Breathing is Action

Customizable meditative affirmations for teens and adults, giving its audience agency over their emotional development, personal growth and well-being.

Chapter 2: Finding Our Authentic Voice 06/23/2025

Chapter 2: Having a Voice - Introduction 06/05/2025

Chapter 2: Being Seen & Heard 04/30/2025

Chapter 2: Being Seen & Heard Here is the second meditation of Chapter 2: Innocence: Being Seen & Heard. Breathing is Action meditations are created to acknowledge the life lessons we learn from the developmental needs of the human lifespan. All of Chapter 2, titled Innocence, focuses on the life lessons that can be learn from infancy, the beginning of the lifespan. Being seen and heard is important to our overall wellbeing, for many reasons. For one, being seen and heard helps us to feel understood and validated by others. It helps us to feel connected to those we love. It also impacts our self-worth. All kids, and even mature individuals, need to know that they matter to the most important people in their lives. Being seen by our caregivers in early stages of life also teaches us the skills to see and witness ourselves as we grow up. Later, we meet other people and encounter hardships in life, being able to recognize and identify our needs with awareness is a challenging but important skill to acquire. Being able to communicate our needs calmly and with confidence increases the quality of our lives. Seeing Is Believing When caregivers are able to see an infant’s emotions and choose to respond with compassionate care and consideration, their children learn that their needs matter. Infants can rest assured in the belief that they are not alone in their feelings. Someone sees them, someone cares and someone is able to help. When we have big emotions, many of us don’t even need someone to offer up solutions. It is a huge relief on its own to simply be witnessed and our emotions understood by another person. As mature individuals, we can even do it for ourselves. To witness non-judgementally and be there for ourselves compassionately is an ultimate achievement in my eyes. It is the highest level of being witnessed because no one can understand us better than ourselves. An internalized sense of self-regard allows us then to gift it consciously to others, to be the grounded, safe individual capable of compassionately witnessing another. Listen Up! Feeling heard is super important for our self-esteem. It helps us feel validated and understood. If infants cry or children speak, and they are met with curiosity and validation, they make positive associations with communication. At an early age, we can begin to understand the importance of speaking up. We gain the confidence to express ourselves. At the very least, we learn that our words might have an impact and that it’s worth a shot to try expressing our needs. With enough positive experiences around feeling heard, we begin to trust that the important people in our lives are able to listen. It helps foster a sense of belonging and connection with others. And of course, I am always here to remind you that we can also do this for ourselves. By listening to our emotional world with curiosity, care and compassion, we can validate our own experiences. This will help us develop an internalized sense of belonging that goes beyond needing to be accepted by others – because we provide that acceptance and understanding from within. We can achieve this for ourselves so that we may be a safe person who is capable of providing understanding to those who need it most. Slow Down Cowboy! It goes without saying, this is a very slow process. It doesn’t just happen once that a kid feels seen and heard and then they get the gist of it. Heck, that’s not even how adults work – friendships, relationships and marriages take continuous action and emotional maintenance to maintain wellbeing. You don’t validate your partner once and expect that one good deed to last you decades. This isn’t a one-and-done sort of thing! Infants and young children are mostly making somatic memories (memories in the body – learning from their feelings and their dominant states of being) so it is after many repeated moments, multiple situations and years of feeling seen and heard that they eventually begin internalizing the message that their needs matter and that they are worthy of expressing themselves. Furthermore, traumatic experiences (which almost everyone experiences) can make the process even longer or impede progress altogether because they add information that directly counteract safety. Bullying, for example, is a classic way in which we are deeply misunderstood and mishandled by others. We are not only NOT seen and heard for who we truly are, but it is done in such an emotionally cruel way. This is why we would greatly benefit to take bullying at school and online more seriously. Challenge Yourself Depending on our life’s circumstances, we develop a complex and interesting relationship with our ability to witness ourselves and our needs, as well as our ability to express ourselves with awareness. We develop a complex way in which we experience and understand others. There is no right or wrong way to be, the world needs all kinds of people. What’s important is your wellbeing. Do you feel good about the level in which you are seen and heard, from yourself and the people in your life? Only you know that answer. Only you can take the steps needed to correct that if it doesn’t feel right. If you can, practice witnessing without judgement. Practice listening to understand. Life is a journey, and I hope you have fun with it. Take good care of yourselves. --- Chapter 2: Innocence Consistency & Reliability Being Seen & Heard Having a Voice Importance of Play New Experiences Navigating Fear Vulnerability Safe People Self-Soothing --- BREATHING IS ACTION is a meditative affirmation podcast for teens and adults. For everyone, everywhere. Let's be the change we want to see in the world! Writing, research and production by: Macie Leblanc-Smith Editing by: Macie Leblanc-Smith, Marc-Olivier Plouffe Music: Falling Through Space by Of Water on Epidemic Sound. --- Find us on - Website: Instagram: Facebook: --- Listen on - YouTube: Spotify: Apple: Amazon: iHeart: /episode/index/show/afa121c5-475b-4d04-8908-3c91840e7bf9/id/36376725

Chapter 2: Consistency & Reliability 03/26/2025

Chapter 2: Consistency & Reliability This is the first meditation of Chapter 2: Innocence: Consistency and Reliability. Breathing is Action meditations are created to acknowledge the life lessons we learn from the developmental needs of the human lifespan. All of Chapter 2, titled Innocence, focuses on the life lessons that can be learn from infancy, the beginning of the lifespan. Consistency and reliability are the building blocks of trust and safety. They are very important life skills to cultivate inside of ourselves. It is equally important to be able to recognize these qualities in others in order to surround ourselves with people who are safe and with whom we can be vulnerable. The Importance of Consistency & Reliability in Infancy Infants are the epitome of vulnerability. They are entirely reliant on their caregivers to have their needs met and to keep them safe. When they are just born, they can barely even see. For months and months, they aren’t able to walk, talk or do much of anything on their own. Infants cry out to their caregivers as their only means of communication. When they cry, they may be asking themselves “Is someone coming to help me or am I all alone?” Being alone when you are this vulnerable is more than just a question of comfort, it is a concern for survival. They also do not have the capacity to understand the difference between a physical need or an emotional need, they only know to cry out for help. After many years and multiple experiences, an infant that has had a consistent and reliable caregiver can learn to trust that the world is safe and that the adults in their lives have their best interest at heart. Consistency and reliability in relationships are needed beyond infancy. We learn lessons of emotional safety through the consistency and reliability of our friends, teachers, daycare providers, family members, society and so on as we grow up. It remains an important quality we search for in future mature friendships, romantic and professional relationships as well. As we mature and individuate into our own unique person, we’re tasked with becoming our own source of safety for ourselves. Depending on our early life experiences, we’ll have developed an internal dialogue that is compassionate and kind or harsh and dismissive, and anywhere in between. This article is for those of us who, for whatever reason, have developed an internalized dialogue that is not necessarily very nice or understanding. For some, we don’t even realize how quick we are to dismiss our emotions and say to ourselves “It’s not that big of a deal, toughen up” or “I shouldn’t be crying, it’s embarrassing” or “What’s wrong with me? Why am I like this?” Through meditation, I was able to witness just how often I said such things to myself without me even recognizing it. The uncomfortable truth is some of us emotionally abandon ourselves quite regularly. We’ve learned to ignore, fear or be irritated by our own emotional needs and those of others. However, this is not set in stone! Let’s Start Fresh! Thankfully, anything you’ve learned can be unlearned. For those of us who would like to be a little more consistent with care and compassion for both ourselves and the people in our lives, it may be helpful to unlearn some of the things we picked up along the way. Let’s begin anew! Let’s start over and relate to ourselves in a whole new way. For example, what do we do when an infant cries? Well, we swoop in and see what’s the matter, judgement-free. We’re full of genuine concern. So, we simply mirror that same dynamic with ourselves. We can start by simply asking: How do I feel right now? Then we check to see: What do I need? We slow down, ask and listen. We’re curious. Judgement-free. And we repeat, often. Oh! I had an angry outburst! (I sit with myself) What’s up, how do I feel? Oh! I am crying! (I swoop in, give myself a big hug) What’s going on? What do I need? Oh! I’m panicking! (Hand on my chest) What am I going through? What’s this all about? Start Your Day Differently For my fellow busy-bees and multi-taskers, it might also be helpful to resist the urge to start the morning with “What needs to get done today?” Instead, we begin our morning with “What is one thing I can do for my wellbeing today?” or “When can I take a moment to rest today and what would make me happy?” And we treat that moment with the same importance as any other item on our to-do list. Consistency and reliability are key. Try to follow through as best you can, even if it’s as small as 5 minutes sitting on a park bench outside during lunch – make your wellbeing a priority in some small way. Some days you won’t be able to do this at all, and that’s okay too. Turning self-care into an obligation would negate the intention here. Judging ourselves while we practice the skill of self-compassion would be counter-productive. Even if it’s not every single day without fault, it’s still helping. Perfection is not needed. Being generally consistent and reliable with ourselves in this caring way, over time, will cultivate a loving and compassionate relationship that feels safe and grounding. It's Always Changin’ I believe that our needs may change every single day. Sometimes going to the gym feels like self-care, but on other days it feels like an obligation. Sometimes ordering junk food feels like a treat, other times we realize we use it to numb our emotions. Sometimes mindlessly scrolling on the phone feels like pure relief, other days it aggravates us even worse. Sometimes a pedicure is exactly what we need, on another day what we really need is time alone, all by ourselves. Only YOU can truly know what feels like self-care and what doesn’t. And because it varies from day to day, it can be helpful to stay open and curious to different ideas. I often speak about traditional meditation because it is an ancient practice that is thousands of years old and still popular today, and it now has a ton of science and research to back up its benefits. But most importantly, it is important to do things that soothe your soul and calm your nervous system. And you are best suited to know what helps for that. After a while and with continued practice, you can get really good at knowing what truly lifts your spirits and what creates a sense of peace in your heart. And after an even longer while and continued of practice, you start to intuitively sense it and act on it naturally. It becomes who you are and how you interact with yourself and others. For me personally, I am still not intuitively there yet but I can see that it's where I am headed. As often as possible, recommit to your yourself. Recommit to your values. Recommit to what you truly believe in and what aligns with your soul. Remind yourself who you are and know yourself well. So… I ask you. If you could choose one thing to do today to really take care of yourself, what would that be? What would that look like today? What would you do? Where would you go? How long would it last? Would it be with anyone in particular? How do you want to feel? What would be fun? Take the time to really absorb how good it feels to care for yourself. Thank yourself, genuinely, for taking the time and being a source of safety for yourself and others. Know that I am grateful for you too. --- Chapter 2: Innocence Consistency & Reliability Being Seen & Heard Having a Voice Importance of Play New Experiences Navigating Fear Vulnerability Safe People Self-Soothing --- BREATHING IS ACTION is a meditative affirmation podcast for teens and adults. For everyone, everywhere. Let's be the change we want to see in the world! Writing, research and production by: Macie Leblanc-Smith Editing by: Macie Leblanc-Smith, Marc-Olivier Plouffe Music: A Place Like Home (Instrumental Version) by Birgersson Lundberg on Epidemic Sound. --- Find us on - Website: Instagram: Facebook: --- Listen on - YouTube: Spotify: Apple: Amazon: iHeart: /episode/index/show/afa121c5-475b-4d04-8908-3c91840e7bf9/id/35867155

Chapter 2: Innocence 02/27/2025

Chapter 1: Resilience 01/30/2025

Chapter 1: Resilience Resilience is the fourth and final meditation for Chapter 1: Emotional First Aid Kit. What first comes to mind when you see the word resilience? Resilience is a nuanced concept. Resilience is more than just courage or confidence. It is more than just being disciplined, showing up and putting in the effort. It includes qualities like determination and adaptability. Most importantly, resilience is our ability to encounter challenges or adversity, to rise above to continue moving forward. Being resilient is being capable of learning from our mistakes or from dark periods of our life; to use the lessons we pull from our failings or our suffering in a sustained effort to help guide our actions and decisions for a better future. Resilience doesn’t exist if there hasn’t been hardship before it. You don’t just wake up one day, suddenly resilient. It’s in the actions we take following difficult moments when our resiliency can be most acknowledged with awareness. It’s something that’s worked on, built upon and then fully recognized further down the line. Resilience is a long-term investment of the soul. We all encounter, endure or contribute to challenges in our lives that teach us hard lessons about resilience. If we successfully learn from those moments, we can apply our earned wisdom to future situations that bring up similar emotions. When times get tough, practice diving into your toolkit and tapping into your earned resilience. Here are 3 takeaways from my own personal learned lessons on resilience: One: Know with complete certainty that you deserve happiness. You deserve to be treated with kindness, love and respect. Resilience thrives in the knowing that each and everyone of us deserves to be at peace. You, the person reading this, wholeheartedly deserves happiness, meaning and purpose. It is healthy to ensure you’re being treated with kindness and consideration of your feelings. We all have different standards of what we allow into our lives. It’s helpful to assess if your life, and the people in it, reflect those standards and if you’re living a life that is aligned with what’s in your heart. You always and eventually get to have a choice. In the face of hardship or mistreatment from others, choose your happiness. Know that you are worthy of it, every single day. Two: Learn to recognize when it’s time to persevere and when it’s time to quit. Throughout my life, I have had to change my definition of success because I have often felt a pressure to succeed and perform well beyond my capacity. The grind culture we live in, and especially throughout adolescence, we’re bombarded with the expectation to find ourselves quickly and be successful TM (whatever that means). Let’s be clear, everyone’s definition of success is different anyway. While I believe having a goal to work towards is incredibly important, I have found it helpful to continuously assess my wellbeing as I build my life. Doing so ensures I don’t rush through things, and it prevents burning myself out. A part of resiliency is knowing how to recognize when a direction or avenue has been exhausted. I have learned the incredible skill of closing doors and starting anew when necessary. It is healthy and wise to assess whether a project, goal or relationship continues to be aligned with your values or not, and to be brave enough to make the decision to end it if you need to. I am not saying to give up simply because things get tough, but for some us who stick it out much longer than we should, it is helpful to know that it is okay to respectfully walk away from what isn’t working and start somewhere new or put your focus somewhere else. It is not a moral failing to call it quits when the situation calls for it. Sometimes a completely unsatisfying situation becomes comfortable, and it feels favourable over the unknown. Revitalizing a stagnant situation can be great for the soul, especially if we take our learned lessons with us and refuse to repeat the patterns that got us there in the first place. Three: Have a vision of what you want life to feel like. Cultivate a blind faith that you can and will achieve it. When times gets tough, it can be helpful to have a guiding light to hold on to. Having a direction to walk in is helpful in building mental and emotional strength, even if it’s unclear how to get there or what exactly the road looks like ahead. Instead of trying to pick what job you want, how many kids you’ll have or what you’d like your relationship to look like… I recommend building a vision of what you want your life to feel like. Have a clear understanding of why you want to have that emotional experience. Why does that align with you and your values? Cultivate a belief that you can achieve it, like a blind, naïve faith that it will all work out. Hope isn’t foolish. A “clear-enough” picture in our hearts about what we want helps to keep one foot in front of the other, forging the path ahead. Over time, we grow an understanding how we want to feel. The path on how to get there becomes clearer. We see tiny steps forward, while holding the big picture in our heart. Slow down and take your time. Get to know what fills your heart with fulfillment and meaning. Bonus: Inspire yourself from the stories of others. Resiliency is a skill like any other. It is a quality we can cultivate. It is something we can practice. We can inspire ourselves with the stories of others and how they overcame their challenges. We can learn from those who traveled before us. We actively look for lessons to learn from that could benefit our own travels. It’s no wonder our history books are filled with stories of people who embody resilience: Anne Franke, Maya Angelou, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi. When times are good, we can gather information and inspiration so that when hardships inevitably return, our motivation and strength of character are more easily accessible to us. We’re primed to pick ourselves up and get back on track. We too can find our own way forward despite the obstacles. Know that you can do anything you set your heart to. Believe that you can, and will, get through the toughest situations. Hardship is not fun. Perseverance isn’t easy. But recognizing your resiliency after adversity is a particularly satisfying healing state for the soul. Respectfully let go of what doesn’t serve you. Take good care of your heart, always. --- Chapter 1: Emotional First Aid Kit Self-Love Navigating Anger Navigating Sadness Resilience --- BREATHING IS ACTION is a meditative affirmation podcast for teens and adults. For everyone, everywhere. Let's be the change we want to see in the world! Writing, research and production by: Macie Leblanc-Smith Editing by: Macie Leblanc-Smith, Marc-Olivier Plouffe Music: Serena by Bireli Snow on Epidemic Sound --- Find us on - Website: Instagram: Facebook: --- Listen on - YouTube: Spotify: Amazon Music: iHeart: /episode/index/show/afa121c5-475b-4d04-8908-3c91840e7bf9/id/35083995

Chapter 1: Navigating Sadness 01/16/2025

Chapter 1: Navigating Sadness Navigating Sadness is the third meditation for Chapter 1: Emotional First Aid Kit. Emotions give us insight and information about ourselves and our needs, and sadness is of no exception. Sadness is deeply uncomfortable and often times more unpleasant to feel than anger. While anger can sometimes provide us with a sense of strength and motivation, sadness is the opposite. Sadness brings us face to face with our heartache. It often asks us to stop, rest and isolate. It is a vulnerable state and that doesn’t always feel very safe. Somewhere along the way, we might’ve learned that outwardly showing our tears left us open and exposed to misunderstandings, invalidation or emotional neglect. Anger then becomes the safer option and camouflages the reality that we are actually in a lot of emotional pain. When someone chooses to unlearn seeing vulnerability as weakness, it really is a journey for the bravest of souls because it goes against the norm. The truth is a lot of societies continue to see depression as laziness, crying children as spoiled or a gloomy mood as annoying. However, it bears repeating, that emotions are simply information. Being sad is not a moral failing. Being happy might be more pleasant, but it still just information, like any other emotion. We are the architects of our wellbeing. We can start being curious about our experience of sadness today and begin the process of changing our relationship to it in the long-term. Sadness is simply a response to something we’ve been through (or are currently going through) and it is a way our body communicates our needs to us. Instead of trying to run from our sadness, we can lean into it and see what needs are being asked of us. It may be something as simple as rest and self-care, or perhaps we are desperate for support from our community, or perhaps some time alone to process and understand a difficult situation. Sadness is also just the frontman to a whole category of all kinds of different flavours of experience like grief, dissatisfaction, loneliness, disappointment, despair, hopelessness, regret, shame, embarrassment, etc. Knowing how to name our experience of sadness, in detail, is a way to acknowledge our experiences and validate them for ourselves. It is a way for us to be wholeheartedly seen and heard, which is a universal need for every human being on this planet. Trust your sadness. It is real and it is valid. You are the best source of knowledge for what you need to feel better. Take good care of yourself. --- Chapter 1: Emotional First Aid Kit Self-Love Navigating Anger Navigating Sadness Resilience --- BREATHING IS ACTION is a meditative affirmation podcast for teens and adults. For everyone, everywhere. Let's be the change we want to see in the world! Writing, research and production by: Macie Leblanc-Smith Editing by: Macie Leblanc-Smith, Marc-Olivier Plouffe Music: Serena by Bireli Snow on Epidemic Sound --- Find us on - Website: Instagram: Facebook: --- Listen on - YouTube: Spotify: Amazon Music: iHeart: /episode/index/show/afa121c5-475b-4d04-8908-3c91840e7bf9/id/34885660

Chapter 1: Navigating Anger 12/13/2024

Chapter 1: Self-Love 11/14/2024

Chapter 1: Emotional First Aid Kit 11/06/2024

Breathing is Action

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