<![CDATA[the healing lab: Guides]]>https://www.the-healing-lab.com/s/guideshttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!9nBT!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F218311b9-ad40-43ec-a95c-3b11ae93e2e5_800x800.pngthe healing lab: Guideshttps://www.the-healing-lab.com/s/guidesSubstackWed, 06 May 2026 18:22:34 GMT<![CDATA[My Secret Weapon: The Physiological Sigh]]>https://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/my-secret-weapon-the-physiologicalhttps://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/my-secret-weapon-the-physiologicalSun, 20 Jul 2025 19:24:31 GMTA sigh.

Though I often think of a sigh as the noise my husband makes in frustration (and a great reason to go back outside with the dogs), a sigh is actually a life-sustaining reflex that preserves lung function and our ability to stay alive.

What is a sigh? It’s a natural reflex that preserves the efficacy of the alveoli — the half-billion, delicate tiny…

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]]><![CDATA[Box Breathing for Beginners]]>https://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/box-breathing-for-beginnershttps://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/box-breathing-for-beginnersSun, 20 Jul 2025 16:26:15 GMTHello Beautiful Human,

Today I want to share one of the simplest breathing techniques available, as one of many tools for self regulation we explore together here at the Healing Lab.

Box breathing (also known as square breathing) is a simple and effective breathing technique designed to activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

This will calm the mind …

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]]><![CDATA[How to Shake it Like a Dog]]>https://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/how-to-shake-it-like-a-doghttps://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/how-to-shake-it-like-a-dogSun, 20 Jul 2025 16:15:35 GMT

Whenever I feel like the country is on some kind of dystopian roller-coaster, I feel like we all could use this nervous system regulation technique. And, I’ll be honest, probably because I love that I get to do it with my two girls, I am absolutely obsessed and can’t stop doing it. This technique is also downright hilarious and the giggles it offers are…

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]]><![CDATA[Cold Plunging 101]]>https://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/cold-plunging-101https://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/cold-plunging-101Sun, 20 Jul 2025 15:59:19 GMTHello!

Welcome to Cold Plunging 101 — this is a guide that includes everything I found as I researched cold therapy along the way and what I wish I had known before beginning.

The guide speaks to:

  • What cold plunging is

  • My experiences trying it and its profound impact on my mental illnesses

  • Best practices if you want to try to start plunging yourself

  • And, mos…

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]]><![CDATA[Float like a butterfly, breathe like a bee]]>https://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/float-like-a-butterfly-breathe-likehttps://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/float-like-a-butterfly-breathe-likeSun, 23 Feb 2025 02:23:00 GMTGood Evening Beautiful Human,

It looks like I’m a Saturday night writer now (face palm). I actually managed to write a few different pieces for you over the course of this week and not fall prey to my usual procrastinating. But even after editing most of the morning and all evening, none of them feel quite ready to set free.

For a long time, especially w…

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]]><![CDATA[A Lesson in Deep Sleep Breathing ]]>https://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/what-if-we-did-this-togetherhttps://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/what-if-we-did-this-togetherSun, 16 Feb 2025 01:47:18 GMTHello Beautiful Human,

It was another wild week.

Of course, I don’t need to tell you that. You can feel it in the frenetic pulse of humanity — the hurried steps in the grocery aisle, the curt salutations, and the hallowed exhaustion on all our shaking faces.

In true Kate fashion, I set out to “prove this week wrong.” In an equally similar fashion, I didn’…

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]]><![CDATA[Have you been breathing all wrong?]]>https://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/the-one-habit-keeping-you-stressedhttps://www.the-healing-lab.com/p/the-one-habit-keeping-you-stressedSat, 08 Feb 2025 15:02:48 GMTIf you are not a mouth breather like me (heyyyoooo), did you know that the nostril you breathe through actually changes throughout the day?

This is called the nasal cycle, and just like the physiological sigh that we talked about recently, it’s a biological rhythm controlled by the autonomic nervous system. About every 90 minutes to two hours, your body …

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