Reclaiming My Breath in the Mountains

This week, I ran away to the mountains.

Mount Laguna, to be exact. Just east of San Diego—but energetically, a whole galaxy away from the city’s noise, pressure, and that buzzing, frantic energy that had been playing my nervous system like a tambourine at a drum circle.

→ I needed quiet.

Not just the absence of sound, but the kind of quiet that wraps around your skin and says, “It’s safe to soften now.”

So I hiked with Olivia (she sends love—well, mostly her enthusiastic eye gazing), laid under a velvet sky dusted with stars that felt like they were leaning in to listen to me breathe. I exhaled—for real. Not the tight, in-your-chest, city kind of breath. The deep, full-bodied belly breath, the kind that unlocks something inside your ribs.

→ And yeah… I cried.

Not out of sadness. But out of relief.

A soft, sacred exhale that only comes when your nervous system finally whispers, “We made it. You’re safe now.”

I allowed Mother Nature to hold me in her stillness and soft quiet embrace.

Breathwork is More Than a Practice—It’s a Way of Returning Home

That stillness softened something inside of me.

It reminded me why I chose this life—this freedom-fueled dance with the unknown. A life where I get to feel fully…the ups and the downs, the challenges and the lessons. Because I am not here on this planet to just exist—I’m here to breathe, to feel, and to live wide open.

And nothing brings me back to that truth like breathwork.

A Soulful Sip & a Deeper Inhale

Now…let’s talk about the Julian vineyard moment. 🍷

I don’t drink often, but when I do, I savor it. A bold red, a quiet corner, a good book…it’s my version of a soul sip. A moment to reflect. To breathe again, intentionally.

Breathwork by the Bay

Returning to the city brought contrast, but also magic.

I had the gift of leading a potent breathwork session in a client’s home—one of those rare, wordless experiences that shifts something deep within. Her reflection back to me reminded me why I do this: to help women step into who they truly are…on a soul level.

That session wasn’t just a job. It was a portal. Breath by breath, we peeled back the layers and met the truth underneath.

Later, I worked by the San Diego Bay, laptop open and heart full. Fun fact...I used to live on a boat for five years—and that lifestyle taught me to breathe deeper than I ever had before.

Dreamy walks along the ocean with Olivia…and the leash tug (okay, full-body drag) to Coronado dog park—her favorite spot on the planet—sealed the day with joy.

And Then Came the Sacred Shower 🛁

That first hot water hit after too many “baby wipe blessings”? Think sacred portal into pure bliss. I think the shampoo cried too. I emerged from that bathroom like a goddess who’d just climbed her personal Everest (aka my hair).

Breath is the Bridge

Here’s the truth I’m landing on this week:

Life isn’t either/or.

It’s all of it. The silence and the soul-fire. The solitude and the swirl. The sticky and the sacred. And in the center of it all? The breath.

Breathwork isn’t just a tool—it’s a way home. A path back to yourself when life gets loud, messy, or overwhelming.

And when we let ourselves feel it all—without numbing, shrinking, or rushing past—we begin to live in technicolor.

Til next Sunday, from wherever we land— 

🌲💛

Victoria & Olivia 🐾