Welcome to Breathe Begin!
Join us as we explore mindful reinvention, gentle productivity, and intentional living — including how to face your fears with steadiness — through reflective writing, breath-based practices, and mini-courses that help you move with more calm, clarity, and grounded purpose.
How do you make your next step less scary?
That’s the question Breathe Begin explores and hopes to answer.
Hi, I’m Leslie!
Fear has been a part of my story for as long as I can remember. My very first memories are of times when I was afraid. Hiding under the kitchen table from a stranger or witnessing a heated argument between my parents.
From there, my fears branched out and took different forms.
Fear of being seen
Fear of being unworthy
Fear of being a fake (imposter syndrome)
Fear of failing (avoidance/procrastination)
Fear of making wrong decisions (analysis paralysis)
I’d like to tell you that I’ve conquered these fears, but that’s not true. I don’t know if the whole conquering fears thing is even possible in this life.
I have learned how to recognize fear in the many flavors that it presents itself in my life.
I’ve learned how to calm fear. To quiet its roar to a whisper. And many times that’s enough to help me move forward, even with fear in tow and murmuring its dissent. I’ll take that over kicking, biting, and screaming any day.
Why Breathe Begin?
I’ve found that the key step in fear taming is recognizing and capitalizing on the moment when I know fear is building up and ready to roar.
Your breath is both an easily accessible and effective tool for calming the physical symptoms and slowing the mental racing caused by fear. The simple act of intentional breathing can turn fear’s roar into a grumble.
Breathing is how you create space to pause and begin again.
What you can expect.
Words of wisdom that move me
My personal philosophy based on my life’s lessons
Examples from everyday experiences (mine and others)
What I’ve learned from my own research, study, and experimentation
Mind and body practices like meditation, breathwork, stretching, and journaling
Hopefully, lots of community and connection with you. I want to know your stories too.
So what now?
Well…
Subscribe to Breathe Begin, and click here to follow me »»»» Leslie.
Let’s breathe and begin together!
— Leslie 🌿
Writer, seeker, & guide - When we breathe, we create space to begin again.
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives.
Never miss an update—every new post is sent directly to your email inbox.
Get the Substack app for audio and community features.
