We are pleased to share the recap from our February Women’s Forum virtual program: BREATHE BETTER, SLEEP BETTER: THE KEY TO LONGEVITY AND INNER HARMONY. We’re grateful to our esteemed speakers, Mary Lisa (ML) Wahlfeldt & Dr. Kimberly Lemke, who shared the powerful connection between sleep, breath, and well-being, offering the science and strategies to improve all three! ML also demonstrated proper diaphragmatic breathing, and we all participated in an effective breathwork exercise. 

And those who attended were invited to participate in a 2-week challenge and 20-minute accountability check-in – improving our breathwork and reducing our stress one inhale and exhale at a time!

You don’t want to miss the recap and replay:

KEY PROGRAM TAKEAWAY’S 

First, better breathwork is an important component to getting better quality sleep and the real power of improving both is in the proven benefits of:

• Stress reduction and increase productivity,
• Better focus and less negative thinking, and
• Avoiding burnout and the ability to create happier, more engaging environments at work and at home.

 Dr. Lemke described what she calls a sleep balloon. We have the entire day to fill that balloon and while an evening routine is an extremely important component of a quality night sleep, our sleep routine should start in the morning after we wake up. And it is important to engage all of your senses throughout the day to fill your sleep balloon. 

• Surprise learning: After 20-minutes, if you can’t sleep you should get out of bed. Otherwise, your brain won’t associate being in bed with sleeping!  

Click or use the QR code to access her free Workbook: “How to Shut Your Brain off at Night” 

ML explained that proper breathing is key to moving our nervous system into parasympathetic mode (rest and digest – to sleep better) but 90% of us aren’t breathing properly. She also demonstrated the wrong ways many of us breathe and the proper way.  

If you do 10-minutes of intentional breathwork each day, you will reduce stress, lower blood pressure, slow your heart rate, improve your immune system and sleep better. And if you can’t sleep, try box breathing – which we all did – and she demonstrates in the program. 

• Surprise learning: It can be in as little as one-minute segments – it doesn’t have to be all at once but can be in small segments throughout the day.   

Click here to access her  Intentional Breathing Exercise

Be sure to watch the program and use these resources so your body can begin to enjoy the cumulative benefits of better breathing and better sleep! 

About Our Speakers

Dr. Kimberly A. Lemke | DRIFT™  

Dr. Kimberly Ann Lemke is an esteemed licensed clinical psychologist and recipient of the prestigious 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year Award. With a passion for promoting sleep wellness and mental health, Dr. Lemke has dedicated her career to empowering individuals and organizations to achieve optimal well-being. Her expertise in addressing a wide range of psychological issues complements her focus on sleep science and its profound impact on overall health.  

Certified as a Sleep Science Coach, Dr. Lemke is celebrated for her groundbreaking efforts to enhance sleep quality and reduce the organizational costs associated with sleep deprivation.  

As Founder/CEO of Drift Sleep & Wellness Institute, Dr. Lemke empowers individuals and organizations to prioritize sleep health, cementing her status as a thought leader in the field. With credentials as a licensed clinical psychologist, Sleep Science Coach, keynote speaker, and corporate wellness consultant, she continues to shape the future of sleep science and mental health advocacy through prominent engagements in events, media appearances, and notable publications like Walmart Business, and various community initiatives.  

Trained in CBT-I for insomnia, Dr. Lemke earned her master’s and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology. Her extensive experience includes serving as the Chair of Continuing Education for The Illinois Psychological Association. She was also appointed to a mental health board, where she served as their Secretary and President of their Planning Committee. Additionally, Dr. Lemke currently volunteers as a member of the Disaster Action Team and The Mental Health Disaster Team for The American Red Cross.  

For more information:  

• Websites: www.drkimberlylemke.com and www.driftcourse.com   
• Dr. Kimberly Lemke | LinkedIn  
• Email: Drkimberlylemke@driftcourse.com  

ML (Mary Lisa) Wahlfeldt   

ML (Mary Lisa) Wahlfeldt is a Professional Breath Coach and Founder of Intentional Breath. She speaks at assemblies and conferences, leads corporate retreats and facilitates management workshops for organizations invested in employee wellness and organizational health, including NYFD, Google, AbbVie, WeWork, Leading Women Executives, Brookdale Senior Living, school districts, cancer patients, teenagers, athletes, and more.  

ML began her career over 30 years ago as a successful sales executive for Kodak, Classified Ventures, and Hanley-Wood before partnering with her own real estate consulting company. Balancing aging parents, her children and work, led ML to make life changes to combat the stress she was carrying. She discovered the science and power of breathwork.   

She began to practice meditation and intentional breathwork and soon was experiencing an undeniable transformation in her mind-body health. Better focus. More energy. Decreased anxiety. Improved sleep. And the list went on. She began to share her breathing exercises with colleagues and clients, and time after time, they experienced what essentially were life-changing benefits. With this heightened awareness, deepened understanding, and first-hand experience ML studied with esteemed leaders, including Dr. Belisa Vranich in New York City, and thus became certified in the field of breathwork, embarking on my new life calling: to educate others about the life-changing benefits of an intentional breath practice.  

Turning to breathwork & meditation to deal with her stress and overwhelm, she found peace inside herself. Through those experiences, ML teaches us how to overcome our fears and challenges to find the calm within. Tapping into the power of your breath, you can re-boot your body to perform at its peak, resulting in enhanced physical and mental health.   

For more information:  

• Website: www.intentionalbreathml.com 
• Mary Lisa Wahlfeldt | LinkedIn 
• Email: intentionalbreathml@gmail.com