Here's the practice: meet your experience with 'of course' instead of resistance or judgment.
Bring back that mild stressor from SET—3/10. Now try this internally:
- 'Of course my system is responding this way. This makes sense.'
- 'Given what I care about—and what I've lived through—this is understandable.'
- 'I'm going to give this some support instead of fighting it.'
Add support
- A hand on the chest
- A hand on the belly
- A self-hug
- Rubbing your arms
- Softening jaw, unclenching hands
Practice
"Of Course" Practice
Self-validation practice: meet your experience with 'of course' instead of resistance or judgment.
This isn't validating that the fear is accurate. It's validating the experience—the reality that your system is activated right now.
A subtle but important point
If the only reason we use breath is to make the feeling go away, we can accidentally teach the body that the feeling is dangerous. But if we use breath and support so we can stay with the feeling, we teach the body: 'This is workable. I can be here.'
When you can feel even 5% of that 'of course' in the body, space opens. And from that space, curiosity becomes possible: 'What does my system need right now?'