Hi Friend, I’m reaching out today for many reasons, but I will start with two…
Many of you know that I’ve spent a significant part of the last year navigating my own healing after my body collapsed. It’s been rough and has totally sucked; yep, I’m saying that out loud. No spiritual method can bypass what the body needs: rest, love, attention.
Yet, through this, I’ve learned an extraordinary amount during this time—some of it by immense research, some through the practitioners I’ve worked with, but most of it through living inside a body that suddenly required me to listen differently.
Over the last three months, I have seen more meaningful change in my body than in many of the months before, and when I was first diagnosed, I told my doctor there was no way I was going to be the norm; I would not be sitting around doing nothing for two years… I was going to hack my way to better! HA. That’s been a real joke. But two pieces have become increasingly important in that shift: somatic work and breath.
Last night I taught a class that brought those pieces together, and afterward I realized: I want to teach this to more of you.
We worked with the breath, including practices that intentionally let carbon dioxide (CO₂) rise for short periods. James Nestor explores this in his book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. CO₂ isn’t simply a waste product that we need to get rid of. It plays an important role in respiratory physiology, and when we chronically overbreathe, we can blow off more CO₂ than our metabolism requires. Slowing the breath and working with comfortable breath holds can help us become more tolerant of the sensation of rising CO₂ and begin changing the way we breathe.
We also worked with fascia and the interstitium—the connective tissue and fluid-rich spaces that exist throughout the body. Instead of thinking about the body as a collection of separate muscles, organs and systems, I want you to start thinking about it as an interconnected environment. Breath, movement, pressure, sensation, and the nervous system are constantly communicating with one another.
This somatic piece has become particularly important to me. I spent a very long time trying to understand what was happening to my body intellectually. And yes, you know me—I want the science. I want to understand the mechanism. But I’ve also had to learn that understanding something and creating change in the body aren’t necessarily the same thing.
I’m thinking on Zoom and opening it up to all of you. We’ll do the work together and I’ll explain some of the science as we go. If you’d like to join, let me know; send me a DM. Easy Peasy.
In the meantime, I really do want you to read James Nestor’s Breath. Better yet, listen to the audiobook—Nestor narrates it himself and has a fantastic voice. It will change how you think about something you do roughly 20,000 times every day without much thought.
One more thing: I’ve also started putting up new Calm by Lane practices every week through Sober in San Francisco and The Sober Lens. These are practices you can return to on your own—meditation, breath, walking practices, and other ways of getting back into your body. If you’d like more regular practice with me, you can subscribe there, too.
I’ve missed teaching my wider community and feeling like my body and mind are coming back into alignment. Maybe it’s time we practice together again; I hope so.
Stay curious,
LANE KENNEDY
Calm Docent · DNA Functional Nutritionist · Stress & Capacity Educator
Explore my work:
The Capacity Report → [Read the Report]
DNA + Functional Nutrition → [Explore DNA Work]
Sobriety for Dummies → [Get the Book]
Sober in San Francisco → [Explore the Guide]
Calm by Lane → [Meditations + Practices]
Breathe. Notice. Build Capacity. Move.
