Take a Deep Breath

Released Feb. 3, 2026 

PODCAST OPEN: Thank you for tuning in to the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast, produced as a public service by the Arthritis Foundation. You may have arthritis, but arthritis doesn’t have you. Here, you’ll get information, insights and tips you can trust — featuring volunteer hosts and guest experts who live with arthritis every day and have experience with the challenges it can bring. Their unique perspectives may help you — wherever you are in your arthritis journey. The Arthritis Foundation is committed to helping you live your best life through our wide-ranging programs, resources and services. Our podcast is made possible in part by the generous financial contributions of people like you. Now let’s listen in. (MUSIC BRIDGE) 

Julie Eller Olson: Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast. My name is Julie Eller Olson, and I was diagnosed with arthritis when I was a kid at 7 years old, with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at the time, or juvenile idiopathic arthritis. And I've been living with the symptoms and the triumphs ever since. I'm now in my 30s, and I am living independently and have a wonderful job and a wonderful husband in Massachusetts. You may remember me from our early episodes of the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast. And I'm just thrilled to be back with the Arthritis Foundation for this amazing conversation today on breathing and meditation. 

So, not to get too metaphysical with you, but in the world that we live in, life often feels like it's literally moving at the speed of light between family and work and finances and chores and pain and lack of sleep. It all adds up to create a stress ball out of all of us. Sometimes we just need to slow down and breathe. And today, we're going to talk just about that. Today, we're going to explore mindfulness meditation and breathwork, and how they can help arthritis, pain and other symptoms. What are mindfulness meditation and breathwork? Why should we care about them? How can they help us? Well, we're going to talk about what the science and research really says about them and how we can make them work for us. 

We'll answer these questions and so many more today with our amazing guest, Chris Altizer. After an executive career in Fortune 10 companies, Chris has spent the last decade consulting, including with the Arthritis Foundation, writing, and had faculty at Florida International University's Graduate School of Business. He also teaches yoga and, relevant to today's session, mindfulness. Chris completed teacher training in mindfulness meditation and stress reduction through the University of California San Diego. His research on mindfulness and personality has been published in Consulting Psychology Journal and covered by Forbes and Psychology Today. 

Chris is also a co-founder, along with his wife, Anne, of Altizer Performance Partners. And if that wasn't enough, he is also a practicing fifth-degree black belt martial artist. Chris, welcome to the podcast. And please tell us a little bit more about yourself and your experiences with mindfulness meditation, breathwork and how you got into all of it. 

Chris Altizer: Oh, cool, Julie. Thanks so much. I appreciate that very kind introduction, and we're leaving out all the lumps along the road, which is always a good, except knowing what they were. I've been really involved in mindfulness as a discipline for about 10 years. They came after 15 years of martial arts practice. I have all these fabulous stories that I tell my executive clients around things that you don't want to do, things that you don't want to say and how do we go, "Oh my God, did I say that?" And mindfulness is, turns out, as part of it. And then I got to start working with the Arthritis Foundation about 10 years ago and really appreciating the myriad of challenges and the depth of the challenges facing folks with that, and realizing that the science has slowly been catching up around this thing called mindfulness, which was, you know, the bright, shiny object in the 20-teens. And now it's, you know, you can buy mindful mayonnaise for heaven's sakes. (laughter) But really just understanding what it actually is. 

Julie Eller Olson: I love to hear that. I remember being a public health undergrad student more than a decade ago and hearing about this newfangled thing called mindfulness and how we could incorporate it into health care in a new way. Definitely something that I hadn't thought of until really I got into school. So, help me explain to an audience who's never been in the classroom before talking about mindfulness. What is it, what does it mean, and what is breathwork? And how do they kind of harmonize and work together? 

Chris Altizer: Mindfulness is simply paying attention in the present moment on purpose without judgment. I'm going to say that again: Paying attention in the present moment on purpose without judgment. So, if we unpack that just a little bit, paying attention is that… That's the thing we've all heard since we were children: "Pay attention, Chris." You know, the "Listen in the classroom. Do this." You know. And it's funny, because attention is one of those things that we're always told, you know: We pay it, we give it, we take it, but awareness, boy, nobody really taught us about that. So, mindfulness is as much around awareness, that idea of, "What's happening within me? What's happening right now?" And that's the in-the-present-moment part. That's just about being here now. And mindfulness without judgment really means not judging myself. "I'm here. I'm listening to this podcast right now. I'm giving myself a couple minutes, 30 minutes or so, to sit and listen for me, and that's fine. That's right. That's what I want to do." So, that's the without judgment. 

Julie Eller Olson: OK. So, let's talk about this for a moment in the context of arthritis. I think for a lot of us who are living in chronic pain, the idea of being present with our pain or mindful of our pain or even not judging our pain would be a tall order. Can you talk me through a little bit why we should maybe not compartmentalize the pain and put it into a tiny box somewhere, but instead kind of think about engaging with it mindfully? How do we broach that topic? 

Chris Altizer: It's like that time when someone looked at you and said, "You need to relax. Oh, just forget about it." 

Julie Eller Olson: (laughs) So helpful. Yeah. 

Chris Altizer: Right? Oh, so help… "You need to calm down." Oh, that works so well. "You need to manage your pain." And do you have something else for me? (laughter) So, back to the practices, so the practices of meditation, yoga, tai chi, breathing — the practice is what helps people manage pain in the moment. These are proven through studies: the impact on the ability to reduce stress with the person because, when you think about it, pain is just a reaction, right? Well, how do I manage that? The practices are what enable it. And this is the first time and not the last time that I'll say: These don't replace medicine. This isn't about, "Hey, breathe your way past needing your injection." I'm a believer in the modern medical science world. But what we're talking about here with mindfulness is not to stick it in a box. Mindfulness is a practice. 

So, some of your folks play musical instruments, or they knit, or they are an athlete. Any one of those things involve a practice, because I just don't show up on knitting day or game day and expect to perform, right? I have to practice. Same thing with mindfulness. Practicing my gentle movement, practicing my breath, practicing whatever meditation is my flavor that I like to do. Practicing in the moment that I don't need it is what enables it in the moment I need it. So, that's why we talk about mindfulness as a practice and not something that you just reach and pull down off the shelf when you need it. 

Julie Eller Olson: So, what you're saying is having a daily kind of meditation and mindfulness practice in your off minutes when you don't need it really helps you tap into something when you're flaring. How does mindfulness maybe help in those moments and kind of powering through some of the aspects of their flare? 

Chris Altizer: It might be helpful here if we differentiate the different types of pain that we're experiencing with arthritis. And that gets back to the different types of conditions we have, right? Osteoarthritis, for example. What do we know about osteoarthritis and mindfulness practices? What does the research tell us? Well, we've got a 2024 study that was done that showed that yoga reduced knee OA pain and stiffness and improved daily function. Now, I say that, and some of our listeners might be going, "Yoga? I've watched these people turn themselves into pretzels on Instagram, and I am not doing that." (laughter) And it's really important to realize that's not what we're talking about with yoga. The gentle-kind/care-for-yourself movement. When it comes down to OA pain, yoga is proven. In fact, 2025 randomized trials showed that it's just as effective as standard strengthening exercises for knee pain. So, not necessarily instead of, but as a practice goes: It increases mobility and reduces the pain that takes place within that mobility. 

Tai chi is one of those things that folks go, "Yeah, I heard about that. I think I had a cup of it once." (laughs) Tai Chi is a practice similar to yoga. And the American College of Rheumatology and the Arthritis Foundation, thank you very much, strongly recommend tai chi for knee pain and hip OA-based pain. So, for OA, it's the practice of movement in a disciplined, managed way, so that we're not, "Just go relax," or "You need to go take a walk." It's understanding the discipline of the practices for OA, that's a little different than RA, right? So, what do we know about RA? We’ve got a 2022 review that shows mindfulness-based programs, and we'll talk about one of them later on called MBSR, but the ones that bring mindful movement with breath, with meditation, improved pain, fatigue and psychological stress in people with RA. Even though the inflammatory markers didn't change, the perception, and then the ability to deal with what was happening in the moment, the pain, the flare-up, is improved. Mindful breathing is one of those examples. We've got the actual physiological, and there's brain scans that show that the brain reacts differently after practicing meditation. 

PROMO: The Arthritis Foundation offers essential resources for newly diagnosed patients, including educational materials to help them better understand their condition better. We offer support groups and online communities for patients to connect with others facing similar challenges. Additionally, we can refer you to health care professionals for guidance on treatment options and lifestyle adjustments. Learn more at arthritis.org/newly-diagnosed. 

Julie Eller Olson: I really appreciate how you walked through how mindfulness practice and different disciplines are best suited for certain types of arthritis. I think it can be really hard to establish your toolkit when you're a patient and you're trying to figure out, "What are the things that I can do that actually work for me that are backed by science?" Especially in a world where we're hearing, "Oh, try this and buy this vitamin and do this thing and do a million other things." And at the end of the day, you just have a really long toolkit or to-do list of items that you can’t get through. But it feels really impossible to start tackling them. I want to hear more about how someone can go from thinking, "Wow, I've heard a lot about tai chi," to, "I'm actually going to initiate on this thing. It's going to help my hip OA. It's going to help my knee OA. I want to get into that next phase." What does it look like? 

Chris Altizer: Let's do it right now. You and me. (laughter) Right here, right now, with everybody who's listening. 

Julie Eller Olson: I'm in. 

Chris Altizer: We're going to take a breath. Now, let's talk about that for a second. You know, when you were growing up, somebody in your life said, "You need to take a breath." You know, that was right up there with, "Just relax," right? But the funny thing is, is that the advice to take a breath was actually very sound because what do I know about breath practice? Breath practice stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is that rest, relax, refuel, reproduce the nervous system that says, "It's all OK. You're OK." And breath stimulates that. A particular kind of breath stimulates that. And we're going to do this together right now. Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to inhale through my nose, and you'll join me because I can see you. 

Julie Eller Olson: Yeah. 

Chris Altizer: And I'm going to count to four with the inhale. Now, for some folks, they can only count to two. That's OK. And some people want to count to eight, they'll count to eight. Four is it. Four is good. And then we're going to not breathe in or out for about a second or so, and then we're going to exhale through our nose again for a count of six. So, Julie, it's four, two, six. It's all through the nose. And when you're done, there should be nothing left in your lungs. 

Julie Eller Olson: Let's do it. 

Chris Altizer: OK. Here we go. So, sitting up as, sitting up comfortably, sitting up as straight as you like, as tall as you feel, and first, we'll just exhale naturally. Now, inhale through the nose. Hold for two. And then exhale through the nose. Six, five, four, through the nose. Three, through the nose. Two, push it all out. One, nothing left. Ah, oh. 

Julie Eller Olson: Oh. 

Chris Altizer: Now, all of our listeners are going like, "Boy, I bet I looked really weird doing that." Well, yeah, but did you feel something? And now some folks probably listen to that and go like, "That sounded interesting. I didn't do it." Well, here we go. We get to do it again. So, we’re going to repeat. In for four, hold for two, out for six. You're going to hear me breathing really loud, but that's your cue. Exhale naturally and here we go. Hold, hold. Exhale. Push it out. Nothing left, empty, done. There we go. Do you feel anything? 

Julie Eller Olson: I do. I feel relaxed after two breaths of four in, two holding. 

Chris Altizer: Hold two. 

Julie Eller Olson: Six out. 

Chris Altizer: There you go. 

Julie Eller Olson: There we go. 

Chris Altizer: Because right now you've got more oxygenated blood in your system than you probably had all day unless you worked out. 

Julie Eller Olson: I didn't work out this morning, and I've been working all day, so it's been kind of stressful. 

Chris Altizer: There you go. 

Julie Eller Olson: I definitely think that might've been my first deep breath of the day. 

Chris Altizer: It's oxygenated blood, right? 

Julie Eller Olson: Uh-huh. 

Chris Altizer: And in that moment, what were we paying attention to? The present moment. 

Julie Eller Olson: Only our breath. 

Chris Altizer: On purpose. And the whole without judgment, the second time when I said, "Well, come on, just let's try." We do. So, breath is shown to relax the body. And when you breathe that way, because if I just breathe like this, I don't, you know? 

Julie Eller Olson: Yeah. 

Chris Altizer: That's a sigh, right? And the body sighs because it's like had enough and it says, "Hey, you need to breathe." That's why the body sighs. So now, since we're breathing anyway, we may as well let it work for us, in through the nose, for whatever's comfortable, four or two, whatever works, hold for one or two, whatever works, exhale for four or six, whatever works, do that twice, and then ask yourself how you feel. 

Julie Eller Olson: Yeah. Like a hard reset when you turn your phone off for a few minutes and then turn it back on. 

Chris Altizer: Beautifully said. 

Julie Eller Olson: You can come back to it. Thank you. 

Chris Altizer: Beautifully said. And when you think about a flare-up, right? It's like your body is tense and tight. And everything is constricting because this, "Man, this hurts. OK." "Can I squeeze in some kind of breath?" It doesn't change the fact of the physical condition that is causing the flare-up. It does change the fact of your reaction. 

Julie Eller Olson: Yeah. And what your body is prepared to do. When I sat up for the first time and thought about the physicality of breathing. I was like, "Oh, I don't know that I've had a moment today to really connect with my body beyond the stresses of the day, beyond the, you know, daily movement in the morning. This is really maybe my first time to really think about how my toes are feeling or like where I'm, how I'm connected from top to bottom there." And I think that that's a really important thing, especially when you're existing in a stressful world, trying to work, trying to take care of your family, trying to get all of these things done, and oh, by the way, also try to manage the chronic pain of arthritis. 

Chris Altizer: You absolutely got it right. It's finding that one-minute way for you here, right, that you can apply whenever you want. And it's simply reminding ourselves, because this is the discipline part, right? My wife and I taught karate for a bunch of years. Now I teach meditation and yoga and mindfulness and… but they're all disciplines. The discipline you choose… That's what's important. It's something that works for you. It's because the world is full of, "You should," and "You could," and "You would," "Now, what do I choose?" Because choosing is fundamentally mindful. 

Julie Eller Olson: Mm-hmm. And choosing is, like, fundamentally taking control of your condition, when I think so often the thing that's hard about living with a chronic disease like arthritis, is that it's this everyday experience. It often decides what it looks like to have your weekend plan, or get that exercise class in, or perform well at work with focus, or hold your babies. Like, arthritis is a really full-throttled experience. And so, finding ways to take control in any aspect of your life, but especially with the ones that are simple — as taking a deep breath and resetting, and having that minute to really power through your day: That can be transformative. 

PROMO: The Arthritis Foundation’s website offers access to expert resources and strategies for managing arthritis-related pain. Get guidance you can trust and comprehensive information about various pain management techniques and therapies. By using our resources, you’ll expand your understanding of pain relief options and be empowered to improve your quality of life. Visit arthritis.org/pain. 

Julie Eller Olson: How do you see mindfulness and arthritis overlapping in the next few years? 

Chris Altizer: The research in the science is catching up with mindfulness. These practices have been around for thousands of years, and there are a lot of different takes on mindfulness. Where I think the world is changing is: the science is catching up. One of the challenges we find, especially in an insurance-driven world, is what's covered, right? Some insurers would cover it, others would not, and that was a limiter. But now in this world, and especially, I mean, COVID, for all of the horrific things that it did, it changed the way that content is available. 

Access to the information has just gone crazy the last 10 years and gone crazier the last five years. So, it's available now, so folks can find it easily. "I want to practice breath." If you have a smartphone or a computer, you can do that. So, we're going to see more accessibility. We’re going to see integrated care models where physical therapists will be including this, along with behavioral health. And breathwork is particularl, exciting because breathwork is free. (laughter) You're doing it anyway… 

Julie Eller Olson: Right. 

Chris Altizer: That's why breathwork is such a valuable way to do it, because you breathe in anyway — and may as well make it work for you. And there's free resources to help you do that. Our ability to access resources that don't cost money is going to become more important. 

Julie Eller Olson: It's an anxiety a lot of patients are concerned about every day, is: "What does it look like to manage my care, afford my care and have relief options?" Especially as there are affordability changes and policy changes that really make a difference in our lives. So having things that are backed by research and maybe more likely to be covered by insurance as they grow in practice. But also that I don't need any provider to help me with. Super helpful. 

I think we're ready to turn to some questions from our social media audience and hear from folks who have been so psyched about this topic for our podcast today. Before each episode, we post questions to our listeners on social media to find out what they're curious about and what they'd like to hear more on. And so, we've posed this question: “How has mindfulness meditation or breathwork helped you with your arthritis?” And we'd love to get your thoughts, Chris, on a few of their key questions. 

From Denise Gray Fitness, we heard that she practices the Pilates method: "One of the foundations is breath, and it has been a game-changer in my life, primarily because breath is connected to movement, which is connected to the mind. And it's increased my body awareness, functional mobility and sense of well-being." And in particular, I would love to hear your thoughts on that body awareness part of her comment. 

Chris Altizer: I love the statement she makes. And I'm so excited that she's found her path, right? Which is the Pilates method, right? For some people, tai chi is the magical thing. For other people, it's yoga. For some, it's Pilates. Some people love meditation, some people, it just blows their head, "Really can't do it." What Denise has found here is this game-changer. She's connected movement with mind and awareness, which as we said at the very beginning, right, all our lives we’re taught to pay attention. No one ever told us how to be aware. Denise has found how to make herself aware of how her body is feeling and the functional mobility and sense of well-being that she gains. Because with mindfulness practice, the pain is the pain. But how I'm responding. Am I responding to it, or reacting to it? And so, I love how she has brought this connection of mind and body, and breath. Because it's a great path. 

Julie Eller Olson: Excellently put. We have some more similar feedback. Someone named Tabatha Debruyn, apologies if I said your name wrong: She is a transformative breath master, and she says that this is a hugely important conversation for the arthritis community. And she flags that arthritis isn't just mechanical, but it's deeply tied to inflammation, stress and how on guard your nervous system has been for years. And we've talked a lot about that today, how you become that stress ball with so many things, so many to-do lists, so many different items that you're juggling at once. Tabitha says that “Breathwork supports this by calming the stress response and lowering cortisol and improving oxygen delivery and activating the vagus nerve,” so much of what we talked about today. 

And that we can shift pain perception and reduce joint guarding when we engage in this practice. One thing she recommends is the same breath exercise that we did earlier in this conversation, to breathe in for four, hold for two and out for six. So glad to see that it's validated, not just from our expert guest on the podcast today, but also our listeners. How great is that? 

Chris Altizer: Nothing replaces treatment. But she says, you know, it changes the state of the body by changing the state of the mind. That's true, right? 

Julie Eller Olson: Yeah. 

Chris Altizer: And that is the virtuous cycle we want in stress management. Because if I get stressed and things get tight, things get tense, then all those different hormones get released and my amygdala starts firing off all kinds of signals about, "Oh my God, this is bad." And what do I need to do? I need to allow for that reality. And to move on and move through. 

Julie Eller Olson: I think that's a great point. I think it's hard to think through how addictive that stress can be sometimes. Like, I think we get really amped about the things that we've accomplished and the things that are on our list and all of the things in between. And I often think that that's a mechanism of taking control, right? We have all of these things that we have to do, but we've cataloged them. And if you're type A like me, you probably highlighted them in different colors depending on the type of task and yadi, yadi, yada. But I never really think about the items on my list of like how I am controlling my pain or making space for my pain or allowing for it. It's not something that's exclusively crunchy and built for someone who doesn't have a color-coded to-do list, but maybe something that can be used for folks of varying degrees of intensity when it comes to their stress. 

Chris Altizer: Folks find their way, right? And that's in-the-present-moment without judgment. 

PROMO: A gift to the Arthritis Foundation helps fund vital research aimed at finding new treatments and conquering arthritis. Your contribution also supports education, resources and community events for those affected by this complex condition. Every donation plays a crucial role in improving the quality of life for millions of adults and children in the U.S. Donate today at arthritis.org/donate. 

Julie Eller Olson: Chris, what are your top three things that you want people to remember from our conversation today? 

Chris Altizer: So, it's all available. And I'm my own judge. "So, I tried the breath stuff, and it doesn't work for me." That's cool. Was it supposed to? That doesn't matter. "I try yoga. I'll try the meditation. I'll try different things." Because, you know, we know the definition of insanity, so let's not be insane. I do the same thing the same way and expect a different result. So, find different things just for yourself. It's not like you're going to pay some huckster to do this or whatever it is. It's all available. It's all there. So, experiment. Each of us are this wonderful experiment created by a higher being. And we have this time. So, experiment! That to me is the biggest piece. 

I mentioned mindfulness-based stress reduction, MBSR: It's the gold standard for stress management training, and also folks with pain. It's an eight-week course. That will cost you a little bit of money, but it's offered online. It's been around since the '70s. And then the last piece is that: Whatever you try to do, whatever little experiments you make, tracking improvements in all the domains that matter for you. Give yourself some runway of whether it's breath or movement, mindful movement or meditation, and then track what matters. Are you sleeping differently? Is your mood different? Are you less stiff? Is pain less? Are you functioning differently? Fear of movement begets pain and movement. “I’m afraid, I don’t want to do this, I’m going to do it and I’m tense,” increases the likelihood that it’s going to suck. “I’m going to try to reduce my fear of that movement,” which, interestingly enough, will reduce very likely the pain from that movement. 

Julie Eller Olson: Yeah. Oh, I love all of your takeaways. I think that they're exactly spot on — and they're really helpful as we think about how to walk away from this conversation with a plan, versus just having listened to a fun chat. A couple of things that I would reiterate in my top three as well: the first being, this is a practice. It's not a one-off solution. I think that was a really helpful thing for me to think through. Really start to think about those things that matter to you, as you said, Chris, and how they are being impacted or not. 

And at least for me, I struggle sometimes to be my own accountability partner. Doing something like this requires maybe some partnership, either from a friend or my husband or my mom, whoever it might be, who's checking in and saying, "Hey, I'm going to do my mindfulness exercise today. Are you?" We didn't really talk about the aspect of community as much in our conversation today. So, I wanted to throw it in, in our key takeaways, as this isn't something that you have to do by yourself. And I'm sure, Chris, there has to be some chat rooms or online spaces where people can find each other who are engaging in practices like this. Do you have any quick suggestions that folks might be able to tap into? 

Chris Altizer: I have a favorite app, and it's not just because I'm on it, but I am. The smartphone app is called Insight Timer, and it's a contemplative practices app, and meditation is one of many contemplative practices. So, it gives you an accountability partner, even if you don't have community. And you're so right about community: That can be so valuable. Whatever type of meditation or reflection, or for some folks, prayer, right? It's funny, someone asked me that question; they said, "Well, is prayer meditation?" I said, "You know, I kind of feel like prayer is talking to God, and meditation is listening for what is said back." 

Julie Eller Olson: Ooh, I like that, the back and forth. Well, that's super helpful. And I think maybe my third takeaway then is: Don't be afraid to talk about it. I think meditation, again, sometimes might feel like some, a tool that's outside of folks’ reach. They feel like maybe it's not that medicine. They're not talking about it necessarily with their doctor, or maybe they are. I am more likely to try it because my best friend engages in a meditation practice every day. And I'm more likely to try it because my brother, who was in the military, uses meditation to help reconnect with his body and get more calm in times of stress. And I know I'm more likely to use it because I have this safety net of people around me who make it real — and a great tool for folks. So, with that, Chris, thank you so much for joining us today. It was amazing to get your insights and to hear more about your practice and your journey to mindfulness. And how we can incorporate that into all of our lives. 

For folks who are listening who want more arthritis resources, including information about physical and emotional well-being, check out the Arthritis Foundation's website. There is just an absolute breadth and depth of resources available for you. Thanks, everybody. 

PODCAST CLOSE: Thank you for listening to the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast, produced as a public service by the Arthritis Foundation. Get show notes and other episode details at arthritis.org/podcast. Review, rate and recommend us wherever you get your podcasts, on Apple, Spotify and other platforms. This podcast and other life-changing Arthritis Foundation programs, resources and services are made possible in part by generous donors like you. Consider making a gift to support our work at arthritis.org/donate. We appreciate you listening. And please join us again!