You already know the feeling.
You’ve organized your calendar, blocked off time for all the things, and optimized every minute. You’ve read the books, listened to the productivity podcasts, and maybe even tried a mindfulness app or two.
It’s like those first few seconds when your feet left the ground when you were learning to ride a bike. And then you fell over.
Maybe a joyous parent scooped you up.
Maybe you needed a Band-Aid for your knee.
But the training wheels did not go back on. And your worst fear had happened. You fell down and you got back up.
Looking back, I realize that in that moment, it wasn't that I learned how to ride my bike. I learned how to fall, recover, and get back on my bike. I learned how to reset. I learned that the unspoken agreement of riding a bike was agreeing that on occasion I was going to fall down, and I was okay with taking that risk because those few seconds I had experienced of “really” riding. Wow. I wanted more of that. The risk and fear were so worth the joy.
Most of us are not mounting a bike every morning, though you may ride your bike to work. (Please send me a picture.)
If you are riding your bike in traffic, you’re likely to be wearing a helmet, and maybe even some knee or elbow pads. You’ve learned to avoid riding too close to the trolley tracks in the city and watch out to make sure you don’t get doored if someone unexpectedly opens their car door in your path. You know the tricky intersections and which bike lanes require more cheerful navigation with oncoming cars.
You’ve developed that skill. You don’t expect there to be no traffic, kind drivers (though there are many), or no road construction. When I used to ride across the city in graduate school and then to a yoga class in the early am, the ride felt like a real-life video game, working my way around SEPTA buses and the many trash trucks.
I was attuned in a unique way, and I developed that skill to ride there and back, in one piece, uninjured, most of the time. I did fall a few times, and with each experience, I learned new skills to be a more aware rider.
There is much similarity with life. We don’t get better without the challenges of the ride. And developing the skills to be more aware.
If you're like me, you have developed so many of the required life skills. And they have worked brilliantly. Then things change. And these days things are changing faster than ever.
Whether you are using AI or not, the world is in a whitewater rapids period of change.
We have so much more information and so many more distractions. Sometimes my mind feels like a tornado of tasks.
When we’re stuck in overfunctioning mode—checking boxes, performing well, holding it all together—we lose touch with the part of us that can feel. The part that knows when something’s off. The part that whispers, “Hey… maybe this pace isn’t sustainable.”
Every September, I used to ride the wave of that back-to-school energy. I’d get excited about the possibility of finally getting it together and fitting it all in.
But what I’ve learned (again and again) is this: it's not about finding a better way to fit more in.
It’s about realizing it won’t all fit. It’s about speaking up to admit we are here to be human, not just to do human.
You and I have a lot to offer the world, our work, and the people we lead and love.
I’ve navigated a few cycles of burnout, and I've realized one thing. When things speed up, and I’m beginning to desperately "manage" my time, it becomes increasingly clear: it’s not time that needs managing. It’s my state of mind.
What we’re really up against isn’t just an over-packed schedule; it’s an over-packed nervous system.
Burnout is often a result of an overpacked schedule and too much to do. And yes, the demands and activities filling the block on your calendar are real. But under the surface, what’s really happening is that your nervous system is stuck in a loop: hyper-alert, reactive, and constantly bracing for what’s next. These are the conditions for the perfect storm or burnout.
Having mental clarity is possible, but not in the stormy ocean of the physiology of a disregulated nervous system. To make your way to a mindset switch, you first need the skill to know, work with, and, most importantly, reset your nervous system.
In a world that keeps moving faster, learning how to reset your nervous system isn’t a luxury.
It’s a leadership skill.
It’s a parenting skill.
It’s a survival skill.
In other words, it’s a mental health skill.
The good news? You don’t need a retreat in the mountains or a six-month sabbatical to interrupt the stress cycle.
You’re equipped with a built-in reset button: your breath.
This isn’t about taking a few deep breaths, hoping for the best, and pushing down an important feeling. That’s just another way to flatten out what life offers and miss opportunities to grow.
It is about learning how to use your breath to recognize and shift your state of mind in the moments that matter most, so you can navigate more skillfully—before the meeting, after the email, in the midst of overwhelm.
Because when your nervous system settles, your perspective expands.
When your body calms, your clarity returns.
And from that place? You don’t just react on autopilot; you respond with presence and attunement.
We offer three distinct pathways into breathwork: Tools, Practices, and Journeys. Each one supports a different aspect of being human—meeting you where you are and helping you reconnect with what matters most. Our program incorporates these breathwork and many other Positive Psychology-based tools and strategies so you can use them during your day as a lawyer, teacher, accountant, or parent.
If you’re tired of trying to outthink your way through the white waters of work and stress, and you’re ready to build the kind of mental health skills that actually change how you live and lead, come check out how breathwork might help at our monthly Breathwork Hour or reach out to me to get a complimentary invitation to one of our upcoming Wholebeing Workshops that clients rave about.