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Shawna Rodrigues 0:00

You breathe in, you breathe out. You do it every day, every moment without a conscious thought. It's an autonomic part of being. It sustains us. It turns out, there is a lot of power in breath. And today, we have the honor of exploring that a little deeper with our guest. If you're able to, I highly recommend listening to today's episode somewhere, that you're able to pause and participate. As our guest is going to lead us through some valuable exercises, that I'm guessing, you'll want to come back to.

Shawna Rodrigues 0:33

Welcome to The Grit Show. Growth on purpose. I'm glad you found us. I'm Shawna Rodrigues, and I'm honored to be leading you on today's journey as part of this community growing together as seekers, and thrivers. I hope you stick around and share with us what you gain from today's conversation and exercises. Benedict is the founder of Breathing Space. There is facilitated leadership training, he helps people shine their own light into the world. He is a teacher, an actual qualified one. Sometimes an author, occasionally, a chef, but always an adventurer. Although he looks and sounds like an east and cockney criminal, those are his words, he is really very gentle. I can attest to that. He lives in the snowy wastes of Canada. Again, his words with his wife and young daughter. Welcome. Thank you so much for being here today, Benedict.

Benedict Beaumont 1:27

Well, thank you for inviting me, I appreciate the chance to be present with you and your listeners.

Shawna Rodrigues 1:33

Yes, I think you have a lot to offer them. So I'm so glad that we found time to connect today and do this.

Benedict Beaumont 1:38

Do you know, I'd like to start with this Shawna, if this is okay. I'd like to start with just taking a few breaths together. Now this is a really simple breathwork technique that I do with almost every interaction, whether it's with one of my students, whether I'm running a workshop, or, or a training course. But even actually, when I'm sitting down with my bank manager, I'll say to them, should we just take a few breaths together and see what happens? Should we try doing that?

Shawna Rodrigues 2:03

That sounds perfect.

Benedict Beaumont 2:05

And if you're listening at home as well just close your eyes and just take a few breaths with yourself first. Then open your eyes, and just imagine me and Shawna are sitting in the room with you right now. Let's have a breath together and connect this way. Thank you. Can you feel how that changes things?

Shawna Rodrigues 2:39

It definitely does.

Benedict Beaumont 2:40

It definitely feels that I have been more connected to you now. A little bit more in presence. And breathwork, which is what I do, mostly today has got so many different applications, there's so many different exercises and techniques that you can do. But it is really simple. And even just that simple technique of just taking a breath with someone, before you do something that really changes. Really changes the kind of the energy between you and how things unfold. So if you're looking for tips of simple, easy hacks to change your life, just taking a breath with someone. You don't have to make a big deal of it. Should we take a breath together? You can just do it silently by yourself. But you will be amazed of what the difference that it makes.

Shawna Rodrigues 3:24

That is probably the first thing that I noticed is that you didn't have us do it. Together, breathe in together, breathe out together. And that was, for me, who's gone to classes, for yoga and different things, I've always been introduced that way. So it was kind of nice to be able to do it on our own. And it still had a very grounding effect, regardless. So I definitely noticed that.

Benedict Beaumont 3:45

Breathwork is or at least my philosophy about it, it is about empowering people. This is not about me, as a teacher saying you do this, you do that. And you know, that kind of power dynamic. If anything, being a breathwork facilitator, or really being a leader or a teacher is best done, when it is empowering people and allowing them to shine.

Shawna Rodrigues 4:06

How did you decide to become a teacher and teach breathwork?

Benedict Beaumont 4:10

Well, I've always been a teacher. I think you read out in my bio that I was a teacher, a real qualified teacher. I taught in secondary schools in the UK, what you would call high schools, I taught from the ages of 11 to sort of 18 and I would teach in the lower aspirational kind of demographic, the kids who would fail the system who, you know, didn't succeed anywhere else. I was that teacher that they turned to and I'm sure that you have a teacher that you remember, and I'm sure if you're listening to this, there's one or two teachers that you remember that really inspired you to do something. I wanted to be that teacher for people and over the course of my teaching career, I am proud to say and I don't mind to say this, I was that teacher for many kids who would have failed otherwise, I got to be that teacher but all this time, there was a deeper journey that I was on as well, as become, in simplest terms, the best version of myself that I could be, I'd always had an interest in, you know, some of the deeper aspects or I'd always been interested by philosophy, for instance, the deepest spiritual questions of being and existence had always fascinated me. In my 30s, I really committed to doing as good as I can. So I really worked hard, I became a Buddhist, and I meditated a lot, I studied Dharma, I became fascinated by the yoga. So I sweated out on a yoga mat, I did group therapy, and I started to retire and understand psychology. But it was at the end of my teaching career, when I was kind of getting burnt out from that when I reached as far as I could, in that traditional way of being of service to the world, that I'm really, truly committed to being the best version of myself and going on an adventure, until I found what I was meant to do in this life. And that was breathwork. But that storie's, we'll get into that maybe a bit later.

Shawna Rodrigues 6:08

And it's very exciting. I'm very excited about all the ways our conversation can travel today and the things that we will find along the way. So, I do want to step back. So when you did secondary school, did you have a specific subject you specialized in? Or did you teach general topics to the kids?

Benedict Beaumont 6:24

Well, before I was a high school teacher, in my 20s, I was an IT professional. I believe you didn't know.

Shawna Rodrigues 6:31

I believe you.

Benedict Beaumont 6:31

I fell into it by accident, just because I left university with an arts degree not knowing what to do. And this was in the sort of, you know, early, mid 90s, when the IT explosion was happening, I got a temporary job. And I ended up in an IT department. And I always just wanted to do something really meaningful, like changing backup tapes and servers. But there were people around me who hadn't been to university who hadn't had any formal educational training and yet, they were earning sort of 30, 40, $50 an hour. And when you're like, 22, 23, that is like a fortune. And I thought, hang on, I could do this. And so I taught myself, you know, within a space of about a year to learn how to become a network engineer, because it's not that difficult, really. And so, you know, within a couple of years, by the time I was 23, 24, 25, I was earning a lot of money for 23, $24. And that was like golden handcuffs. And I was stuck in that profession for sort of 8, 9, 10 years. And then it reached a point in my life, really, I call it my first burnout, when I thought, you know what, I don't mind the person that I am right now, I am not here to just fix computers, I want to do something different. And that's when I became a teacher, that's when I committed to being of service to the world and trying to do something that was socially useful. Now what I could actually teach, you know, I had a Degree in Anthropology. So that's not really relevant to secondary school. But I could do IT. So I became an IT teacher.

Shawna Rodrigues 6:35

Oh, wow.

Benedict Beaumont 6:37

I'm also fascinated by history. I'm a complete nerd about history. So I ended up teaching history as well. When you teach in schools, really, it's not a subject that you teach. It's actually you teach children and it doesn't really matter what the subject that you teach. So at the later part of my teaching career, I became a substitute teacher or a supply teacher, we call them in the UK, and I will kind of get called in or go into schools, and I talk everything, from chemistry, to science, to music, to drama, you literally get thrown and pushed in through the door and say, teach a lesson on waves. All right. Okay, class, has anyone ever been to the sea before? You kind of learn to make it up as you go along, whatever the subject is, the kind of the general principles of teaching, the general ways of like, actually, you know, being an educator stay the same, it doesn't matter what the subject is, the energy behind it is exactly the same. And if you know how to do that, then it doesn't matter the subject. A good teacher will be able to teach anything, because you go on an adventure together to discover something.

Benedict Beaumont 7:10

You're looking at engaging and doing the engagement. And wherever you bring before them, it's gonna be exciting for them. So with that iteration, you were able to make the money, had the golden handcuffs, and then you're like, I want to give back, I want to connect, I want to be part of something bigger, you're able to do that, which took a lot of you, I'm guessing, and was a very stressful position. And then you also found a time and a season to shift out of that as well. So tell me about that transition.

Benedict Beaumont 9:25

So after I've been teaching for about 10 years, I was good at my job. And I've kind of reached a good existence. But the thing is, I've seen all these sort of like 16, 17 year olds, kind of going out into the world with that kind of rib fallout within and I think I got a bit jealous. You know, I think I was like, you know what, I'm not done yet. I am not done. At the same time, that inward journey that I was on, I've kind of come to the end of the road with it, as well as I've got as much as I could from, from studying Buddhism. It was a great path to start me on but it wasn't a final destination. Again, with kind of yoga and therapy, it was a good start. But it wasn't enough in itself. Teaching is a brutal profession, it will take everything from you. And I was physically but I had given everything for five years. And I knew I was having a breakdown. I knew it was coming to an end. But you know, rather than looking at as a breakdown, and something horrible and bad, and terrible that you don't want to have, I really embrace the opportunity, maybe this isn't a breakdown, maybe this is a breakthrough. And if this is possible, I kind of planned my break down, because I knew it was going to come whatever. And I thought, Okay, I've got an opportunity, I can't carry on what I'm doing. You know, it just isn't possible, I've got to make some changes in my life, I didn't know what to do now. And I was lucky enough not to have any dependents that time or to be in a committed relationship, I could do this. So I planned my breakdown, the end of the school year, I sold everything, I got rid of all my physical possessions, I rented out my flat, I flew to Delhi, in India, I bought a motorbike. And I got lost with no plan, no intention to do anything else, just to kind of fulfill also a kind of childhood dream, actually, of being almost like a modern day cowboy. You know, rolling out somewhere where it is still wild and, you know, free and different. And in a way that is completely different to my home situation. Somewhere like in Asia, it is a different set of rules. And it is possible to disconnect there, and to be somewhere in a completely different environment. And so that's what happened. I planned my own breakdown, breakthrough, I went off to India, I got lost on my motorbike. And that's where it all started.

Shawna Rodrigues: 11:50

That's where it began. What made you choose India for your place to lose yourself and find yourself all at the same time?

Benedict Beaumont: 11:58

That is a good question. And if you're going to go on a journey of spiritual enlightenment, I mean, you know, you can't really go wrong with India. It is a place where spirituality is thick in the air. It's like walking through custard. And it's just like this acceptance of the non material world or spiritual world. The magical realms is an everyday fact of life, everywhere you go. It's just accepted. It wasn't exactly that, that drew me there. Although it was part of it. It was, it's actually, when I was, I think 19, one of my friends said, you can go off to India, and they make these things called Royal Enfield motorbikes there and you can just like go over there. And you don't have to have a driving licence. And you can just go anywhere. And I didn't have a motorbike license. So I thought, Well, why not? It's a huge place. It's a huge continent that, you know, has all sorts of climates and just interesting people everywhere. So that's why that happened. It was a child's dream,

Shawna Rodrigues: 12:57

you felt that connection. Yeah,

Benedict Beaumont: 12:58

it aligned with everything.

Shawna Rodrigues: 13:00

No, that makes perfect sense. I love how those little seeds get planted when you were 19. And so what did you find there? Did you find questions? Did you find answers? Did you find ways to find questions and answers?

Benedict Beaumont: 13:11

Well, the first thing I will share with you was I found, was my voice. I was there by myself, I didn't really want to go by myself, I wanted to have someone I could share that journey with but the people I thought might come with me couldn't go with me. And I told everyone I was going to do it, I wanted to back out. But because I said I was gonna do it, I had to go and do it. So I did it by myself. But it was very lonely as well. And I kept myself company by writing about it. And I kept a blog about my journey. I've never really written much before. But suddenly, all these words came tumbling out of me. It was just like, they were in there waiting to come. And I found I could write really well. And that realisation was like, I suddenly discovered I had a pair of wings or I could speak a different language. It was the most liberating experience to find that I could do something, that I could express myself and that I could be articulate. And so that's one of the things that that I found that was just totally changed my life completely.

Shawna Rodrigues: 14:17

That's amazing. How long were you there?

Benedict Beaumont: 14:19

I was there in total for about four months, five months, maybe. I left in September, October and I didn't get back until January. I'm gonna share with you a story of when, when I was there, actually about something else that I discovered. A breakdown or breakthrough is a big experience. After traveling up into the mountains of the Himalayas, into MHL production, going on a really big journey of discovery over there, about two months into my journey, I found myself in Registan which is the most beautiful desert area in the west, northwest of India and there's some amazing cities out there Jaipur and Jaisalmer, and Jota. And I remember traveling out in the desert, and I'd left, I think it was Jota, behind me and I was on a row with no one else on it, you know, miles and miles from anywhere. And I really got to thinking about my life about everything that I'd done. And I felt at that moment, I completed my life's mission. I had done everything that I set out to do. Not only had I kind of really worked on myself over the last 10 years, I'd, you know, I'd become the person that I wanted to be, I've dropped that vain, selfish person that I was in my 20s, who was just chasing the big money, and the bucks in IT, who made a fortune and lost a fortune because I was in my 20s. But I'd managed to realize that there was something deeper and greater in life, and I retrained to be a teacher, I could become, you know, a really inspirational teacher, I've made a difference to people's lives. You know, I fulfilled every objective that I had set. What else was in this life for me? What happens when you have done, when you've ticked all those boxes? And I've let it go, and that was another big thing, I'd achieved all this thing, and you know what I'd said? I'm done. And, you know, what happens when you have done everything that you set out to do in this life?

Shawna Rodrigues: 16:20

And you still have a lot of life left.

Benedict Beaumont: 16:22

Well, did I? Because what happened was, I was out in the middle of nowhere. A tractor came out of nowhere turned into me and smashed into my bike.

Shawna Rodrigues: 16:33

Oh, wow.

Benedict Beaumont: 16:36

And it was at that moment, I was saying, well, what else do I need in this life, at this moment of death came literally inches from me. In the end, it, the tractor was coming towards me. And then it just turned suddenly, as I was going fastly. And so I had no notice from it. By the way, tractors go very slow. But it was that turning into me, and that just gave me nowhere and it smashed my bike. I went flying from the bike. But it was at that moment, I was thinking, I've done everything that I need to my life, I don't need it anymore. And it was that moment that I came face to face with death, that everything changed. Suddenly, I was like, on the floor with my bike and pieces around me. And I kind of got up and I looked, I am still alive. How did that happen? Again, my fingers and toes, there's not a piece of me lying on the floor, in this bloody pile next to my shattered bike. I'm alive. I'm alive. By that moment of just suddenly, like being confronted with your death. And then suddenly, I was alive again and I didn't know what the future held for me. But I knew that life had a plan for me. I knew that something was waiting to happen. I didn't know when it would happen. I didn't know how it would happen. But I knew that I would just open myself up to the universe, because something else was waiting there for me. There were more books to tick if you like but I suppose I wasn't done yet. There was more than I knew about.

Shawna Rodrigues: 17:59

Yes. Was that closer to the end of your time in India? Or is that still in the middle of it?

Benedict Beaumont: 18:05

That was right in the middle of it. That wasn't the end of it. There was a lot more adventures from that. Which I'd say, I have another story about my trip there.

Shawna Rodrigues: 18:13

Yes, that would be lovely.

Benedict Beaumont: 18:15

Great, absolutely. You can read the books if you're interested but I carried on, got my bike fixed. And I, you know, went back through, through mainland India and I got a call from someone saying, do you want to go to Nepal? Do you want to climb up Everest? So, I, I thought, why not? So I then drove through Nepal, which is an amazing journey in itself because I enter Nepal at the unexplored end. And I travelled all the way through Nepal through the fleet of the Himalayas. And I ended up in Katmandu, and then I met my friend and we caught a plane to the Sagarmatha National Park. And we, we started this trek to basecamp. Well, I'm not talking about climbing to the top of Everest, I'm talking about the sort of two week hike that you can do to get to basecamp. And it's still taxing, it's still a journey that if you do, that journey was really a deeply spiritual journey, actually, because that journey up towards basecamp is actually, the journey that's one of the Buddhist saints, a guy called Padmasambhava, when he took Buddhism to Tibet, now my name Beaumont means beautiful mountain and mountains are really spiritual places to me. And when you go to those high spaces, it is a pilgrimage really, when, it feels like that when you're up there, the air is so rarefied, it is an awesome place and I really mean that. You're filled with awe when you are at the top of the end of this trek, and you're surrounded by just the, some of the highest peaks in the world, you really feel it. You feel like you are with the gods of the environment. I placed two stones at the top there to mark two wishes that I had in my heart. Two wishes that I had in my heart, and those are just ones that I wished for. The first one was for me to use this gift that I discovered. My voice to write a book, which I did.

Shawna Rodrigues: 20:04

That's amazing.

Benedict Beaumont: 20:06

The second stone that I placed was to find a partner in my life that I could share my life and these adventures with. Well, that came true as well. But here's the thing. The person became my partner, and my wife, who I've shared my whole life every single waking day since then, was standing behind me.

Shawna Rodrigues: 20:28

Really? That is amazing.

Benedict Beaumont: 20:31

Yeah, I found my wife, Jennifer, at the top of Mount Everest.

Shawna Rodrigues: 20:36

That is incredible. You were meant for that journey. And you were meant for that. But I think that's how you ended up in Canada, then?

Benedict Beaumont: 20:44

My wife is Canadian. Yes, it took a while for us to get together, we actually fell in love with each other by reading each other's blogs. And we had an almost like a pistolety romance where we connected like that. It took her a while to realize as well. And so it wasn't until a few months later, maybe even a year later, when she moved to the UK, that we actually really physically connected and started dating, and then very quickly got engaged and married. Since then, we have been on this incredible journey together for about seven years in various places. We decided to try Canada, and that's why we're here.

Shawna Rodrigues: 21:21

That is incredible. But even at that moment when you were placing those stones and giving those wishes that the answer was right behind you.

Benedict Beaumont: 21:21

It really was.

Shawna Rodrigues: 21:21

And the breath work, when did that become clear to you? That that was your next path.

Benedict Beaumont: 21:25

Everything I've done in my life is because I felt a calling to kind of make a difference in the world. Imagine, we traveled around or we didn't have a huge pain. And so we did quite a lot of things. Like, we trained to be yoga teachers in Vancouver, we went and ran chalets, and a bed and breakfast up in the French Alps. We live in Chiang Mai, in Thailand, where I, where I did most of the writing for my novel. We moved to Devon in the UK, we hiked over New Zealand together, we did something called Taiaroa. Where, which is goes apart that goes through the whole of New Zealand and you carry everything on your back. So we did all of that, and live this most amazing lifestyle, but we were in Erbert in barley, which if you've ever had the good fortune to go into barley or you're on a spiritual path, Erbert is one of those places in the world that is just like a magical place where there is a guru behind every bush, there is a spiritual teacher, when every rock there were a yoga teacher somewhere. I met a guy and it was just a chance encounter and I just got chatting to him. And I asked him what he did, and he says, I'm a breathwork facilitator, would you like to come to one of my sessions for free as my guest? You know, it's like all good drug pushers, the first ones free. But by that point, I've been on an internal journey for a long time. Yoga for 15 years by that point, I've done meditation, you know, and there's a little bit of breathing in that. So, I said, sure, yeah, I'll come to your breathwork. More to zoom in actually, to go along to this, because I thought, yeah, I know what breathwork is. I've done lots of it. And that was where I discovered breathwork.

Shawna Rodrigues: 23:10

And from there, it just kind of fell into place that that was where you need to be next and what you need to be focused on?

Benedict Beaumont: 23:17

Well, you know what, Shawna? I think I could talk about breathwork. But would you like to just maybe experience a tiny, tiny taste of what real breathwork is like?

Shawna Rodrigues: 23:27

I think that would be amazing. I think everyone listening would enjoy that as well. That would be incredible.

Benedict Beaumont: 23:32

Okay, so we are going to do probably about two minutes of conscious breath work, which is a particular breathwork style. It's a very powerful breathwork technique. So it's fine to do this for just two minutes. You know, unguided as you know, your listeners will be doing this. Please don't do this if you're driving a car or you're operating heavy machinery or juggling with knives, or sticking your hand in a fire, okay, don't do it.

Shawna Rodrigues: 23:59

Okay. Put the knives down. Put the knives down.

Benedict Beaumont: 24:01

Put the knives down. You know, don't do this if you're drunk or you're intoxicated. Find a place where you can be still and undisturbed for five minutes. Does that work for you?

Shawna Rodrigues: 24:11

Yes, that sounds great.

Benedict Beaumont: 24:12

Okay, we're gonna go straight into doing it.

Shawna Rodrigues: 24:15

Okay.

Benedict Beaumont: 24:15

So just find yourself in a comfortable position, feet on the floor.

Shawna Rodrigues: 24:18

Okay,

Benedict Beaumont: 24:19

close your eyes.

Shawna Rodrigues: 24:20

Okay.

Benedict Beaumont: 24:22

And we're going to just start with a gentle meditation. So just breathe in gently. In and out through the nose, feel where your feet are resting and your hands. Just feel how your body moves as you breathe. Gentle, rising or falling of your chest. And then feel the air against your skin, and feel how you breath, in through your body and through your nose, pull on the way in and then on an inhale, take your awareness inside. There's a still quiet place within you. The place of strength, and wisdom, and love. Feel all those things inside you. This is a place of listening as well. In a moment, I'm going to ask you a question. And I want you to listen to the answer, rather than think of the answer.

Benedict Beaumont: 25:52

If there is something that you need to change in your life right now, what would that be? If there was something that you need to change in your life, right now, what would that be? Now, let's begin our breath. Open your mouth really wide as if you're taking the bite of an apple. Keep it in that position. Now start taking full body breaths. Open your mouth wide. That's it. Now can your breath be connected with no pauses at the top or the bottom.

Benedict Beaumont: 26:45

That's it. Pull on the inhale and let go on the exhale.

Benedict Beaumont: 26:56

That's it. Keep breathing like that. Keep breathing and feeling.

Benedict Beaumont: 27:11

Full deep body breaths. You will start to feel sensations arise in your body.

Benedict Beaumont: 27:25

That's it. We're going to be breathing like this for another minute. Commit your breath, really breathe fully right now.

Benedict Beaumont: 27:38

That's it. Now remember that question again. If there was something that you need to change in your life, right now, what would that be? Let your breath go into a rhythm. Let it take you. Feel the answer rather than think of it. We have this breath for 30 seconds. You can do this. Commit to it.

Benedict Beaumont: 28:12

15 more seconds really breathe, stay with it. Stay with it. Deep breaths. 10 more seconds. 5 more breaths.

Benedict Beaumont: 28:30

One more deep breath. Inhale, hold for a second and then exhale. Close your mouth. Breathe through your nose and just feel. Feel how different things are right now. Feel the sensations in your body. And again, when I ask this question, feel, listen. And maybe a message will come to you. if there was something that you needed to change in your life right now, what would that be? Now we'll stay with this just for a minute or two more. To really fully feel that.

Benedict Beaumont: 29:35

Now let's start to come back. Take your fingertips, just gently and start tapping on your chest. Tapping on your shoulders, maybe tapping on your head or on your face.

Benedict Beaumont: 30:03

That's it. Tap your fingers together. Maybe just your palms together as well. When you're ready, just gently flutter your eyes open. We'll come back to this present moment. Thank you, Shawna. Thank you for allowing yourself to go into that breathwork. Thank you for everyone at home for joining us as well. Shawna, we always just have a space to share the end of the breath work. And I know this is your show and you're the host. But is there anything that you feel that you would like to share right now?

Shawna Rodrigues: 30:46

Yes, I was surprised at how much my heart rate elevated like in the process of doing it, and how the, the voice or messaging shifted. They think that it started very specific, because this is being recorded on a Tuesday, and my podcast comes out on Tuesday, and my Mondays are my editing days and very stressful. I joke from 3pm to midnight on Mondays are my stressful period with editing. And I've decided to shift from doing the editing and very much was like, the letting go of the editing was kind of what it started as. And by the end, it's no, letting go of perfectionism because the reason I don't want someone else to do my editing is because I know exactly what I do. And I know exactly what I get rid of and how I make it sound. And yesterday, I could not make it do what I wanted it to do. Which made it easier for me to be like, yes, I need to let this go and let someone else do this and take back those eight hours and take that stress out of my world. But it was very much like the letting go of the perfectionism. Which is funny because I feel like I've done that. If you've been to my house lately and see the state of the landscaping in front and the fences, getting belts and letting go of all the things that are in process that I feel like I'm letting go of perfectionism. But, no, that's clear evidence that no, I'm still hanging on to perfectionism. So it's a work in progress. So that was definitely the messaging that I need to let go of my perfectionism. It's still there.

Benedict Beaumont: 32:15

Wow. Thank you, Shawna, thank you. I really feel how you felt that. You might have known it in your head, but now you really feel it.

Shawna Rodrigues: 32:22

Yeah.

Benedict Beaumont: 32:24

What a really powerful message to share with everyone.

Shawna Rodrigues: 32:28

Yeah,

Benedict Beaumont: 32:28

you couldn't let go of it. Let's just, let's just take a breath. And if you're listening, just take breath with this as well. Ready? Feel that message. It's okay to let go of being perfect.

Shawna Rodrigues: 32:41

Yes.

Benedict Beaumont: 32:43

Thank you so much.

Shawna Rodrigues: 32:45

Yes. And it's amazing that those themes are still there, even when you try to have it be like, no, just this one upper level stress and letting go of no, it's this underlying theme, it's still there, it's still there.

Benedict Beaumont: 33:00

Well, you know, those, those patterns of behavior, those ways of thinking, those voices in our head to lay down at a very early age in our lives are very powerful. We don't just decide to let them go. They're with us in ways. It's not something we just decide. It's something that we live with. And we accept, and we play with those voices all the time. It's not, that's it, we're cured, we're fixed. We don't need that. We're not broken as we are. We're just being gentle and kind with ourselves walking each other home. So, thank you, Shawna, you really committed to that, and I'm so grateful that you did it, it felt very special.

Shawna Rodrigues: 33:37

Yes, thank you. And thank you for doing that. And for all the listeners, if you weren't in a place that you were able to really do that right now, I hope you come back to that time and, and walk through that. And at the end, we'll definitely share Ben's website, and you have a lot of different opportunities on your website to be able to do different activities like that and to be able to connect with you and some of your breathwork. Is that correct?

Benedict Beaumont: 33:59

It is, what we did just then was it's like, it's the tiniest, tiniest of breath work. But really, you know, for a full breathwork session, you'll be breathing like that, sit to music for at least 30 minutes. Can you imagine it like that? What that felt like just two minutes, but with 30 minutes or 60 minutes of breathing like that is an extraordinary, extraordinary transformational experience. It is, you know, I call it therapy for those people who don't want to talk about their problems or meditation for those people who can't meditate or it's like plant medicine or drugs without taking drugs. It is that powerful and transformational. And when you've discovered something like this, as I discovered in Bali in 2014, I went to a session like that expecting like, yeah, I've done this before. I did a version of this but you know, for an hour, never done anything like that before. And in one side of me, right? Someone was having a full body orgasm. On the other side of me, someone was screaming like they were being disemboweled. On the other side of the room, someone was laughing so loudly. It's like, they've been told the biggest possible joke in their life and I sit there, holy, so what is happening here, and within fine press, I went to a place that I had never been to before, despite all of that meditation with Buddhism, despite all of that yoga, or all that, I went to that place that I always wanted to, at that moment of, you can almost say transformation, maybe even in light of it was like, Alright, I know now what I'm going to be doing with the rest of my life. This gift that I have been given, that I get to experience, I get to share this with everyone. And it was that and it was easy. And it was fun. It was accessible. It wasn't difficult. It wasn't painful. I didn't have to chant in foreign languages. I didn't have to do a fight diet and push my body into difficult positions. It was available to me right there. It is available to all of us in this moment, and that changed me. So I got my purpose in life, I found what I was, I was needing, you know, needing to do. I opened up to the universe. So what is it that you want me to do with my life? And the answer was given to me. The plan was laid. And because I'm a teacher, you know, I'm a born teacher, I knew how to do what I do know, which is set up a school. And you're right, we run a huge program from those people who've never breathed before, we've never taken a conscious breath, to discovering the power within themselves. We teach other types of breathwork. Because breathwork is a big subject, there's, there's breathwork for health and well being for instance, you know, there's breathwork for anxiety and feeling overwhelmed from emotional stability, which is a huge area for many of us, where we live in this kind of stimulating environment where we're constantly bombarded with messages all the time, it's so easy to get anxious. And everyone, there is a mental health problem that we sweep under the carpet, which is, we don't talk about, but there's some very simple, powerful breathwork techniques that we can use to help this. Breathwork for trauma, you know, and those deep emotional wounds that we carry within us. And really breath is a spiritual practice. It is at the heart of every spiritual discipline, whether you are Christian, or Buddhist, or Muslim, or every single spiritual tradition has something to do with breath. You know, it is mentioned in the first, first pages of the Bible. So we can use our breaths to connect with spiritual or non material magical realms as well. So yes, we offer a huge program. We take people who've never breathed before, from being breath curist to teaching health and wellness, to then going on a deeper journey of inquiring themselves, to then training people to be breathwork facilitators, and holding people in that space of vulnerability, and tenderness and transformation. And that journey becoming breathwork facilitator is like becoming a ninja. Because if you can hold a room full of people, someone having a full body orgasm, someone screaming, someone having, you can do you could probably do anything. And I genuinely mean that.

Shawna Rodrigues: 37:54

That's amazing. You have that opportunity for anyone who is drawn to that. You have that coming up very soon, starting November 14, you're starting that coursework? Do you teach that regularly or just yearly?

Benedict Beaumont: 38:05

Yes, we run a lot of programs throughout the year, there are constantly group trainings coming up. So the one in November is one that I teach. So if you'd like me, if you'd like my coffee, criminal accent, then you're very welcome to join me on that training. But one of the things that we do, and I'm really proud of this is we offer an apprenticeship system, because not everyone that falls in that category of being able to just kind of join a group training, they might be in a different time zone. They might have work or family commitments. The apprenticeship is a kind of concept, of a way to learn is something that goes back to the beginning of time. If you wanted to learn something, you want to apprentice yourself to a master, then you learn with one person over time. You sit at their feet, and that journey of an apprenticeship is so magical, because it is almost like you absorb by osmosis. You do all the same coursework, and yeah, nothing else. But it's a different journey. It's a different flavor of the same dish if you like. So yeah, if you like me, then I run two trainings a year, if you like breathwork, come train with one of our other teachers in another group training or apprenticeship. Because, you know, I mentioned earlier, breathwork is, it is about empowering. I've got my own flavor and my own voice, either. I mean, look at me, you can see me, I'm just a normal, middle aged, bald guy who likes football and likes reading trashy science fiction, but you might be drawn to learning about the genetic aspects of breathwork or want to learn about the health and wellbeing aspects. You know, breathwork is a wide church, it brings everyone into it. There is something for everyone. Because it isn't about, you know, the breath or doing it this way or that way. It is about connecting to that define parts of yourself. That, that river of genius and creativity that we all have within, within each of us.

Shawna Rodrigues: 39:47

That's incredible. That really is. Yes. And so if you guys want to connect with Ben and with that, the best way is to go through your website, right? MakeSomeBreathingSpace.com is the best way and we'll have that in the show notes. Is there another good way to connect with you online? Through social media or a different method?

Benedict Beaumont: 40:03

Yes, you can connect with us on social media. It's the same address basically Make Some Breathing Space, whether it's facebook.com/MakeSomeBreathingSpace, or Instagram, we've just started actually putting stuff out on TikTok, which, which is totally out of my comfort zone. I don't know what that's gonna look like. But apparently we, our TikTok account going now as well.

Shawna Rodrigues: 40:23

That's very exciting. So the other thing that we always talk about on our show is self care. So, obviously breathwork is important to you. But what else do you do for self care, Ben? I think our, our audience loves to hear about what people are doing to take care of themselves and help inspire them about the same.

Benedict Beaumont: 40:40

Okay, well, there's so many things that I could talk to you and it's it's such a great question to ask all your guests actually. Because if there is anything that we need to learn is how to self care. You know, if you've got a mission, like a, you know, to go out and be of service to the world, you cannot do that, unless you are looking after yourself. It is the most radical form of activism, to look after yourself.

Shawna Rodrigues: 41:02

I like that.

Benedict Beaumont: 41:02

It is without, without any difference. It doesn't matter if you're going out parading in the street, unless you want that twin trail of, of looking after yourself, it isn't, it's not sustainable. So, I could talk about a lot of things that I'm like to do, but what I think I would like to share with you and your audience is one of the most simplest and yet most profound, breathwork techniques that you can do at any time because it's a secret breathwork technique. No one will know you're doing it. If ever you're, if ever you're feeling anxious or overwhelmed, coming back to your breath in this way, will really help you find balance, will help that kind of overwhelmed and those voices and sparks going off. Just you know, just dampen down the noise a bit. And it's called coherence breathing. Would it be okay, if I led you in a sort of 30 second breathwork? We'll practice that?

Shawna Rodrigues: 41:54

Absolutely. And I remember the title because my fiance's favorite sci fi movie is called coherence. So coherence breathwork. Let's do it.

Benedict Beaumont: 42:03

Okay, it's called coherence is because it actually brings into balance all the different systems in your body, like your heartbeat. You know, like your breath, like your brainwaves, they all kind of come into balance with each other. It's really simple. Now, for me, it is the most powerful thing. So it is simple. You, we match the length of our inhale, to the length of our exhale.

Shawna Rodrigues: 42:24

Okay,

Benedict Beaumont: 42:24

we're gonna, we're going to do that with a count. I'm going to count five for an inhale, counter five for an exhale. I'm going to count for about 20, 30 seconds, and then I'm just going to let you carry the count. It doesn't matter the speed, it doesn't matter the depth of your breath, as long as you can actually inhale, to the exhale.

Shawna Rodrigues: 42:42

And this is something you can do while you're driving or playing with knives or everything else. It's safe. Okay.

Benedict Beaumont: 42:48

There's no contraindications to this. Everyone can do this because

Shawna Rodrigues: 42:51

perfect.

Benedict Beaumont: 42:51

You decide how deep you breathe, how quick you breathe, as well.

Shawna Rodrigues: 42:54

Perfect,

Benedict Beaumont: 42:55

but I'll cue it for about the first little while and then I'll let you do that. So let's just inhale fully. And then exhale fully. And let's begin. Inhale. 2, 3, 4, 5. Exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Inhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Exhale, 2, 3, 4. Alright, inhale. Exhale. Inhale, exhale. Now wherever you inhale a bit more and let it all out through the mouth. And there you go. Give yourselves a shake, open your eyes and a big smile. Welcome back.

Shawna Rodrigues: 44:09

Welcome back. And that helps to sync everything a little bit. Is the point.

Benedict Beaumont: 44:13

Yeah, if ever you're feeling anxious or overwhelmed, it's also really good if you're having problems sleeping. If you wake up in the middle of the night because it really, it brings a balance and it kind of helps lower your ANS, your autonomic nervous system. It's really powerful. It's so simple to do that. You can do it anywhere, at any time, for any length.

Shawna Rodrigues: 44:13

What else do you do for yourself for self care?

Benedict Beaumont: 44:35

Things that I love doing. I mentioned trashy sci fi. I stopped reading for a long time because I've got a young family and to do and get a lot of time when you've got a young family. But I just, I just recently started up so I really love getting lost in sci fi. If there is one thing that really makes a difference for me it is being in mountains. I talked a little earlier about that moment of, you know, transcendence when you're really up high and hiking up in the mountains, for me, is the most liberating thing. It's where I feel most alive. I grew up by the ocean, I love the sea. But, have you heard about nominative determinism?

Shawna Rodrigues: 45:15

No.

Benedict Beaumont: 45:17

That means where your name kind of decides what you do. And now for those people who speak a bit of Latin or French, and you look carefully at my name, Benedict Beaumont means blessed, beautiful mountain. So, I feel like, I was kind of born into finding mountains. Beautiful.

Shawna Rodrigues: 45:37

That is amazing.

Benedict Beaumont: 45:38

If you find my website, you know, there's mountain themes is all through it. It's my logo, it's the imagery that I use on there, and my personal Facebook, that mountain theme is so important to me personally, that it now infuses everything that I do.

Shawna Rodrigues: 45:51

Yes, water has always been my thing. It's not in my name, but water has always been my thing. It's interesting, because my, my heritage is the Azores Islands, and Norway, and so these coastal water is in my blood.

Benedict Beaumont: 46:05

Oh yeah, definitely.

Shawna Rodrigues: 46:06

Definitely water is my thing. And then trees, and the mountains. So, all very beautiful, all very important and travels, definitely something I've missed, as well. So, I definitely understand that. So one thing we do for all of our guests on The Grit Show, is we actually have a series of coloring books called the Color of Grit. And we give each of our guests as a gift and a thank you because your time is valuable, your expertise is valuable, is we give you a coloring book as a thank you. So which of the coloring books, would you like?The Vintage Mermaid and Magnificent Ocean, or You've Got This, which is a collection of quotes?

Benedict Beaumont: 46:43

I think as we have touched on the ocean, and just a little bit of the magical moment, it has to be that one. That's a really kind offer Shawna. I get to enjoy it, I think my daughter will as well.

Shawna Rodrigues: 46:54

You can share it.

Benedict Beaumont: 46:54

And in return, maybe I could offer your listeners a gift as well. There's lots of free stuff on our website that you can come and try our free live sessions or a free taster course. But we also have a membership site as well. It's really cheap. It's only like $10 a month, I would like to give you a code and all of your listeners a code so they can get it for 50%. So it's just like $5 a month for a huge library of breathworks, of guided journeys, meditations, of little tips and techniques, and a lot of live workshops that we run. So, GRIT50, all capitals. GRIT50, we'll get you 50% of our membership site.

Shawna Rodrigues: 47:31

Oh, that's amazing. What a wonderful gift. Everybody go to the website. And if you go to the main page of the website, it's easy to find where to register for that?

Benedict Beaumont: 47:38

Yes, on our site that says membership, it's called the Breathing Space Explorers Club, because we really try and explore our breath.

Shawna Rodrigues: 47:45

That's so wonderful. So we'll make sure we had the link to the Explorers Club to explore your breath. And if you use GRIT50, all capitals, you can get 50% off. That is a wonderful gift, Ben. Thank you so much. And I hope a lot of our listeners are able to take advantage of that. That's a great opportunity. Thank you.

Benedict Beaumont: 48:02

Thank you, Shawna.

Shawna Rodrigues: 48:02

So thank you for being here. And I definitely, everyone needs to make sure that they go check out all you have to offer, MakeSomeBreathingSpace.com and connecting with you on social media and find you on TikTok now that that's going to be a big. That'd be the new space to find you. It's very exciting. And November 14th, is when the launching for somebody who's wondered about learning about this, teaching others, that's an exciting opportunity to get to work with them directly around learning these skills. Ben, thank you so much for being here. And there will also be a link to your book because that is also available. Tell me the title again of your book.

Benedict Beaumont: 48:36

The book's about traveling around India. It is called, A Last Chance Powerdrive. Which, you know, the song Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen,

Shawna Rodrigues: 48:44

yeah,

Benedict Beaumont: 48:44

that's a line from that which is why I chose that.

Shawna Rodrigues: 48:47

That is perfect. Actually, it does sound like a great title without knowing that reference. Last Chance Powerdrive for your travels around India. So we'll definitely have the link in the notes for that as well, for anyone interested. Thank you for sharing your expertise with all of us. And in the shownotes, I will also mark the time for the different breathwork that we did. So you guys will be able to look at those to come back to this episode. And to be able to experience that again.

Benedict Beaumont: 49:11

Thank you Shawna. Maybe we could close the interview as we started just by taking a breath together.

Shawna Rodrigues: 49:17

That would be lovely.

Benedict Beaumont: 49:23

Thank you.

Shawna Rodrigues: 49:24

Thank you. Thank you, Ben. Before I let you go, I want to give a shout out to one of our wonderful listeners who took the time to leave us a review. Christina wrote that The Grit is heartfelt and pure. Just give it a try. You will laugh, cry, and realize you are not alone. Thank you so much for that Christina it means a lot to see what you have to say is a great way to help others learn about the podcast and help them find us. I look forward to connecting with you again next week. Until then, take care of you. You know I mean that. You're the only one of you that this world has got and that means something.