Ed Harrold | Life With Breath: The Biology of Conscious Breathing

Ed is thrilled to be speaking with Josh Trent of Wellness Force Radio on the mind-body relationship that is linked through breath, why breathwork actually helps people lose weight, and how conscious breathing serves as a basis for reducing stress, improving wellbeing, and building resilience.

Listen To Episode 324 As Ed Harrold Uncovers:

[1:30] Life With Breath
- How an experience during a 22.5 mile swimming competition changed his life forever.
- Why life itself is an endurance sport.
- Life lessons his mother taught him including how to see the best in life to overcome adversity. (9:30)
- Why everything looked great on paper for Ed but deep down inside he had these crippling thoughts and fears he needed to work through.
- How he became stuck by repeating destructive behaviors despite what his heart wanted to bring to himself, his family, and his business.

[13:00] Breathwork’s Role In Repatterning The Brain
- The fact that the brain basically works by repeating the same thoughts and questions every day unless we break that habit through repatterning.
- Diving deep into the vagus nerve’s innervation of the diaphragm. (14:50)
- Strengthening of the vagal nerve to remove mucus, phlegm, and fat from the organs for better health performance.
- The importance of toning the three layers of the abdomen but making sure they’re not too tight to avoid energy drain. (17:40)
- How you can connect your emotions with your breath so that you may feel what’s true through body-centered psychotherapy. (19:00)

[20:50] Cultivating Healthy Resistance & Interacting With Our Fears
- The various gateways to fear and how to cultivate a greater awareness of how it is encoded in your human experience.
- Why we always naturally resist new psychological platforms for us to interact with through our mind and body
- How to create healthy resistance and be open to learning something new. (21:20)
- Why he came to a point where he simply did not trust life, couldn't take any chances and didn't believe he could ever have a “happy gene.”
- The importance of taking chances in life because we’ve all got what it takes.
- How utilizing breathwork will allow your body the opportunity to create a greater interaction with your mind.

[28:00] You Can’t Fix The Head With The Head
- The unconditional love the heart has for us even if we leave it for external fulfillment.
- Why all we need to fulfill us right now is the love we have for ourselves.
- The fact that we can’t fix the heart with the head; we have to heal it with self-love and inner work.
- It takes so much energy to trust the body but everything we ever require in life comes from the inner work
- Why we should all have the goal of feeling safe enough to explore ourselves through regular inner work.
- How he came to notice that patience, acceptance, and kindness really seem to be missing in our society and how we can cultivate them together.

[34:40] Greater Mindfulness Through Improved Posture & Breathing
- Why taking slow, deep inhales can satisfy our need for instant gratification, allow us to pause, and help us really be present with ourselves.
- Benefits of paying attention to our body’s posture, especially if we’re leaning forward into the next moment rather than being present in the current experience.
- The increased support and stability you will experience in your lower back when you begin focusing on slower, deeper breaths.
- Revealing the important role that our diaphragm plays for an improved breathing technique.
- What happens in the body if we take a half breath with poor posture through the mouth rather than the nose.
- Why we should be breathing through the nose rather than the mouth. (37:00)

AND SO MUCH MORE