Content note: This episode discusses suicide, self-harm, and medical trauma. Please listen with care.

At 39, Susan Benoit had a stroke. Doctors found a tumour inside her heart and gave her eight months to live without open-heart surgery. She survived the surgery and then everything fell apart.

The thing that finally pulled her out? Breathwork.

Susan is a breathwork and contrast therapy facilitator who now works with women, kids, and anyone navigating anxiety, panic attacks, and trauma. In this conversation she gets real about:

Why 80%+ of open-heart surgery patients fall into depression — and why no one warns them
The difference between "anxiety" and actually naming the emotion underneath it
Why your exhale matters more than your inhale (and what carbon dioxide has to do with brain function)
The moment your breath changes before you even know you're triggered
Why "small t" vs "big T" trauma is nonsense
Forgiving yourself instead of waiting for closure from someone else

This episode is an honest, sometimes heavy, ultimately hopeful conversation about what it actually looks like to heal.

Find Susan at @susanbenoit on Instagram and https://www.submergewellness.ca/

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