Scott Webb (Host): For most of us, breathing is involuntary. But every once in a while it can help us to recenter ourselves in our lives by doing more mindful and intentional breathing. And here to help us again today is Allison Geisking. She's a behavioral health counselor with Upland Hills Health in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.

 This is the Inspire Health Podcast from Upland Hills Health. I'm Scott Webb. So, we're back again, Allison. We've been doing all sorts of things, all these pieces that you've prepared. The overarching thing of course has been mindfulness, but we've been doing some meditation and rainbows and clouds and leaves on a stream and all sorts of good stuff. And we certainly hope listeners have been enjoying what we're doing. This might be the easiest one we're going to do because, you know, I may be wrong, I'm not a medical expert, but breathing is sort of involuntary, but sometimes it can be voluntary. I mentioned the last time that, you know, my watch is always reminding me to take a moment to breathe. And I think it means it literally and maybe metaphorically. So, I'm going to turn it over to you. You're going to talk to us about mindful breathing, what that means, and how to do it.

Allison Geisking: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Scott, for having me again today. I am looking forward to this one as per usual. I always get excited about these and sharing this with all of our listeners. So, mindful breathing is essentially bringing us back to center and grounding us. And the really cool thing about mindful breathing is you can do it, as always, anywhere, everywhere. And it will always anchor you back to where you're at. You know, when we are babies, we tend to take more belly breaths. And as we age, we take more upper breaths, like in our chest area. And anchoring back to those belly breaths can reset our nervous system. And that's what we're going to try to do today.

So, we're going to jump into this exercise. And I want you to begin by finding a quiet, comfortable space, either sitting or lying down. I want you to close your eyes if you feel comfortable doing so, or you can simply lower your gaze and have a soft focus on something on the floor. I want you to take a minute to settle into your space, allowing your body to relax and your mind to let go of any distractions. Easier said than done. Feel the support of the chair or the ground beneath you.

Now, I want you to begin with our mindful breathing practice by inhaling slowly through the nose and allowing your lungs to fill with air, feeling your chest and abdomen rise as you breathe in. And exhale slowly and completely out through your mouth, releasing all the air from your lung. And feel the gentle contraction of your chest and abdomen as you breathe out.

And I want you to continue to breathe in this way, focusing all of your attention on the sensation of your breath. Noticing the coolness of the inhale, and maybe the warmth of the exhale. And as you continue to breathe, you may find that your mind starts to wander. And that's okay. That's very natural. When you notice your thoughts are drifting, gently bring your focus back to your breath without judgment. Feel the rhythm of your breath. The ebb and flow is just like ocean waves. Inhale, pause, exhale, pause, and repeat. Pay attention to the rise and fall of your chest or the gentle expansion and contraction of your abdomen with each breath. You can even place a hand on your chest or your belly to feel the movement more clearly. And if you notice any tension or discomfort in your body, breathe into that area. Imagine your breath soothing and relaxing any tightness or stress.

Continue this mindful breathing for a few minutes, letting go of any worries or distractions. Let your breath be your anchor in this present moment. Breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out.

And as we near the end of this practice, I want you to take a final deep breath in. Breathing in through your nose, and slowly start to exhale through your mouth, letting go of any remaining tension, or thoughts, or feelings. And when you're ready, I want you to gently open your eyes if they were closed, or lift your gaze. And take a moment and notice how now you might feel. You might feel relaxed, centered, and present. And that ends our short breathing exercise for today.

Host: You know, my space where I record, Allison, is very quiet, intentionally, of course, right? The nature of the work that I do. So being in my quiet, happy place, which is behind the microphone, and then being encouraged to, you know, close your eyes, do some deep breathing, it's hard for me to stay awake, you know? And I think that that's okay, you know? So many of the things we've done, you really can't necessarily do everywhere, but breathing is something we can do. We can do it when we're in traffic or I've referenced before in the dentist chair or behind the microphone. So, I really love this, even though it's a shorter piece. I like that we can really do this anywhere. And as I said, breathing is involuntary, but sometimes it can be voluntary, right?

Allison Geisking: Exactly. We can definitely shorten this exercise and not close our eyes while we're driving and anchoring to our breath, right? Stressful traffic, or we could do this in our happy place like you did today. Super beneficial no matter how we use it. We can always be anchored by our breath.

Host: Yeah. I love that so much. And I love that all the work that we've done here together, and I hope listeners have as well. The nature of podcasts is that you can listen on the go, you can listen at home, you can, you know, start and pause and come back. And so, there's a lot of flexibility with podcasts. I used to do live radio. And once you said something, it just kind of floated off into the air, wherever it went, you know. And I love these, and that we record these, and that they're there for folks anytime they need them. I certainly hope that we're going to do more in the future. Just wondering if you have any sort of parting thoughts, words of wisdom as you look back at the work that we've done together and things that we put out there in the world for folks. What would be your kind of final thoughts?

Allison Geisking: You know, I would say that I hope listeners are able to give these a chance and see what they think. But I also hope that if they feel like they need more or they have more questions, reach out to anyone and find those answers for yourself. You got this.

Scott Webb: I love that. And how can folks get ahold of you specifically where you work if they would like to work with you?

Allison Geisking: Great question. We actually have a website and it's through the uplandhillshealth.org site. And if you type in behavioral health services on there, it should bring the site right up for you on there. But if you rather call us, you can, and our number is 608-930-7238. And we're located at the Dodgeville Medical Center of Upland Hills.

Host: Yeah, thank you. And I hope that we do more in the future, but for now we'll say goodbye. And we hope that folks do these things. You know, do them when they can do them their way, do them by themselves, the ones that were ideally suited to be done with younger children and maybe older children. There's a lot that we've put out there. We hope everybody enjoyed this and thank you so much, Allison.

Allison Geisking: Thank you, Scott.

Host: And for more information, go to uplandhillshealth.org. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels. This is the Inspire Health Podcast from Upland Hills Health. I'm Scott Webb. Stay well.