Like so many professionals, I spent long hours at my desk trying to meet the unrelenting demands of my clients. I was a litigation lawyer — the pressure was constant, the stakes were high, and stopping simply wasn't an option. Or so I believed.

I was constantly tense. My mind was always overloaded. Panic attacks became a regular feature of my life. I was convinced it was all mental, that I could think my way out of it. The truth? My body was keeping me in a constant state of stress that no amount of thinking could fix.

One day I found myself lying on the cold stone tiles of the office bathroom, just trying to feel something. That was my wake-up call.

Something had to change. I stopped working as a lawyer and took a break — not because I wanted to, but because I had no choice. It sounds like a cliche, but I was burnt out.

Slowly, the anxiety and depression began to lift. I took up Iyengar yoga and became a yoga teacher. I started paying attention to my body in a way I never had before.

Then, on a yoga retreat, I read James Nestor's book Breath. It changed everything. I discovered that the way I had been breathing — shallow, fast, through my mouth — had been quietly keeping my nervous system in a state of low-level emergency for years. I hadn't just burned out from overwork. My own physiology had been working against me the whole time.

Learning to breathe properly strengthened my connection with my body, revitalised my health, calmed my mind, and gave me renewed energy. It was the missing piece I hadn't known to look for.

I trained as an Oxygen Advantage Certified Functional Breathing Instructor. I went deeper into the science. And I started helping others — because I knew that what I'd found wasn't just useful for me. It was the thing most burnt-out professionals had never been told about.

Want to know more - www.claritycoaching.co.nz