The Mel Robbins Podcast

Pull Yourself Together: The Best Expert Advice to Make You Feel Incredible

Ready to change your life? 🌟 https://bit.ly/melrobbins_what 👈 Download my FREE, 26-page workbook designed to help you discover what you REALLY want and build a step-by-step guide to make it happen. — Today’s episode is the guide that you need to create lasting change and uplevel in all areas of your life. You will learn the 3 foundational habits that will transform your life and improve your productivity, wellness, health, and life balance. These 3 habits are essential to your health, and you need to get them right. Renowned experts are here to give you their straight-from-the-lab advice on how to do each of these things in the optimal way and make them a habit you can stick with for life. Consider the next hour an investment in your health and wellbeing. You can’t afford to miss it. What should you listen to next? You’ll love the full podcast episodes with each of the experts featured today: Patrick McKeown, 5 Ways to Improve Your Breathing for Better Health (With the #1 Breath Expert in the World): Apple I Spotify Dr. Shane O’Mara, The Shocking Science and Benefits of Taking a Simple Walk: Apple I Spotify Dr. Gina Poe, How to Get Better Sleep and Boost Your Learning, Memory, and Energy: Apple I Spotify Dr. Neha Sangwan, The Surprising Link Between People Pleasing & Your Health: A Medical Doctor’s Recommendation on How to Say “No”: Apple I Spotify For more resources related to today’s episode, click here for the podcast episode page: https://www.melrobbins.com/podcasts/episode-204 Follow The Mel Robbins Podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themelrobbinspodcast I’m just your friend. I am not a licensed therapist, and this podcast is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional. Got it? Good. I’ll see you in the next episode. In this episode: 00:00 Introduction 03:33 3 pillars of health that will make the biggest difference in your life. 07:45 When it comes to breathing, here’s what most people are doing wrong. 10:08 75% of people with anxiety & panic disorder make this breathing mistake. 12:22 Effective breathing exercises to help you relax when your mind is racing. 15:49 How to ACTUALLY breathe normally, it’s not what you think. 23:27 What really happens in our brains and bodies when we are walking. 28:50 The science behind the phrase, “movement is medicine.” 32:10 Where the goal of getting 10,000 steps a day really came from. 36:11 ALL the reasons to make a habit of walking. 41:08 How the circadian rhythm plays a fundamental role in your ability to sleep well. 44:33 A sleep researcher's top tips to get better sleep starting tonight. 48:41 What’s a sleep cycle and why should we care about it? 54:19 The shocking connection between stress and illness — Follow Mel: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melrobbins/ TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@UCk2U-Oqn7RXf-ydPqfSxG5g Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melrobbins LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melrobbins Website: http://melrobbins.com — Sign up for Mel’s newsletter: https://melrob.co/sign-up-newsletter A note from Mel to you, twice a week, sharing simple, practical ways to build the life you want. — Subscribe to Mel’s channel here: https://www.youtube.com/melrobbins?sub_confirmation=1 — Listen to The Mel Robbins Podcast 🎧 New episodes drop every Monday & Thursday! https://melrob.co/spotify https://melrob.co/applepodcasts https://melrob.co/amazonmusic — Looking for Mel’s books on Amazon? Find them here: The Let Them Theory: https://amzn.to/3IQ21Oe The Let Them Theory Audiobook: https://amzn.to/413SObp The High 5 Habit: https://amzn.to/3fMvfPQ The 5 Second Rule: https://amzn.to/4l54fah

Mel RobbinshostGuest (stress/illness doctor – cardiologist or mind-body physician)guest

Aug 19, 20241h 2mWatch on YouTube ↗

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Transform Your Health With Three Overlooked Habits: Breathe, Walk, Sleep

Mel Robbins distills nearly 200 episodes of health advice into three core behavioral pillars: breathing, walking, and sleeping, each explained by a world-class expert.
Breathing expert Patrick McKeown shows why most people mouth-breathe dysfunctionally, how nasal breathing improves oxygen delivery and calms the nervous system, and gives simple nose-breathing and breath-hold exercises.
Neuroscientist Shane O’Mara explains how regular walking reshapes the brain, personality, and longevity, and recommends adding roughly 5,000 daily steps to your current baseline in short bursts.
Sleep researcher Dr. Gina Poe outlines how circadian rhythm, light exposure, exercise, caffeine, and warm baths determine sleep quality, while Dr. Neha Sangwan links chronic stress to 80% of illness and urges proactive stress reduction using these pillars.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Switch from mouth breathing to nasal breathing to reduce stress and improve oxygen delivery.

Patrick McKeown explains that mouth breathing is shallow, fast, and chest-dominant, triggering fight-or-flight; nasal breathing increases oxygen uptake and delivery to tissues and the brain, enhancing calm, focus, and overall health.

Use short breath-hold exercises to quickly calm your nervous system.

Exhaling through the nose, then gently pinching the nose and holding for about five seconds before resuming normal nasal breathing stimulates the vagus nerve, slows heart rate, pools nitric oxide, and can reduce anxiety and even help open nasal passages.

Add roughly 5,000 steps per day to your current baseline.

Shane O’Mara notes most Western adults only walk about 3,000–4,000 steps; increasing by about 5,000 steps (in short bouts across the day) significantly lowers all-cause mortality and supports memory, mood, personality, and metabolic health.

Prioritize frequent, low-level movement instead of relying on one big workout.

Short two-minute walks every 30 minutes and regular light activity throughout the day challenge the brain and body, improve cardiovascular and cognitive function, and are more realistic and sustainable than a single intense daily session.

Anchor your circadian rhythm each morning with real light, then protect it at night.

Dr. Gina Poe recommends exposing your eyes to outdoor light for up to ~20 minutes soon after waking and limiting bright/blue light at night; even a few minutes helps your internal clock know when ‘day’ starts, improving sleep timing and quality.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

If you can nail breathing, walking, and sleeping, you’ve got 80% of your life nailed.

— Mel Robbins

It’s not just that stress levels change our breathing; our everyday breathing is feeding into our stress levels.

— Patrick McKeown

Movement is medicine.

— Dr. Shane O’Mara

If you eliminate the deep slow wave sleep part…the cleaning part, you will wake up with a junky brain.

— Dr. Gina Poe

Stress causes or exacerbates more than 80% of all illness.

— Dr. Neha Sangwan

The three foundational health pillars: breathing, walking, and sleepingDysfunctional vs. functional breathing (mouth vs. nose) and stressPhysiological and cognitive benefits of regular walking and step goalsCircadian rhythm fundamentals and practical sleep optimizationStress as a root cause of illness and tools to lower itSimple, research-backed daily habits for long-term health and longevityUsing awareness and self-inquiry to address the sources of stress

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