0:00 The average person takes about twenty-three thousand breaths a day.0:07 In our last session, we focused on activating your body’s natural calm.0:15 Today, we go to the source of that signal.0:20 We’re going to find the one breath, out of all those thousands, that tells your body it’s safe.0:31 So find a place to settle in.0:34 Seated in a chair, or lying on the floor.0:39 It doesn’t matter.0:41 Just get comfortable.0:43 Go ahead and place one hand on your belly.0:48 Right over your navel.0:50 Your other hand can rest on your chest.0:55 Close your eyes if that feels right for you.1:00 Most of those twenty-three thousand breaths are shallow.1:06 They live in your chest.1:09 They’re fast.1:10 That kind of breathing is a signal to your nervous system.1:17 It says: stay alert.1:19 Be ready.1:20 Fight or flight.1:22 But you can send a different signal.1:26 A better one.1:28 A deliberate one.1:29 Let’s send it now.1:31 Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose.1:37 And as you do, aim that breath for the hand on your belly.1:43 Don’t think about it too much—just send the air down.1:49 Feel your belly expand, and feel your hand rise.1:55 Your chest should barely move.1:58 Now, exhale slowly through your mouth.2:02 A long, steady stream of air.2:06 Feel your belly fall back toward your spine.2:11 Feel the hand go down.2:13 That’s it.2:14 That’s the mechanism.2:17 Let's do it again.2:19 A slow, deep inhale through the nose.2:23 Filling the belly.2:25 One… two… three… four.2:28 Feel it expand.2:29 Hold it for just a moment at the top.2:33 And a long, slow exhale through the mouth.2:38 One… two… three… four… five… six.2:42 Let it all go.2:44 With that breath, let your shoulders drop away from your ears.2:51 This is not a metaphor.2:53 This is physiology.2:55 You are telling your vagus nerve—the main line of communication between your brain and your gut—that you are safe.3:08 Another breath.3:10 Inhale deep into the belly.3:13 Feel the full expansion.3:16 Exhale.3:17 Let go.3:17 Let the tension in your jaw dissolve.3:22 Let the space between your eyebrows soften.3:26 Your body believes what your breath tells it.3:31 We’ll do a few more cycles in silence.3:36 Just you and your breath.3:39 Inhale, the hand rises.3:41 Exhale, the hand falls.3:44 If your mind wanders, that’s fine.3:48 That’s what minds do.3:50 Just bring it back to the feeling of your hand rising and falling.3:58 Inhale… and exhale.4:00 One more.4:01 The deepest one yet.4:03 Fill all the way up.4:05 And a complete release.4:08 Let every last bit of air go.4:11 Notice the quiet.4:13 The space you just created inside yourself.4:18 This isn't something you have to hope for.4:23 It's something you can build, one breath at a time.4:29 You can begin to bring some gentle awareness back to the room.4:36 Maybe you wiggle your fingers and your toes.4:41 When you’re ready, you can open your eyes.4:45 This feeling of calm is not out there somewhere.4:51 It’s right here, under your hand.
