Mind and movement mentor Richie Norton joins Happiful’s podcast to talk about the kindness rebound, breathwork, yoga and lifting your vibe.
Richie Norton is sitting on the floor of his home, cross-legged and beaming into the computer screen. Our podcast recording is a remote one, but I can feel the positivity coming off him in waves as we start our conversation, and it's infectious.
In his forty years of existence, Richie says he has changed and learned a lot. Once a rugby player who experienced injury, issues with alcohol use and a medical condition that looked set to end his life prematurely, he’s now a world-renowned yoga and breathwork teacher, runs the Vibe Tribe, coaches on the Fiit app and much, much more.
Richie explains that he feels as though he’s lived through a number of lifetimes - or chapters - already, and is still continuing to grow and evolve. Now he’s on a continual mission to help others by sharing the amazing techniques he’s accumulated along the way.
His package of everyday and practical wisdom for the mind and body comes in the form of a beautiful book, Lift Your Vibe: Eat, breathe and flow to sleep better, find peace and live your best life.
Here’s some of what Richie has to share…
Yoga
Richie had a tough time rehabilitating from his rugby injuries and dealing with the uncertainty of what lay ahead for him when his sporting career ended. "It took me to a very low point in my life, which I can now talk about as a mental health challenge," he explains. "I wasn't able to understand what was going on with my mind and all of the emotions that went along with that."
However, support and change came in the form of a different kind of movement and practise."It all came from going on my journey with yoga," Richie says smiling. "I realised how powerful it is for your physical body but even more so for your mental health. I learned about breathwork and started to understand how powerful it is to apply these little tools in my life, and how much of an impact they have in a positive way."
Richie is keen to impress upon everyone that yoga really is for all people and body types, and acknowledges that he previously thought yoga wasn't for him. "I was that person, I didn't want to do yoga! I didn't want to be 'spiritual' or 'mindful', I'd positioned myself as someone who was working on my health. I didn't think yoga was for me.
"It took a really great teacher to talk to me in a way that made it easy for me to connect with. It was the feeling I got when I practised that I grabbed ahold of."
Breathwork
"It's important to share with people that aren't aware of what it's all about that you're breathing right now!" Richie says expanding upon the subject. "Breathing is our lifeline, we're doing it all day, so why not make it work for you and why not make it better? Breathwork can be a tool that you use all day."
Richie explains how he learnt to manage his stress through breathwork and subsequently took action and control of his physical and mental states using this practice.
"Just try it!" He shares enthusiastically. "Just by bringing attention to your breathing. Recognise right now, you're breathing. How are you feeling? Do you want to slow it down to bring more calm, or speed it up to bring more energy? It's so incredible what breathwork can do for us."
The kindness rebound
"When we receive kindness in any form, we tend to feel good," Richie says. "In that process when we're the person providing that kindness, without expecting anything in return, it feels good because you see the impact upon the other person - they smile. I think of this as the 'kindness rebound". Being kind is a really good way to guide your day - and it costs nothing."
Listen to Richie's episode of I am. I have
Lift Your Vibe: Eat, breathe and flow to sleep better, find peace and live your best life, published by Penguin Life, is available now
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