Beginner’s Mindset: How to Start Over Without Fear with Michael Henri

0:00 Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the podcast. My name is Michael Henry, your host for today. And today we're going to actually be exploring, excuse me, another simple yet complicated concept that is both humbling and also deeply powerful.

0:17 And that is the courage that it takes to begin again, to start fresh, to clean the slate and just move forward with what we call a beginner's mindset or a beginner's brain. Not an easy concept to do, but whether it is stepping into, let's say, a new teacher role or a new professional role, learning a new skill, or maybe simply just showing up for yourself, showing up for your own practice.

0:47 Maybe it's a yoga practice, maybe it's a meditation practice. Maybe it's a workout routine. Maybe it's for your kids, maybe it's for your friends, your family, some sort of way that you're showing up that might be new. This beginning or this starting fresh can stir up fear, doubt, and resistance for several reasons, and we'll jump into that today.

1:09 But the beginner's mindset isn't a weakness. It is a gift and a space where possibility lives. So today we'll gently reconnect to the beauty of what it is like to start over, start fresh, and the wisdom that it brings. OK, so before we jump into the core topic, I would love to ask for your support to review this podcast if you haven't done so already. It's something that I mentioned in almost every podcast, and it's just a simple little plug.

1:54 It's our way of basically advertising. Not even advertising, but just asking for something of you, the listeners out there. And that is just to go down to the podcast app that you use, whether it's Apple podcast, Spotify, or something else. Go to the main section of the podcast and then just find that star review and just give us some love. We'd really appreciate it.

2:16 Really want to have this podcast be accessible to anyone and anyone, anyone and everyone who's interested to hear more about yoga, about themselves, about personal growth, about if you call it spirituality. So thank you for that.

2:31 Otherwise, let's jump into today's topic. So like always, when we have these solo episodes with just me, I like to deconstruct these, let's say, concepts or these conversations by breaking it down into different emotional contrasts, mostly because it's relatable when we start to talk about the emotion associated with the conversation itself.

2:53 So today we're talking about the beginner's mindset or the courage to begin again. Now when we talk about this, we're talking about the fear of failure because whenever we begin something new, there's always this fear of, oh, it's a new thing and chances are I'm going to not be good at it and possibly quote UN quote, fail at it.

3:15 Versus the other emotional contrast, which is the curiosity in the wonderness, the wondering of this new. Now, this is something that can probably be more relatable when you're younger, whenever you have this beginner's mindset or this young mindset where you are looking at things fresh and we don't have this, let's say, ingrained or developed fear of failure or the repercussions of what we think the failure might bring. So as adults, I assuming most of

3:49 us are adults listening to this podcast, let's start to break it down a little bit more, define these terminologies and just connect it back to not only just the yogic lens, but also the scientific perspective as well. So when we look at the fear of failure, fear of failure is the fear of making a mistake, falling short or being judged as not enough.

4:11 It often keeps us stuck avoiding new things, new beginnings to avoid possible pain or disappointment. So obviously, whenever we are in a situation to embrace a little bit more of that beginner mindset or to start fresh, we're automatically going to be resisting that from a, let's say, subconscious, even nervous system perspective because of that fear of making mistakes, fear of making mistakes or fear of failure, I would say is a very large universal trauma or

4:44 pain that we all experience because we want to feel worthy. We want to feel connected. And if we feel like the fear is disconnecting us from this belonging, then we're going to avoid it and we're not going to approach that.

4:58 And this is something that I can strongly relate with because there is been a long time prior to maybe let's say 8 years ago. So since my early 30s, I for for 30 plus years of my life, I had a very difficult time doing something new, trying something new, even making decisions that were not something that I was familiar with, which maybe this is relatable for you, but for me at the time, I didn't see it as a problem.

5:28 It was more so just I know what I know and I trust what I know. And if I don't know something that I'm not going to engage or I'm not going to move forward in that way, in whatever way I was masking that in my mind might have been because, oh, I don't know how to do this. So I'm not going to get involved. I need to research it first.

5:45 I need to look into it. I need to prepare first as opposed to just jumping in and just kind of learning by fire, trial of fire. And it was quite some time that I'd say maybe probably a couple years where I was able to move out of this space and kind of shift my mindset.

6:05 But the initial, let's say, catalyst on how this happened for me was, and I might have mentioned this on a podcast before, but I did have a friend. Actually, he was a friend of a friend who I had met and he brought some attention to my life in a lot of ways. One of the things was my ability to be receptive, to be able to notice and be a better listener.

6:28 Now that's a whole other story, and I've shared it a lot in some of the trainings that I'm in. But more specifically related to this conversation, he was kind of bringing to my awareness my ability not just necessarily to listen, but my ability to be able to be courageous and say yes to things and to do things that I didn't know anything about.

6:52 So what this looked like was often times me just saying no or turning things down or not necessarily trying anything new. Which if you can imagine, if you don't try anything new, you don't have this beginner mindset, you don't actually allow things to come in, then you're kind of creating a little bit of a box for your life and your life experience.

7:12 It also limits you to be able to grow beyond what you already know. So how he approached me for this was that he encouraged me to take a journal, what he called the Courage Journal. And he said, let's keep it real simple. He's like, all you need to do is just write down. Anytime an opportunity or something comes your way, write it down and just write whether you said yes to it or whether you said no to it.

7:40 And that is it. He's like no pressure to be courageous and say yes to everything. If you've seen the movie Yes Man with Jim Carrey, he just says yes to everything. And you know, not the spoiler alert, but but towards the end of the movie, he realizes that it's not about just saying yes to everything.

7:55 So this exercise that my friend of a friend had provided for me was simply to just create awareness around what you say no to or what you reject or what you don't allow to come in. To be perfectly honest, I think that this courage journal thing, which I'm not a big journaler so it was already hard enough for me to start writing things down, but I was like, you know what, I got to try this, why not? This guy has helped me before in a lot of ways. He seems to have some deeper

8:21 knowledge. So I did, I wrote down, you know, every day there was a, you know, a handful of things that I wrote down and it was either yes or no. I did it for probably 3 days and then I didn't have to do anymore. And that's because I realized very quickly that I was saying no to a lot of things, opportunities or conversations or just things that were coming at me from whether it be my partner, Christina, friends, family, opportunities with work and my initial or default

8:54 response to reject or to avoid or to resist that thing, which was probably deeply rooted in this fear of failure. And not really knowing or being aware of that. This journal exercise really helped me to see that. Because then I looked at the piece of paper, I was like, oh, there's 8 things here from the day.

9:12 And I didn't say yes to any of them. Or maybe I said yes to one of them. And part of me is just like, huh, OK. So even though I had kind of gone through this over three days, he had encouraged me at any point in time, you know, just take a risk and say yes to something and just see what happens. You know, is there going to be a consequence? Is there a bad thing that happens? And just like, document it.

9:33 So one of the things that stuck out to me the most was that I did say yes to an opportunity that I knew nothing about, which was a little scary for me because part of me wanted to know more information before I could say yes or make a decision. But I was just trusting in the process. And that was, I think at the time I was volunteering at a festival, the Bali Spirit Festival, if you're familiar with that.

9:56 And I was working backstage security. And one of the, let's say, facilitators or let's say my coordinator of the, my, my particular job or role hadn't sent a message in a group, group text that said, Hey, is anyone willing to shift their time from whatever their regular schedule was to an earlier time? So working earlier at a different stage. So I had to go to a different stage and kind of like be the support there and the security there didn't have any details about it.

10:30 No one had even responded to the message. And I kind of looked at that like, Oh my God, this is one of those things where I'm going to write down whether or not I did it or I didn't do it. So I was like, screw it, I'm just going to say yes. So I said, yeah, I'll do it, no problem. And they sort of like, oh, thank you, no worries. OK, we'll see you there at whatever. 7:00 So part of me is like, OK, I took a leap.

10:50 I took a chance and let's just kind of see what happens, not knowing what was going to happen, you know, am I going to end up working later? Is this going to be harder? Like who knows what kind of challenges are going to come my way? Already being familiar with the previous role, which was I was familiar with the the initial stage, I was familiar with the initial hours.

11:05 I was also familiar with the people I was going to be working with. So this whole new role was just a complete, let's say, courageous jump into something that I had no idea what was going to happen. And what ended up happening was it was fantastic.

11:19 I basically showed up. I got to there was less drama, less work. Let's say I got to watch the show, which was beautiful, basically behind stage. And not only that, but the show ended early. So my shift ended early, all because I just said yes to this unknown opportunity. And the consequences, I wouldn't even call them consequences. The benefits were that I had to but basically start my shift a little early, but I ended up finishing earlier and I ended up having to do, let's say, less

11:50 work or there was less demand of me. And I also got to benefit from watching the show and listening to the show. So afterwards, after this all happened and I kind of went home and kind of like looked at my my journal of courage and the nose that I had down from other possibilities. And then the one that I had said yes to, this one in particular, and the benefits or the change that happened afterwards, my brain was just like, man, I should just say yes to things more often.

12:17 Not everything, but like there seems to be a lot of good stuff sometimes whenever you say yes to things. So that's kind of what opened the door and cracked it for me to be able to be more interested in, let's say, moving past this fear of failure and stepping into more of this curiosity and wonder. So let's actually start to define that curiosity and wonder, which are the qualities of seeing life with fresh eyes. They invite exploration, openness, and the joy of discovering something new

12:47 without needing to master it right away. And that was the thing that was tricky for me is wanting to be able to be a master, to be good at something before doing it, which I'm sure can be very relatable. So when we face something new, a new Class, A new training, a new experience, a new season in life, a new Hobbit Hobbit, a new habit, fear often rises. What if I fail?

13:13 What if I'm not good at this? What if everyone else knows more than I do? So if this is relatable to you, and I'm sure to some degree it must be, here's a reflective prompt for yourself. Start to recall a time when you started something new and felt that fear creeping in, that fear of failure, that fear of not staying consistent with it.

13:43 That fear of, you know, let's say judgement from the outside possibly. What stories did your mind tell you? Maybe it was that outside judgement. Maybe it was that inside judgement. How did it feel in your body when that story or that narrative started to play out?

14:03 Now, if you're like me and journaling isn't your favorite thing to do, then maybe just sitting with it in stillness setting with it in meditation and just reflecting on that. So recalling a time you started something new and you felt that fear of failure creeping in and what story or what narrative did your mind play and how did it feel?

14:25 If you like to journal, even better, start writing it down. That's always usually quite helpful to unfold whatever might be there for you. Now, if we were kind to look at this contrast from a yogic lens, the beginner's mindset, the way that we can look at this is a couple ways.

14:44 If we look at it from a yogic perspective or a philosophy perspective. This term, Svadyaya or what we call self study, one of the niyamas encourage us to approach ourselves and our practice with fresh eyes every day to reflect and learn from our experiences always.

15:05 And to extend this a little bit beyond not just the yogic perspective, this would be a little bit more from let's say the like Zen Buddhism. I believe Shoshin, which I believe is Japanese, which is also the concept of the beginner's mind. Shoshin reminds us that true wisdom isn't about already knowing, it's about being open, curious and willing to learn. So from this perspective, this Eastern perspective, if we were moving to a lot of bit more of

15:39 the, let's say Western perspective or the scientific perspective, let's say that left brain, the brain loves certainty, it loves familiarity and it loves comfort, partially because of just the energetic conservation. Any time something is new, IT requires more energy to process or to figure out who to problem solve versus something that is certain familiar or comfortable requires less energy.

16:05 So I'm a very simple perspective of energy, nervous system familiarity. Your body is going to always resist this new stuff. So we're already have our, let's say, biology working against us. Not to mention the fear as well that probably got implanted at some point.

16:25 But new experiences stimulate what we call neuroplasticity. And neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to grow, adapt, and create new pathways, to create new experiences, to create new learnings. So beginning again literally keeps us mentally and emotionally agile, being able to adapt, grow, and create all at the same time.

16:50 So from here, if you're in the prompt game or if you're with a journal or you can just sit with yourself and think about this one, What if I, or excuse me, what if beginning again wasn't a sign of failure, but an act of courage?

17:10 So my Courage Journal story could be a reflection of ways in which I can have opportunities to take a courageous act. And it might feel like a risk. And risk is something that often times is something that we want to stay away from because risk in itself typically means that there's some sort of outcome that might be actually negative. So if I do something that I'm being courageous towards, it's probably because I have resistance towards it, which means there's probably some sort

17:42 of risk involved. But let's actually just talk about risk for a second. Risk itself, most of the time, the things that we deem as risky are often very small risks that actually have very little consequences, if any at all.

17:59 Versus what our feeling, our our deep down, let's say nervous system might interpret risk as is more of a what we call catastrophic risk. Catastrophic risk is something that we feel like we can't come back from. It's something that changes in such a way that it changes our entire being, our entire life. Now, even though we can put ourselves in situations where there are risks to take, very few of these risks that we either say yes or no to or these, you know, opportunities are actually catastrophic risks.

18:35 However they feel like they're catastrophic risks. So an example of this would be, and a catastrophic risk would be, you know, I, I decide to go do this thing and you know, the risk or the, the penalty or the consequence was that let's say I lost my leg or I lost my arm or a hand or something, something serious. There's no coming back from that, right? You can't grow your hand back.

19:00 You can't grow your leg back. That would be an example of a catastrophic risk versus, you know, you make a decision to whether it be like going to a different working stage or or trying something new or approaching this training or this day with a different mindset.

19:16 The risk involved or the consequence or the result is not going to be catastrophic. It might be a little bit of feeling off or someone might be a little, you know, thrown or disappointed, or maybe there's some sort of like, let's say, negative outcome, but nothing that you can't recover from.

19:34 And that's the difference between a risk and a catastrophic risk. But our brains and our minds feel more catastrophic risk when we just talk about risk in general. But very few of the risks that we actually take are actually catastrophic.

19:51 So what if beginning again wasn't a sign of failure, but an act of courage? Now, if we were to dive a little bit deeper into this, 'cause I did mention judgement, and judgement I think is an important element to discuss as well, whether it be externally or internally.

20:12 Judgement itself is, yeah, it's a little toxic and it doesn't necessarily help anything per SE. And we're all judge mental beings. We're always evaluating, if you want to use a different word, evaluating, but judging of the process versus, let's say, trusting in the process. So let's kind of look at those two. So judgement of a process is the harsh self measuring against rigid expectations or possibly timelines. It makes growth feel heavy instead of natural. So judgement of progress self

20:50 measuring against rigid expectations or timelines. This can be either rigid expectations or timelines that you might feel externally and therefore you are putting on yourself internally. And that's what actually makes it really hard to kind of, let's say, move into this beginner's mindset and to start to, let's say, grow versus something like trusting in the process versus judging the process.

21:17 If we trust in the process, the willingness to believe that growth unfolds in its own time, surrendering and letting go of this need to control the outcomes and allowing the journey, allowing the experience to unfold and to shape you in the way that it does. Now that's a harder thing to do because also one of the challenges I'd say universally that we all face is the, the desire to control or the, the, the feeling that we need to control.

21:53 Because the controlling aspect actually helps us to feel safe. When we are in control of a situation, it makes us feel safe. Now, when I say situation, we can kind of break that down a little bit further. What are we actually control of in a particular situation?

22:10 Well, the things that are happening around us probably have some sort of influence on, let's say, but I wouldn't necessarily say that we have control over them because control more often than not is an actual illusion. There's many situations where the outside environment, whatever that may be with individuals or let's just say from nature, we can't actually control.

22:35 Things will just take over and there's nothing we can do about that. But the thing that we do have control over is how our internal state is and how we respond to those things. So this is the tricky thing about control is that the illusion of control is that we think we have control of everything around us or we're trying to have control of everything around us.

22:58 But in reality, we actually need to just surrender to that which is happening around us or what we call trusting the process, trusting and also recognizing that we do have control of our Interstate and how we want to respond or be related to this thing or this process that is happening around us.

23:21 So in a world that prizes or let's say acknowledges mastery and achievement, it's easy to judge ourselves harshly when we feel like beginners. You know, if you are in a classroom setting, whether you're a younger student or maybe you're an adult, I mean, let's think about it in a yoga teacher training perspective because I'm sure a lot of you have done some sort of thing like this.

23:49 But it doesn't have to be a yoga teacher training. Any type of training where you're in this learning, this student mind or the student perspective and wanting to be able to show your value in the group by knowing something already or understanding something quickly.

24:07 That prize of mastery of achievement is something that we all want to desire versus just being like, I know nothing and I'm just going to listen and absorb as much as I can. Maybe ask questions about things to try to make sense of it a little bit more, to try to find more clarity.

24:24 But no need to actually judge her, judge myself to feel like a beginner because at any particular time, we can be a beginner in almost anything, especially even if it's something that we already know a lot about or something that we know a lot about already. Now, if you are an adult, chances are you know a lot about some things.

24:49 You're probably an expert, quote UN quote, or you're, you have, you know, some sort of craft. But are we limiting ourselves by thinking that we know everything within that craft and in that mastery or we have a lot of achievements, so we put a lot of time in. So we have nothing new to learn now. I hope you don't believe that to be true because it's impossible to know everything.

25:16 And there's always someone that can do something better than us. There's always someone that knows a little bit more than what we know about a particular topic. And that's not to judge ourselves and say, oh, we're less than. It's more so to recognize that we're always able to learn something, but the only way we're actually going to learn it is if we're open to the learning, which is the beginner's mindset, which is allowing ourselves to let things in without judgement of

25:48 ourselves to recognize, oh, I didn't know that. Now it all comes back to that self worth again. Of course, we want to perceive ourselves and also be perceived by others as smart, intelligent, knowledgeable. And you know, a lot of societies, let's say systems, especially in the school system, doesn't exactly encourage individuals to take risks or to share things sometimes where they might seem like they don't know, not necessarily from the teacher's perspective, because the teacher might actually try

26:19 to encourage and support that student. But sometimes the peers, especially in younger, let's say classroom situations, they might be a little bit more judge mental and might giggle and laugh if someone says something a little silly or funny or like, you should already kind of know that. And that's kind of where this inner narrative comes from, I believe, is when you do something and or you say something or you try something, you might have this inner voice in the back of your head that is

26:47 like, I should have known better or I should have already known that or something to that effect. Which in reality, if you didn't have that thought in that moment, it might not just have been ready for you. It might not have been fresh to be able to actually bring to the forefront. So judging ourselves in that moment is not really helpful. It's also just having humility and being humble and recognizing that.

27:12 Yeah, OK, I'm learning all the time. And sometimes the things that I've already learned, I might have forgotten. And that's OK. We can bring it back to the front again, the front of our mind. So true growth often looks like this. 2 steps forward, one step back, falling down, getting up again, wiser each time. So no matter what, there's always going to be a pushing forward and a pulling back.

27:42 And if you're AI don't know, just to speak to different audiences here, if you're a sports fan or you understand sports a little bit more right now, there's the NBA play offs going on. And I've been watching some games and you know, it's kind of like most sports in the sense that there's usually several games to determine the winner.

28:02 So 7 game series, for example, you know, the teams play each other seven times and through that process, there's ups and downs, there's forwards and backwards happening. Basically, games are won, games are lost and not even in that way you, you could even go more. So in just breaking down, let's say the progression of a game where you'll go on runs, where you'll, you'll score a lot of points, not you as an individual, but as a team, you'll score a lot of points.

28:26 You'll start to take a lead, but then something will happen and you know, the other team will start to get a little bit of a run going and they'll start to take the lead. And it has this kind of back and forth going. So even though you might feel like you're taking a couple steps forward, it's an inevitable thing that's going to happen where you're going to have to take a step back.

28:44 Something's going to pull us in the other direction. It's kind of like the stock market if you wanted an even different example. It's like it's not constantly just going up, up, up, up or down, down, down, down. It's kind of doing this up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, up, up, up, down, down, down, down, down, down kind of situation where it's constantly in fluctuation.

29:04 But regardless, if we recognize that the process and we trust in the process that it's going to go whatever way it's going to go. And we just do our best in those moments to be present, to adapt a beginner's mindset and to be as receptive as possible with a loving heart, of course.

29:22 And we become wiser each time and we learn from these experiences. We don't judge ourselves and we create more courage to be able to not just trust the process but take risks and see what happens on the other side, which often and often or not is usually some sort of growth or clarity. So think of a moment when you allowed yourself to be bad at something or a beginner at something new. What did it teach you and how did it feel to release the pressure of being good right

30:03 away? How did it feel to release the pressure of being good right away and just allowing yourself to be quote UN quote bad at something, raw at something? Now, if we were to again, extend this a little bit further and to talk more about the say, the Eastern versus the Western perspective of these terms, the judgement of process versus or or progress versus the trust in the process from a yogic perspective, Abiasa, dedicated practice paired with Vairagya,

30:46 that's my Sanskrit beginner's mindset right there, which means non attachment teaches us to show up fully without clinging to outcomes. So dedicated practice with non attachment allows us to show up fully without clinging to outcomes. So how can we dedicate ourselves to something, even if it's new, and be unattached to the outcome? When we do this, when we let go of the outcome and we try to do our best, that's when a lot of the worth kind of separates from the actual learning experience

31:24 so that our worth is no longer tied to our performance and our value is inherent always. We are valuable. You are valuable regardless of the outcome, and it's not tied to the result or to the performance. Now, from a science perspective, left brain Western perspective if you want, studies show that a growth mindset, this beginner's mindset, believing abilities can improve with effort, is a powerful predictor of success and resilience, whatever that

32:00 means to you professionally, personally, success and resilience. So being willing to stumble builds a brain wired for adaptability and not rigidity. Being able to be adaptable is one of the most powerful things we can develop or nurture as human beings.

32:24 I mean, the whole world is excited about AI now, and AI is development and it's what we call machine learning. But what is machine learning? Machine learning is its ability to adapt to the prompts and the information that's being given.

32:38 And it's learning so ridiculously fast. So if AI, artificial intelligence is adapting so quickly without being super rigid, even though it does have its, its rigid moments, we as humans also need to maintain adaptability. We need to maintain the ability to be open to change, to learning new things and to pivoting without having any attachment to the outcome or to the performance. No, let's say emotional attachment and letting go of that.

33:10 And you know, sometimes we do have these challenging emotional attachments to outcomes, whether it be about self worth or something to that effect. And you know, we can dive deeper into what that might look like. But this isn't necessarily a therapy session. This is more so just creating awareness around self. So being willing to being willing to stumble builds our brains.

33:32 Oh my God, my brain is starting to get tired. Being willing to stumble builds our brain wired for adaptability and not rigidity. So let's start to integrate and connect with this. So depending on what you're doing, either close your eyes or maybe just soften the eyes if you're doing something that requires your eyes to be open.

33:52 And just start to connect with your breath and take a slow breath in. And as you exhale, soften your hands gently releasing the grip to some degree. If you're driving a car, don't release all the way, but just soften the grip, soften the control.

34:11 Maybe the there's some sort of tension in the shoulders, the arms, the neck, the jaw. Just allow that to be settled and released. Let's do that again. Big breath in and just release any tension that's unnecessary in this moment. Maybe a little body scan to find where that might be. Feet, legs, knees, arms, hips, shoulders, forehead, tongue. And in this moment, in this state of being that you are experiencing right now, repeat these words. Gentle affirmation.

34:50 It's safe to be a beginner. It's brave to keep going like you would tell a child, like you would tell someone learning. It's safe to be a beginner and it's brave to keep going. So telling that to yourself and let those words sink in.

35:12 It's safe to be a beginner, and it's brave to keep going. So beginning again isn't about erasing what's come before. It's about gathering what you've learned and stepping forward with humility and an open heart. So some reflective prompts for you to sit with, to take with, or maybe reflect on later, and we'll put these in the show notes.

35:39 As always. Where in my life am I being invited to embrace the beginner's mind? What area of my life am I experiencing opportunities that I might not be aware of to embrace a beginner's mind? What fears are arising and what new possibilities might be hidden on the other side? How would it feel to see starting over as a sacred, not shameful act?

36:24 How would it feel to see starting over, starting fresh, as more of a sacred, not shameful or judgmental act, Recognizing that every day is a doorway to begin again. When you wake up fresh, that is a day to start over, to start fresh with a new mindset, like you're opening your eyes for the first time and experiencing the world new with gentleness, with courage, with curiosity. Whether you do this as an exercise for one day, maybe a few hours, just notice how it

37:04 changes and shifts the energy within your body. So you don't have to be perfect to begin anything, and you don't have to have it all figured out to take the next small step. The beginner's mind is powerful because it's free.

37:22 It's free to wonder, to learn, and to grow. So we'll do a little closing meditation. But otherwise, before we do that, I just want to say thank you for having the courage to meet yourself today, to explore this conversation in this part of your mind again and again, because this is what we do a lot on the podcast.

37:43 So thank you for bringing your whole evolving self and adaptable self into this journey. So depending on where you are, you want to sit comfortably or just find a comfortable position, we'll walk through a little bit of a breathing exercise with a gentle mantra.

38:03 So connecting with the breath, again, just noticing where your breath is. Another way of noticing how your nervous system is just start to relax your forehead, your shoulders, and the space between your chest, around your heart, around your ribs. Take a slow breath in and a full exhalation. Inhale and say softly.

38:35 I begin again with courage and exhale it into trust. Inhale again. I begin again with courage and exhale that into trust. As you inhale, say each breath is a new beginning, fresh new start. Then exhale yourself into the presence.

39:13 So each breath is a new one. Let's take another new breath in, new beginning, and exhale yourself into the presence. And then one more we'll do together. Break big breath in. I am open, I am growing and exhale into softness. Last one inhale.

39:44 I am open and I am growing and exhale. Thank you so much for joining me today. As always, if you have any questions, you can reach out to me on Instagram. I'll put that in the show notes. Otherwise, I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day and we'll speak to you next week. Take care for now.

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