When I was starting to think of a name for my wellness coaching business, I went through all sorts of exercises to try and come up with one.
Should it be a catchy name? Should it contain my name? Should it be humorous? I went through several iterations but nothing felt quite right. I decided to journal about it. What does this name mean to me? What is it about my work of being a Wellness Coach that I want to capture? What is authentic to me and my style? How did I get here? I kept coming back to my dad. Yep. My dad. Throughout my life, when things were stressful to me or if I was struggling to find my way, he would say “you’ve got to blow that shit out”. Yep, that’s exactly what he said. For those of you that were lucky enough to know my dad, you know that he certainly had a way with words. I now know, that I had no clue what “blow that shit out” really meant until years later. My dad was telling me to take a deep breath and let it go. Release what wasn’t serving me. Blow that shit out means to exhale! I thought for one brief moment to register my business as Blow That Shit Out Wellness Coaching but I went with Exhale Wellness Coaching instead.
What does it mean to exhale
After I landed on this name, I started to think about what it means to truly exhale. The act of breathing out or exhaling stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The PNS governs the relaxation response that combats stress and enables us to relax, digest nutrients, express ourselves, heal and recover from trauma and injuries. Our outward breath is neurologically tied to the relaxation response in the brain. As a breathwork trainer, I have personally experienced the benefits of breathing exercises. I have felt what a deep breath can really do. The feeling of letting go, releasing, decompressing, cleansing out what is no longer serving us – it’s been life-changing for me.
Hit the pause button
My approach to coaching starts with helping my clients learn how to hit the pause button. Before we can begin to do the great work of healing, we must make space to be quiet and reconnect with ourselves. I see too many people jumping right into their weight loss goals, career goals, relationship goals, etc. before they have taken a moment to create a healing space for all of this to happen.
Give yourself some time
I encourage each of you to take that moment. We have to learn to prioritize activities that recharge our mind, body and soul. One of those activities is as simple as taking a deep breath and letting it go. In the words of my dad, I hope each of you will take a moment today and blow that shit out.
If you would like to learn more about Breathwork, check out this blog Breathwork: 3 Techniques.
