The Calm Lab Podcast

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) If you're doing everything right and still can't sleep, your nervous system may be stuck in sympathetic activation — the fight-or-flight state — without you realizing it. In this short 3-minute episode, we cover the four most common reasons your body can't transition into rest, and exactly what to do about each one. The four culprits:...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 12-minute bedtime practice moves through a gentle full-body sequence designed to help your nervous system gradually downshift before sleep. We begin seated with neck rolls and spinal twists, move through wide-leg and butterfly forward folds, then flow into a side-lying hip and hamstring release with a supported backbend — finishing in stillness...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 7-minute practice is for the nights when your body is exhausted but your nervous system is still running. Not about forcing sleep — about downshifting. Giving your body a gentle, concrete signal that the day is done. We move through child's pose with lateral stretches, cat-cow to release spinal tension, a supine sequence of knee hugs, singl...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 13-minute seated practice invites you to slow down, feel what's beneath you, and let your breath lead. Less about stretching and more about presence — this gentle yoga flow is designed to support your nervous system through mindful movement rather than effort or intensity. We move through shoulder rolls and neck release, lateral side stretc...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This is a full bedtime practice — one of the longer ones in the catalog — designed to take you from the busyness of the day all the way into deep rest. We move through legs up the wall with butterfly variation, cat-cow, cobra, windshield wipers with counted breathwork, spinal twists, hamstring release, and figure four — finishing in stillness with lo...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 8-minute practice is for the nights you want something real but don't have much time. A complete bedtime flow that moves through tabletop hip warm-up, low lunge with spinal twist, half splits for hamstring and calf release, supine leg stretches, knee-down twists, and rolling bridges — finishing in full rest. More dynamic than most of the pr...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 5-minute practice is your shortest option — and sometimes that's exactly what you need. A simple, grounding flow through child's pose, cat-cow, rolling cobras, windshield wipers, and a breathwork finish that gives your nervous system a clear, concrete signal to rest. We close with extended exhale breathing — six seconds out, four to fi...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) Tonight, we’re giving your nervous system a gentle, 7-minute reset so you can ease into deep, nourishing sleep. If your mind feels busy, your body feels wired, or you’re struggling to settle down at the end of the day, this soft, supportive practice is here to help you shift into rest mode. In this short episode, you’ll learn simple, research-backed...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 14-minute practice is specifically designed for people who fall asleep but can't stay asleep — waking in the night and struggling to return to rest. We begin with ujjayi breath, an ocean-sounding breathwork technique that creates a slight constriction at the back of the throat, deepening the parasympathetic response and making the breath it...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 17-minute morning practice is the only one in this catalog designed for the start of the day — and specifically for those mornings when you're carrying something. Emotional weight, residual stress, the heaviness that sometimes arrives overnight. This is a trauma-informed practice, which means nothing is forced, every instruction is an invit...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 22-minute practice is the most complete sleep episode in the catalog — designed specifically for two things: falling asleep quickly and returning to sleep after nighttime wakeups. If either of those is your struggle, start here. We open with Sitali breath — a cooling breathwork technique done by curling or slightly extending the tongue to constr...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 16-minute practice is built around one breathwork technique used from beginning to end: inhale for four counts, exhale for eight. That ratio is specific — an exhale longer than six seconds directly activates the parasympathetic nervous system, shifting your body out of fight-or-flight and into rest and digest. We don't just use it to open a...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 17-minute practice is built around one question: what does your nervous system actually need to fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply? The answer isn't trying harder to relax. It's giving your nervous system a concrete physiological signal that the day is genuinely over — one clear enough to actually change your heart rate, vagal to...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 15-minute practice is designed for one goal: helping you fall asleep quickly. We use box breathing — inhale for four, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four — a breathwork pattern that slows the heart rate and keeps you anchored in the present moment rather than looping on past or future thoughts. You can continue box breathing throughout...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 17-minute practice is designed to do two things: help you fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply and restoratively. We use cyclic sighing — a double inhale through the nose followed by a long slow exhale through pursed lips — at the opening and return to it at the close. Research identifies cyclic sighing as one of the fastest breathwork techn...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) insomnia, and in the middle of the night if you wake and can't return to sleep. If you're using it at 3am, you don't need to look at the screen — just listen. The cues are simple enough to follow with your eyes closed and the lights off. We open with cyclic sighing — a double inhale through the nose followed by a long slow exhale throu...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 20-minute practice is specifically for the nights your mind won't stop. Before you begin, grab a pen and notepad — writing racing thoughts onto paper before sleep is one of the most evidence-backed tools for a busy mind at bedtime. It moves the mental loop out of your nervous system and onto paper so your brain can finally stop holding on....

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) This 25-minute practice is the most complete nervous system regulation sequence in the catalog. We use two clinical techniques rarely combined in the same session: alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodhana) to balance the left and right hemispheres of the nervous system, and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) — a tense-and-release protocol that dir...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) Watch this episode on YouTube  Let's Breathe, Move + Learn in The Calm Lab Together Join our calm community! You'll get resources, gentle practices and updates to support your journey with sleep, trauma healing and anxiety.  Work with Me!   ––– Chapters ––– 0:00 – Welcome & Getting Comfortable 0:45 – Body Awareness: Feeling Contact with...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) Watch this episode on YouTube   Let's Breathe, Move + Learn in The Calm Lab Together Join our calm community! You'll get resources, gentle practices and updates to support your journey with sleep, trauma healing and anxiety.  Work with Me!   ––– Chapters ––– 0:00 – Welcome & Getting Comfortable 0:45 – Tune Into Your Breath 2:00 – Gentle...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) Tight or stiff shoulders? Let's open them up. This guided yoga practice also works into the chest, neck and upper back. Let's get you relaxed and ready for bed. About Kassandra: Kassandra is a trauma-informed yoga teacher, breathwork guide, and Harvard-certified lifestyle & wellness coach who blends nervous system education with accessi...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) Let's slow down, get into our bodies, calm our nervous system and come out feeling more relaxed, present and ready to conquer our day!  This guided Trauma-Informed practice is for everyone and includes Somatic Inquiry. You can watch here on YouTube. About Kassandra: Kassandra is a trauma-informed yoga teacher, breathwork guide, and Harvard-certi...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) Let's slow down, get into our bodies, calm our nervous system and come out feeling more relaxed, present and ready to conquer our day!  This guided Trauma-Informed practice is for everyone!  For a visual, you can also find this practice on YouTube here . About Kassandra: Kassandra is a trauma-informed yoga teacher, breathwork guide, and Harvard-...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) Headache, tight jaw or upper back pain? Maybe your shoulders are stiff or you've been bent over a computer all day - this guided practice is for you. Let's release tension and take some deep breaths so you can get the most out of your bedtime this evening. Follow me. About Kassandra: Kassandra is a trauma-informed yoga teacher, breathwork g...

Feeling calm? Have a question? Send me a text:) Let's unwind from the day and slide into a smooth evening flow. This guided practice is for everybody and helps you destress and let go.  Burned out? Ready to meet your best self? I help you slow down, regulate, and rise — trauma-informed & embodied.  My experience as a certified Lifestyle and Wellness Coach (Harvard), Yoga (E-RYT500) &...