How-To Instantly Find Calm & with Breathwork Facilitator Brenda Winkle

Advice
woman-in-white-vest-and-black-bikini-with-hand-on-chest

Did you know Maine Lobstermen have implemented breathwork strategies to help manage stress? It’s true!

Our theme for January is wellness because starting the year off and ensuring that WE, as POCFs, feel supported is how we will best serve our relationships, families, fishing communities, and the world.

This episode is filled with calm and comfort to regulate our nervous systems, which help us feel more grounded throughout fishing seasons and life in general. What a great way to start the new year! The best part is that it’s super easy to remember, so you can try it anytime you’d like.

(You may remember this little practice from an episode that launched at the beginning of the holiday season in 2024 called “Save This Episode: 2-Minute Breathing Technique to Feel Grounded and Peaceful Anytime.” The episode is a total of 3 minutes long, including the introduction. Light, convenient, and on-the-go vibes. Click the link to hear it and save it for the future!)

I’m honored to introduce Brenda Winkle, a certified advanced trauma-informed breathwork facilitator, somatic coach, and trauma-informed Reiki Master, to our community.

The best part is that it’s not a super complicated breathing exercise. Actually, when Brenda asked how I was taught breathwork by a Yogi in California (which was kinda complicated and made me more frustrated than calm!), Brenda scales it down, making it as simple as elongating your exhales as you take three deep breaths.

Let’s try it now:

Breath in…..

Breath out……………..

Breath in…..

Breath out………………

Breath in…..

Breath out………………

How do you feel now? Isn’t that nice? 

In the episode with Brenda, she shares the power of breathwork and the EASIEST breath pattern to calm the nervous system in seconds. It’s magic, it’s simple, and she’s sharing it all with you!

Breath Work Facilitator Brenda Winkle on the Partners of Commercial Fishermen Podcast

Click here for Apple.

Click here for Spotify.

We also discuss:

  • Her 10-breath method for instantly calming anxiety.

  • “Chord cutting” and other methods to detach draining or negative energy. (SO GOOD!)

  • How to manage the inner “content” in our lives with the “context” of everyday experiences.

  • Plus, her *free mini-course* in the link below!

(more…)

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Morning Routine Hacks To Support Mental Health

In keeping with our Wellness theme for January, I wanted to share some parts of my morning routine that keep me centered throughout the day. Sometimes, if it’s going to be a busy day, I set my alarm a little earlier so I can get my “me time” in before I give my “me/love” to everyone else.

I love a good morning routine. It helps get my head right before a long to-do list, centers me when I feel scattered or in inklings of depression, and balances me when traveling. When I really get the blues, these tricks help, too! (Link in post.)

Even if I don’t get through every part, it’s amazing what even one little ritual can do.

But I like to do it up.

It’s fun to look forward to some pampering in the morning. I also do these routines with Chris here, and he likes it, but there’s just something extra special about early mornings alone, right after he leaves for the boat, when I can, as one reader put it, paint your toenails without anyone complaining of the smell. (Chris would agree to mornings spent by himself, too.) I say this all with love. (Y’all know what I mean, right?)

Here’s my morning routine to get my mind right for the day:

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19 Yr-Old POCF Emily Drops Knowledge Like She’s 91

I can’t believe it’s been YEARS since I read this interview with Emily Cunningham. It’s amazing to witness the immense wisdom that this life as a Partner of a Commercial Fisherman can bring to each of us, even if we’ve just begun the journey. What I love about this interview is that Emily is both a fisherman AND and a POCF who honors her job yet keeps it real. Here’s how this post started when I first published it on 11/13/2020:

While searching the “lobster fisherman” hashtag on Instagram, I found Emily. Her photos beautifully capture a lobster fishery in Maine, completely different from Chris’ fishery in California. Plus, the shots she takes of her partner in action really got me right here. (Pointing to heart.)

Of course, I wanted to know how she deals with the POCF lifestyle, and Emily was kind to oblige! So when I read her answers and saw she was 19, I thought, How sweet. Let’s see what the youngin’ has to say. Then I kept reading and was like, Damn, girl! You know what’s up! Particularly for the passage that starts with:

“After a long day of working on the boat together, my job as his sternman is done – but my job as a POCF has only begun.” Ok. We’re listening.

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