Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Francesca Sipma on How to Unclock Your Purpose Through HypnoBreathwork | EP 566

Starting point is 00:00:00 Coming up next on Passion Struck. You need to use hypnobreath work to heal because if you've been numbing out, if you have a big ego, if you have a lot of protective strategies, you can't get into that higher state of clarity because all of that energy is just working on suppressing that ability to access your highest states. So you have to heal first and then you can start to make creative connections and discover how your skills and your experiences and your obstacles and then turning those outwards will help you discover your purpose. Welcome to Passion Struck.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Hi, I'm your host, John R. Miles. And on the show, we decipher the secrets, tips, and guidance of the world's most inspiring people and turn their wisdom into practical advice for you and those around you. Our mission is to help you unlock the power of intentionality so that you can become the best version of yourself. If you're new to the show, I offer advice and answer listener questions on Fridays.

Starting point is 00:00:55 We have long form interviews the rest of the week with guests ranging from astronauts to authors, CEOs, creators, innovators, scientists, military leaders, visionaries, and athletes. Now, let's go out there and become Passion Struck. Hey, Passion Struck fam, welcome to episode 566 of the Passion Struck podcast. Have you ever felt stuck, like there's something more waiting for you, but you just can't seem to access it? What if the key to unlocking your full potential

Starting point is 00:01:25 isn't working harder, but about rewiring your subconscious, releasing fear and tapping into your intuition? Our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are deeply shaped by subconscious patterns, many of which were formed long before we were even aware of them. These invisible barriers can keep us trapped in cycles of doubt, hesitation, or even burnout.

Starting point is 00:01:45 But what if you could break through them? What if you could reprogram your mind to step into the most aligned, purpose-driven version of yourself? That is exactly what we're diving into today with my guest Francesca Sipma, a transformational coach, breathwork facilitator, and the visionary behind HypnoBreathwork. But before we get there, let's take a moment to reflect on the incredible conversation we had earlier this week. On Tuesday, I sat down with Dr. Dave Vago, a leading neuroscientist and mindfulness expert,

Starting point is 00:02:12 to discuss the neuroscience of mattering, why our brains are wired for belonging, and how mindfulness can help us create purpose and connection. If you haven't listened yet, be sure to check it out. Last Friday, I shared a powerful solo episode on Deep Work and the Five Keys to Mattering in Life, breaking down how eliminating distractions and focusing on what truly matters can transform the way you show up in your career, relationships, and personal growth. And don't forget if you're looking for curated episodes on topics like emotional well-being, mindset, personal mastery, peak performance, and alternative health, check them out on our

Starting point is 00:02:44 episode Starter Packs either at passion them out on our episode starter packs, either at passionstruck.com slash starter packs or Spotify. For weekly inspiration and actionable insights, be sure to subscribe to my Live Intentionally newsletter, also at Passion Struck, where I share exclusive tools and challenges to help you apply what you learn here to your own life. And if you prefer watching these conversations,

Starting point is 00:03:04 every episode is available on our YouTube channel where you can catch video highlights, full episodes, and more. And if you truly love today's episode or any of our episodes, please consider leaving us a five-star rating and review. It helps us magnify our mission and bring more people into this community. Now, let's talk about our guest today, Francesca Sipma. Francesca is a former New York City advertising executive turned transformational coach, entrepreneur,

Starting point is 00:03:30 and founder of Mastry, a personal development platform designed to help individuals break through subconscious blocks and unlock peak performance. Francesca is the creator of HypnoBreathwork, a breakthrough methodology that fuses breathwork, hypnosis, and visioning to rewire limiting beliefs, eliminate self-doubt, and activate intuitive decision-making. Her work has impacted everyone from Fortune 500 executives, Olympic athletes, and high achievers worldwide, helping them all to access flow states, emotional clarity, and deep personal alignment. Her new book, Unlock Your Purpose, Breathwork, Intuition, and Flow State,

Starting point is 00:04:06 reveals how we can overcome fear, reprogram the subconscious mind, and live with greater clarity, purpose, and fulfillment. Francesca's work bridges science and spirituality, provide a powerful roadmap for personal transformation. In our discussion, we explore why traditional goal setting doesn't always work and what to do instead. This is something

Starting point is 00:04:25 if you want to turn back to it you can also look to my episode with Caroline Miller where we did a deep dive on this very topic as well. We also go through the science behind hypno-breathwork and how it can rewire your subconscious. We discuss how fear and the need for certainty keep us stuck and how to break free. Why? Intuition is the ultimate success tool and how to strengthen yours. We do a deep dive into the role of breath work and unlocking peak creativity, clarity, and flow and how to take intentional action towards your highest potential. If you've ever felt held back by self-doubt, struggled to trust your instincts, or sensed you were meant for something more, this episode will give you the tools, insights, and inspiration to break through. So let's dive in. Here's my conversation with Francesca Sipma.

Starting point is 00:05:09 Thank you for choosing PassionStruck and choosing me to be your host and guide on your journey to creating an intentional life. Now, let that journey begin. I am so excited today to welcome Francesca Sipma to the Passion Struck podcast. Welcome Francesca. Thanks for having me, John. So just to give you a little bit of background, at Passion Struck, we explore how individuals can live more intentionally, and we focus on purpose and how to create a life that truly matters. And as I was getting into your book

Starting point is 00:05:47 and preparing for this, I found that your work is such a perfect example of this ethos, helping people clear subconscious blocks, tap into their intuition, achieve peak performance. I am so excited to go into your new book and into your hypno breath work. So I thought a good place to start was you spent a decade in New York's advertising world,

Starting point is 00:06:13 which I know how challenging that world can be before embarking on a spiritual sabbatical. And I think this is the first parallel that I saw between the two of us. We both had these big careers in large scale organizations, and then we both had kind of an awakening. Can you take us back to that pivotal moment when you realized something fundamental was missing in your life?

Starting point is 00:06:36 Yeah, I think for me, it was definitely when I got to the peak of the mountain. I had a very clear goal that I wanted to be an account director on one of the biggest brands in the world, at the best agency in the world. So when I was an account director on Google at a creative agency called Anomaly, I just thought I would feel so fulfilled once I got there. And I thought I'd be so proud of myself and I would just feel accomplished and my life would have meaning. And instead, as soon as I got that title and I got the projects and the recognition, I was just like, okay, what's next? What's the next goal?

Starting point is 00:07:12 What's the next promotion? What's the next metric I need to hit? And I realized that I even tried then to go client side on the global marketing team at Bacardi, and that was a really glamorous job. And after a couple of months of that, I was like, all right, what am I gonna do next? And there was never a moment where I felt truly fulfilled. It just felt insatiable.

Starting point is 00:07:32 It felt very empty. And that's what forced me to start looking inward. Did you ever have this experience that you just felt so much apathy in a way that you were almost becoming numb to it? I recognized that I didn't have gratitude for where I was. And I was numbing myself out with a lot of different coping mechanisms because I was working extremely hard. It was very fast paced.

Starting point is 00:07:59 And then I would get to what I was working really hard for, and there was no internal reward. So apathy, a little bit of disconnection, some aloofness too, because I just wasn't attuned to my feelings. There was also substances that I was using that was numbing me out as well. So it was just a mixed bag. Just what kind of happens when you're on the hamster reel and you're just in this conditioned autopilot mindset and not really attuned to yourself and your values.

Starting point is 00:08:27 Yeah, I think one of the best stories I've heard of that is when I talked to Gabby Bernstein and how she was facing that same thing and then had that awakening that she could either keep going down the path that she was on, or she could do away with the bad habits she had, some of the things she was doing,

Starting point is 00:08:45 and touch millions of people with her work. And I see the same connection to what you're doing. So you end up doing travels, as I understand it, through Bali, Peru, and India. And that led you into breath work, and ultimately the creation of hypno breath work. What was it about this practice overall that resonated so deeply with you and inspired you to dedicate so much of your life to it?

Starting point is 00:09:14 Can I ask John, if you've experienced breathwork before, have you done it? I have, I started doing breathwork all the way back in my mid twenties. Ironically, when I was working with SEAL, and we did a lot of yoga, a lot of mindfulness training and a ton of breath work both for when we were firing weapons, but more for keeping yourself calm when you're in an operational state. I've read about Navy SEAL training doing breath work and specifically box breathing, the style of breath work that I really resonated with or that I started off with was holotropic

Starting point is 00:09:50 breath work. So that's a really intense experiential therapy where you're releasing suppressed emotions, you're healing childhood memories, everything that you've basically been storing and holding onto in your body comes out and it's extremely cathartic. But again, it's very intense. So I was very fascinated by physiologically what was happening in my body, psychologically, the patterns and the insights and the awareness that were coming into the forefront. And I just found that in talk therapy, I was aware of my patterns and my

Starting point is 00:10:23 behaviors and my voids, but it wasn't changing my behaviors in terms of what my nervous system was still attracted to. And I needed something deeper and this breath work just took me right there. It took me to the source of emotions. It just brought to light so many things that I had really buried in my subconscious.

Starting point is 00:10:44 And so I became really fascinated by it. I studied it around the world. I traveled, I tried all the different instructors and the different styles. And I realized that there was a missing piece, there was a gap for people to really understand what was happening in a session and how to actually change their life. And so that's where the hypnosis comes in. It's just very specific vocal cues to help people focus their mind and rewire some of those negative patterns. Yeah, so I understand that the methodology combines

Starting point is 00:11:16 breath work, hypnosis, and visioning. And it was interesting because I'm not sure, I know you live in San Diego, so someone you might want to catch up with is Mark Devine. Mark is a former SEAL, and he really dives into these same three types of areas. these things that helped him, I think, be the first leader at Buds, who ever had his entire boat crew get through all of the training, because he got them to use breath work, he got them to use visioning, and he got them to really start looking at their challenges as if they were a rubber band, and that sometimes the challenge is so intense that you need to look at it as a contracted. And other times, the challenges is more elongated,

Starting point is 00:12:12 like a rubber band spread out. And I bring him into my book because it was such a powerful practice. So I wanted to ask, as that is a build-up, how do these three elements work together to help people clear blocks and then achieve flow state? It's a great question. So breath work on its own is completely transformative

Starting point is 00:12:34 and extremely powerful. So you could just do two inhales, one exhale, laying down by yourself, no music, no facilitator, and you'll feel releases, you'll feel tingling, you'll feel tingling, you'll feel physical sensations, and you'll likely access some memories or some visions. So alone, that style of breathwork is incredibly healing. Now the hypnosis, again, helps with the specific focal points and intentions so we can start to rewire and reprogram the mind. And I find that it's really hard for people to just skip to having a positive mindset

Starting point is 00:13:08 and having positive affirmations. They first need to release some of the fear, some of the shame, some of the guilt, the self-doubt. So that's what we really do in the middle of a journey with the hypnotic suggestions. And then the visioning comes at the end where we have you see that expansive vision for your life. I think a lot of the reason that people get stuck in habitual thought loops or anxiety or depression is because they're either reminiscing too much about the past or they're just stuck

Starting point is 00:13:36 and they just feel lost and they don't have a clear roadmap and clear direction for the future. So once we're clearing out the emotion, we're reprogramming the limiting belief. Then the last part of the session is seeing the life that you want to create, seeing the goals already attained, feeling the emotion of what that would be like when you're on the stage or you have your own company, it's successful, that home, that family, whatever that looks like. And then the very last part of every single Hypno Breathwork session is what is your next intuitive action step towards that goal, towards that life, towards your higher self.

Starting point is 00:14:08 And now they have a very clear, tangible action item. And if you do that every single morning for 20 minutes, you will be so clear, you will have so much direction, more intuition, sharper cognition, and you will start to live a life that you're proud of and a life that has a lot more meaning. So before we got started today I told you I got to listen in to an interview you did with a mutual friend of ours John Kim and one of the things I like that you brought out that I'm gonna ask you to bring out in this interview as well is you went through a number of different examples of how intuition and this practice of

Starting point is 00:14:45 hypno breathwork influenced you to make some certain decisions that have led to positive outcomes in your trajectory. One of them was actually about John Kim. So I thought maybe that would be a good example of how you've pulled this together in a tangible way. So when I was going through my spiritual awakening, John was somebody that I really revered and he was someone I loved following and listening to his stories. I found him to be so vulnerable and so authentic. And I had seen in a breathwork session to reach out to him and see if he would partner

Starting point is 00:15:20 with mastery and be an influencer or be an ambassador for us. And so I sent the email that came through in my breath work. He responded. We had a meeting and I said, we want to turn your book. I used to be a miserable fuck into a hypnobreathwork session. We'll use your concepts. We'll use your words. And he really liked the idea. So that then started a friendship and he had invited me to his retreat home.

Starting point is 00:15:43 I did breathwork on it. It was hell yes. We went and did cold plunge and we did breath work together. And our friendship really grew. And I was talking to him about the holistic psychologist and I just really admire her and I'm a huge fan. And he said, oh, she's gonna be on my podcast. You should come out for that.

Starting point is 00:15:58 And I was like, hell yeah, I'm coming out for that. And then he had sent a text message to everyone saying, oh, Francesca is gonna lead breath work after the podcast. And I I he had sent a text message to everyone saying, Oh, Francesca is going to lead breathwork after the podcast. And I was like, I am. But he sent it really early in the morning. And I did breathwork as soon as I got the message. And in my breathwork journey, it was like, cancel all of your meetings, read Dr. Nicole's book today, and then turn that into a session so that you're prepared after the

Starting point is 00:16:23 podcast. So I did that. And then I drove it to the podcast and John's, Hey, how's it going? I'm like, dude, I just turned Dr. Nicole's book into a hypno breathwork session. He's like, Dr. Nicole, come over here and meet Francesca. She just turned your book into a session. And she goes, Oh, I'm going to stay for that. And then I developed a relationship with her and she endorsed my book. They both endorsed my book all from from just a series of intuitive actions that I had the courage to take. And my mindset or my psychology, my blocks were don't be a burden,

Starting point is 00:16:53 don't ask for help, don't be annoying. But my intuition was like, go for it, add value, and then ask. And I did. And I mean, both those friendships have been great for personally and then also professionally. Yeah, I love both those stories. And Nicole is another guest that I've

Starting point is 00:17:10 had the privilege of having on the show. I love her books. They're so easily digestible and applicable. And I can see why between that and the crazy stunt she does on social media, why she's so popular. But I think you brought up something that's really important there is, I know I've been asked a number of times, like, how did I get some of the endorsements that I got for my book? And when you reach that point, well, sometimes publishers

Starting point is 00:17:38 do it for you. But in my case, I asked all the people directly. But what I found is you can't do this cold turkey. It's not like I'm going to ask Seth Godin for an endorsement without knowing him. I mean, it was over a few years building up a relationship with him that gave me the confidence that he knew who I was, knew what I stood for. I'd invested time in getting to know him. And even when I asked him, he said guarantees. I don't do ma

Starting point is 00:18:08 I'm willing to take a loo go from there. So I think because you've got to buil you want someone to recipro tell me to reach out to 30 eight endorsements that I wanted. And typically as a New Yorker and somebody who's used to going above and beyond and just forcing myself to the grind and the effort, I would have sent 50 emails or 100 emails

Starting point is 00:18:36 and just gone for gold. But I did breath work on that too. And I was like, no, I want these six and I'm going to highly personalize, highly customize this outreach. And I'm gonna follow up and I'm gonna nurture this. And that's what I did. I went against again, my conditioning of just grinding and forcing it. And I just sent really heartfelt messages to these six people that I had developed relationships with.

Starting point is 00:19:00 And one of them was my hero, which is Robert Greene. Are you familiar with his work? Of course. I think the first time I heard him on a podcast, I think it was with Lewis Howes and I think it was like Lewis's first or second podcast he ever did, but love his work. Yeah, he's the goat to me. Robert is an absolute legend and he's honestly shaped so much of who I am as a coach. I named my company after his book, Mastery.

Starting point is 00:19:24 That's how much I revere him. And this is an even crazier intuitive story, is I saw he was speaking in Seattle with Ryan Holiday. I was like, oh my gosh, I have to get tickets immediately. But I didn't do my morning breath work yet. And I don't do anything before I do breath work in the morning. And in that breath work session, just very clearly, it flashed in my mind, row F, row F.

Starting point is 00:19:49 So I go back on my computer and my cursor was hovering around row G. I go to row F and in very fine print, it says meet and greet. And I was like, holy crap, I almost missed this opportunity to meet Robert. So I booked the meet and greet and then my breathwork sessions leading up to that told me that I had to say when I

Starting point is 00:20:09 had the opportunity to take a photo with him I had to say I named my company after your book, I do breathwork and hypnosis, I would love to turn your one of your books into a subconscious journey for your readers. And I had practiced that and I had rehearsed it and And as soon as I got my shot, I said it exactly almost a little too robotically. And he goes, "'Breathwork, I'm curious about that.'" And I was like, what?

Starting point is 00:20:35 And that allowed me to actually facilitate a session on him and also develop a relationship with him. And that's how that sort of got rolling for him to endorse my book. And he's on the front cover of it because I mean, again, he's a legend. Well, it's a great story and a valuable lesson as well. I want to go back to something you touched on. Well, before we do that, since we've been talking a little bit about the book, how

Starting point is 00:21:00 did you come up with the title unblock your purpose? Because in my subtitle, as you brought up, as we were talking beforehand, I say unlock your purpose. You say unblock your purpose. And there's the, it's a slight but interesting and profound difference. It really is. I came up with that title, I think five years ago, because I created a digital course and I just felt that we have so many emotional and mental blockages, blocks like I'm not good enough,

Starting point is 00:21:31 blocks like fear of self-doubt, blocks like procrastination or perfectionism or self-sabotage. I just felt like we had a lot of self-imposed limitations and emotional blockages. And so block was just the right word for me. And naturally, John, as you'll know, that title came through in a breathwork session. So that's what we ultimately went with.

Starting point is 00:21:55 Well, I love it. Mine originally was gonna be much shorter and it was almost gonna be, I'm not sure if you've read Robin Sharma's book, The 5 a.m. Club, but he's got a very short subtitle and it was going to be like that. And my publisher didn't like it, so they expanded it. So mine, but it captured the essence of what I was, what I was going for. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:22:17 Well, where I wanted to go back to is you mentioned before some of the things that hold people back. And a couple of those things are fear, negativity, bias, imposter syndrome, the desire for certainty. And those things keep people stuck in their track. How does hypno breath work help people to overcome those barriers and to embrace the unknown? The first thing it does is it always finds the highest emotional charge. And I really want that to land. Breathwork always finds the highest emotional charge.

Starting point is 00:22:57 And we're not always aware of what our blockages are. And if we are aware, we don't always know the source or the root of where they stem from. So what Breathwork has this uncanny ability to do is find the source. So if I'm, say I'm triggered and I don't want to send this investor update and I'm having anxiety about it, I'll go into a Breathwork session and be like, where is that coming from? Where is this like anxiousness coming from? And it's, oh, okay. It's the need to prove my worth to my father. And I'm now projecting that onto these investors. Cool.

Starting point is 00:23:30 It reveals the source of your behavior patterns. And once it reveals it, you use the breath to actually exhale out a lot of that emotion. So you're breathing out the stress, you're breathing out the tension, you're breathing out the guilt, the shame, the sadness, the grief, whatever's been locked and stored in your body. And then once we take you to that journey, and it's okay, visualize how you want this to go, what's that emotion, what's your action step, then you've transcended the limitation and that, again, suppressed energy that's been in your body. And you have a very clear next action step and direction so that you move immediately out of it.

Starting point is 00:24:06 And I think that's something that you would really appreciate in my work is I'm extremely spiritual and intuitive and by that I just mean my connection to myself, but we're executors in hypnobreath work. The action is just as important as moving through the psychological limitations. I love it. I just did a solo episode today that is all about how do you bridge the gap between theory and action. So I love that that's a core focus area for you as well.

Starting point is 00:24:35 So I have recently had a few guests on the show, specifically Lisa Miller and Susan Grau. Lisa, if you're not familiar with her, studies the science of spirituality and Susan is a master in spirituality and a medium. And it reminded me of how your work blends science and spirituality in a unique way. How do you go about balancing these two seemingly opposing forces to create something that resonates not only logically, but also touches the emotional side of people? This is really the sweet spot.

Starting point is 00:25:14 I think that a lot of people skew too far on one end or the other end. I'm not about just living in love and light and having no strategy and structure and just hoping things fall into place. I don't think success works that way. But then I also have learned from experience, and I'm sure you did too, in the corporate world that force and exertion and just having that discipline and consistent habits can also allow you to have limitations and hit ceilings. But when you can merge the two, when it's rooted in the science and you understand that the physiology of breath work is changing the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide, which means it's shutting

Starting point is 00:25:52 down your prefrontal cortex, which is your logical thinking brain, which is that things have to be done systematically in the way that I've seen in the past, and you actually start to keep breathing and you activate different regions of your brain, you're expanding your capacity to tap into new information, to tap into knowledge that's been stored, to tap into infinite intelligence. You begin to make new creative connections.

Starting point is 00:26:14 You begin to expand your mind. This is where innovation happens. So from a physiological standpoint, I know that we're oxygenating our body in a way that we're stimulating our brain to expand and see something new. And I believe that greatness really happens when you can merge both worlds, when you can merge intuition with action, and you can merge spirituality with strategy.

Starting point is 00:26:38 I like that, merge spirituality with strategy. Where's the first place someone would start in attempting to try to do that? So we have a couple of resources. I launched Mastery App, which is a wellness platform, and it has 80 different hypnobreath work sessions on our app. So anything that you're going through that day,

Starting point is 00:26:59 if you're being impatient with your child, if you need more self-love, if you want to get into a peak performance state, decision-making, there's topical sessions that people can do in 20 minutes to get the benefits of this work. But then I also have the book now, which gives more context, which explains the why behind it,

Starting point is 00:27:15 which allows me to go deeper into details of other people's stories. So if you're a skeptic and you need more of the information and the science and the physiology, start with the book, Unblock Your Purpose. If you want to dive right in and feel the benefits and have that experiential release and start shaking and convulsing and crying and letting things go and seeing that higher vision, then jump into Mastria. Well, thank you for that. And I wanted to now go a little bit deeper into flow state.

Starting point is 00:27:45 So in my book, I described this as achieving the state of optimal anxiety, because the way I think about it is it's almost like you're on a tight rope and if the tight rope is not tight enough, you're going to fall off because it's got too much give in it, but if it's too tight, you can also have the same thing. So it's how do you balance that equilibrium between the two? So I guess as a starter, Francesca, how would you define flow state? So my definition of flow state would be optimal consciousness. It's when everything's firing, you're in the zone, you have sharper

Starting point is 00:28:23 cognition and clarity and intuition and creativity. It's when discipline meets surrender. But my favorite definition is, it's when productivity meets alignment. I don't know if you have ever seen the work that McKenzie did on this, but they studied executives who were in the flow state

Starting point is 00:28:41 and those who are not. And it actually, their findings found that people who are able to get in the flow state and those who are not. And it actually, their findings found that people who are able to get in the flow state are able to do the same amount of work in two hours that their peers doing a full day of work. It's pretty amazing. Okay, let's dig into this. So first I wanna tell you about how I trademarked

Starting point is 00:28:59 flow state breath work. And it started because when I was transitioning from corporate into entrepreneurship, I didn't really know what I was doing and I didn't know how I was going to monetize as a breathwork coach. So first I had to do breathwork for my ego to die because I wanted the status and the significance most of my life. And then I had to do a lot of breathwork to figure out how I was going to build a business and scale it. So I treated my bedroom like an ad exec and I had all of these white papers up on the wall, physiological benefits, spiritual benefits,

Starting point is 00:29:27 psychological benefits, partnership strategies, content pillars, all of these things were all over my bedroom. And then I would breathe to binaural beats because I knew it was activating different regions of my brain, and I needed to get out of fear and scarcity and into those creative states. So I would do this breath work,

Starting point is 00:29:44 and I would set a very clear intention. What's the next thing I need to do to launch this business? What do I need to do to make this successful? And just boom, it was like these dots started to connect. This messaging with this person, with your old company, send this email, make this video, create this real. And I would just get all of these marketing and content ideas.

Starting point is 00:30:03 And I did that every single day. Every morning, I would just breathe on of these marketing and content ideas and I did that every single day every morning I would just breathe on how to build my business and within my first year. I made back my marketing director salary within my second year I'm more than doubled it So I was like I think I've really created something with this flow state breath work at the time breath work was really The psycho spiritual breath work was only really known for healing traumas and anxieties. And I was like, No, there's a way for us to focus the vocal cues and choose different music and set intentions so that it can be about optimal performance and mental clarity. So I would go into companies and I would say, see your mission statement, see your 2025 roadmap. I want you to see the strategy. I want you to see how you want the audience

Starting point is 00:30:45 or your consumer to feel. I want you to see the product development. Whatever industry I was working with, I would customize the cues so all of their teams could get into a collective flow state, feel the collaboration, be more productive, and that's flow state breathwork. Well, man, I love that.

Starting point is 00:31:03 And I want to get into that a bit more in a couple questions. I wanna talk about something that I have found impacts flow state for me. And that's the role of emotions. For example, can processing negative emotions or clearing blocks through breath work actually create a better pathway to flow? Oh, you gave me full body chills with that question, John. That's such a great question. Yes, in my book, it's in three parts. And the first part is all about healing.

Starting point is 00:31:38 You need to use hypno breath work to heal. Because if you've been numbing out, if you have a big ego, if you have a lot of protective strategies, you can't get into that higher state of clarity. Because all of that energy is just working on suppressing that ability to access your highest states. So you have to heal first. And then you can start to make creative connections and discover how your skills and your experiences and your obstacles and then turning those outwards will help you discover your purpose. But what I've also found, there's a bit of a chronological journey that I take people on to discover their purpose and it starts with healing the past. But now there will be days when I'm like getting up in the morning and I can't wait to do my flow state breath work, but my partner really

Starting point is 00:32:21 pissed me off. I'm so mad breathe higher states because I'm so mad. And then I'm like, god damn it. I have to breathe on this relationship today instead of doing my strategic planning or my pitch deck or whatever that looks like. But you have to breathe out the emotion or you can't get it into those states. And sometimes it might be really heavy.

Starting point is 00:32:41 Something really intense might come up for me that day and it's another layer. And then I'm a little bit too emotionally rocked to get into that place. But then of course, the day after that, I'll do a flow state breathwork. And whatever I come up with, whether it's media planning or it's acquisition

Starting point is 00:32:56 or it's partnerships or it's influencers, I will get that done in a fraction of the time I would have paid an agency to do or other people who aren't using breath work would take to get something done. Well, and I've got a great follow on to that because flow is often fleeting for most people. Let's face it, it is people get in the flow state and they get out of it. How can hypno breath work or other intentional practices make Flow more sustainable so that they can do

Starting point is 00:33:27 what you were just talking about for a longer duration? That comes with consistency. So I wrote an article about this for Forbes Business Council and then the chapter is also called Hacking Flow State on Demand. And it's consistently doing this breathwork every single morning, the first 20 minutes of your day. We have way too much conditioning. We have way too many stories, limiting beliefs, issues from growing up, caregivers, childhood,

Starting point is 00:33:54 all of these things that play a prominent role in our lives on a day to day. And so for me, breath work first thing in the morning is clearing and cleaning the slate. So if you want to be able to get into flow state more regularly, more consistently, then you have to breathe every single morning, take the action steps immediately, because that's another block to your flow state. If you do a breathwork session and it's send the email, and then you come out of it, and you're like, Oh, well, maybe I'll take that action step later. And then it's the next day you'll go into breath work again, and you're going to get the same action steps. So you've just wasted a day.

Starting point is 00:34:29 You've wasted a session. So not taking the action steps will also block your flow. Okay. Thank you for sharing that. And I want to get back to using this in a business context. So you have worked as you were describing with teams and corporate groups to achieve flow.

Starting point is 00:34:48 My question here goes into, we've been talking a lot about individual flow. How does the energy of a group impact the ability to reach flow state? And how, if you're a leader who wants to empower their whole group, how do they foster this dynamic trait in their teams? Good question. So there's a couple of ways I want to answer this. First, bringing flow state into your teams is, in my opinion, what every single company and what every HR department should be working on doing, because you want your employees to be clear. You don't want them to be stressed and burnt out and not working at their peak performance. So bringing this into your teams, just as even a stress release, we can customize the sessions in so many different ways. I have

Starting point is 00:35:36 six months worth of sessions that I can take corporate teams through and it can range from sessions on sales, management, leadership, negotiation. There's so many different topics that we can do to help people get into a peak state. Now, in order for it to be really successful, we can't just do the mental clarity and the focus and the creativity sessions. I like to start with those, just ease people in. They feel super euphoric after a session.

Starting point is 00:36:05 I did one with 300 Deloitte employees online a few years ago. And when we started, I said, how are you guys feeling? And everyone said burnt out, stressed, tired, overwhelmed. And 20 minutes later, I said, how are you feeling post-session? Rejuvenated, inspired, excited. Can we do this every week? Oh my God, that was amazing. And I said, what's your next action step?

Starting point is 00:36:26 And they said, delegate the task, schedule the meeting. I mean, they had so much clarity coming out of that session. But there's other sessions that need to be done if we're gonna work together over a long term and really make changes within the organization. And those sessions have to be around empathy. They have to be around compassion. And a lot of times there's a really big disconnect

Starting point is 00:36:48 between upper management and their employees and their teams because upper management oftentimes feels like they're doing a lot more of the work or they have a lot of pressure on them. And then their teams feel like there's no acknowledgement of work-life balance and they need more recognition. So we have to have different teams and different individuals see the perspectives of the other people so that it can be more harmonious within the group and more harmony allows you to be more productive.

Starting point is 00:37:17 I think one of the things I think it's difficult to understand on both sides, having been a C-level executive in a Fortune 50 company myself, I think it's difficult for the employees, especially a couple rungs down to understand just how much pressure, how much politics, how much HR issues, how much demands there are on the executives, and why they might be a bit disconnected at times, as you were talking about. But I think the other thing that's important is the best box bosses, I think, do this framework that I talk about, which is speaking with their feet, which means it's not just sitting in your office or dealing only with your peers or only trying to manage above.

Starting point is 00:38:12 It's getting out and being with the troops and being seen and just spending a few minutes every single day asking questions, trying to stay attuned to what's happening makes people feel like they matter. And so I think that's one of the things people miss out on and they don't let themselves understand the feelings that their employees are feeling. So because of that, they can't be empathetic to them. Does that make sense to you? A hundred percent. And it reminds me of, I was doing a leadership summit for a group and the CFO came out of the session and he was like, I mean, this was so startling for all of us. He just goes,

Starting point is 00:38:56 I just realized why I'm such an asshole to my team. And it's because I hate my mother. Whoa. All right. Well, we got some awareness of that massive projection. And obviously with that allows him to do a lot of healing and completely changes the dynamic because he's showing up completely different for them.

Starting point is 00:39:15 And it's something that I find in entrepreneurship as well. And even with my coaches, and I know that you'll relate to this, especially when you're building a brand and you have a book and you have a podcast and you have a podcast and you have a company and you have startups and you're an investor and you've all these things going on. And then I'll get an email or I'll get a text message that someone's frustrated with me because I didn't do this X, Y, Z for them. And in my worldview and in my landscape, that is the most trivial thing. And I can't even believe I've been

Starting point is 00:39:42 disrespected that they would waste my time and my energy sending this to me and it's so frustrating how can you not see all the things that I'm doing and where this lies but then before I write something reactive back I know I need to breathe and understand that this is a big part of their paradigm and how can I show up differently because we can't expect e be more self aware and be only things we can contr So I use it all the time

Starting point is 00:40:12 because I'm just not wired that way to see all the p either. I can completely you just said and I've lived it from both sides. So, so much to think about there. Well, I want to take this from the business world back to the individual discussion. You've described hypno breathwork as disruptive in the best way. And one of the things that I know a lot of people struggle with is navigating resistance.

Starting point is 00:40:47 How, both in your own journey and as you bring this method to the world, have you found hypno breathwork to be disruptive in the best way about helping people navigate resistances that they face? I think that the most hard-hitting way is that it just provides clarity. Breathwork gives you clarity. So if you're resistant towards change or making the transition or getting out of the relationship or launching the thing, when you breathe and you get that very clear vision or that very clear download, it's so loud. And that clarity is euphoric. That clarity feels really good.

Starting point is 00:41:28 And it's like a deep inner knowing. And when your intuition is activated in that way, it's motivating, it's inspiring. And when you start to take the actions, what happens is you're building that muscle of self-trust and the universe begins to reward that. You'll start to see opportunities coming your that. You'll start to see opportunities coming your way. You'll start to see different synchronicities. And then you'll be like, okay,

Starting point is 00:41:48 there's a really beautiful exchange that's happening here. The more I breathe through the resistance and take the intuitive action, the more things are starting to go my way. And then you get a little bit of proof of concept. You start to build the muscle. It becomes a habit. And then all of a sudden, your life has meaning and fulfillment and color, and you have more joy, you have more peace, or you have more mental resilience. So the breath work allows you to breathe

Starting point is 00:42:13 through the resistance, see the outcome, see what's possible when you take the action, and then just have the clarity to do it. Yeah, it reminds me, I've got a good friend, Scott Simon, and he's got this wonderful book called remind friend scott simon and he book called scare your sou the country getting peopl movements. Um and for him

Starting point is 00:42:36 and courage expanding to move further and further go after things you really sounds awesome. I love that. So speaking of fear, I think one of the things people fear is going down the path of being an entrepreneur. Now we've seen an uptick in it since COVID hit, but in your own journey, you've had to balance being a healer and a business leader. So my question to you is, what advice would you give

Starting point is 00:43:12 to listeners and entrepreneurs on how do you navigate uncertainty, like we've been talking about, while you stay true to your vision? So let me plant a seed for everyone because the relationship to uncertainty and what I found is that's actually the number one intention for most men

Starting point is 00:43:33 is they feel this need to know, to control, to provide and therefore they want all the steps lined out in front of them. But the beauty is really in the unknown. It's in the unpredictable and it's in the limitless possibilities. If you're creating from certainty, that's a very limited pool.

Starting point is 00:43:49 You're only pulling from past experiences and things that you've seen. And you're not allowing for any of the magic of the universe to skip steps or take you on a different growth journey. So I first wanna just plant that seed that the unknown and being in uncertainty can actually be really exciting.

Starting point is 00:44:06 It can be enthralling. It can be better than you ever imagined. So let that land first. And then I would just say that when you do this breath work on a daily basis and you get one next intuitive action step, it gives you more courage to keep going because it doesn't have to be this huge big leap.

Starting point is 00:44:26 I don't even tell people that you need to quit your job right away and go into entrepreneurship. Sometimes it's intuitive for it to be a side hustle, for you to start to build your audience first, for you to dapple in it before you go all in. And when you listen to your intuition and you have that guidance and you have the courage to do it every single day,

Starting point is 00:44:43 it'll start to give you confidence. So it's small daily action steps versus this really big scary leap that feels like you're going all in. Just make it a consistent practice and take those little action steps first. I also want to go into this area. You've mentioned one or two times today this concept of autopilot You've mentioned one or two times today, this concept of autopilot. And I used to like to say that so many people are living on autopilot. And as I have been doing more and more research on this,

Starting point is 00:45:14 I think it's the wrong word to describe people. Because when you're on autopilot, you're typically going in a positive direction. I mean, if not, the plane would crash. And so I have come up with this metaphor that I think more people today are living their life like they're a pinball. They're living a pinball life. And they're the ball in the game instead of learning how to play the game. And to me, that's the difference between being intentional with the choices that you make and not. So using that metaphor, how does your book and Hypno Breathwork encourage people to live more

Starting point is 00:45:56 aligned to playing the game instead of allowing it to play them? First of all, thank you for pointing that out the difference between autopilot and Pimble. I love when I have conversations that really expand my mind too. And I have little aha moments where I'm like, Oh, okay, yes, I really like I think when I think of the term autopilot, it was less literal. So it wasn't actually thinking about the plane flying, it was just more of like the mechanical function of doing things without

Starting point is 00:46:23 thought. And I think a lot of times when we make decisions or even if it's something so simple as, oh I don't like mushrooms. Is that true or was that from when I was nine and I didn't like the texture then? Is that still true to this day or am I just telling the same story of 30 years? And there's a lot of moments like that when you just react because it's a pattern, versus something that you're actually present with, intentional about and attuned to. And that's what the breath does. It disrupts the automatic reaction. And it allows you to actually pause and reflect and go deeper and say, is that true? Am I really afraid of this business failing or is it my ego or is it because

Starting point is 00:47:10 my dad never said he was proud of me? What's the real reason and how do I get out of that pattern and just functioning automatically or like a pinball and start to make different changes and different choices and different decisions? So the breath disrupts that again, that automatic reaction, and it allows you to choose differently and expand your options. And Francesca, it's been such a great opportunity to talk to you today. If you could leave our listeners with one key takeaway from your book

Starting point is 00:47:40 or your journey, what would it be? That your intuition is your superpower, especially in business. And we over index on logic and analysis and structure and strategy and discipline and consistency, but there's so much power and knowledge and possibility and intuition. So I would encourage everyone, fill your mind with

Starting point is 00:48:05 the information, listen to the podcast, listen to the books, know the strategy and the landscape, but then trust yourself. Listen to your inner knowing and execute on it fiercely. Okay. And then lastly, where can the audience go to learn more about Hypno Breathwork, your retreats, your app and your new book? So you can find the book on Amazon called Unblock Your Purpose. You can find Mastery App, M-A-S-T-R-Y on Apple or Google Play. And you can find me on Instagram at FrancescaSitma

Starting point is 00:48:33 or my website, francescasitma.com. Wow, you got that nailed. Well, thank you so much for joining us today. It was such a pleasure to have you on the show. Thanks for having me, John. I loved it. What an incredible conversation with Francesca Sitmama from unlocking the power of hypno-breathwork to breaking free from subconscious limitations.

Starting point is 00:48:51 Today's episode has been a deep dive into how we can rewire our minds, access our intuition and live with more clarity, flow and purpose. Francesca's journey leaving the high pressure corporate world to create a global movement for personal transformation shows us what's possible when we trust ourselves, embrace uncertainty, and take intentional action. As we close, I encourage you to reflect on your biggest takeaways from today's discussion. What limiting beliefs are holding you back? How can you tap into your intuition and take a line to action toward the life you truly

Starting point is 00:49:19 want? The tools Francesca shared today aren't just theories, they are powerful practices that can help you unblock your purpose and step into your full potential. If her insights resonated with you, I'd love for you to take a moment to leave us a 5-star rating and review. Your feedback fuels the PassionStruck movement and helps us bring more impactful conversations to listeners worldwide. And if you know someone who could benefit from today's message, share this episode

Starting point is 00:49:40 with them. Because sometimes one conversation is all it takes to ignite lasting change. You can find links to everything we discussed today including Francesca's book, Unblock Your Purpose, her Hypno Breathwork courses, and her app in the show notes at passionstruck.com. You can also watch the full video version on YouTube and be sure to explore exclusive offers from our sponsors at passionstruck.com slash deals. Supporting our shows helps us keep the show thriving and allows us to continue delivering high-impact content every single week. Speaking of impact, I am passionate about helping

Starting point is 00:50:11 organizations, teams, and communities bring these insights into actionable transformation. Today's episode sparked ideas for your workplace, team, or leadership group. I'd love to collaborate. Visit johnrmiles.com.com. You'll learn how I can help ignite intentional change and purpose driven action through keynotes, workshops, and executive coaching.

Starting point is 00:50:30 The fee for the show is simple. If you have found value in today's episode, share it with someone who needs it. And remember, apply what you hear here so that you can live what you listen. Until next time, live life passionately. actions.

Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Francesca Sipma on How to Unclock Your Purpose Through HypnoBreathwork | EP 566

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