Tune In Your Energy and Courage

She places it just behind your teeth and says this calms that part of the brain, which helps when your mind is busy at the start. It's a simple physical cue to settle before the breathing begins. You can use it any time thoughts feel loud.

You exhale slowly, as if blowing out a candle, to push away the stress and intrusion of the outer world. When your lungs are completely empty, you breathe in through the nose and let that breath dive into the core of your being. The long out-breath makes room for the in-breath that follows.

Sonia speaks of neglected, forgotten and frightened parts of you, and invites you to breathe them back into every cell. It's an image of reclaiming pieces of yourself you've set aside, such as your creativity, affection, song or art. You also release beliefs, attachments, anxieties and fears to make space for them.

It fills the heart space, then the solar plexus, front and back, and runs down to your tailbone and feet. Your spirit's energy also radiates above and below you, and to the north, south, east and west. That gives you room to breathe and room to be you.

You rub your palms, pull them apart and feel your spirit's energy radiating between them, then rest them over your closed eyes. Opening your eyes behind your fingers brings you back into the present gently. Then you lower your hands, look at the floor, then eye level, then upward.

The ending gives you a cue: let the corners of your lips travel toward your ears in a smile and move on with a sense of peace. The idea is to live from that inner knowing without fear or defence, like a light in the dark. Recalling that smile and a slow breath can bring you back to it.