0:00 Just one deep belly breath can lower your heart rate by three to five beats per minute, instantly.0:11 In our last session together, we found a calm rhythm.0:18 Today, we’re going to direct that rhythm to a very specific place in your body.0:28 Find your position.0:30 Seated, or lying down.0:33 It doesn’t matter.0:35 What matters is that your spine is long.0:40 Your body, supported.0:42 Let your eyes close if that feels right.0:47 Or soften your gaze on a single point in the room.0:53 Bring your attention to your breath.0:58 Just notice it for a moment.1:01 Don’t change a thing.1:04 Is it shallow?1:05 Is it deep?1:07 Coming in through the nose, or the mouth?1:12 No judgment.1:13 Just awareness.1:15 Now, place one hand on the center of your chest.1:21 And the other hand on your belly, right over your navel.1:28 These hands are your guides.1:31 Your feedback.1:33 They tell you where the breath is going.1:38 For the next few moments, just breathe normally and feel what happens under your palms.1:48 Most of us live in our chests.1:52 We take shallow, quick breaths that lift the top hand.1:59 A survival breath.2:01 An anxious breath.2:03 Maybe you feel that now.2:06 The slight rise and fall under your top hand.2:11 The bottom hand, mostly still.2:15 That’s okay.2:16 That’s the starting point.2:20 Now we’re going to change it.2:23 Deliberately.2:25 On your next inhale, I want you to imagine you’re sending the air all the way down.2:35 Past your chest.2:37 Past your ribs.2:39 Send it directly into the space beneath your lower hand.2:46 Breathe in through your nose… and feel your belly expand.2:52 Feel it press gently into your palm.2:57 The top hand on your chest… it stays quiet.3:02 It stays still.3:04 And as you exhale… let the belly soften.3:09 Let it fall away from your hand.3:13 Let’s do that again.3:15 A slow, deep inhale through the nose… into the belly.3:22 Let it rise like a balloon.3:25 Hold for just a beat.3:27 And a long, slow exhale through the mouth.3:33 Feel the navel draw back toward your spine.3:38 That’s it.3:39 That’s the entire practice.3:42 Inhale… belly rises.3:45 Chest is still.3:47 Exhale… belly falls.3:49 There’s no force here.3:52 You’re not pushing your stomach out.3:56 You are simply creating space for the diaphragm to drop… allowing the lungs to fill from the bottom up.4:09 This is how your body was designed to breathe.4:14 Let’s settle into a rhythm.4:18 In for four… three… two… one…
And out for five… four… three… two… one… Inhale… feel the expansion.4:30 Exhale… feel the release.4:33 If your mind wanders, and it will… that’s fine.4:38 Just notice it.4:40 And then guide your attention right back to the feeling of your lower hand rising… and falling.4:52 This breath is an anchor.4:55 It pulls you out of the noise in your head and plants you firmly in your body.5:04 In this moment.5:06 Right here.5:08 Two more, on your own.5:10 Deep into the belly.5:13 Good.5:13 Let your breathing return to its natural rhythm.5:19 Let your hands rest in your lap.5:23 Notice the shift.5:25 The quiet.5:26 The space you just created.5:30 This isn’t just relaxation.5:33 It’s control.5:35 You now have a tool you can use anywhere.5:40 In a meeting.5:41 In traffic.5:42 In the middle of a hard conversation.5:47 One hand on your belly, a breath no one else can see.5:53 This is your anchor in the storm.
