Using Breath To Quiet The Mind And Heal Patterns with Liya James

Welcome! For support, reach out at catiaholm.com or call/text 956-249-7930.

In today's episode, we explore how conscious breathing calms the nervous system, opens access to the luminous mind, and widens the space between trigger and response. Liya James shares her journey from high‑achieving designer to breathwork guide, with practical ways to practice when the stakes are low.

• breath as a direct line to safety and presence
• luminous mind explained through Zen and IFS
• shifting from doing for worth to acting from worth
• training the gap between stimulus and response
• simple breath patterns that quiet rumination
• how online sessions and creative integration work
• using language to ask for time and space in conflict
• motherhood, lineage and breaking inherited patterns
• resources to continue: Liya’s site and Cat’s support

Show Guest:

Liya James is a certified breathwork facilitator, Zen practitioner, best-selling author, and artist. As the founder of Luminous Breathwork, she guides people through transformational journeys that blend conscious breath, creative expression, and contemplative practice—opening pathways for healing, clarity, and inner freedom.

After two decades leading global design and innovation teams, Liya turned her focus inward and discovered that creativity, when rooted in awareness, can be a profound source of transformation and insight. An immigrant, mother, and lifelong seeker, she brings presence, artistry, and compassion to her work—helping others untangle inherited patterns through trauma-informed, lineage-sensitive somatic practices.

You can connect with her at: https://www.luminousbreathwork.com/

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Show Purpose
• 1:21 Why Breath Is A Bridge Home
• 3:33 Meet Leah James And Her Path
• 6:14 Career Peak To Inner Shift
• 10:47 Luminous Mind Explained
• 14:38 Breathwork And The Brain
• 18:32 Practicing When Stakes Are Low
• 22:33 Creating Space Before Reaction
• 26:15 What A Session Looks Like
• 30:10 Integration And Daily Life
• 34:10 Where To Find Leah And Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Couch Time with Cats, your safe place for real conversation and a gentle check-in. KWVH presents Couch Time with Cats. Hi friends, and welcome to Couch Time with Cat, mental wellness with a friendly voice. I'm Cat, therapist, bestselling author, TEDx speaker, and endurance athlete. But most of all, I'm a wife, mama, and someone who deeply believes that people are good and healing is possible. Here in the hill country of Wimberley, Texas, I've built my life and practice around one purpose to make mental wellness feel accessible, compassionate, and real. This show is for those moments when life feels heavy, when you're craving clarity, or when you just need to hear. You're not alone. Each week we'll explore the terrain of mental wellness through stories, reflections, research, and tools you can bring into everyday life. Think of it as a conversation between friends, rooted in science, guided by heart, and grounded in the belief that healing does not have to feel clinical. It can feel like sitting on a couch with someone who gets it. So whether you're driving, walking, cooking, or simply catching your breath, you're welcome here. This is your space to feel seen, supported, and reminded of your own strength. I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in. When was the last time you really took a breath? Not the shallow kind we do while scrolling or rushing, but the kind that finds its way all the way down, past the mind, past the armor, into the body's quiet knowing. Today we're exploring how our breath can become a bridge back to the self that's always been there. The luminous one beneath the noise. You're listening to Couch Time with Cat. Hi, I'm Cat, and today we're talking about luminous breath work, our roots and commitments. Years ago, a friend told me, I feel like I've been holding my breath for decades. And as she exhaled, she let out some tears. And that moment changed something for me. Because the breath is so primitive, sometimes we don't pay any attention to it at all. But life layers on agendas and schedules and expectations, and all of a sudden we're living in this shallow breath. We're gripping, we're guarding, we're sipping for air, and we're not actually expanding. We're not actually releasing. The work of returning to our breath isn't about self-improvement, it's about remembering who we are. And that's exactly what today's guest, Leah James, has devoted her life to teaching. Modern research agrees our breath is a direct line to our nervous system. When we breathe slowly and intentionally, the vagus nerve signals safety. Our cortisol drops and our mind quiets. Studies show conscious breathing can reduce anxiety, improve focus, even change our heart rate variability. For my athletes out there, you know what's up. Our body's measure of resilience. But what I love most is how breathing spans traditions and time. In so many ways, breathing has always been sacred. You're listening to Couch Time with Cat. I'm Cat, and we're exploring luminous breath work with Leah James. And if you have any questions you'd like to ask anonymously, you can always call or text me at 956-249-7930, and I'll answer it right here on the show. Now for our guest. My guest today is Leah James, a certified breath work facilitator, Zen practitioner, best-selling author, and artist. Listen, Ron, I can just tell you like the light is beaming from her face. She is just so bright. She's the founder of Luminous Breath Work, guiding people through transformational journeys that blend conscious breath, creative expression, and contemplative practice. After two decades leading global design and innovation teams, Leah turned inward and discovered that creativity, when rooted in awareness, can be a profound source of healing. An immigrant mother and lifelong seeker, she brings presence, artistry, and deep compassion to her work, helping others untangle inherited patterns through a trauma-informed, lineage-sensitive, somatic practice. Hi, Leah!

Speaker: 5:08

Hi, Cat. It's good to see you here. What a beautiful intro.

Speaker 1: 5:13

I'm so glad you're here.

Speaker: 5:16

I feel calm. I'm like dropping into my heart right now.

Speaker 1: 5:19

Oh, I'm so glad you're starting. I'm so glad. I know that this is going to be a real treat for me, for the listener. So I just I'm really grateful for your presence and for you being here.

unknown: 5:32

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 5:33

Let's start with the roots. How did luminous breath work emerge?

Speaker: 5:40

Ooh, I have to like not go back too much on this, but um, you know, I've been a longtime uh Chan student, and in the West they call it Zen. Um and so I've been trying to meditate. I've had this interesting, evolving relationship with meditation, right? And at the same time, uh what's interesting is I came, I people can't see me, so I'll say I'm Chinese, um, of that heritage. I moved to the US when I was young and uh really sort of abandoned my culture in order to fit into this one, you know. I was really committed to it, to the point where I'm like, my Chinese is terrible now because I'm very American. No word. I dream in English, you know. It's so funny. But but I became a mother about um seven years ago. She's seven. And at that point was when I really started getting interested in my heritage. And also at the same time, um, wanting to heal some patterns that I knew would be just some things that I don't want to pass down to my daughter, right? Um a fixer, I'm a helper, I'm a pleaser. I mean, just to name a few.

Speaker 1: 7:03

We all have them. We we all have them. You're in good company.

Speaker: 7:07

Yes, yes. So many beautiful parts that I, you know, didn't know how to work with. Um and uh and I I just had this inkling, you know, there's some work I need to do. And I had been in therapy for decades by then, um, because I came from a pretty uh really interesting and um family dynamic that created some trauma, right, in my childhood. And I I knew I needed to support for that. Um, I was in therapy when it was not normal to be in therapy, but um lucky, lucky for me, I embraced it really early and it really helped for a long time. But um, but as I became a mother, it was almost like there's this other layer of understanding of the self that um that I needed more other ways of of getting to. And spirituality seemed calling me. So I went for an Eastern tradition because that's my my heritage. So, but it was not easy, you know. I uh learned a lot in my mind, but I could never drop further, right? And you're a therapist, so you understand, you probably see a lot of people um working with this, right? Because our society, modern work, requires us to rely so much on our head brain. And no one taught me that I had a heart brain and I had a gut brain, and I have a whole nervous system that actually, when something happens that requires my attention and tending to, that it starts below the head. The signals and the information and the really useful data start there. And it then it, I mean, it travels in split milliseconds, right? Um, but knowing and being able to work with what's down there, it's so, so valuable and important. And I learned that through my Zen training, but it was really hard. Um, and my husband, to be honest, you know him, so he has a whole spiritual practice, but we um were we're exploring these things kind of on our own. And I'm like, how do we how do we pass this down and how do we kind of work together as we bring up a child? So motherhood really was what brought me to inquiring more about how to be well and how to um not just repair our lineage but embrace it in a different way so it can be passed on.

Speaker 1: 9:58

Um that is so beautiful, Leah.

Speaker: 10:00

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 10:01

I that's just so gorgeous, so elegantly explained, and I too have experienced many similar things. You know, I can see parts of my story in your story, and I'm sure that the listener can as well, because motherhood opens us up in ways that um well I I'll speak for myself, we're completely unexpected. I was like, whoa, what is that and you're right, we we stay cerebral. Cerebral is safe for a lot of us. There's less risk involved, there's less pain. If we can um get high SAT scores and then be worthy, you know, let's check that box. It's that's an easier, that's an easier trail usually, than uncovering wounds and learning about our heritage and lineage and how to then integrate it and then like you were saying with your husband with Scott to then create a family that holds those values sacred and in a healthy way. And so it sounds like motherhood or rather luminous breath work emerged. It's like a few dominoes down from motherhood. It sounds like it was motherhood, and then you went on this journey, and now luminous breath work is here.

Speaker: 11:39

Yeah, and it's really having, you know, at the time when I had my daughter, I was at the height of my career. There was actually very few places to go at that point, right? But I was not happy.

Speaker 1: 11:53

Can you describe what the height of your career is? Like give us a little insight. What did that look like?

Speaker: 11:58

I was um in the tech world, and I had studied this um thing that I did, which was called user experience. We designed digital products, people that did what I did. And I have a master's degree in it, I have two bachelor's degrees in it, so I was definitely a high-functioning and over-functioning individual, you know, and really rely on work because it got me out of poverty for fulfillment and meaning. So I I threw my entire self into it for 20 years, and I was promoted to basically be like the highest position you can have when I was 28 as a principal designer. And then I, for the next 10 years after that, I went on to kind of run a business. I moved to Austin, opened a design studio, headed it up. Um, I was running it, you know. And so um at that point, it was very successful and it got acquired uh by a uh like a Fortune 100 company, and I had the opportunity to become, you know, to join that, right? So I can keep going. I could keep going like that, make more money.

Speaker 1: 13:10

You were a high achieving woman. You had a fancy.

Speaker: 13:13

And I was a workaholic, everybody wanted me on their team.

Speaker 1: 13:17

You were sought after.

Speaker: 13:18

Yeah, because you you if there's a problem to solve, Leah's gonna solve it. She's not gonna sleep until it's done, right? And that's really hard to find if you know about hiring and managing people. That kind of person is hard to find. But is it healthy for me? No. Was it uh good for my relationship? No. Was I really fulfilled inside? No. And so I really live that story that you hear a lot of people say. Like, I thought there was a destination. Like I thought if I just kept working harder and keep pushing myself on the journey, there will be a time when I can really like have all the things and enjoy it all, right? And I never got that when I got there. So I have that pretty actually, you know, my my personal story is really unique and all of those details are really unique, but um, but I think a lot of people can identify with that journey and destination story.

Speaker 1: 14:17

Yes, most definitely. I think in my practice, I say, are you doing something for worth or you or are you doing it from a sense of worth? Because we can do the same exact thing, but depending on the inception point inside of us, it's gonna have a different energy to it, it's gonna have a different vibe. I can go to the gym, and if I'm doing it from a sense of worth, I'm gonna have fun, I'm gonna enjoy, I'm gonna be creative. If I'm chasing a certain body or weight or trying to punish myself, if I'm chasing worth, then the energy around that experience is completely different. So you can be a high achiever, but if you're doing it for worth, that's gonna have a type of emptiness, a type of shallowness, not in a judgmental way, but it's just not going to soak into you.

Speaker: 15:17

That's right. And and I used to be the kind of person that's like, oh, they're talking about the journey and having joy, you know, and and you know, but when I become a mother, when I became a mother was when I was like, I want that for my daughter, you know, it was like I didn't feel I was deserving of that, but I felt she needed to like she deserved it, right? Oh, and that really woke me up.

Speaker 1: 15:41

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I love how you said that. So it was really seeing it was really your desire for your daughter that for her to have this life experience that then maybe started to kind of creep up in you, like, well, should I? Is that okay if I have this experience too?

Speaker: 16:06

Yeah, yeah. And and that's so that's like going back to breath work. That's when I started to ask the harder questions, the questions I didn't need to ask just for healing, uh, a major wound that I I knew about, you know, like that I was working on in my therapist's office, like with my financial trauma and my trauma with my parenting and all of that. It was beyond that at that point. It was like, oh, all the things I want for my daughter, I don't have, so I don't know how to teach her or model it for her, right? So then I started to experiment with other things that are higher consciousness, that are around spirituality and different things like that. And man, we went experimenting for a long time, my husband and I. And um, what I have found was always returning to this idea. The the one thing that really stuck for me was in in the Zen tradition, we learn about this thing called the luminous mind. And in meditation, I've I've dropped into it. I've been able to do that after like sometimes like meditating for like three hours over days in a retreat or you know, really dedication basically. And but that space is, Cat, I have to say, it's like one of these most beautiful spaces that's in you. And we experience it sometimes, like when we are full of compassion for somebody, when we are just our most loving, beautiful self, when we feel like we're making decision, decision that is like it from our higher self, higher consciousness. When we feel those moments, that means we've been touching into this inner resource that we all have, that we're all born with.

Speaker 1: 17:54

I see you saying luminous mind, and I see your hand around your belly. Is that because it's deep within us? Is that because it's because in us okay, tell me and we drop into it. We drop it.

Speaker: 18:09

It's this experience of like really dropping in. And the reason the relationship between the luminous mind and breath work is this. The luminous mind is always there, and my Zen teachers describe it almost like it's the sun. Like if you're in a world had weather, the luminous mind is the sun, and all of your reactivity is the clouds. All of your nervous system reactions and you know conditioning and limiting thoughts are the clouds. And throughout the day, the clouds are going by, right? So it's hard for us to see the sun. Also, no one taught us that it's there. No one taught us we have an inner world. Inside of this inner world, there's this luminous self. Um then there's the clouds. Right. Now, mystics from every tradition know about this, and they have different ways of accessing it. Meditation is one you probably have heard Christian mystics going in to retreat, like for years alone, right? And it's because when we can quiet the thinking mind, we get access to the luminous mind. Dick Schwartz, you might know him, he's a modern, very famous psychologist.

Speaker 1: 19:29

You and I are on the same page. I was just about to ask you this question.

Speaker: 19:34

Oh my goodness. Okay, take it away, Leah. He spent a lot of time with Zen teachers, I know that. And um, he calls it the self capital S, capital S self. And the reason this is so important is his model is the first psychological clinical model we've ever seen that actually meets the mystics and the teachers from every ancient tradition have been describing to people. Now he can get our therapist trained in a clinical setting to help people reach the self, the cloud, and the sun. He has a model of how to interact with that, how to work with that. Now, my job in a breath work session, okay, so I collaborate with therapists. You you might see references, um, recommendations to some that know IFS on my website, because I have um a scope of work that does not, you know, touch into what the therapists do, but my work helps people primarily. My main commitment is when you're in a breath work session with me, you will be touching into your luminous self. The the part of you that um Christian mystics have called the inner light, the Christ consciousness. Uh, Eastern traditions have many, many names for this, Sufis have names for this. Now Dick Short calls it the self. So my breath work uses your natural, your body's natural resource, the breath and mechanism when we take in a lot of oxygen to calm the thinking mind. So when it's calmed and it feels safe, and your nervous system is in rest and digest mode because you're laying down, you're taking in lots of breath and oxygen. And I teach people this conscious circular breathing that they can do so there's no gaps between their breaths, which I don't recommend for daily life. I don't recommend it when you're driving, you know, because it does actually um lower the activity in your thinking mind, which you know, a lot of other activities we need that, okay? Right. Um, and a network called the default mode network. And that is a network that helps us when we're not thinking, we are in that network. That network is helping us develop our sense of self, who we are. But it also sometimes gets stuck in these loops, thinking loops. So then we start to ruminate and it causes to stress out and be anxious, right? So we're calming both of those mechanisms in order for it to be easier to access this luminess mind.

Speaker 1: 22:29

Wow.

Speaker: 22:30

And people can do that in 15 minutes, not like hundreds of hours or years of meditation.

Speaker 1: 22:36

You're like, just give me five years.

Speaker: 22:39

So I I say, like, when I do breath work, I feel like I'm cheating on my meditation, you know?

Speaker 1: 22:45

Wow. Listeners, you're listening to Couch Time with Cat. I'm Cat, and today we're talking with Leah James, and she is teaching us about luminous breath work. And if you'd like to share an anonymous question or reflection, you can text or call 956-249-7930. So, Leah, you were just talking about, okay, let's not do this while we're driving, but let's talk about something day-to-day. How can breath work help when we're in reactivity? Maybe we're in a tough conversation, parenting moment, or we just feel like life's coming at us too fast.

Speaker: 23:23

Okay. So, in a session, I'm teaching you how to slow down, right? Slow down, and you're gonna notice a lot of things like thoughts and emotions, and I guide people through how to meet those in a gentle, compassionate way. Now, so that what's really good about that is we're practicing when the stakes are zero. In a breath work session, there are no stakes. So that when we go out into our regular world, it's anchored somatically in our bodies how to do that, how to signal to our nervous system we're okay.

Speaker 1: 23:55

Okay, okay, okay, hold on. Let's stop for one second. Because that is such a good, oh my God, that's gold. Okay, reiterate, please. You teach them when the stakes are low, zero. Oh, oh my gosh. Okay, so what you're doing.

Speaker: 24:16

Nothing that can happen with a breath of session.

Speaker 1: 24:19

To practice when the stakes are low, so that when there's a fire in the building, we know what to do.

Speaker: 24:29

We know exactly what to do. We're gonna do it calmly, right? So this is something you already know, but I'm gonna talk to the listeners about it. So every single day things are happening in our lives. Like I'm having a conversation with my husband, and man, it's going well, and then bam, the next minute it's escalated, right? Things are happening that are so unexpected all the time. Oh, uh, something's happening at work. I'm in a meeting, things are going well, bam, it's not well. It's not going well anymore. It's not, you know, things are turning on us all the time. And the external world's doing the same thing. Economy, you know, so we're getting fired at constantly, right? So our nervous systems can either take that or we can coach it to be resilient. And this is how we coach it. So between a stimulus, so I'll call that activated conversation, that escalation, a stimulus. There's a stimulus and then there's a reaction. Whenever our nervous systems get triggered, it reacts, it goes into fireflight mode so fast. And once we're there, we're not able to calmly think about our reaction anymore. We're gonna say things we don't mean, we're gonna do things we regret, we're gonna make decisions we don't feel like are aligned with our true selves, right? So there's this space there. And if you're not practicing, the space is real small. It's like split millisecond. It's literally, you can't even know there's a space. However, we can expand that space. So in a breath work session, we learn how to expand that space. And we teach our somatically our nervous systems that that space exists and how to know we have space. So, example, we're doing breathing in a breath work session, right? And when you do these long deep breaths, I have a specific pattern I teach people, but even just in any breath work session you go to, you're gonna learn how to elongate that breath. You're gonna learn how to exhale slower than you normally do. What that's signaling to your nervous system is we're okay and it will calm down. So if I can teach people just noticing the stimulus, that the stimulus is something that you can notice in your body, not in your head, right? So, like when I first started doing breath work, and people would say, like, oh, I had that sensation, and I was talking to that sensation, and I got so much wisdom from that, and I was like, what are you talking about? I don't have sensations, you know? And I was telling this woman that, and she said, honey, the only way for you not to have sensations is if you're dead. That's how disembodied I was, right? So the first thing I want people to do is get that tiny bit of space between the stimulus and the reaction by just having awareness and noticing when my stomach is heating up, that means I'm no longer, my nervous system is no longer safe. I need to tend to it before I do anything else. That space is so enormous and powerful, life-changing, we don't give it enough credit. That's already a huge, powerful space.

Speaker 1: 27:48

As you said, we need to tend to it. I'm thinking that sounds like personal responsibility. Oh, yeah. What do you think about? Because often when we have that fire in the belly or the tightness in the chest, the reason we don't feel the space is because we want to just hot potato the pain away. Yeah. Whether it's we want to yell at somebody else, blame somebody else, purchase something, eat something, drink something. We want to keep going into action to then push the pain along so we don't actually feel it. However, we don't actually absolve ourselves of the pain. We're just pushing it along. Would you would you agree? Or what's your perception? Absolutely. Okay.

Speaker: 28:39

And that that's a that's a head understanding thing, right? Like we need to understand that first conceptually. Um, and we need to know that parts of us that want that protect us from that pain and from the the fallout. They're well-meaning. And also, they don't have the resource to give us that space. It is the luminous self, the luminous mind that has the resource. It is infinitely loving, compassionate, patient. Dick has like eight C's and five P's, right, to describe this energy. The bigger that container is that we practice and grow and connect to in a breath work session in real life, we can literally take a deep breath. So that's that's me tending to my nervous system. I'm signaling to it. Oh, it now knows she's in control. I have this luminous self, this deeper resource. All your parts are getting it. The signal of she is, we have a leader here. We have the grandmother mind here, you know, whatever people refer to it as. We can trust that. That's gonna take care of us.

Speaker 1: 29:55

Sorry for interrupting. I love that you said leader and also. I need the listener to know that I look like a mime over here. As Leah is talking, I'm like, yeah, I'm like signaling with my hands and trying not to interrupt her. But my body is agreeing. My body is like, yes, yes, yes. And my face is agreeing because these are such powerful concepts. And if we can take the time and cultivate these skills in our lives, it will change our lives.

Speaker: 30:30

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 30:32

What does a breath work class or session with you look like? Is it five minutes, ten minutes, 15 minutes? Do I come in pajamas? Do I do it on Zoom? Do I do it on the lawn? What is this?

Speaker: 30:44

Yeah. So I do I have in-person and online. So I'll talk about the online because that's I love that. And I know right now everybody wants to gather in person, but it's hard. Like I'm a mom. And a lot of times it's like I can't do things just because I can't physically get to it, you know? Um, so because I have that sensitivity, I make a lot of my stuff available online and I'm also conscious of time. So my shortest sessions are one hour, and I do a little bit of teaching at the beginning, like what we're doing here, helping people understand the physics and the mechanics of things so they can be totally in power. And then in my one-hour sessions, people get about a 15-minute, 20-minute guided meditation and then breathing experience where they're like meeting just whatever is there. So what they're getting trained to do in those kind of really quick sessions is just touching into what we're talking about, being with what's there, dropping in to the luminous mind, experiencing what that look feels like, you know, um, and also meeting your thoughts, your emotions, whatever is coming up when you have a 15-minute quiet space that's accompanied by evocative music that's meant to take you on a journey to experience these things. Um, and then I would have a either some kind of creative um expression exercise so that they can take whatever they experience and put it on paper and make it tangible in this real world.

unknown: 32:24

Uh huh.

Speaker: 32:25

So it's not just this like. Also, you're a little bit like uh because your thinking mind and your your different, you know, regular parts of our thinking brain we rely on is not fully online in that session, in that 15 minutes. I bring people back slowly through creativity. And then you kind of make marks, whether it's journaling or just making marks. So there's a memory of that experience. So we're using somatic modalities and we're using creative modalities in just a short one-hour session. Now I have bigger, longer retreats, um, and that's where people really kind of go all places, and I'm there with them, so it's very safe. I also even do body work when I'm there because so much of what's stuck in our body is energy. So it feels really good to just let that energy out. Like the first time I did breath work, I had so much stored energy for like 30 plus years that the energy was coming out of my fingertips and it felt like electricity. Like I felt it physically.

unknown: 33:37

Wow.

Speaker: 33:38

And I went around all day and it kept coming out. And I I like was afraid to wash my hand. I'm so glad my husband was there because I was able to have someone that I love and trust like go, I'm here with you. Your experience is not weird. I'm holding you, you know. And so having a facilitator when you're releasing allows you to say, I feel safe. This person knows what they're doing, and I'm gonna be compassionately held and not judged, and I can just let it flow.

unknown: 34:10

Wow.

Speaker: 34:10

It's the qi. You know, it's your life force that's stuck and coming out. Um, and that opened up everything for me. So it could be physical and it could also be mental and psychological or just emotional. Um, but in 15 minutes, a lot can happen.

Speaker 1: 34:30

I bet. Sounds so powerful. I wanna go, I wanna do it. Sounds fun sounds like I could I could get to know myself in a different way.

Speaker: 34:41

Yeah, that's what I like about, you know, I do meditation, I do therapy, I do like I do lots of different things, and it's different ways of, you know.

Speaker 1: 34:50

Encountering oneself.

Speaker: 34:52

Exactly, exactly. And flourishing ways too.

Speaker 1: 34:56

You often say that the work doesn't end when the session ends, that the real practices in daily life. How do we stay connected to that luminous mind when the world feels loud?

Speaker: 35:09

Um taking time. I think, you know, so in that reactivity I was talking about, if you're training your nervous system that oh, the breath, a deep breath means I'm okay, then you can keep working with that space and making it bigger. Because when your luminous mind is activated and you're dropping into it and you're able to connect to it, you do need time. Okay, like so. For example, if I tell my husband, I take a deep breath and I say, you know what? I'm a I feel activated, I know my body's activated, I need some time. Can I have some space? Oh my God, now instead of reacting in the moment, I'm gonna have five minutes, ten minutes, an hour, maybe days. And if it's a big decision, I could have days and weeks and months, right? Now I have time. I'm gonna go to a breath work section, I'm gonna contact my coach, my therapist. I can have so much more resources when I can increase that space. But it all starts with asking, saying, I notice I'm not in my self energy or my self-space. I need to get into that. And then I'm gonna make this decision, and then I'm gonna formulate my what I'm gonna respond to you, how I'm gonna respond to you. Right? And then when you get into that space, you bring, you're able to then be inhabit at that space when you go back to your husband and have that conversation. Now I'm relating to him from a compassionate place, from that will change the quality of that interaction.

Speaker 1: 36:45

Yes, most definitely. Wow. Leah, thank you so much. Wow, bringing your grounded presence and your wisdom and your just expanding our our knowledge, our experience, our um our possibilities. Thank you for that. Before we close, where can listeners find you if they want to work with you?

Speaker: 37:11

Um, they can find me on my website at www.luminousbreathwork.com.

Speaker 1: 37:17

Lovely. Anywhere else they can connect with you?

Speaker: 37:20

That's the main place right now.

Speaker 1: 37:22

Okay. I love it. I love it. Streamlined, simple, modern. Yes. I love it. Leah, thank you so much. Wow, what a gift. What a gift you were today. I know that this conversation is gonna help so many people because we have access to the breath. And when these conversations are shared with just in love and compassion and no judgment, and just in an offering, you know, with the energetic intention of offering, I think that so many people are able to absorb it and be more curious about it. And I think that's what you did here today. So thank you so much.

Speaker: 38:05

Thank you for creating the space. Yes, it's lovely here. Oh I want to stay here.

Speaker 1: 38:11

I'm so glad. Friends, I hope today's conversation invites you to soften into your own light and deepen your breath and really to inhabit the part of you that's been waiting patiently beneath the noise. Remember, your breath is your anchor and it's always there whispering, come home. Until next week, take good care of yourselves, friends. I'll see you soon. Thank you for spending this time with me. If something from today's conversation resonated, or if you're in a season where support would help, visit me at gattyahollam.com. That's c A T I A H O L M.com. You can also leave an anonymous question for the show by calling or texting 956-249-7930. I'd love to hear what's on your heart. If Couch Time with Cat has been meaningful to you, it would mean so much if you'd subscribe, rate, and leave a review. It helps others find us and it grows this community of care. And if you know someone who needs a little light right now, send them this episode. Remind them they're not alone. Until next time, be gentle with yourself. Keep showing up and know I'm right here with you.