Sara Raymond is a trained hypnotherapist, pilates, yoga, and meditation teacher. As Founder of The Mindful Movement, she has become an oasis for those looking to tap into their inner calm, develop a positive mindset and heal from the stress that is blocking fulfillment. Sara has discovered that knowing what you want isn't enough and she has committed her life to help others break free from the inner turmoil that is keeping them stuck. Listen & Subscribe on: iTunes / Stitcher / Podbean / Overcast / Spotify Contact Info Website: TheMindfulMovement.com Podcast: The Mindful Movement Podcast and Community Most Influential Person My Pilates Instructor Effect on Emotions Mindfulness has helped me deal with my emotions. That's probably one of the most significant ways that mindfulness has helped me. I was a very young mother and I just fell into motherhood. I was so focused on being a mom and taking care of my kids that I really never looked inward at that time. I didn't connect with my emotions and therefore sometimes they would just explode or they would force their way out. Having that practice of mindfulness and being able to be awake to my emotions has transformed how I deal with them. Thoughts on Breathing Breathing was really challenging for me when I first started. It was one of those things, like I said, you have to be still, you have to pay attention. You have to turn your attention onto one thing. Now I feel like, with practice, it is my go-to strategy. If I'm feeling anxious or stressed, I do a lot of humming breath. It's an auditory reminder of your breath. My son and my daughter both use it. It's wonderful. Suggested Resources Book: Emotional Chaos To Clarity: Move From the Chaos of the Reactive Mind to the Clarity of the Responsive Mind by Phillip Moffitt App: N/A It's not an app, but here's a suggestion. Pick something that you do on a regular basis, like brushing your teeth or walking through a doorway. Use that action as a signal or a reminder to pause, breathe, or connect with yourself inward. Bullying Story I shared a story about how I started hypnosis and I have a wonderful relationship with that teacher and mentor and then a couple years went by and I was looking for continuing education and I took a training with another teacher. It was great. I really got a lot of value from it and I think it has made a significant improvement in my own practice and working with clients. I have a Youtube channel and it's obviously very public and I have put out lots of content and mindfulness is helping me. Even now I'm feeling a little bit anxious talking about it, so I'm aware of that. I was contacted by this teacher's company and it really felt a little bit like they were bullying me in terms of, they wanted to take legal action to force me to take down some content that I had put up. Honestly, I think that, hypnosis is not a new thing, so to say that a specific term is trademarked, a sentence that probably every hypnotherapist has said. And I was trained to use this method. It just felt like I was being bullied. It felt like this teacher was hiding behind their big legal team and sending in the muscle to force me, this sole proprietor, to take down my content. In the end, I didn't. It's great content that's available for lots of people to use. Circling back to the point of this story, is the idea of using mindfulness. Having the awareness to connect with my emotions in response to what felt like bullying before I reacted in a way that I might later regret or could potentially have legal ramifications, I was able to check in and understand my experience and understand how I was feeling. Even more importantly, I think, know how I wanted to respond. What are my intentions in this relationship, in my business, and how do I want to show up and present myself to the world and to this organization? I was also able to see that what I imagine is the other side of the story was coming from fear and coming from the wor