🎙️84. Breathwork at Work & Beyond with Sabrina Palazzo of Source Method®

the spiritual 9-5 podcast transcript

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Episode Published on August 27, 2024

Transcript

Intro to the Intro

Y'all, Sabrina Palazzo is an absolute godsend of a human. She is a wellness entrepreneur, and mentor, and the founder of Source Method. I know her through a mutual friend and mentor, Rita Mirchandani, who you may have heard on the podcast. Actually, Rita's episode is one of the most listened to episodes on this podcast to this day. So if you haven't listened, feel free to go back or bookmark it, add it to the queue! 

In terms of this episode and in terms of Sabrina, I cannot tell you how unbelievably delightful it was to share in this conversation with Sabrina. I wish that everyone could know her and experience her and learn from her. And I'm so excited that you get to tune into this discussion.

From my perspective, Sabrina is a sage, and just so wise and amazing to listen to. So listen to this episode to discover what breathwork really is, and how powerful and accessible breathwork can be. But also listen to this episode to hear candid conversation and philosophy around spirituality and business and the corporate wellness space. 

Sabrina is a true trailblazer, and she believes that one of the most powerful things anyone can do for their lives is to reconnect to your authentic self. The self that is beyond identity, that is always with you. And she brings with us, to us, a tool, a modality that teaches you how to always access this deep self. 

I hope you listen. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I do. And I hope you share this episode with at least one person who would love it, too.

Intro music 🎶

I believe that working can be one of the most spiritual paths that we walk. 

Whether that work is turning your passion into a business, or sitting behind a desk for eight hours a day, or anywhere beyond and in between. And yet, we often take the way in which we show up to work for granted, even though it's where we spend the majority of our time.

Here on The Spiritual 9–5 Podcast, we talk about that. We talk about entrepreneurship, we talk about the 9 to 5, we talk about what it's like to be multi-passionate, and talented, and inspired, and also utterly demotivated. 

We are here to support you in your work, whether your work is sacred to you, or just something that you do to get by. We are here to help you see and know yourself a little bit deeper, and to inspire you to show up no matter what it is that you find.

I'm your host, Marie Groover, and like you I am as multi-passionate as they come. I'm the founder of two businesses that are here to bring the soul back into the office. I, too, work a 9 to 5 in corporate tech. 

I'm a surfer, a writer, a philosopher-artist, if you will, and I'm so excited to bring you this episode today. If you haven't, please leave the show a 5-star rating, and if this episode resonates, consider saving it and sharing it with someone you think it would resonate with too. 

Intro music fades 🎶 

Marie Groover: Should we take a couple of breaths together?

Sabrina Palazzo: We should. Would you like to go ahead? 

MG: Yes! 

SP: Alright. So let's go ahead and close our eyes. And we're gonna start off by taking a nice cleansing deep breath in through our nose and just naturally sighing it out. I usually do 3 to begin any setting. So let's do that 2 more times. Nice deep cleansing breath through our nose. Exhale. Sigh it out. Drop your shoulders. 

Last one. Deepest, juiciest breath you've taken all week. Exhale. Let everything go. Soften your body and open your eyes.

MG: Mmmm.

SP: So good.

MG: So good. I already feel so much better.

SP: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. It's so funny how profound something so simple can be.

MG: Oh my goodness, yes! I feel like I could go off on a whole tangent on that. And maybe we will. 

SP: Yeah. 

MG: Maybe we will. Because I love this. So first of all, welcome! Thank you so much for joining the podcast. I'm so happy to have you and to hear from you and to talk to you and to learn from you. I personally don't know a whole lot about breathwork. 

SP: Mhmm. 

MG: I think my first experience with breathwork was maybe now 3 or 4 years ago, but I remember it was a life changing experience. And it's funny because I came into it because a friend of mine was really good friends with a breathwork facilitator. And this breathwork facilitator also offers, like, plant medicine.

SP: Mhmm. 

MG: And so I was, like, curious about the plant medicine. Didn't know what breathwork was, but I was kind of interested in, like, experimenting with microdosing mushrooms. So I reached out to this friend and she said, “Oh, yes. I can help you with that and I can guide you through that. And you can do a breathwork session with me.” And I was like, “Yeah. Sure, I've never done this. Let's do it!”

And I remember in that first session that we did, it was something that I so deeply needed, but had no idea that I needed. 

SP: Mhmm. [laughs]

MG: I remember just laying on the ground, breathing, and she guided me through Zoom. And I was just like crying. And at the end of the session, you're like, my body was like shaking and convulsing. And I was just like, what was I holding on to?

SP: Yeah.

MG: Like, what even was this experience? It was life changing. And from that moment on, I was like, wow, bro. I don't even know what this is, but this is really powerful. [laughs] So yeah. And so that's, that's kind of like my intro and experience of it, but I would love since this is your work, to hear from you, you know, what is what is breathwork? How would you describe this to someone? Yeah. Let's start with that.

SP: Yeah. Oh, I love hearing people's first experience with breathwork. Everybody has their own story with it. Everybody has their own holy crap moment with it. It's like one of my favorite things to hear. But yeah. So breathwork is an umbrella term. So it refers to any specific pattern of intentional conscious breathing.

So underneath this big umbrella that's breathwork, we have all these different techniques, all these different patterns of intentional conscious breathing. 

So some people may have heard of you know, some really common ones that people may have heard of is box breathing. That's a pattern of intentional conscious breathing. You may have heard of Wim Hof breathing. It's that guy who's swims in the arctic without a wetsuit, and he attributes being able to do so from his breath alone. And so that's a technique that falls underneath this breathwork umbrella. 

So there's so many different techniques and patterns of intentional conscious breathing that can be defined as breathwork. Actually, with my company, we only work with one technique. And we can talk about that a little bit later, but there's just so many different patterns that we can use for all these different areas of our lives, different goals, different areas of healing. And they're all powerful. They're all powerful. They're all profound.

MG: Mmm I love this. Oh, thank you. How simple. How simple and profound.

SB: [laughs] And those are two words I feel like we're gonna use a lot today.

MG: Right? I know. I feel like this is already a theme. I like this. Okay. Let's talk about I know you said we'll talk about this later, but let's talk about the method of breathwork that you use with your company and why you've chosen this method?

SB: Yeah. Absolutely. So I, before I even do that was actually, you can just pop in as I'm explaining this. I'm curious what technique of breathwork you did. It's probably it was similar to the technique I use. But the one technique at the core of my work with Source Method is the company, is our brand, is our breathwork little baby, is most similar to what's called conscious connected breathing. 

So it's a 3 part breath, inhale into the belly, inhale into the chest, exhale. Is that what you did?

MG: Mmmm. We did do some of this. It's interesting in my yoga teacher training, we learned this method and it's something that I offer a lot in yoga classes in the beginning or at the end of class. But I think in the breathwork session I did, I think we did, like, multiple different techniques throughout the session. 

SP: Oh cool. Mhmm. 

MG: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Keep going. Keep going.

SP: Yeah. So, so similar. So usually this technique of breathwork. Oh, so okay, so I'll just backtrack a little bit. The reason we only use one technique, this technique, again, most similar to what's called conscious connected breathwork, is because it's in my experience, my opinion, one of the most powerful, efficient–efficient is a really important word to use–efficient tool to, at its core, reconnect us back to us.

Most efficient, powerful tool to quiet the thinking mind in a very short period of time and access deeper levels of mind, the unconscious and even superconscious mind. Unconscious mind where all of our programming lives. Superconscious mind where..is, can be defined as, like, the highest level of consciousness in which we're connected to something greater than ourselves. And when we're in that unconscious mind, those deep levels of mind, we can access wisdom, clarity, inspiration, intuition, like, all these amazing things. 

But it's also, again, in my opinion, in my experience, one of the most efficient powerful tools to unlock the body. And this is really, really important, and this is what you experienced in your first session with the crying and realizing, oh my god, what was I holding on to? Like, I had no idea. 

So within our bodies, we carry stress, we carry repressed emotions. We carry the past. We carry unprocessed trauma. And it's a protective mechanism that our body has for us. It holds on to whatever it deems unsafe for us. Like, let's say, we are experiencing something when we're younger and for whatever reason, we're not able to fully feel that, for reasons because it doesn't feel unsafe, let's say. The body holds on to that emotion and says, ‘Okay. You don't have to feel that right now. We're gonna store it for you until you, or we feel safe enough or you feel safe enough for you to feel that.’

And so the body's storing all of these more dense emotions, because it's easy for us to feel and process joy. Right? It's easy for us to feel and process love, but it's not always easy for us to process fear, grief, anger, etc. And so the body holds on to all of that. Body stores stress. And until we give it a space to unlock and release, it hold on to it for us. 

And so this technique of breathwork is one of the most efficient tools to unlock the body and actually release what it's holding on to for us that really does not serve us that we don't have to hold on to. So usually, we say within about 1 to 3 sessions, maybe 4. And again, of course, everyone's unique, but what we've seen is between 1 to 3, maybe 4 sessions, people are actually able to experience what it's like to quiet their mind, which can be a really powerful experience, access goals that exists within the unconscious mind, and unlock the body and release what doesn't serve them.

So, regardless if you're a beginner or not, you're able to, most likely, generally speaking, access all of these things in just one session. So it's really powerful. It's really efficient. And that's why we only work with one.

MG: What does this session look like? I mean, my first breathwork session was just breathing. Is it just breathing? What do you, how do you guide people through this? What's the experience like? And what have you seen in terms of people's journeys?

SP: Yeah. So this technique of breathwork…is the breathwork landscape and the breathwork industry is changing rapidly. So, I think soon I'm not gonna be able to say this much longer and we'll see we'll see, you know, if someone's listening to this a year from now, they might be like, well, this actually isn't true, which is great. 

But from what I've seen at this point in time is that generally speaking, this technique is offered in more deep healing spaces and also in more spiritual spaces.  And we love that, and we appreciate that, and that's how I discovered breathwork, this technique of breathwork. And the more I started doing it, the more I started sharing it with my friends and telling people, ‘Hey, you gotta come to this class that I found with breathwork!’ I realized that, okay, not everybody has access to these spaces, number 1. Number 2, not everybody is ready for or even wants a deep healing journey. And number 3, not everyone resonates with the spiritual or the energy of the spaces facilitating these breathwork journeys. 

And so my goal with Source Method–and it's gonna tie back to kinda how a session is led because it is a little different–my intention with Source Method is really to since there's breathwork for those groups, is to bridge the gap between this powerful technique and everybody else.  And so we kind of put more of like a modern spin on the breathwork. 

We're very strategic in, you know, where we host classes, who we partner with, how we facilitate, like, the actual language that we use. But the main way that we kinda put a modern spin on it is we combine this work with modern music. So music that you love, music from your favorite artist, music that makes you feel. And that's just kinda something that I started doing with my own practice, and I realized, actually, yeah, like, people who are a little intimidated by breathwork going into, like, this deep healing or, like, spiritual space, they go in and they hear actually, don't use Beyonce that often, but, like, for for the sake of the example, like, they hear their favorite song on the radio and they're like, okay. This is kinda cool. It just makes it more digestible, accessible, and a lot more fun in my opinion. 

And so a breathwork session, at least in my context, Source Method, there's always, unless it's like a more advanced level class, there's always an explanation just to make sure we're all on the same page. Like, I really pride myself in Source Method and making everyone feel super comfortable from the moment they walk in. But we just, you know, get to know the technique, get to know what to expect. There's always a mini meditation followed by a breathwork session. 

And most people, like, they're do it if they're doing this type of breathwork, do they're doing it for longer. Whereas with us, we just do it for 24 minutes. You do not need much more time than that with this technique to get those benefits, to drop out of the mind, drop into the body, release what doesn't serve you. So it's, it's quick. It's efficient. It's fun. Yeah. It's really powerful.

MG: Oh, my goodness. 

SP: With a spin! With a modern spin.

MG: A modern spin. I love this. I love this for so many reasons. I okay. So the things that are coming to me immediately are I remember when I first start, I started practicing yoga when I was 16, And I remember I started practicing yoga, like, in a gym, and I didn't really know what yoga was. And I was raised in a super kind of conservative, Christian house. And so I first thought, like, is this, is this wrong? Am I doing something bad? Which is a very common misconception about yoga. 

SP: Mhmm.

MG: And then over time as I practiced more and more, you know, there was so much deepening, but I remember what made it feel so accessible to me was the music. 

SP: Mmmm.

MG: It was the teachers who played music that I knew versus I think, I think, and I will now I love the whole yoga studio vibe of, like, coming in and having kind of more spiritual music or chanting. Like, I love that now. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: But I remember when I first began, that really intimidated me. And I was like, this is so serious and, like, what is this? What are people doing and what are people thinking? And, you know, when I first started practicing yoga, I wasn't there for the spiritual, spirituality. I was there for the body work. And then it was through the body work that I learned my own body and it changed my surfing and it changed my running and it changed the whole rest of my life and then it changed my mind and and everything shifted over years and years of practice. But that was never my intention.

I feel like breathwork can be so powerful in this way too. And what I love about adding, you know, modern music, modern take, and a lightness or a level of fun, is that it's really disarming. So it does feel really safe. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: This is something that I do when I do corporate, you know, trainings, and events, or if I bring something like astrology to the corporate space, for example. What's so great about this work that I think is even more powerful than walking into a corporate space being like, ‘Hey, I'm doing this leadership team training,’ is that people don't expect it to be effective. 

SP: Right. 

MG: And they think that it's just fun. And when people think that something is just fun, you know, like when we are going to engage in something fun or something playful, we relax. Right?

SP: Our walls come down.

MG: We have to feel safe to have fun. Right? And so when our walls come down, as you just said, we receive benefits so much faster in such a more impactful way. 

SP: Yeah. 

MG: And that's it's almost like doubles the potency of anything you do. So I think this is so, I love this. I love your method. I'm so excited about it.

SP: Aw, thank you. You know, I it's such I'm so glad you shared that story. It's almost the word that just kept popping up into my brain as you were saying that is, like, I don't wanna say the gateway drug, but, like, the gateway. Right? So in my opinion, the people who already going to these deep healing spaces, they're already going to these more spiritual spaces. It's amazing that they feel comfortable to do so. 

I'm quite spiritual. I'm very spiritual in my own private life. And I know how amazing it feels to step into a yoga room and a yoga studio, and I just can smell this incense. And I'm like, oh, yes. Let's chant. Let's do this. And it's great. And they have the benefits. They get the benefits of doing this type of work. 

Now I'm not trying to convert anyone to spirituality with my work. However, it's, it's more so everybody deserves to experience the effects of these techniques and these modalities. And so if having someone feel comfortable enough to come to a class in a neutral space, like I teach classes here in Boston in a very neutral space, not a yoga studio. If someone feels comfortable enough to come and try that, and they hear their favorite music, and it brings, and they enjoy it, and they get a great release from it, and it brings them back, and it opens the door to their personal development healing journey, that's the gateway. I don't even care where it leads to. 

It's just, it's just to provide the opportunity to connect to ourselves in a more accessible way. And there's just so many people who can benefit from it, who just, these spaces haven't really been, they haven't really catered to other niches and other spaces as a people.

MG: I love what you just said that everybody deserves to experience the benefits of these modalities. Oh, this is like I have chills even saying that out loud because I do feel similarly, I'm a super spiritual person in my, in my personal life. And what I have seen and experienced in yoga studios and in other spiritual spaces can sometimes be this like egoic approach, or feeling, experience of, you know, it's almost like I think about so immediately my brain goes to tarot and and the judgment card in tarot or the awakening card in tarot. And how…the example that I always use with this is it's when we first learn about recycling and we're like, oh, recycling is so good. I'm gonna start recycling. And then all of a sudden we start recycling, and then now we're, like, noticing everyone not recycling and we're screeching them. Right? And we're, like, criticizing them.

We're, like, ‘I see you. You're not recycling. Like, what's wrong with you?’ You know? 

[both laugh]

MG: And I feel like, like, spiritual spaces can be that way too where you experience some sort of enlightenment and awakening. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: And then all of a sudden you notice everyone who's not in that same mindset as you. And then there's this ego thing of, like, I'm better than you because I have access to something you don't, which inevitably makes the work so much less accessible. And and so I think this is so beautiful, the statement. It's so wise. It's so powerful of everybody deserves to experience the benefits of this.

SP: Mhmm.

MG: And meeting people where they are is how we help them receive the benefits of this. Okay. So how would you describe the benefits then of breathwork, and what are some kind of outcomes that you've seen with your people?

SP: Yeah. So when when yeah. And just for the purpose of when we at least when yeah. When we say breathwork, it's this one technique. Oh, god. What are the benefits? I'm just gonna rattle off what I hear all the time. 

MG: Perfect. 

SP: All the time, ‘Oh my god, Sabrina. I can't tell you. I haven't slept well in months, and I just got the deep, had the deepest sleep of my life.’ I get that all the time. 

MG: Whew! [both laugh] That one, okay! I just have to pause you and say that one is freaking huge, by the way, because the number of adults that I know that cannot sleep or have some sort of struggle with sleeping, whether it's falling asleep, whether it's staying asleep, whether it's not, like, you know, I don't know, waking up 15 times in this. This is huge. So okay. Keep going.

SP: Rock like rock solid sleep. [both laugh] Yeah. I'm like, oh, yes. Because I know what that's like. Everybody knows what that's like to not sleep. It's, it's a pillar of your health. It impacts everything. So sleep, I would say number 1. 

Feeling lighter in your body, connected to your body. Right after a breathwork session, feeling more open. And it's hard to even put words to how to describe what openness feels like. It's definitely connected to feeling lighter in the body. A lot of people I mean, I've been doing this for a couple years now. A lot of people say they just feel like a weight has been lifted off their oh, for a lot of people, it's on their chest. They feel like a weight has been lifted off their chest. And mind you, these are not people who've been practicing breathwork for months on end. 

Oftentimes and, of course, this is all based on people's unique experiences. I'm not gonna say a ‘100% after your 1st session you’re going to experience this’ but oftentimes, after people's first sessions, because they've never done, especially in our setting, they've never done anything like this before, they're able to release. And so people say, I just feel like I have this weight lifted off my, off my chest. Feeling more grounded. [laughs]

MG: Mhmm.

SP: It's like, clear minded the next day, energized. Usually, the next day after a breathwork session is also really eye opening for people. I would say the breathwork high lasts for about 24 hours, so the next day people feel energized. And the reason they're feeling this way, again, it like, so this type of breathwork, or breathwork in general, I always say ‘breathwork bridges the mind and the body.’ And so…or the heart and mind. Excuse me. 

But this is a somatic practice. So somatic is really anything to do with the body. And so with this technique specifically, like I said, like, one of the most efficient, this technique allows us to unlock the body. And so what we're able to do is really work with the body and clear what the body is holding on to regardless if you're able to experience just by virtue of breathing in this way, we're working with the body and clearing out some of the things in the body, 

Even if you feel like you can't get to a quiet spot in your mind in your 1st or 3rd or 4th session. So some people come to me after class and be like, ‘Oh, I had trouble dropping in. My mind was everywhere.’

And I say, ‘Well, did you breathe the technique?’ And they say, ‘Yeah.’ Okay. Well, that's…you'll you'll eventually get to that place. Like, maybe this is what you needed today is just to breathe the technique, and just have your breath impact your body. Maybe your mind, it wasn't your, your full system wasn't ready to fully dive in today, and that's okay. 

But, yeah, just by virtue of breathing this way, we're able to clear the stuff in the body, leaving us feeling lighter, more connected to our self, grounded and clear.

MG: You are such a sage. I can see, I can see someone coming up to you afterwards and being like, ‘Oh, but my mind didn't quiet and I didn't do this right.’ And you're like, ‘Did you do the technique?’ Yeah. But it's so true.

SP: And even if they didn't, I, I'm a big believer. Like, if you show up and you didn't breathe at all and you just kinda chilled and it was just 45 minutes of your time to just sit on the mat and listen to music, like, that's what you needed. 

MG: What tremendous trust in the process. What tremendous trust in the process. I feel like this is something I learned this through yoga for sure. 

SP: Mmmm. 

MG: And it was through, like, 10 years of yoga. I've been practicing yoga for almost, I I would say, like, 16 years now. And it's the trust that was built in the practice via the embodiment over time that allows you to really release the attachment to the actual doing. Right? 

SP: Yeah.

MG: Because I would say the same thing. If someone comes to my yoga class and sits down in the corner for an hour, great. [laughs] Great. Because you're gonna feel the benefits of the energy in the room. 

SP: Yeah. 

MG: Doing absolutely nothing. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: Great. If that's where you're comfortable, great. If you wanna lay down for all of class, amazing. If you don't wanna do a single thing I've told you to do, amazing.

SP: Yeah.

MG: Whereas earlier in my teaching, that would have probably bothered the shit out of me. Because I would have been like, ‘Oh my god. Why are you not doing what I told you to do? You're not breathing when I'm telling you to breathe. You're not moving your body. You're not gonna get the benefits. This is gonna happen faster for you if you, you just listen.’

SP: Yeah. 

MG: But I feel like there's a wisdom in the release of knowing that if people are showing up… 

SP: Mhmm.

MG: Something's happening. 

SP: Yep. 

MG: And the transformation is there, and it's palpable whether or not it's what we say. Right? 

SP: Yeah. Oh, I would love to take a class from you! You know, it's your job as a facilitator to just hold the space. That's it. It is to just hold the space and create a safe space for people to get to do whatever they need to do in order to get whatever they need to get. 

MG: Mhmm.

SP: And I, so I got trained by Revelation Breathwork, And I will always, always just give them kudos. It was an incredible training and, for breathwork they taught through the lens of spiritual psychology. And I, at that point, I was going through the same program that they had gone through at the University of Santa Monica for spiritual psychology. And so I was just, like, very deep in that space at the time of my certification. 

And so I was in my spiritual psychology program learning all about learning, really, like, at its core, like, personal responsibility. [laughs] And, and at the same time, I was learning breathwork, how to facilitate breathwork from these really, two incredible husband and wife team, who taught through the lens of spiritual psychology. And one of the things that they said, which is, I definitely take with me now, is it's not about you. It's not about you. And when you're there holding the space, it's a sacred space.

Even if I'm showing up to, like, a corporate space, it's still sacred. They were still doing this work and it's still sacred. 

It's not about you. And if someone during the class is fidgeting and they're not focused and whatever it is that they're doing that you don't want, like, that wasn't your intention for them for the session, if you get triggered, that's your opportunity to look at yourself. So why did that make you feel the way you feel? Because the issue, what's the saying? I, I'm gonna have to come back to you. It's like the issue lies within the issue or something like that. But I just never forgot that. And I just hadn't heard anybody, like, other teachers teach through that lens, and that was such a focus for them.

And, yeah, teaching is just a great mirror for, for you and opportunities for healing for sure. But, yeah, it's really, it's a powerful lesson to apply to your life, not just when you're teaching.

MG: Oh, so much yes to that. Also, hold on. So you studied spiritual psychology. I am, I'm like a little jealous right now. This sounds…

SP: You would love it. 

MG: …amazing!

SP: You would love it.

MG: And then especially because I was gonna be like, what was that about? And you're like, [both laugh] it basically teaches you personal responsibility. I'm like, tell me more about this.

SP: You know what? You would love it. I, it was, it was 10 month certification program, but I was in the space for about a year. I think it was 2021. Those years were crazy. I think it was 2021. But it was at the University of Santa Monica, and it was an intensive program. And they just combined the principles. 

Like, it was first level certification. They combine the principles of psychology with principles of spiritual psychology. And so, really, what that means is how can we combine, how can you learn about how the human brain works, about how we operate through the world? But also combine that with or through the, see that through the lens of we are souls having and using a human experience for growth and development. 

So they merge the two, and you learned how to hold space. And you learned through having space be held for you. And we applied all these different, I guess, principles to each time that we held space. So, like, you really had to work through a lot of your own stuff in order to just proceed throughout the certification. So there's a lot of healing available, [laughs] a lot of personal responsibility, but, like, through a very loving, soul centered setting.

MG: Mhmm.

SP: It was, it was incredible. It was incredible. I learned so much.

MG: I…yes. I'm gonna look into this.

SP: Highly recommend.

MG: Okay. Hold on. Let's go back to you for just a second. [both laugh] I'm like, hold on. Hold on. Tell me about your first breathwork experience and, like, what made you choose, you know, doing a breathwork facilitator training? And then what made you choose ultimately, you know, committing yourself and your business to this kind of work? 

And I asked this because I think so often we fall into certain modalities and and, you know, sometimes we do something with them and sometimes we don't. Sometimes they're personal practice and sometimes we feel strongly enough that we share them. And so I wanna hear your story. Like, when was your first experience? When did you know this is what you wanted to offer? 

SP: Yeah. Yeah. So let's see. In 2020, I actually experienced a lot of personal loss along with a lot of other people. I lost my dad and my father-in-law to cancer within one month to the actual date. [laughs] To the date. Very, very weird and interesting. Got married in between [laughs] and lost my job 2 weeks after that.

MG: Whew!

SP: So within a 6 week period, everything crumbled. And, you know, that was peak COVID. And that this was, like, in between March and mid to late April. All of that happened. I was laid off, unemployed due to COVID. And so no one was hiring, and we were all in lockdown. We were all living just at home. And so I really had nothing else to do but just kinda be with my family and heal.

It was, like, perfectly, tragic conditions. I think that's the saying. And so I actually had a spiritual awakening then. And, I mean, that was just spearheaded by me wanting to connect with my dad desperately. So just trying to receive signs, one thing led to another, reconnected to a meditation practice. I'd only dabbled in it before, but reconnected deeply to it. And just, like, eat everything, you know. I know you meditate.

Meditation just brought me elsewhere [laughs] and just kinda put pieces back together. I was broken and it put me back together in a very different way. And then through that meditation journey and the spiritual journey, I don't even remember how I found Revelation Breathwork, which is who I got certified with. But I found them or they, it came to me.

And this was probably like I don't remember the exact time that I did the first session. But regardless, my very first breathwork session with them, I was already just, like, very deep in this work and unraveling, like, the universe of my life and having an existential crisis. 

[both laugh] 

In my very first session, I had a similar experience to you where I was crying. I wasn't even crying sadness. It was just, like, a massive amount of tears, like, neutral tears. And then at the, at, towards the end, I don't even, actually this could have been the beginning. I mean, like, time wasn't a thing. 

[both laugh]

But I felt my dad place his hands on my feet. And I didn't open my eyes. People were like, did you open your eyes? I didn't open my eyes. I just knew, I was just so deep in the breathwork experience. And I, I just felt his presence.

He put his, put my hands, his hands on my legs as I was lying down. You know? And it was just that loving, like, touch. And I knew it was him, and it was, like, realer than my reality. And I got up from that session, and I was like, I need everybody to know about this. 

It was just this a 100%. And, and I continued with my own personal practice. I became obsessed from that point. [laughs] Obsessed. But I just knew immediately. I was like, ‘No. This is what I'm doing, and other people need to hear about it.’ At that point, I was like, this is amazing for grievers because I was deep in my grief journey. And the certification, I, I got an email from them shortly after saying, hey. We're doing a certification. It was like a month and a half later. So the timing was just very divine. It was very perfect. And I, I signed myself up immediately and just did their, all their level certifications that they had. But it was, like, the most profound first session ever.

MG: Oh my goodness.

SP: It was, it was amazing.

MG: Oh, I had, like, tears for a second. I was like, ‘Oh, I'm crying.’

SP: Yeah. It was beautiful.

MG: How powerful. Also, it's just so funny is not the right word, and ironic is not even the right word. Maybe, like, divinely timed. I like what you said about, you know, perfectly tragic as well.

SP: Mhmm.

MG: I do feel that sometimes we're almost stripped down…

SP: Yeah.

MG: …in life and that forces us into the next thing. And it's, you know, it's funny. I was just talking to a friend earlier today who's experiencing something that they really don't wanna be experiencing. And, you know, I was, I was maybe offering a little bit of time thinking back and I'm like, maybe this was like too much tough love, but, you know, I was, I was really asking them, like, ‘Who do you wanna become through this?’ And, like, ‘Where do you wanna focus your thoughts in your mind? Because where you focus expands.’

And if you're just like, this isn't fair, you know, that's where you're gonna end up. But I feel like tragedy is such a ground for growth if we let it. 

SP: Mhmm. 

MG: And then sometimes we're forced into that. You know, I remember there have been moments in my life where I've been completely empty. I think about, you know, a year into starting The Corporate Psychic. Like, I was dating someone, their dad died, my mom was sick, my dog died, my aunt died. And then, like and then my partner who I'm no longer with, but he ended up going to rehab and it was like this crazy swirl of things, but at the very same time, my business started really growing.

And I was like, ‘What is happening? Like, how can this all be? How can I hold this?’ And I think back to similar experiences of just being totally empty and then showing up for my work, you know, showing up for a morning yoga class because no one could take, you know, teach for me. And just something coming out of me that wasn't even me taking over for the class and being like, woah, when we are completely there's like some power to that emptiness. And sometimes we, sometimes we get to experience that, and sometimes we're forced to experience that. 

SP: Mhmm. 

MG: And so I'm so sorry about your experience and just what a powerful opening and gateway for you at the same time.

SP: Ohh, “Sometimes we get to experience that, and sometimes we're forced to.” That just really landed. [both laugh] That just really landed, thank you. Yeah. 

At the beginning of my so I was unemployed and I knew I wanted to incorporate breathwork. But at that point, I was doing a lot of work online in the grief space, and I was just sharing like, I had no intention of starting a business. I was just like, you know what? I'm just gonna share my grief journey and share stories and signs from the other side, and because I, I felt that was helping me heal. So maybe it could help others.

And so when I was really in that space, and that was growing organically too because every, whatever. That's a whole other story. Like, just the grief, like, how other people. people connect through grief. But in, when I was in that space, something that I would share a lot that I just really still deeply feel is I personally don't believe that everything happens for a reason. I think that everything that happens has an opportunity. 

And the word opportunity can be very it can be a little tricky because, let's say your dad dies, like I experienced. Like, you're not gonna be saying to yourself, ‘Okay, where's the opportunity in this?’ You know?

[both laugh]

But there is…what I mean when I say opportunity is mostly like, okay. You're empty. Everything's in shambles. There, there, this is a brand new slate. This is a brand new clean slate. You didn't want it to be clean. You would do anything for it to be dirty again. But this is a clean slate, and you, like, you have you have the pen. You have the marker. You get to choose. So that's the opportunity. 

And I think especially when like, I know what that emptiness feels like. It's hollow. It's really hollow. For me, just anything that helped me reconnect to myself, that I didn't even realize was helping me do so, that's what took me to the next step. That took me to the next step. That took me to the next step. That completely changed my life. 

And I feel like that's just, like, for you, you know, it was yoga. It's yoga. Right? Whatever helps you reconnect to you. That's kind of why I'm just so, like, head on in breathwork because it's the most efficient, powerful, in my opinion, to reconnect you to you. Like, at that point, when you're hollow and everything's fallen, and you have to start fresh, you don't even know what you looks like. But what's one thing that makes you feel, what's one thing that you can do that puts one foot on the ground, and then the next foot on the ground, and then you've got legs, and then you've and then it just all of a sudden grows back. 

I don't know I don't know if that's really making sense. I'm kind of, like, seeing all these different images in my mind right now [laughs] about that. But I guess I'm, that's all. I'm just rambling to say, like, I understand that, and the word empty really hit me.

MG: Yeah.

SP: But, eventually, you find yourself.

MG: Oh my goodness. This is, ah this is so powerful. I love what you said about not necessarily believing that everything happens for a reason. There's a book that I recently read by Kate Bowler and it's called Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies That I've Loved. And I love that title so much because I feel like when we say these things, it can be so flippant and trite. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: And I'm like, oh, it happens for and it's like, you know, there is an element, I do believe that, you know, for you and I to be here in this moment right now exactly where we are, that everything that has happened to us and that we've experienced exactly the way we've experienced it had to happen for us to be there, 

SP: Yeah.

MG: For us to be here. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: And, like, sometimes it's not that deep. You know?

SP: Mhmm.

MG: Like, sometimes people die, and sometimes we lose our jobs, and sometimes we find ourselves in, like, horrible situations and scenarios. And what I really love about what you said is, you know, I, something I say to my clients a lot is that the story never makes sense when we're in it. And yet sometimes when we're in it, like, what we want more than anything is meaning. We're like, ‘I need this to make sense.’ Like, ‘Why is this happening?’ Like, ‘What's going on here?’ 

SP: Yeah. 

MG: And most of the time that's not accessible until way later. And then even then way later, we're still putting our own perspective on it rather than, you know, something else I love to say is that truth is neutral. It just is. Right? Like, kind of like the tears that you were crying in your breathwork session. Like…

SP: Yeah.

MG: …it's neutral. It's not, it's not good, it's not bad. Like, the meaning isn't, you know, to do this or to do that, or right or wrong. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: It's, it's, there's neutrality there. And I think…

SP: Yeah.

MG: …what's so beautiful is that, you know, that connection to self and how that connection to self allows us to take the next right step and then the next right step and then the next right step. I think what you said made perfect sense. This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. So I love that you said that. I'm like, ‘Oh, yeah. Like, the whole picture doesn't matter.’

SP: Yeah. And you know what, too? Connection to self it’ss not connection to self identity self. It's not connection to self of ‘Sabrina and I like ice cream.’ You know? Like, ‘Sabrina entrepreneur.’ I'm Sabrina in connection to a way deeper Self that's way beneath the layers of your humanness and what makes you you as a human. This is like a way deeper connection to self. 

Reconnecting you to you isn't reconnecting you to you and your hobbies and the things that you like and your identity. It's reconnecting you to you, AKA the core of your being, that that rock solid foundation that's there even when you feel empty.

MG: Mhmm. Oh, my goodness. Oh, I love this so much. I was hoping maybe like so I bought my house three years ago and, I live right on the beach. It's like a really cute, beautiful little cabin, but it's very old. And one of my biggest fears is that a hurricane is gonna just destroy it. And because of where it's located, it can't be rebuilt here. And so there are all these little things that I think about. They're always in the back of my head.

But I remember three years ago buying this house, moving here, and going for a run on the beach and feeling like this immense sense of freedom. Like, I started, I remember I was running and I just started laughing, like, hysterically while I was running because I just felt so free and so happy, but I had this, like, instantaneous knowing in my body, fully, that no matter what happens to my house, no matter what happens to me, no matter, you know, who I become, I still have this. Like, I remember that was so clear. I was like, ‘Oh, I still have this.’ And I feel like, that's so powerful with breathwork. And I think yoga, these modalities that connect us back to that.

SP: Mhmm.

MG: Also connect us to so, like, that deep sense and, and also the present moment, you know, something that a lot of people, a lot of spiritual teachers will, you know, teach on and a lot of just in general, people will teach on now. I think it's, it's very trendy to say, like, ‘Be present.’ 

I think these modalities really teach us what that actually means and what that actually feels like. And it gives us a tool for coming back to that space. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: Whereas, like, the moment that I had on the beach running was like a fluke. I mean, it wasn't a fluke. It was just like a moment. Right? Like, it was an uncontrolled moment.

SP: Yeah it was fleeting.

MG: Yeah. Exactly. It was fleeting. 

SP: Yeah. 

MG: And Yeah. I think what's so powerful about these practices is that, like, we can access it anytime. 

SP: Mhmm. Yes. And that's what I love about the breath. And I say this to people. And if I, I don't know. If I had a normal, if I had a business coach, like a traditional business guru, they'd probably be like, don't say this to your clients. You know? What I usually say is, you don't need me. You don't need to come to these classes. You know? I really, really, really the, I believe in the mission of Source Method, which is making breathwork accessible amongst approachable, you know, things like that.

But accessibility, like, again, not everyone can access these spaces. Like, you don't have to travel if you're in the Boston area. Travel 30 minutes in traffic to come to the class. Of course, being in the class is fun, and I'm guiding you, and there's a playlist, all these things, but you can do this in the morning when you wake up. 

MG: Mhmm. 

SP: This is your breath. This is an innate, innate tool. You are born with this tool that you can leverage at any point. And there are so many pathways available for us, opportunities available for us, to learn about how to breathe in different ways with different techniques, umm about how to do breathwork. And you can just do it whenever. You don't need to pay money for it. You don't need to come to a class. You don't, you can just do it in bed. [laughs] Like I know. And that's something that's yeah a traditional guru coach probably be like, you need to make it before. Yeah. Depending on your choices. No. No. No. It's not why we're doing this. That is not why we're doing this.

MG: Man, that's so…okay. This is so powerful. And, and I'm gonna put my business coach hat on for just a moment. 

SP: Yeah. [laughs]

MG: But, but in, in a very nontraditional way because I wouldn't consider myself that at all. But I think what's so cool about this is that you're speaking to a higher, much more empowered version of somebody. And, like, you're literally, you know, giving somebody their power or allowing them to keep their power because, like, we never have someone else's power. Right? But what you're, you're giving permission for them to keep their power. And I think, like, I think that that sells. I think that that sells, by the way. 

I think that that works most especially when it comes from a genuine place and when you have such a mission driven business because you aren't there. You know, it's, it's so funny. I just, I was just thinking about this earlier today. I was like writing a little LinkedIn post to schedule for later, but I heard someone say something similar to: The question is not how much money can I make? The question is what value can I bring to the world? 

And when we think about the value that we bring to the world, we start to think about the services that we can provide, and then we start to think about how we can amplify that value. And it made me really pause and think, you know, to be like, well, what value do I bring to the world…

SP: Yeah.

MG: …and what value do I bring in my work and in my business? And when I think about, you know, team building and bringing, you know, quote, unquote, the woo woo to the workplace, I think about how fun it is. And how undervalued fun is by the way!

SP: Yeah! [laughs]

MG: And then exactly what you and I were talking about earlier, which is that disarming, you know, characteristic of bringing something fun, but that is also, you know, self insights driven and awareness driven and how powerful that can be and then what the results and the outcome of that are. 

And of course, no one needs me to do that. Right? And no one needs you to guide them through breath. I love what you said of this is your breath. Wait. This isn't my breath. This is Sabrina's breath. This is your breath. You can do this. 

But there is so much value in that space that you hold and the outcomes that are possible because of that space that you hold, Which doesn't mean that anyone's dependent on you. Right? Because like that, I think the dependency is, is always false because of what you said. Someone's breath is their breath. 

And I think, you know, I think this sometimes too when I'm doing, like, an Astrology, you know, reading for a corporate team or a Human Design reading for a corporate team. Most of the teams that I walk into and speak to have no idea what Astrology is or Human Design is, which I love! Which means that we don't go very deep, which means that they can literally Google all of the things that I share. Right? [laughs]

Like on the first session, it's like, I'm not bringing anything novel forward. [laughs]

SP: Right.

MG: Like, literally, there's nothing novel or interesting coming out. It's like very basic. No matter how deep I, I do look at the charts, I'm like, like, you can literally Google this and be like, what is a Cancer? [laughs] Like, what, what does that it, does that resonate? 

SP: Right.

MG: But I think the powerful part of what I do is the space that's held of…I'm holding this neutral open space so that you can feel safe to explore something. I think most especially in in group with other people, too. I think to be able to hold that space is really powerful. So I'm really glad that you do the work that you do.

SP: Aww thank you. I'm really glad that you do the work that you do. I really feel that we're just as a, a collective group of human beings on the world. Like, I just feel like and I think maybe you and I have talked about this offline too before that just things are changing. And spaces are changing, and systems are shifting and crumbling. And, what at least in my industry and your industry, which is we, like, overlap within this big umbrella industry that is, I guess, I mean, wellness, spirituality, but it's just people are creating new ways to access these things that have been available for a really, really, really long time. And it's time. 

I mentioned before, maybe by the time someone listens to this a year from now, the statement that most people do like, generally speaking, breathwork is offered in these spaces. Like, that's changing rapidly. And it's an amazing thing. Like, it's an amazing thing that you are bringing this work to corporate spaces and spaces that traditionally wouldn't off…wouldn't even offer these services to their people. 

You know, it's breathwork's been around for 1000 of years. This technique of breathwork is a little bit more of a spin on a more modern technique. However, breathwork itself dates back thousands, thousands of years. It goes back to ancient time. But we're just in a space right now where people, not even just, not me, I'm talking about…so many people are just spinning it in a way that feels good for them because and then it feels good for them, and so they wanna bring it to other people. And that's a positive thing. 

One thing that, you know, can kinda trip me up because I never wanna, that's something that I've just been dealing with on my own, is I never want it's a, it's a personal thing. Like, just people pleasing and not wanting to hurt other people or step on other people's toes. And not everybody likes or appreciates the way that I bring breathwork to society. People, you know, have their own opinions, and that's something I've had to kind of work on with myself is, like, ‘No. I really believe in the way that I'm doing this. I see how it impacts people.’

But that was really hard for me at first, because people wouldn't want me to come to their studios and teach breathwork. This isn't the way breathwork always is done. Why are we breathing to Beyonce?

[both laugh]

Like, you know, but, it's really important that, you know, if people are listening and they have an idea that's a spin on something that's been done for a long time or they have a new pathway that hasn't been done. Like, that's, that's what we need right now. And that's how it is. People are more people are gonna be able to heal. More people are gonna be able to reconnect to themselves. So we, this is literally the time of us to invent new things.

MG: Mhmm.

SP: Or, or put our own spin on things that have been—just recreate. Recreate. Yeah. 

MG: I love…

SP: Such an exciting time! It's such an exciting time.

MG: Oh, man, you're trailblazing! I've you know, I…

SP: You are too! 

MG: Thank you. It's, it's so funny because I, so when I started Essential Teams, which is my corporate facing business, although now a lot of my work comes through just The Corporate Psychic. I did it to, like, water down the work because I was like, let's make this palatable. 

SP: Right.

MG: Let's not use these spiritual terms. 

SP: Right.

MG: Let's use other terms. Let's bring this in. And all of my friends in this industry were like, you are a Trojan horse. And I was like, I'm not a Trojan horse, but that's not what's going on. I'm just bringing work that needs to be brought to the corporate space. What are you talking about? But then I, I went to this, I had this one client experience with this group of people, and it was, it was awful. It was it was awful because I was, like, kind of masking under leadership development. Like, it just it fell flat. You know, there were, there was a lot of ego in the room. There was, it was just, it was a really, it was a wild experience, but I learned so much and I, I left that experience and I was like, I am not watering down this work anymore. 

SP: Mhmm. 

MG: People need to hear the truth, whatever my truth is. I'm not saying this is the truth. Right? But people need to hear what it is that I actually think. And, like, we are not Trojan horsing anymore. 

SP: Yep!

MG: Like, we are not masking this. We are showing up in what it really is. 

SP: Right.

MG: And I think that this is powerful and something that I heard as I was coming into that, you know, decision with myself or pact that I made with myself was that, you know, if everybody likes and understands what you're doing, you're not doing anything that interesting.

SP: Mmmm, yeah. Yes. 

MG: And I have to remind myself this all the time because a lot of people are triggered by the work. [laughs] They're like, what the hell is that? Like, why is that important? 

SP: Yeah.

MG: Tell me more. And I think the same thing, you know, when you think about bringing breathwork in new ways, like, who fucking cares how it's been done forever? And, like, and, like, this is Coach Marie is back here…

SP: Yeah. [laughs]

MG: But, like, but, also, like, you're not gonna make any money teaching the same shit that everybody's been teaching for the last hundreds of thousands of years, right? Like, that's not the service that the world needs right now. 

SP: Mmmm.

MG: And so I think, you know, when we get these ideas and when we're moved by something, you know, an expression wants to come out of us, oftentimes, it's, it's going to be met with open arms because it's what the world needs.

SP: Mhmm.

MG: And we're, you know, so in tune to that. And, and I think the world needs the traditional as well. So… 

SP: Yeah. 

MG: I think it's both. Right? I think it's both. And there's a level of we have to honor what's showing up within ourselves and bring that outward because, I don't know. It's, it's almost like a duty. Right? It's like a, it's like a personal responsibility to ourself, but also to the world. 

So I, I'm, I'm so happy that you're you have worked through and are working through some of these feelings of, like, wanting to maybe make everyone happy and have everyone understand and be on board. But / and I think you're doing something right knowing that there are people that are like, what are you doing? What is why don't we do it that way? That's not how we do it. You know? 

SP: Right. Right. Right. [laughs] Thank you. 

MG: You're stepping on all the right toes. 

[both laugh] 

SP: Oh, I love that. Thank you. [laughs]

MG: So welcome. You're welcome.

SP: Yeah. You know, it's it's it's a process. It's a journey. If it's authentic to you, don't stop.

MG: Oh, I love this. Okay. Let's talk about corporate for just a second. 

SP: Yep. 

MG: So you do work with corporate. And and now I'm, like, really excited because I did not realize how much emphasis and focus you had on accessibility and the neutrality. So almost at first when I was thinking back to my first experience of breathwork and how deep my reaction was, I wonder, you know, how do you create environments that do feel safe for the corporate space? And, yeah, what are some of the outcomes that you've noticed as you've worked with different folks in corporate, and how can we encourage more businesses and teams to bring this work on and bring this work into their organizations?

SP: Yeah. Yeah. So safety is huge for me. You know, I'm trained through a trauma informed lens, nervous system repair. Just like it's really, it's really important for me to, excuse me, create a safe space. That's like our, it's like a moral, it's a pillar of everything that we do. And so it's real it's actually really important for me to create different containers of safety based on where I'm facilitating. 

So in the corporate space, we the the sessions are shorter. It is not a 30 to 35 minute breathwork session where, you know, not everybody feels comfortable in their corporate job. Not everybody feels, wants to go into a breathwork session and feel their dad who had just passed, you know, right next to them, or release repressed emotions right next to their boss or their coworker. And so I definitely take that into consideration. 

However, it, it is important for me to not water down the work, just like you said, as well. And so and this might change, but what's worked so far and what I felt really good about so far is shortening the amount of time that we're actually breathing the technique. 

And so in a corporate space, it's really, I have more of, like, a general session experience for corporations if they don't want something specific based on the team, based on what their team's working on, based on the department. And it's just making sure that, you know, we all start off on the same page, understanding why this work is important for our overall well-being. Has nothing to do with, you know, our, our productivity. It has everything to do with being grounded and centered within ourselves so that we can handle life outside of us, including our jobs. 

So making sure we're on the same page with that. And then the technique and the session itself, like the active breathing with breathwork, is a little bit shorter. But I always say, and the way I describe it is it's long enough for you to experience the felt benefits of breathwork, but short enough for it not to spark a deep healing journey. And so even though it's shorter, people still get up from a corporate session like, ‘Holy crap. What the hell just happened?’

[both laugh]

Like, it was amazing. But it's not long enough for it to bring us into that deep state that you and I experienced our first breathwork session. And the music choices are very intentional and very deliberate. I, I just am such a, like, true believer, in my heart of hearts, in the power of music and the power of lyrics. And so, you know, very strategic with that space. But outside of, like, what I do, my energy when I'm facilitating, that's kinda like the the pillars that keep the space safe enough for anyone, no matter what their level, no matter what they're going through outside of the workspace, can come in and get a taste of the power of breathwork.

MG: I love this. This is truly a wellness benefit. 

SP: Mhmm. Yeah, and, you know, at first I was thinking, oh, like, it can, we can access the unconscious mind. And so I can bring this to marketing teams and I can bring this to CEOs and we can help them access. I'll promote it as accessing the unconscious mind to, to tap into creativity, things like that. And I was finding actually, and I was just finding that that wasn't landing and people weren't hiring me for that. [laughs] 

And, you know, it might just be like a gateway thing where people experience breathwork for the first time for a more general wellness experience. And they're like, okay. I wanna dive deeper, which is totally fine. But I think, you know, I'm a big believer in things happening the way they're supposed to happen. So I, I think that there's, just because you work in a 9-to-5 and you work in the corporate space, doesn't mean that you don't need general healing. Doesn't mean that you don't have thing like, stress within your body that needs to be released. And so, yeah, it's, it's funny. I kind of watered myself down even at the beginning. Maybe we can do this for more strategic purposes. [laughs]

MG: Mhmm. 

SP: But it's just amazing, the, the space that's created through breathwork and how that can impact our lives and all aspects of it–our business, our relationships, our how we manage our finances, how we interact with other people in, in our 9-to-5s. Like, when we create space within our bodies, we create more of a connection between our mind and our bodies. And from that state, we can do so much. 

MG: Yeah. 

SP: More in, in such a, in such a feel good way.

MG: Yeah. Oh, man, this resonates with me so much. I think that, and part of the reason that I love to work with corporate and focus on corporate is because, arguably, there's so many misconceptions about corporate and the people that work in corporate. And I think two things, like 1) the people that work in corporate are just people, just like you and me and everyone else. Right? Like, we're all the same. We all have the same struggles, the same stresses.

And 2) I would almost say that the people who work in corporate need this work more. Right? Similar to you creating spaces that are neutral and accessible for everyone. 

SP: Mhmm. 

MG: Like, everyone deserves to feel and experience this work and to take it wherever they want to take it. Not just people who are comfortable walking into a yoga studio with chanting, right? 

SP: Yeah.

MG: Not just people who are like so broken that they're desperate to try literally anything. And then they end up in a very spiritual space or going, go on a silent meditation retreat or, you know, do something that would be considered extreme for their life. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: Like, these practices don't have to be extreme. And I think the people who really need them the most are people who don't necessarily realize they need them. You know, like, the first time I did breathwork, I just did it because I was trying to eat some mushrooms. You know? 

[both laugh]

SP: Yeah [laughs]

MG: That, that sounds really trite, but, like, that's what was happening. Right? Like and then I was like, ‘Holy shit’ like, [laughs] ‘I needed this so much and I didn't even realize,’ you know. And, and at that point, I've been practicing yoga for, like, a long time and I had been somatic coaching. You know, I'd done so many things relevant to the body. I remember reading “The Body Keeps Score.” So many things! And I was like, I know so much and then I experienced it and I was like, ‘Woah.’

SP: Oh yeah.

MG: You know, I didn't even know I needed that. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: And I think there are so many opportunities for bringing wellness and allowing and like, what I love about this is that it's a practice, so it's allowing people to experience it versus talking about it. I think there's a lot of, you know, something that I teach as well with Essential Teams is, you know, emotional intelligence through the felt experience of empathy and actually practicing empathy and feeling it in the body. 

SP: Yeah.

MG: Because so often we spend a lot of time intellectualizing just like neck up. What is somatics? What is empathy? What does it mean to be empathetic? How does it feel to be empathetic? And like we can talk about it all day.

SP: Yeah.

MG: If we don't experience it in the body… 

SP: Yep.

MG: We're not gonna be empathetic when someone calls in sick because their daughter, you know, is, is also sick or something happened or, you know, their dad just died. Like, we're not gonna be empathetic about that because we don't know what it feels like. 

SP: Mhmm.

MG: And so, I, I just I just, you know, so strongly, like, love the positioning and the belief that everyone deserves this, and bringing wellness to these places. And then yeah. I don't know. I feel like there's just, like you said, there's a gateway. It's a door that opens up and and then it can take us wherever we wanna go.

SP: Yeah. You get to walk through it, and then it's your choice how you wish to proceed, but the door opens.

MG: Yeah. 

SP: So we're just like, I'm just trying to open the door. [laughs] I'm just trying to open the door and that yeah. That body work is so important. It's so important. I love that you just brought that up. It's, it's gold. Well, as soon as, as and I, I work with private clients too. We do a lot of work on feeling emotions, getting our bodies using the breath to allow our bodies to feel safe, to feel emotions that we grew up being taught weren't safe or had experiences where it wasn't safe. And so, like, our well, the work revolves a lot around emotions in a private setting. 

And it is so amazing to see someone experience in the body what they've been conceptualizing for years. It is, it's so and, like, liberation, liberating that that word is the perfect word to describe it. It frees them. To actually get to that place where the mind connects to the body in a, in a super, super deep, profound way. Like, that moment when they feel that, and then they release emotions as a result, like laughter, like pure euphoria, sadness. Like, with just the, the moment that the body makes the connection is probably the like, my favorite part of this work. 

And that's a and that's a here I go. I'm like, I could talk about this a lot about that's what it means to be alive. We're here to feel. And so, you know, to be able to bridge that connection and have the breath be the connection between that, to bridge that connection between the mind and the body, and to piece us back together in that way. It's just my favorite thing ever. 

MG: Mhmm.

SP: My work's so important.

MG: Oh my goodness. Gold. 

SP: [laughs]

MG: Gold. Gold.

SP: Don't get me started. [laughs]

MG: Oh, wow, this is so good.

SP: Wait, you already got me started. [laughs]

MG: No. I, like, I never want this to end. You're so amazing. I could literally talk to you forever.

SP: The same. I feel the same, my friend.

MG: Mhmm. Tell us about your offers. [laughs] How can people work with you? How can people find you? 

SP: Oh my gosh. At this point in time, I'm doing a massive shift [laughs] 

MG: Love it!

SP: In everything. Everything in my life, everything in my business has dramatically changed in a very short period of time. And so one thing that I'm working on as of August 22nd…

MG: Mhmm.

SP: That is gonna be launching this upcoming October, which I'm very, very, very excited about, is an app slash accessible via app or desktop, this online space. The reason I'm calling it an online space is because we don't have a name for it yet. I do have a virtual studio, and we shut it down because it didn't feel right. However, this online space slash app is going to be very different from what we had before.

The goal is to be able to have a, or give people across the world access to a Source Method experience whenever they want, wherever they want, and to make it accessible. And so we're gonna have all these different categories of audios from relationships, to career, to emotional healing, spiritual healing, to navigating global uncertainty, to physical healing. 

I've taken all, like, all these years of work with private clients, with groups, and just seeing what people have experienced in their lives and what they're using breathwork for and what breathwork is really supportive in, and we're putting it into an app. 

And I'm so, so excited!! [laughs] And so that launches, that's gonna be the foundation of our business now in addition to and then I'll do pop ups in Boston and hopefully then eventually expand out. But that foundation of our business is gonna be launching in October. And the name is under construction, but it's gonna be an app slash accessible via desktop as well.

MG: I am so excited! The moment it's out, you have to let me know. 

SP: I will! I will!

MG: And I will tell everyone.

SP: Absolutely.

MG: I will be your first customer. 

SP: Ahh, I can't wait!! [laughs] It's gonna be amazing. It's, I'm so excited!! Yeah. 

MG: Congratulations, Sabrina. This is huge.

SP: Aw. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks. I could talk to you for [laughs] literally all day, all night. We would [laughs] just wouldn't stop talking.

MG: I know. I'm already like, ‘Okay, we have to do another episode.’ Yeah. I'm already like, we have to deepen in this work.

SP: Yeah.

MG: Yeah. Thank you.

SP: Thank you so much. It's the highlight of my week.

MG: Mmmm, me too.

Outro music 🎶

Thank you so much for listening to The Spiritual 9-5 Podcast. I'm your host, Marie Groover, and I am beyond honored that you are here. 

Please follow, save, and rate the show, and if you can, share your favorite episode with a friend. It makes the world of a difference. 

Connect with me on LinkedIn. I would love to hear from you what you think about the show or my work, so don't be shy. And I'm always here to connect and support you or your business through coaching, team building, and leadership development. You can find my work in the show notes.

Until next time, big love.

Outro music fades 🎶

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Shownotes

I wish that everyone could know Sabrina Palazzo.

Sabrina is a wellness entrepreneur, mentor, and the founder of Source Method®. She discovered the healing power of breathwork in 2020 after experiencing profound personal loss, and has since made it her mission to share this work to others.

In this open and candid conversation, we explore what breathwork really is and how powerful and accessible breathwork can be. We also share our philosophies around spirituality, business and the corporate wellness space.

Chapters:

6:00 Breathwork methods + modalities

11:30 What a breathwork session is like

16:45 The effects + benefits of breathwork

26:20 Spiritual psychology

29:30 How Sabrina started practicing breathwork

43:00 Making breathwork more accessible

52:30 “People need to hear the truth”

55:00 Breathwork in corporate spaces

References:

• Sabrina Palazzo: https://www.instagram.com/itssabrinapalazzo/ 

• Source Method Breath: https://www.instagram.com/sourcemethodbreath/ 

• Episode 22: What Really Matters: Redefining Success in Life and Business with Rita Ellen Mirchandani

• Revelation Breathwork: https://www.revelationbreathwork.com/

• Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies That I’ve Loved by Kaye Bowler: https://katebowler.com/books/everything-happens-for-a-reason-and-other-lies-ive-loved/ 

• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693771-the-body-keeps-the-score 

Episode Themes: breathwork, meditation, awareness, balance, woo woo at work, corporate culture, mental health, wellness, physical health, personal development

Connect with Marie:

Marie Groover https://www.mariegroover.com/

The Corporate Psychic https://www.thecorppsychic.com/

Essential Teams https://www.youressentialteam.com/

Connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cmariegroover/

Join the Mailing List https://thecorppsychic.myflodesk.com/e7bmhjidj4

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The production of this episode was in collaboration with Lyndsee Nielson and Softer Sounds Podcast Studio.