In this conversation we touch upon: Performance psychology in MMA and beyond. How martial arts can offer crucial life skills. Warrior Spirit: what it is, how to cultivate it and why it's important. What makes a great MMA fighter? The difference between doing and being. Why discipline is a necessary part of life. What is interception and can you train yourself in it? The 'poison of the peak' (a Steven Bartlett saying) and why perfectionism fails! Passion and purpose in life. Identity loss and how to avoid it. Is there a difference between male and female fighters? and much more Find Daria: https://instagram.com/dariaalbers https://dariaalbers.com Find Steph: https://instagram.com/sevendirectionsbreathwork https://sevendirectionsbreathwork.com https://stephmagenta.com

Natasha De Grunwald is a seasoned Somatic Teacher with over four decades of dedication to health and wellness. Natasha emboldens individuals to reclaim their sensuality, magic and power and rewrite their life's story, using the wisdom of the body and the breath. She works with groups and individuals to heighten their joy, and increase their personal empowerment. Having overcome her own harrowing past, including abuse and a multitude of personal struggles, Natasha's journey epitomises the transformative power of self-discovery. She wields her expertise as a practitioner, author, and expert teacher of somatic approaches to educate and support her clients. She is a trainer in Thai Yoga Massage and experienced breathwork practitioner. Natasha's courses and training programs are steeped in wisdom, science and compassion, and serve to guide others toward self-love and authentic body confidence. TRIGGER WARNINGS IN PART: In this episode we discuss: * How and why shame and guilt limit our capacity for pleasure. * How our early experiences in life shape our beliefs about the body and s3xuality and how we can begin to move beyond them. * Why the work we do is part of our global mission to create freedom through embodied practice. * Why training in breathwork and trauma is fundamental to safe space holding ...and much more! Find Natasha here: http://www.natashadegrunwald.com/  / natasha.degrunwald   Find Steph here: https://sevendirectionsbreathwork.comhttps://stephmagenta.com  / sevendirectionsbreathwork   Find out more about the healing developmental trauma training we mentioned here: https://www.premamckeever.com/events-...

Sisonke Papu, a.k.a. KHNYSA meaning ‘the one who brings light’ is a name given to him by his ancestors when he accepted his spiritual calling to become an igqirha (the isiXhosa designation for someone who has been called by their ancestors to heal). Papu is a storyteller and multi-disciplinary artist from New Payne location in Mthatha, Eastern Cape South Africa, whose work explores spatial, emotional and spiritual temporalities by engaging ideas of everydayness, the real and imaginary, dreams and memory, the unseen as well as the mythical, ritual, sonic and cosmic. Papu is the founder and director of ISPILI Network, which fosters dialogue, collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship among young creatives in the Eastern Cape. The ISPILI Network runs visual art and design projects, publishes a magazine, and creates film and sound design aimed at healing, remembering, archiving and transmission of indigenous knowledge, research and development. When I opened this conversation, I honestly did not know where the conversation would take us, knowing that both Sisonke and I work through the Spirit of Creation & The Great Mystery. I honestly feel that this interview is more of a transmission than a talk, which is actually why it goes on for longer than many of my standard YouTube chats. We literally entered a different time stream! Please sit and receive this transmission....I trust you will feel it too.... What we talk about: Awakening through depression & discomfort. Leaving a career in IT coding to step into coding the human experience. Initiations arising from self trust and inner knowing. The voice as the "breath taking on a sonic dimensionality". The value of ceremony and rites of passage in life. Why breath is so important as the carrier of our experiences. Grounding and simple barefoot living as forms of living communication with the Earth. The power of the Medicine of gentleness, presence and kindness. Honouring the Ancestors. ...and much more! You can find KHYNSA (Sisonke) at: https://www.instagram.com/sisonkepapu/ Find Steph at: https://instagram.com/integrativebreathhttps://stephmagenta.com Find our Breathwork Facilitator Training at: https://sevendirectionsbreathwork.com

Tom Granger is bestselling breathwork author and a true innovator! Tom is on a mission to create engaging new ways to empower people to unlock the true potential of their breath and I was so excited to chat with him as I know he is a total breath nerd! His bestselling book "Draw Breath; The Art of Breathing" has been translated into 9 languages and has received multiple literary awards for its creativity and effectiveness in reducing anxiety. His approach to breathwork has been praised by leading experts in yoga and meditation, from James Nestor to Jon Kabat-Zinn. Tom's passion for breathwork is what led him to create the popular YouTube channel "Draw Breath," where he interviews the world's leading experts in the science and practice of meditation. His guests have included Nobel Prize-winning scientists, Olympic Gold Medallists, and leaders and legends from the breathwork world. His latest project, "Aria Breath – The Musical Mediation," is a large and growing library of beautiful music, designed to pace the breath at speeds that are known to have incredible health benefits. Perfect for individual use… but also ideal for breathwork professionals to use in their classes or one-on-one sessions with clients. Tom's enlightening and empowering breathwork sessions are not only informative but also inspiring and transformative. He has been sought after as a keynote speaker, teacher, and creative consultant by some of the world's leading organizations, including Unilever, Kantar Group, and Lululemon. Tom is dedicated to spreading the benefits of breathwork globally and is passionate about making it accessible to everyone. Tom’s links: Music for breathwork: https://ariabreath.com Art for breathwork: https://drawbreath.com Follow Tom on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drawbreath/ Steph's links: https://stephmagenta.com https://sevendirectionsbreathwork.com https://instagram.com/integrativebreath

David Jackson aka ‘Jacko’ is a Master Instructor with the Oxygen Advantage. A former professional rugby player, accredited UKSCA Strength & Conditioning coach, NASM performance enhancement & corrective exercise specialist on a mission to make breathwork a normal part of our everyday lives. In 2013 a traumatic brain injury and a seizure on the rugby pitch forced David to retire from professional rugby and also impacted his breathing patterns negatively for years. It can be simple day-to-day stress or poor habits that have built up over a long time that have changed your breathing patterns, but what David knows is that if he can change his after my head injury, you can improve yours too. During his professional rugby career, David wished we knew then what we know now about how breathing can massively impact and improve performance. Now as a Master Instructor with the Oxygen Advantage, he works with clients ranging from fitness and sports enthusiasts looking to improve their sporting performance, to GP doctor referrals with clients needing to address stress and anxiety issues through breathing, and everything in between. David's passion for sports, and for sharing what he wished he knew when he played, has led him to work with professional athletes and teams in a variety of sports like rugby union, football, triathlon, mountain biking, swimming and athletics at national and international levels. Find David here: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacko.david... Web: www.probreathwork.com Certification: https://www.probreathwork.com/certifi... TickTok: @jackobreathwork.com Find Steph here: Web & training: https://stephmagenta.comhttps://integrative-breath.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/integrativebreath We hope you enjoy our conversation!

Sara Barnes is the author of The Cold Fix.  Published in November 2022, Sara documents her journey through osteo-arthritis and ill health back to mobility and freedom through cold exposure.  Sara lives and work in the Lake District finding great peace in the wild outdoors of her home region in this most beautiful and watery part of the UK.  She has travelled far and wide seeking as many places and people to get cold with as she can, and isn't done yet!   Find Sara's book HERE Follow Sara's adventures on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bumblebarnes/  Find Steph:  https://stephmagenta.com  https://instagram.com/integrativebreath Episode photo credit Jay Gilmour for https://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/cold-fix/

Jenny Valentish is the author of acclaimed addiction publication Woman of Substances, often used in Universities as recommended reading in the study of women and addiction.  Jenny’s second book, Everything Harder Than Everyone Else: Why Some Of Us Push Our Bodies To Extremes is what caught my eye and brought Jenny to my awareness, more on that in this episode!   Jenny is a regular contributor to the Guardian newspaper, Vice magazine & The Sydney Morning Herald. She is a former NME columnist, editor of Time Out Melbourne and a regular keynote speaker at drug and alcohol conferences.   Jenny grew up in slough and now lives in Australia where she moved in 2006.   In this episode we discuss:   Why people push themselves so hard in extreme endurance sports & activities.  What things might those people have in common; what drives those urges?  Where Jenny’s passion & interest in women and substances arose from.  How people can swap one addiction for another.  How challenging life experiences can become incredible strengths.  The dopaminergic reward system; payoffs for endurance.  Telic and atelic activities: What they are and how they motivate people differently   Find Jenny: https://www.instagram.com/jennyvalent... https://www.valentish.net/ https://jennyvalentish.com/  Find Steph: https://instagram.com/integrativebreath https://stephmagenta.com https://integrative-breath.com

Lou Featherstone is a pioneer of my kind of self love revolution! Founder of the Zero F*cks Club, Lou is on a mission to help others grow old disgracefully. It was *such* a pleasure to interview this straight talking, sassy, super intelligent woman.  Lou and I speak about:  Her beloved travelling bus Susie and how Susie is key in her vision.  Life is the US and UK and how she came to land in both.   Her passion for fitness.  Lu's past as a vicar's daughter and the influence that has had on her (irreverent) life.  Her business with vibrators.  Her previous career in social services child protection.  and...money shame, menopause, divorce and more.    My Being Human series isn't entirely focussed on the breath but is more about hearing interesting stories which shine a light onto our potential for change, growth and radical self love! Something we can all relate to and benefit from.   Discover more about Lu here https://instagram.com/luinlulandor here https://www.luinluland.com  Discover more about Steph Magenta here: https://instagram.com/integrativebreathor here https://stephmagenta.com

This series highlights remarkable people who have remarkable stories, stories which highlight potential. The focus of this series is to share experience around how people have transformed their own challenges in life to bring themselves forward to be in service in the world.  Dana and Ashanna are the co-founders of Clarity Breathwork (linked below). In this interview they courageously share some deeply personal and intimate things about themselves and the relationship those stories have to their work.    TRIGGER WARNING: mention of sexual violence.   To see the video version on my YouTube channel, please go here: https://youtu.be/tJ9Rk0w2Rjo You can find out more about Clarity Breathwork here:  www.claritybreathwork.com.   Check out their Breathwork Healing Immersion starting Feb 24: https://vibrateup.net/breathworkhealingimmersion/  You can discover more about Steph Magenta's work here:  https://stephmagenta.com  https://instagram.com/integrativebreath https://integrative-breath.com  Please leave a comment if this talk inspired you in any way.

Ryan Abbot is a world record holder (Summer 2022) for completing the Iron Man Triathlon entirely breathing through his nose.  For those who don't know, nose breathing during sports performance can be particularly challenging, and this is no small achievement! Iron man in itself is extremely challenging and is renowned for being one of the hardest triathlons in the world, but Ryan completed it breathing only through the nose.   Ryan is an Integrative Breath trained breathwork facilitator, ice bath and cold water guide, and entrepreneurial businessman.    You can discover more about Ryan here: Instagram @urban_ice_tribe and @urban_ice_gear  Web: www.urbanicetribe.com    Discover more about Steph Magenta here: https://stephmagenta.comhttps://instagram/integrativebreath https://integrative-breath.com