How One Breath Can Change Everything

Ricky Cortez
Aug 27, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Dec 10, 2025

A CARE Approach to Self-Regulation

I didn’t know it at the time, but when the world shut down in 2020, so did my nervous system.

At first, like many of us, I tried to find the silver lining: family time, simplicity, slowing down. We sewed masks for neighbors and dropped off food for friends. I thought, “We’ve got this.” But slowly, almost invisibly, things started unraveling.

Trying to homeschool two neurodivergent kids while juggling work, fear, and the mental toll of a global crisis was too much. My system flipped from anxious overdrive to complete shutdown. It wasn’t burnout — it was dorsal vagal collapse, a frozen state of survival where everything feels unreachable. I was there, but I wasn’t really there.

That’s the thing about nervous system dysregulation — it doesn’t look the same on everyone. For me, it was spacing out, irritability, exhaustion. For my kids? Big emotions, shutdowns, sensory overload. We were all floating in our own bubbles of dysregulation, and connection felt so far away. I knew something had to shift. And it had to start with me.

You know the saying, “Put your own oxygen mask on first”? It’s more than a metaphor. It’s a neurological truth. You can’t co-regulate others from a place of internal chaos. I began slowly rebuilding from within — breath by breath.

My journey into healing started with simple breathing practices and guided meditations. I explored Buddhist philosophy, polyvagal theory, and the beautiful, complicated dance between body and brain. Books became my lifeline:

Good Inside by Dr. Becky Kennedy helped me accept myself as a good person even when I was struggling.
Raising Kids with Big Baffling Behaviors by Robyn Gobbel gave me language and tools to talk with my kids about what was happening inside our bodies.
Secure Relating by Sue Marriott and Ann Kelley helped me understand how we heal in relationships, and why our nervous systems need others to thrive.

When I started to shift, people noticed. Friends commented. My kids mirrored the regulation I was learning. I wasn’t perfect (still not!), but something was working. I realized I couldn’t keep it to myself.

That’s where CARE was born.

What is CARE ?

CARE (Connected And Rooted Everywhere) is a nervous-informed, science-backed mind-body practice that helps you reconnect with yourself through breath, somatic awareness, and nervous system regulation. Through neruoplacisticy we can re-wire our stress responses.

In individual, couple, family, group and work sessions, we:

Explore the autonomic nervous system and how your body responds to stress (fight/flight/freeze/fawn)
Use breathing techniques backed by polyvagal theory to calm the vagus nerve and shift into a regulated state
Practice simple somatic movements that help release stored tension and bring you back into your body
Cultivate self-compassion using concepts from relational neuroscience and mindfulness
Develop a personal grounding toolkit to use in moments of anxiety, frustration, or shutdown

Everything we do is based in science and lived experience. Research shows that regular somatic and breath-based practices:

Reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression
Increase vagal tone, balance and emotional resilience
Improve executive functioning and emotional regulation (critical for ADHD and neurodivergence)

The core idea? Awareness changes everything. When we become aware of what’s happening inside our body, we begin to shift from reactivity to intentionality. From fear to curiosity. From disconnection to connection.

I created CARE because I learned that real healing begins in relationships. First, the one we have with ourselves.

If you’re feeling scattered, stuck, numb, or overwhelmed — you are not alone. And more importantly: You don’t have to stay there. Come breathe with me. Let’s find your calm, together.

Want to learn more or schedule a session?

Offerings: https://mediastarllc.wixsite.com/care/offerings

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💚 Ready to Root?

Whether you’re showing up solo, with your partner, your kids, or your work team—you are welcome here. My job is to hold space, guide practices, and offer a roadmap for reconnecting to the wisdom already inside you.

I invite you to come curious, come messy, come as you are.

Let’s connect. Let’s get rooted. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE 🌿

Find Your Calm with CARE. If you’re not able to participate directly, I’d be deeply grateful if you’d share CARE with friends, family, or colleagues who may benefit.

🌿 CARE Mantra