Your body detects danger before your conscious mind does, triggering a tight chest, clenched jaw, or racing stomach. The body writes an ending to a story your brain never started. You can interrupt this automatic alarm by noticing the physical cues and exhaling.
Chapters
So your body decided you were in danger before your brain even knew what happened. You're just sitting there, nothing is wrong, nothing actually happened, and yet your chest is tight, your jaw is clenched, and your stomach is running some kind of low-grade scan. And then the thoughts start. But what about the tone they used? What if that meeting tomorrow goes sideways? What do they mean by that? Should I have said something different? On and on for a situation that hasn't even happened yet. See, that's not you being dramatic. That's your body finishing a sentence your brain never started. Your body has been writing the ending before you even know the story has begun. And just noticing that, just seeing it for what it is, something in you exhale. You can't interrupt what you can't see, but now you can see it. Comment "scan" if your body does this, goes on high alert when everything is actually fine. Let's see how many of us are walking around like this.