0:00 Just five minutes of deep diaphragmatic breathing can lower your cortisol levels by up to twenty percent.0:16 Last time, Admin, we used the four-seven-eight count as a tool to reset.0:27 Today, we go deeper, to the very mechanism that powers that calm.0:36 Find a comfortable position.0:41 Seated, with your spine tall but not stiff.0:47 Or lying down, feeling the support of the surface beneath you.0:57 Close your eyes if that feels right for you.1:04 Now, place one hand on your chest.1:09 And the other on your belly, just above your navel.1:16 For a moment, just notice your breath as it is.1:24 No need to change anything.1:28 Simply feel the movement under your hands.1:34 The rise and fall.1:37 Now, let's change where the breath goes.1:43 On your next inhale, I want you to send the breath down, past your chest, and into your belly.1:57 Feel the hand on your belly rise.2:02 The hand on your chest should stay relatively still.2:10 Breathe in through the nose… filling the belly.2:18 And now, a slow, gentle exhale through the mouth or nose.2:26 Feeling the hand on your belly slowly lower as your navel draws back toward your spine.2:40 Let's try that again.2:43 A slow, deep inhale… into the belly.2:48 The lower hand rises.2:51 The chest is quiet.2:54 Hold for just a beat.2:58 And a long, slow, complete exhale.3:03 Letting it all go.3:06 Releasing.3:07 Again.3:08 Inhale.3:09 Feel the abdomen expand like a small balloon.3:16 Gentle.3:17 Easy.3:18 Exhale.3:19 The balloon softly deflates.3:23 All the way out.3:26 Until you feel empty.3:29 Now, let your awareness travel.3:33 As you continue this rhythm… belly rising on the inhale… falling on the exhale… notice your jaw.3:48 Is it clenched?3:50 Let it go slack.3:53 Allow a little space between your teeth.3:59 Notice your shoulders.4:02 On your next exhale, let them drop away from your ears.4:11 Feel their weight release downwards.4:16 The breath is your anchor.4:20 The body is softening around it.4:25 One more full breath here.4:29 Deep into the belly.4:32 Feeling that expansion.4:36 And a full, complete release on the exhale.4:42 Emptying out completely.4:46 You can let your hands rest now, in your lap or by your sides.4:55 Keep the breath low and slow.5:00 This is your natural rhythm.5:04 This is your body’s baseline of calm.5:10 You are not creating it.5:13 You are simply returning to it.5:18 This quiet is always here, just beneath the surface.5:26 This breath is always available.5:31 This feeling of being grounded is your own.
