The Breath That Changed Everything

Sometimes the most significant changes do not begin with a carefully crafted plan. Sometimes they begin with two simple words.

Why not?

That became my unofficial theme for much of 2025.

• A new breathwork class? Why not?
• Acupuncture? Why not?
• Kabbalah? Why not?
• A meditation practice? Why not?
• A Dr. Joe Dispenza retreat? Why not?

At the time I joked that every time I said “why not,” I somehow managed to dig myself a little deeper. What I did not realize was that I was not digging a hole. I was building a foundation.

A Fitness Year

When 2025 began, my focus was simple: fitness.

I challenged myself to go to the gym every day. Not so intensely that I needed recovery days after every workout. The goal was not punishment. The goal was consistency.

Some days focused on cardio. Some days focused on weights. What mattered was showing up every day.

I wanted to prove to myself that I could build momentum and sustain it.

As part of that commitment, I created a reward. If I maintained my consistency, I would invest in working one-on-one with a personal trainer.

At the time, that felt like the big goal. I thought I knew what my growth journey for 2025 looked like.

In many ways, I was right. It was a fitness year, just not in the way I expected.

An Unexpected Addition

In late January 2025, I joined Abbey Daw’s Magick Community Zoom gathering.

At the time, it had nothing to do with fitness. I was not looking for a spiritual path, meditation, or a major life transformation. I was simply curious.

Or perhaps more accurately, I thought:

Why not?

A short time later I began working with Abbey one-on-one.

What started as breathwork quickly became much more than I ever expected. Breathwork became the foundation, but it was not the destination.

Through that work I was introduced to practices that encouraged me to slow down, become more present, and develop a deeper awareness of both my inner and outer life.

Around the same time, on the recommendation of a friend, I also began acupuncture. Looking back, it feels remarkable that both entered my life during the same season.

What seemed like unrelated decisions would eventually become deeply connected.

Learning to Go Deeper

As spring arrived, something unexpected began to happen. The breathwork, meditation, and acupuncture practices started to intersect.

Individually, each practice was valuable. Together, they became something much more powerful.

I began practicing meditative breathing during acupuncture sessions and discovered that the setting seemed to magnify the experience in a way unlike anything I had encountered before.

The stillness came easier. The noise of daily life seemed to quiet more quickly. There were sessions where my awareness felt unusually clear and expansive.

Time seemed to lose its normal meaning. An hour could feel like minutes. Minutes could feel much longer.

What fascinated me most was that none of this had been part of the original plan.

I had started the year trying to improve my physical fitness.

Yet here I was exploring states of calm, focus, and awareness that I never would have associated with a gym membership or workout routine.

Those experiences transformed meditation from something I occasionally practiced into something I genuinely valued. It became part of my daily life.

A Door Called Kabbalah

In early March 2025, Abbey introduced me to Kabbalah.

I had little idea where that introduction would lead. What I found was not a collection of abstract spiritual concepts. Instead, I found practical tools for understanding patterns, challenges, responsibility, growth, and purpose.

One class became another, then another.

Eventually I completed Kabbalah 1, Kabbalah 2, Kabbalah 3, and Power of Kabbalah.

Many of the ideas that resonate most strongly with me today can be traced back to that introduction.

Looking back, that single recommendation opened a door that continues to shape my life.

The Right Introduction at the Right Time

Later that summer, Abbey introduced me to the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza.

The timing could not have been better.

Soon afterward, registration opened for his Nashville retreat.

Had the introduction happened earlier, I might not have been ready. Had it happened later, I might have missed the opportunity entirely. Instead, everything seemed to align at exactly the right moment.

Attending that retreat became another major milestone in a year already filled with growth and discovery.

Dr. Joe’s work added another layer to practices that were already becoming important in my life. The meditation techniques, the emphasis on intentional thought, and the connection between mind and body all resonated deeply with experiences I had already been having through breathwork.

The Other Threads

Interestingly, other parts of my life were also beginning to change.

I had already committed to learning the flute simply because it sounded fun. There was something appealing about becoming a beginner again.

Around the same time, I was even considering working with a vocal coach.

Looking back, all of these interests shared a common thread:

• Breath
• Presence
• Focus
• Awareness

Whether I was exercising, meditating, learning music, studying Kabbalah, sitting in an acupuncture session, or practicing breathwork, the same lessons kept appearing in different forms.

Different activities, but the same invitation: pay attention.

More Than Physical Fitness

What I didn’t understand at the beginning of 2025 was that fitness is about much more than muscles, endurance, or numbers on a scale.

The gym was strengthening my body.

Breathwork was strengthening my awareness.

Meditation was strengthening my focus.

Kabbalah was strengthening my understanding.

Acupuncture was helping me reconnect with my body in an entirely different way.

Together they created a foundation far more powerful than any workout plan I could have designed on my own.

What began as a commitment to physical fitness gradually became a journey of mental, emotional, spiritual, and creative growth as well.

Takeaways

Looking back, I can trace much of my 2025 and 2026 journey to a series of seemingly small decisions. None of them felt life-changing at the time. Most were met with the same response.

Why not?

What started as a fitness year became a year of breathwork, meditation, acupuncture, Kabbalah, Dr. Joe Dispenza, music, creativity, and personal growth.

At the time I joked that every new experience was digging me deeper. Now I see it differently.

Each “why not” was not digging me deeper. It was opening another door.

And behind each door was something I didn’t even know I was looking for.

Closing Thoughts

Looking back, I thought I was learning how to breathe. What I was really learning was how to pay attention.

To my body.

To my thoughts.

To my creativity.

To my spirit.

And to the quiet invitations that had been waiting for me all along.