rebalancing your hormones and changing your beliefs Useful Links: Angelina Saunders LinkedInShane Saunders LinkedInBreathe Me InstagramBreathing Edge Facebook Group  Breathe Me Facebook

This interview is perhaps one of the most interesting and inspiring we’ve done, especially for those who have been through a traumatic experience at some point in their lives.We chat with former major in the US Army, Josh Mantz. He’s now a professional speaker, author and CEO of Asymmetric Mind.His story is incredible, having been deployed to Iraq in 2007, shot by a sniper and declared dead for 15 minutes. He knows trauma better than most, yet his post-traumatic growth as he calls it, is thriving.Josh now spends his days building leadership and development programs for Fortune 500 companies in the private sector, based on his experience in the military. He shared his experiences,  trauma and mental health issues in his book, ‘The Beauty of a Darker Soul: Overcoming Trauma Through the Power of Human Connection’.We delve into the habits that keep Josh on top of it all, the struggles as an entrepreneur and the different dimensions of leadership.Topics covered in this episode:Josh’s background - who he is and how he got to where he is nowBeing deployed, shot and dying in Iraq and being brought back to lifeHow the power of human connection can help us through the dark timesThe different dimensions of leadershipSelf-leadership is the most overlooked but the one we have the most control overHumility, Vulnerability, Trust And PerseveranceBeing an entrepreneur - how to fight through the days when you lose hopeFollowing General Hal Moore’s advice that there’s always one more thing you can do increase your odds of successComparing ourselves to othersShifting from mental health to mental habits - having a daily practice is essential for daily successThe constant pursuit of wisdom - seeking perspectiveJosh’s study of philosophy - what do we really know?How does Josh persevere? Daily practice, improving his knowledge of the world and being creativePTG - post-traumatic growthWorking with people who have gone through traumatic eventsMilitary culture - relationships and trustUseful Links: Angelina Saunders LinkedInShane Saunders LinkedInBreathe Me InstagramBreathing Edge Facebook Group  Breathe Me FacebookBreathe Me WebsiteJosh Mantz's Quick Links: LinkedInTwitterWebsite

A few months ago, we did a three-hour session for a group of 80 people where the facilitator asked, “What is your greatest stress?” The majority of the responses were “my children”.A lot of the time, the evening bedtime routine is the biggest problem area for parents. This used to be the case for us too because our two little girls would get hyped up. It became a very stressful time for us for quite a while.So we looked for answers. We tried and failed to force them to relax when eventually we found something that worked. But here’s a secret: the golden rule of parenting is to take care of your own stress.Even if you don’t have children, this golden rule still stands. Learning to create space for yourself and set yourself up for the evening is a good idea for everybody.Episode highlights:The biggest stress for most people is getting enough good quality sleepRecognising why the evening routine is stressful for a lot of parentsThe three most important actions to create a good evening routine - preparing yourself, creating the right environmentHow to create the right environment - low red light, incense, breathing and readingWhy red light is better than blue light in the eveningsLearning to align your values, especially as a busy entrepreneur or parenthe importance of treating sleep as sacredUseful Links: Angelina Saunders LinkedInShane Saunders LinkedInBreathe Me InstagramBreathing Edge Facebook Group  Breathe Me FacebookBreathe Me Website

Dean is a social entrepreneur, strategist and storyteller with a passion for connecting our global community through education and inspiring others into action.A proud product of Melbourne’s Western Suburbs, Dean believes that the key to creating innovative, socially minded leaders is access to quality education, regardless of place of birth or social status. This belief has driven him to create action-focused learning opportunities through schools, non-profits and independent organisations in Australia and throughout the world.His dynamic speaking style and unique approach to facilitation has connected and inspired thousands of people across four continents. A talented trainer, program developer and strategist, Dean has led national and international organisations such as We, High Resolves and The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) and is currently Director for Young People at The Prince's Trust Australia. He has founded several start ups and built relationships and partnerships across the corporate, private, and philanthropic sectors.He is the Nexus Australia Outreach Ambassador and in his spare time, leads international volunteer trips that promote sustainable community development and connect people from different countries and cultures.Episode Highlights:Dean’s work with the Prince’s TrustHis entrepreneurial journey and how he got his edgeDean explains how he saw wasted resources in the not-for-profit sectorBeing a philanthropist wasn’t necessarily his pathSetting up a distribution companyThe journey of a startupThe highs and lows of a startupHow they went from the company to watch to a liquidated company on it’s almost second birthdayThe hero’s journeyKey realisations and lessons Dean learned from the process of being liquidated 1. Be honest with yourself 2. Be willing to be vulnerable and ask for helpThe importance of being aligned with your values and your business2 key questions Dean’s mentor asked him that made a massive shift in his thinking was 1. If you had 50 million dollars  in your personal bank account, how would you spend your days? 2. If you had 12 months to live how would you spend your days?Realising your passions and wantsHow asking for help can be liberatingReconnecting with your purposeSpeaking at the UN in New YorkUsing breathing to navigate through the ups and downs and how breathing was a game changer for DeanFinding balanceExploring your egoPursuing your passion can take timeDean Delia on LinkedInThe Princes TrustNexus

Menstruation has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently. The controversy in India over women of menstruating age being allowed to enter Hindu temples shows that menstruation is misunderstood and even looked down on by many. Considering it’s part of the very process that allows life to come forth, it’s time we became more open and accepting about it and more tolerant of women and the journey they go through.Coincidentally (or not, depending on how you view such things), we recorded a podcast episode on menstruation before the news erupted of the protest in India...Menstruation can be difficult for some women, but it doesn’t have to be stressful. There are ways to calm the storms of menstruation so it doesn’t take over your life each month.We’re covering this because I (Angie) used to struggle each month. I was like Dr Jekyll and Mrs Hyde. I would be happy one minute and crying the next, and then angry and miserable, and then great again. My emotions were all over the place.It’s the same for women all around the world - sometimes it's good, and sometimes it's not so good. We can all understand that. Getting in touch with your flow and being prepared ahead of your cycle is key to have a better experience.Episode highlights:Angie’s past experiences with the ups and downs of her menstrual cycleLearning from ancient cultures - how our periods have changedGetting into your own flow to improve your monthly experiencePreparing ahead of your period - taking time out to get in touch with your flow, reassess and plan for better menstrual cyclesHow women can encourage everyone to get in touch with their own flowBeing in sync with Mother Nature Angelina Saunders LinkedInShane Saunders LinkedInBreathe Me InstagramBreathing Edge Facebook Group  Breathe Me FacebookBreathe Me Website

We've done many episodes about using the breath to create energy, but what do you do when performance drops and you hit a slump or feel down in the dumps? It happens to all of us.The brain gets foggy, motivation dips, we get bogged down with what’s going on in our head and start to let go of the physical rituals and habits that support us - movement, hydration, breathing, meditation - simply because we don’t ‘feel like doing them’.So we wait until we ‘feel better’ before we pick them up again. But if we do things the other way around and lead with the physical, reaching peak performance again and staying there doesn't have to be difficult.Episode highlights:The breakdown of your cells - being dehydrated and stiffAngie’s personal experiences with dropping performanceOverlooking the simple things and ignoring your body’s needs - moving, stretching, hydration, meditation and breathingA habit to practise - taking deep breaths and exhaling, letting it go to create spaceBreathing as a procrastination buster - creating space to take action Angelina Saunders LinkedInShane Saunders LinkedInBreathe Me InstagramBreathing Edge Facebook Group  Breathe Me FacebookBreathe Me Website

Everybody wants to be productive. The reasons why vary from wanting to be a more effective executive or entrepreneur, to being on top of your finances, to becoming a better parent, or to improve your relationships.But is there a secret to productivity? Perhaps, but even the best plans, to-do lists and desires are useless unless you have the energy to implement them.Episode highlights:Making plans for the new year but being too tired to see them through - a common problemThree different categories for your energy levels: 110% focus, 110% relaxation, and rapidly switching between the twoIs anxiety and tension because of today’s modern society blocking your productivity?Why sleep isn’t enough to rejuvenate your body and mindOur test programme revealed two types of people - ‘vending machine people’ and ‘ritual lovers’Being able to switch from on to off is just as important as being able to switch your thinking onBreathing exercises are the best way to switch between the states and manage your energy levels and therefore your productivityAngelina Saunders LinkedInShane Saunders LinkedInBreathe Me InstagramBreathing Edge Facebook Group  Breathe Me FacebookBreathe Me Website

Often people tend to make decisions and choices using a chaotic way of thinking. When the brain is running in ‘survival mode’, we have to make split-second decisions so we just do what needs to be done.In hindsight, we often would’ve made a very different decision or choice had we been in a different place or situation.But we can learn to control the mind with the breath, using it to move from chaotic thinking to coherent thinking. Having said that, we do need both ways of thinking...Episode highlights:The two hemispheres of the brain - chaotic and coherentUnderstanding the masculine and feminine energiesBringing balance to the brain with the nose - activating the ‘alternate nostril’Connecting with yourself using the breath - understanding your choices and beliefsHow your different energies control your habits - will, desire, intellect, imaginationInducing a peak state - using the breath to integrate your energiesHow the brain shuts down and reorganises itselfThe breath is the thread - mind control is about you and your choicesUseful LinksAngelina Saunders LinkedInShane Saunders LinkedInBreathe Me InstagramBreathing Edge Facebook Group  Breathe Me FacebookBreathe Me Website

Today we're talking about breathing to be ‘mission ready’. You might have heard us using this term before but what does it mean?In a world where we’re constantly trying to better ourselves, be it in our careers, our relationships or other areas of life, it’s easy to become complacent.We spend time learning new techniques and strategies, making plans for new ways to move forward in life, by learning new things. We become a master of these things, which of course, is great, but sometimes things still just don’t feel right. Usually, it’s because people forget to make a plan to take care of their physical body.I (Shane) have a military background, so being mission ready is always important to me. But on the whole, we’ve found most people don’t think about it that way.Episode highlights:What It means to be ‘mission ready’Coming up with strategies to improve ourselves but neglecting the bodyMastering your business, career or relationshipEntering the ‘ad hoc’ phase in life and struggling to move past itLearning to let go so you can get on with your natural flowThe connection between the gut, heart and the mind - the importance of learning to trust itBreathing to move from “mastery to the effortless advantage”Angelina Saunders LinkedInShane Saunders LinkedInBreathe Me InstagramBreathing Edge Facebook Group  Breathe Me FacebookBreathe Me Website