Chef Amber’s Wholicious™ – Episode 4 How To Detox with Special Guest, Sandy Abrams

Hi ya’ll and welcome to Wholicious! So we all deserve a life full of vitality and happiness. I intend to teach you how to live a healthy and holistic lifestyle, and still have it be fun and easy. Today, I’m going to give you some really juicy and advice on how to detox and cleanse mindfully. I’m excited to share my favorite detox cleansing dishes with you. And I’m also thrilled as I’m going to talk with breathwork expert and friend, Sandy Abrams, on how we can use our breath to cleanse and detox the body. Breath work is one of the most powerful tools I’ve experienced in terms of calming and detoxing our mind body system. Our breath is our major lifeforce and something we have with us for free at any time. Sandy and I will talk about that and she’ll also do some breath work with us later on.

 

Gentle Detoxing & Cleansing

You can make a big life changing move by using gentle detoxing and cleansing methods. There are a lot of misconceptions in this area that can be very confusing. However, many have abused fasting, detoxing and cleansing as a way to diet which is not mindful and I’m speaking from experience. Okay, I’m Amber Caudle, aka chef Amber. And I’ve been a professional chef for over 25 years. A holistic lifestyle advocate, Author of the cookbook ‘Sexy Nourishing Food to Fuel Your Mind, Body and Soul’ and your host of the show Wholicious. I have helped and coached 1000s of people over the past 10 years to balance their lives through healthy delicious food. And I know about all the misconceptions buzzing around when it comes to cleansing and dieting. 

 

When is a Good Time to do a Detox?

You could do a detox and cleanse when you’re feeling rundown, fighting an immune challenge, or after a big trip where maybe you’ve eaten some foods that your body’s not used to.

 

What do I really mean by cleansing and detoxing mindfully?

First, we want to set an intention before cleansing. By setting an intention before you start will help connect you to your big WHY which will help you stay grounded. We always intend to heal and strengthen the body and gain mental clarity when we’re cleansing. Gentle detoxing starts in our brain and in the mind. 

 

Healthy Intentions

So a really great one would be, ‘I intend to let my body let go of any inflammation and pain.’ Find your powerful intention. If you go into a cleanse without a mindful intention, and use it for a quick fix, it will backfire on you. And believe me, I’m speaking from experience because I did it for 30 years. That’s really when a shift begins. What you put into your body matters right now. And you will hear me say that 1000 times. This can be food, your thoughts, your emotions, and all impulses and impressions during the day. So when we cleanse, we’ll use it more of a reset. 

When you constantly worry about your situation, your job, the economy, your health, your family’s health, the list can go on and on. You get it, right? All of your anxiety and worry and the daily stressors can really negatively affect how your body functions, especially the liver, which is our detoxifying organ and the central organ of metabolism. 

 

What’s an Option for Cleansing?

One healthy option I want to give you for cleansing is pick one day a week to eat plant based. It’s a really great way to start and will give your body a break from digesting so much food.

 

What’s an example of cleansing meals for a day?

I would start with my smoothie in the morning, eat my salad for lunch, and finish with my soup at dinner. You could do that for one day as a reset. 

 

Maybe it’s a Friday, maybe every Friday, you eat plant based. For myself, I usually do a whole week a couple times a year focusing on a plant based diet with raw and cooked foods to really give my body and my organs a break from all the digesting. I am not a big fan or promoter of fasting or juice cleanses anymore because it can really trigger disordered eating. And honestly, I really think we need more fat in our diet so our body can absorb the nutrients.

 

Today’s Episode

Today’s menu is a great intro to cleansing and will give your body a break from digesting so much food. We’re going to make a detox smoothie. Then we’re going to make a raw carrot and beet salad with avocado, cilantro and pumpkin seeds. And then we’ll make a creamy sweet potato cauliflower soup topped with Brazil nuts. All right, let’s get cleansing! Okay, let’s go over our detox menu for today. Like I said before, this is a great menu if you want to do a one day, three day or five day reset. Alright, first I’m going to start on our detox smoothie. Then I’ll move on to our coconut cauliflower sweet potato soup. And then we’ll finish off with our raw carrot beet salad. 

 

Detox Smoothie Recipe

Okay, let’s go. This smoothie is a favorite. I know I say that about everything. But this smoothie I’ve been drinking for years, it feels so good. And I mentioned earlier that I don’t do juice cleanses anymore. One, I feel like we need more fat when we’re cleansing to be able to absorb the vitamins and the minerals but two, as a person with that struggled with eating disorders and disordered eating. That juicing was a way for me basically to starve myself. So when I’m cleansing and detoxing, I really like to have a little bit more fiber and fat and protein. So this is a great liquid meal to start the day. And the base of this is I’m actually going to use a little bit of water, and we’re going to make our own almond milk. 

If you caught episode two, then you saw that I’ve already showed this hack and it’s my favorite. So instead of using coconut milk or storebought almond milk or making almond milk, right from soaking almonds and straining and all the things. We’re going to add water and a couple tablespoons of nut butter. So it’s going to give this smoothie nice protein and fat. And I always say when I’m cooking, there’s many options for substitutions. 

 

What are Other Options You Can Substitute for Butter?

So you can do tahini here, cashew butter, pecan butter, nut butter. 

 

Celery So Good

So this is going to be our quick almond milk, okay? All right, so we’ve got our almond milk, right. I’m going to add some celery. Celery, high end fiber, so many benefits of celery, the celery phase, I don’t think it will ever end it feels so good. So I’m going to add celery. It’s also a great way to get in celery if you don’t like the flavor because it’s going to be hidden under the banana and the blueberries. I’m going to add some wild blueberries. So in this smoothie, there’s a ton of ingredients that help with antioxidants and removing heavy metals from the body. One we’ve got wild organic blueberries. 

 

What is Duluth?

It’s got a little bit of a seaweed flavor and is high in iodine. I actually started doing duluth when I was healing my thyroid.

 

Duluth is a hard sell. Not gonna lie, but underneath the banana and the blueberries, you can’t even taste it. So I’m going to do like a big teaspoon here. It’s something that you’ll have to talk to your natural doctor about. But it really helped me because I had very, very low iodine levels. And it really helped me heal my metabolism and my hormones. 

 

What are Some Benefits of Spirulina?

It’s loaded with B vitamins and helps protect from radiation and also helps from pulling heavy metals from the body. 

 

So far, you’ve got the blueberries, the duluth and the spirulina. Then to add some more plant protein and some omegas, I’m going to add a couple tablespoons here of chia seeds. Also, it’ll make this nice and thick. I love some chia seeds. Okay, and our banana. I’m going to do like a big half of a banana here. Add that potassium, and for the protein powder today, I’m gonna use new zest as protein powder. 

 

Careful with Protein Powders

Now the reason that I like this protein is because there’s only three ingredients, it sustainably source, it’s clean, it’s made from peas, it doesn’t bloat me out, give me gas, you know, you’ve got to be really careful these days with protein powders because if you turn around and you look at the ingredients, there could be 10 15 20 ingredients, half of them we can’t pronounce. It’s not necessary. So be really careful with your protein powders, there can be a lot of sneaky ingredients that we don’t need in our bodies. Okay, and also there can be a lot of added sneaky sugars, which I never really understood that either. 

So this is pure protein, we’re gonna get about 20 ish grams of protein even more on top of almond butter and the chia seeds. Okay, so what else are we forgetting? This is it. Let’s blend away. Okay. I’m gonna give this a quick blend. Okay, perfect. Okay, Love it. I mean, seriously, all this really tastes like is banana and blueberries, and then you’ve got all this amazing stuff underneath. 

 

Sneaking in Healthy Ingredients

I’ve had a lot of parents feed this to their kids, they can actually sneak in the healthy ingredients underneath. It’s all about getting sneaky with nutrition. Y’all. Okay. All right. Now, like I said, I love breaking my intermittent fasting with this in the morning. I drink my lemon water, maybe I’ll have my Tumeric latte. Or I’ll go straight to this. Starting the day off with liquid and ending the day with liquid with our soup really gives our body a chance to really take a break from all the digestion of all the solid foods that we eat. So this is something that I’m gonna be drinking with Sandy a little later, and she’s gonna love it. Delicious. 

 

Cauliflower Soup Recipe

All right, so next we’re going to jump right into our raw carrot and beet salad and our sweet potato cauliflower soup. Okay, you ready to make soup? I am. I love soup and I literally eat it all year round, not just in the winter. Okay, let’s get in here. So this is a sweet potato cauliflower soup with coconut milk. And right now I’m gonna do a little quick peel and a dice for our sweet potato. Best thing about the way I make soups y’all is you can chop up all your vegetables really roughly, throw them in, boil them, and blend it. That’s it. Okay, we’re not going to saute. And also we are cuts don’t have to be perfect, right? Because we’re going to blend the crap out of this. 

 

White Potatoe

All right, so now you can also use any sort of sweet potato or yam, but I like to use a white one for this specifically with the coconut milk and the cauliflower. Because it reminds me of a creamy potato soup. And I’m not anti-potato, but when I’m cleansing, I don’t eat potato when I cleanse. Okay, so I do a little bit less starchy lysine, lower glycemic, and this is also a great paleo soup. Okay. So for those of you that are unfamiliar with paleo. Paleo, no grain, no dairy, no gluten, but also they don’t do beans or potato, okay. Alright, so I’m gonna give this a quick little dice here. Rough dice, chop, I guess, more so, and I love a blended soup while I’m cleansing. 

 

Soup Cleanse

And in fact, I’ve done soup cleanses instead of a juice cleanse, meaning I’ll drink like three or four soups during the day along with my bone broth, because an all liquid day really gives your body a chance to take a break from digesting all the solid food all the time. So soups are a great way to get a liquid meal in without it always having to be a smoothie. And it adds a little extra fat and plant protein and fiber and it’s warm. 

Okay, here we go. So I’m going to do sweet potato. We’re going to add this to our pot here. All right, oh, well, not what that beet. Okay. All right, that is for our carrot and beet salad. All right. Okay, I have about one small onion here, put the onion in. And then I’ve got one small head of cauliflower about five six cups. Now add the cauliflower in. And then I’m going to add some full-fat coconut milk and a little bit of water. 

 

Creamy Coconut Milk

I love the coconut milk, it makes it super creamy. You can definitely sub any liquid of choice if you want to do almond milk or if there’s another seed or nut milk of your choice. Okay, I’m gonna turn this on. And we’re going to crank this baby to that medium. I’m going to add a couple teaspoons of salt. Okay, a little bit of black pepper. And my three garlic cloves and I don’t need to chop them because we’re going to blend it. So I’m going to add the garlic cloves in. So I’m going to give this a little stir. We’re all set in here. I’m actually going to add a little time sprig. Save a little bit for garnish. Okay, here we are. And we’re going to let that cook for about 35/40 minutes. Okay, I’m going to cover it. And all right, we’re gonna let that go. 

 

Carrot Beet Salad Recipe

Okay, let’s get into our raw carrot and beet salad. This salad is the ultimate detox salad. It’s loaded with vitamins and minerals that really helps detox the liver. And what I really love about the salad too, is it’s so high in fiber. And it’s really great to help with elimination. 

 

Elimination

And we haven’t really spoken a lot about elimination. It’s actually one of my favorite topics, but we’re talking about detox and cleansing. And so it’s really important to eat enough fiber while we’re detoxing and cleansing and have really great elimination. 

 

Beets Help the Liver Detox

Okay, so we are going to shred the carrots and the beets. And we’re going to keep this raw. This is actually a staple in my house. I don’t actually just eat this when I’m detoxing. You know, we really have to take care of our liver on the daily because our liver gets taxed by outside stressors and daily life and our diets and everything. So it’s really great to really have foods that can help detox the liver, and beets are one of them. All right, so and our raw carrot salad, like I said, it will help with constipation and help with regularity. Okay, so I already have some beets and carrots, but you know, you can just peel your beat, and then do a nice little grate here. 

Okay, and I’m making a mess, it is messy. And I’m gonna grate a little bit of carrot also. Okay, so luckily, I was prepared for y’all. And I already graded a bunch of beets and carrots, so we can just put this right in here and add that we just cleaned really amazing. Okay, so we’ve got carrots and beets right here. For our acid. I’ve got a little bit of lemon juice here. And I’m actually going to add a little bit more lemon, because I’m just feeling it. So we’re gonna add a little bit of lemon. And then I’m going to add some sea salt, about a teaspoon, a pinch of black pepper. And to do a nice drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. And really nice to find a really nice organic extra virgin olive oil here. 

 

Spice & Nuttiness

Hey, we’ll add a lot of spiciness and nuttiness. And then I have a nice big handful of Italian parsley. So what I’ll do is I’m just going to do a rough chop here, don’t need to go crazy and I use the stems. So the stems are loaded with vitamins, they actually also help pull heavy metals from the body. So and really great for the liver. So I’m going to add the parsley. And I like to add pumpkin seeds in and on top for textures. So I’m going to add a little bit of pumpkin seeds there. And then we’re going to add this avocado. So this is going to be I think we’re going to do the whole the whole avocado here. So just gonna put this in big chunks because I’m gonna mix this up, actually with my hands. Okay. And so this avocado does not have to be perfect. So we’re gonna mash it up. Actually, the avocado is going to be kind of part of the creaminess of the dressing along with the lemon and the olive oil. Okay, there’s that. Okay, perfect. 

So I’m gonna get in here with my hands. I love to use my hands in the kitchen. Don’t be scared using your hands in the kitchen. Really get in there can get a little bit a little messy. It’s your salad. Okay, this is going to be creamy. And it’s a little sweet from the carrots and the beets. The acid from the lemon. Okay, perfect. And I don’t like to mash up the avocado all the way. I like to leave a couple pieces kind of big like that. I’m gonna put this to the side. Okay, and I’m gonna wash my hands. 

 

Finishing up the Soup

Okay, let’s check out our soup. Okay, it looks perfect. Go. Hey, it’s cooked down. Nicely. All right. Now I’m going to finish that with a little bit of orange juice from the juice of one orange and then a little bit more lemon. Okay, so we’ll add a little bit of lemon. And now I’m going to blend this okay, this is the last step here is to blend it. Make this nice and creamy. 

And then we’ll plate our soup and our salad. Alright, so I’ve got a label here. And I love this soup too because soups freeze really easily. So I’ll make a big batch you can freeze these in you know plastic cups in the refrigerator or make a half batch this kind of a big batch but I love a soup. Okay, let’s see. Okay, amazing and it looks like cream of potato. And it actually tastes a little bit like creamy potato. Okay, so let’s finish these babies. Hey. All right, so for the soup. Oh yeah. Okay, for the soup. I like to finish it with some fresh thyme leaves. Okay. 

 

Why are Brazil Nuts Good for Us?

High in selenium. It really supports cardiovascular health, supports the immune system, great for thyroid health, and it supports the production of glutathione, which is our body’s antioxidant.

 

And then Brazil nuts. Love some Brazil nuts. Four Brazil nuts a day gives us selenium in our diet. Okay, so I’m going to put a little bit of raw Brazil nuts on top, it’s going to add a nice little crunch, give us some extra fat and some extra protein. And then of course, I can’t do anything without sumach. Give it a nice lemony flavor at the end, a little bit of zing. And I’m going to do one nice drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Okay, look at this soup. Okay, so gorgeous with the crunchiness from the Brazil nuts, this thyme leaves, it really, really, really is going to taste like a creamy potato soup. 

 

Pumpkin Seeds

Hey, all right, let’s finish our salad. Okay, so we’re going to do a nice big scoop of our salad here, just like this. And how gorgeous is the salad? Come on. Hey, and then I’m going to top it with some of our sprouted raw pumpkin seeds. And pumpkin seeds high in magnesium. Really actually supports heart health and is claimed to help with weight loss. So really great when detoxing and cleansing. 

I mean, this meal right here, y’all, this is, this is a cleansing meal that’s going to make you feel so good, but you’re not going to feel deprived, you’re not going to feel starving. For me, it doesn’t trigger any of my disordered eating. So if you want to use this meal today, we made our smoothie, we have our salad and our soup. 

In fact, every Friday if you want to do a plant-based day, or you could say you know what I want to cleanse for three days, five days, seven days. You can eat this meal for the whole week if you want, okay. You’re getting enough vitamins, fiber, protein. Going to feel so good. You’re going to give your body a chance to really relax and detox and digest the food. And sometimes I’ll drink the smoothie for breakfast, I’ll drink the smoothie for dinner, and have an early dinner and then have a nice window of intermittent fasting. And then maybe have the salad and soup for lunch. So you can kind of play around with this. I can’t wait to share this with Sandy. I know she’s gonna love it. 

 

Special Guest Sandy Abrams

All right, y’all. I’m so excited to introduce you to my friend, also entrepreneur and Author of the book ‘Breathe to Succeed’ Sandy Abrams. Sandy, thank you so much for being here. 

 

SA: Thank you for having me. 

 

CA: Welcome. You’ve always inspired me and always remind me to breathe and how important breath is and breath is our lifeforce. So thank you. 

 

SA: Thank you, and likewise. You always inspire me to eat well!

 

CA: Awesome. And so today’s episode is all about cleansing and detoxing the body and really having a reset and feeling good in our bodies. And so I thought it was perfect to have you come on today and talk about how we can cleanse and detox the mind with breath. But before we get started, I made us some detox smoothies, so we can stay fueled during our conversation. And so we’ve got blueberries and duluth and almond butter, banana. We’ve got chia seeds, celery, and of course some spirulina. So this is a really great reset smoothie detox smoothie, it feels so good. So cheers.

 

SA: Thank you feel so good. So good. So delicous, nourishing.

 

CA: Alright, well,let’s start by telling me what inspired you to get into breathwork? Like, why did you become so passionate to start spreading the word about breath and writing ‘Breathe to Succeed?’

 

SA: I’ve been practicing yoga and breath work since 1989. And normally I’m sort of a fast paced type A entrepreneur, and breath really changed my life back in 1989 when I first started with yoga. I used to be known as the girl who would leave yoga class right before savasana because who’s got time to sit still. But then I learned that lying still at the end of class is what yoga is all about. And for the first time in my entire life, when I actually stayed for shavasana. And I took three deep breaths, I actually felt that grounded, centered stillness and the quiet that made me so curious about well, if I can do that here on my yoga mat, I want to take it off the mat and use it in my life. And so I’ve been using it in my life ever since. And the reason why I was inspired to share it was because I started seeing such burnout in with my entrepreneurial friends, but also in the business sector and with parents and in really everything every sector, because technology had revolutionized the way that we work and we live and we’re connected to our devices. It’s just the way that we live.

 

CA: It’s the way that we live. It’s the truth. I

 

SA: f that’s the truth, but there are consequences to that. So breath is the antidote. And it’s like nourishment for the mind. It’s hydration for the mind. And it really helps us feel more in control of our emotions and our mindset. And our energy, which is a big part of holistic wellness.

 

CA: when I finally learned to breathe, it was a game changer. And I was giggling the whole time you were because we’re so much alike. We’re fast moving entrepreneurs. We’re always on the go, right? And so when I finally I was I would be in Shavasana. I was like, Who the heck has time like, I got stuff to do y’all. Right? I would totally, I was like, going over my grocery list. And I wasn’t even taking the breaths. And when I finally started to learn to breathe, it was a game changer for me to be like, Well, I’m now becoming present with myself and my body. This is actually helping my stress, my anxiety. And I became addicted about 10 years ago when I finally learned to breathe. And you know, breathe is our breath is our lifeforce. And it’s free. And it’s such a gift. And it has such an overall impact on our health. So I kind of want to touch on breath and health because yeah.

 

SA: Yeah, I love the way that you explain that breath is life. And it is I look at it as this human superpower that we all have. And that’s the beauty of it is that breath equalizes well being because every single person around the globe has access to this medicine to this nourishment. Yeah, that we all have. And the great thing is, is that we have the power to override our nervous systems. So a lot of people think about breath that it’s only for calming our nervous system, which is terrific. And I would say most people use it for that. But you can also balance your nervous system with breath. And you can also boost your nervous system with different breath tools. So just like I like to say that a calorie isn’t just a calorie and a breath is just a breath. 

 

CA: It’s just not! I love that you said that. Because so one of the episodes of Wholicious, I’ll demonstrate Breath of Fire. And so for me, that’s one of my breath, I always go to whether it be in my car, not when I’m driving, or I’ll step into the bathroom at work when I’m so tired. And even here filming Wholicious I’d get really tired. And I start on that breath. So like I love how you mentioned a lot of people think breath is like to calm you down all the time, which like you said is fantastic. But not our each breath is created the same because there’s energizing breath too. So definitely the crew of Wholicious has heard me do my loud, oh, Goddess breath, which really just like I do it before I go on stage and just take a breath that helps me really feel embodied. Calm down, get centered. So breath is everything. And breath is so important right now these last, you know, here as we’re dealing with COVID and really wanting to build our immune system. So do you want to touch on that point a little bit? 

 

SA: Yeah, breath has been just a saving grace for so many people during COVID. First of all, it made us I’d say one of the silver linings of COVID was that we’ve become more self aware of of our breath, we’ve become more protective of our respiratory system, because we fear losing that. But at the same time, then we want to nourish it, we want to exercise it and we want to get like the optimal gas exchange, the oxygen, the carbon dioxide, when everything is like a well oiled machine, just like your gut when the respiratory system is also working optimally. We feel our best. Yeah. And that’s what’s really important for health. And mindfulness paired with breath makes it exponentially as powerful because like he said, your goddess breath. I love that because you embody that feeling then. The minute you do that breath, you create your best mindset and energy for what you need in that moment. Yes. And that’s what I hope people begin to understand and experiment with because yeah, there’s a breath for everyone and everything and every different mindset and mood and perspective that you need. There’s a way to breathe, to help you embody that and create that within yourself.

 

CA: I love that it’s so important. And what I want to know is what are a couple breaths that we can go over? Like what are some takeaways that you can give to the Wholicous community, some practical breath tools that they can incorporate into their daily lives for holistic living? Okay, good, because I know you’ve got a bunch of breaths. So what are maybe like three breaths that you want to share with with the Wholicious community.

 

SA: The first one is to get out of like autopilot chest breathing. The shallow, rapid, quick breath that that we mostly live in. The problem with that is it actually leaves us in a low grade state of chronic stress. Okay, and talk about inflammation and everything. That’s what happens when all we’re doing is breathing rapidly and shallowly. So the first tool you is a balancing breath, also known as coherent breath when you make the inhales and the exhales to a count of five, or six, five or six, so inhale and are we inhaling through the nose through the nose. The reason

we inhale through the nose is because it heats and it filters and it treats the air that’s coming into our lungs. Versus if your mouth is open, and you’re taking it in, you’re not filtering that air at all. Okay, it’s going directly into the lungs. So bacteria, germs, everything is invited in. So inhale through the nose to count of five or six, and then exhaling through the nose or mouth. To five or six. Most of the time when you’re breathing normally, throughout the day, you want to breathe, inhaling and exhaling through the nose. But when I just do those little mini breath practices, I feel more of a sense of release when I exhale through my mouth. 

 

CA: Yeah, me too. 

 

SA: Totally fine. Yeah. So that would be the coherent breathing is one to try to do as often as possible.

 

CA: Okay, as often as possible throughout the day, it doesn’t mean you have to be stressed or anything. It’s more like, it’s just the breath to go to. 

 

SA: Exactly. And it doesn’t even have to be like hard, like light as a feather.

Oh, it can be light as a feather. 

 

CA: I’m glad because I want to be over here like, yeah, no,

no, right, like getting in there. So it doesn’t have to be like that, it could just be

really helpful. 

 

SA: Because otherwise less is more smart. It’s a very common, okay, too, because people feel like if they breathe in really hard like that, okay. And it’s just that’s a common reflux or compromised to it, but like that, really. And then if you picture like a feather under your nose on the exhale, you don’t want to move that further. And it’s gentle, I love that. 

 

CA: And nobody even needs to know you’re doing it. Nobody needs to know. Okay, this is brilliant. I love that be the default mode. Not this anymore. 

 

SA: Yeah, not that’s just like suggest you get used to starting it at the belly with your diaphragm. Because if you’re not using your diaphragm is known as your second heart. Yeah. And when you don’t use that, and you’re just starting, breathing like that, it’s yeah, you’re doing your system harm. It’s you’re doing your system, no favors. So if you start the breath down with your diaphragm, and you bring the belly out laterally, light as the feather and for five or six, how light as a feather five to six, that should be your default breath during the day. And if that seems odd, at first, just try it. Try to integrate it every time you refill your water bottle, or walking into your car or in an elevator or whatever, attach it to something that you’re already doing. Make that sort of the new routine of like, Oh, I’m also going to think about how I’m breathing. 

 

CA: Okay, I love that breath. Okay, so that’s breath. One. I love that one.

 

SA: Coherent breathing balanced, five, five or six. Okay, the next one I would love to share is alternate nostril breathing. Okay, which is also another balancing breath. But what you do is you gently close one nostril will close the right nostril. Okay, we’ll inhale through the left side to that same count five or six. And then once you take that inhale, you close the left side, you exhale on the right. Okay, and then you inhale on the same side that you exhale. So okay. Inhaling right, close right. Exhale, left, inhale, close, left, exhale, right. And what’s happening is when you inhale through your right nostril, you’re connecting to the left side of your brain, which is your analytical, logical side. When you’re inhaling through the left nostril, you connect to the right side, the more creative side. Also, the left nostril is the calming nostril. So if you really want to calm down, you can also close your right nostril and do both inhale and exhale through the left side. 

 

CA: I love this. Okay. 

 

SA: And then if you want a little boost, like in the morning, okay, close your left nostril. Inhale and exhale, both on the right side. 

 

CA: This is a great tip. 

 

SA: So that’s both balancing, but it could also just be calming or boosting.

 

CA: Calming or boosting. Okay, so if I’m feeling stressed or anxious, then I can I can get in there with this alternate nostril technique. Yeah. Okay. 

 

SA: And we actually our nostrils alternate on their own throughout the day, but this is a way to take charge so that if you can test it during the day, you can like, place your finger under your nose and exhale, and I can see right now my left nostril is dominant. Oh, okay. Um, right now interesting if we wanted to get a boost, which says a lot yeah. Calm. But so if we wanted a little boost, we would close our left nostril and breathe in and out on right sides.

 

CA: Love this. Okay, this is a great takeaway. Okay, so those were two breaths. Okay, what’s your it’s so simple to so simple and it’s free. I know. It’s so easy. We all have access to it right?

Exactly. Yeah. 

 

SA: My favorite one for boosting is what you already talked about is Breath of Fire. Okay, the quick I do like around a 15 of them, okay, I’m three times, okay. But I rest in between, okay. And I call it espresso in the form of breath work.

 

CA: Same. it’s my morning coffee. If I’m feeling exhausted, I always do a little Breath of Fire. And, I mean, I when I was demoing it, you know, I’ll say, Hey, you guys can do this in the car. When it’s parked. You can do it in the bathroom at work. I mean, sometimes I’ll be so tired at work, or I need a little bit of an energy boost and I’m not drinking coffee. So I go in the bathroom and I just I start to breathe. So yeah.

 

SA: Exactly. And the one thing I would add to breath of fire sometimes in between rounds is posture. So you can do like Power Pose. Okay, so that really boosts your energy. We’re used to texting and our laptop. Okay, you in between rounds of Breath of Fire. You want to do the power pose. Okay, it’s so empowering and does give you a boost. 

 

CA: Okay. Should we do one round of 15? Yeah. Okay, let’s do one round of 15. Okay.

 

SA: Okay, so close eyes. Yeah. Both feet on the floor for more grounding, okay, palms face down on your thighs. And we focus on a rapid exhale. And the inhale just happens automatically, you know? Yeah. So it looks like this. Let’s do it together. Ready? And then breathe normally. Maybe power pose. 

 

CA: Power pose it? Yes!

 

SA: And you can also on the inhale. And on the exhale, give yourself a hug. 

 

CA: I love this. 

 

SA: And then you can do it again.

 

CA: It’s just already I have energy total me It’s amazing. It I love how you call it your morning Espresso because I always call it my morning coffee. Like I’m like, there’s so many ways to wake yourself up in the morning and I will share in other episodes dry brushing, slapping and Breath of Fire. I mean, there’s so many ways to do it besides going to that sugar or the coffee like we have access to our breath. So yeah, so brilliant. So I love these three breaths. We have the rapid Breath of Fire the espresso morning coffee. We have the alternate nostril breathing, which you can use for energizing or calming. And then we have the coherent breath for balance.

 

SA: What about one more? Okay, let’s do one more Lion’s Breath. Which you know. 

 

CA: Okay, love lion’s breath, right? Explain that lion’s breath. Yeah, and the benefits. 

 

SA: So Lion’s Breath is just the quickest way to immediately exercise to immediately let go of any negative or stagnant energy in your body. It’s great because kids can do it. Older people can do it. It’s never too late to learn Lyons breath. And who doesn’t need that during the day just to immediately get rid of any negative or stagnant and make it your own. And that’s I’m glad you brought that up. Because breath is customizable. And just like food, it’s individualized as people like the Keto, the vegan. Everything that you know, from your restaurants, people are always thinking about exactly what they want in their food. And quality matters. And same with breath though. You can make it your own on lion’s breath, you can shake out your hands, you can shake out your body. You do whatever makes you feel good. So Lion’s Breath looks like this. You close your eyes. Take a long, slow, deep inhale. And exhale. 

 

CA: I know it’s a goofy thing to do. Right when we started doing it. So basically lions breath, your tongue goes out and your eyes are rolling up.

 

SA: But and you can’t do it and not

laugh you know. 

 

CA: Right? You can’t be serious and sad after.

 

SA: And laughter is breath too. Yeah. So I do that every single morning when I wake up, I just do three lion’s breath, not even necessarily to get rid of any worry or thought. Yeah, just to like clear.

 

CA: Thank you for reminding me of that. Yeah, thank you for remind me of the Lion’s Breath. Because I used to do Lion’s Breath and it kind of, it’s not my rotation. So now I’m gonna think of you when I get up in the morning. With all the other 100 things I do in the morning for my morning routine, I will definitely do a lion’s breath. Well, I know that we could talk forever and ever and ever. This is so fun. I’m inspired. I actually feel like I learned a lot today. So thank you so much and stepping up. Yes, you’re welcome. And I want you to tell everyone where they can find you.

 

SA: Sure on Instagram and Twitter at Sandy Abrams and my website is theceom.com.

 

CA: Okay, excellent. And you guys definitely order her book. I love your book. I think when it came out and gave it to like 10 people for Christmas that year. I love it. So thank you again. I appreciate you. And this was such a joy. I can’t wait to connect again.

 

SA: Me too. Thank you for sharing me with the Wholicious community. I’m excited to be part of it. 

 

CA: You’re welcome.

 

Thanks all so much for joining us. Today take care of yourself, your mind, your body and your soul. And if you felt inspired by the breath today and you love this episode, give it a thumbs up. And if you have any questions or comments please comment below because I love staying connected with you guys.

 

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