Find a comfortable position.
You don't need to be perfectly still.
You just need to be here.
Close your eyes if that feels okay.
If not,
Soften your gaze toward the floor in front of you.
Take one breath in through your nose and let it go through your mouth.
Again,
In and out.
One more time.
And this time,
Really let it go.
I want to name something before we begin.
You're probably here because you're waiting on something.
A response,
A result,
An opportunity that hasn't fully landed yet.
Something you've worked for,
Hoped for,
Maybe even tried not to think about too much.
And your nervous system,
The part of you that is always scanning for safety,
Doesn't know the difference between waiting for good news and waiting for danger.
It just knows,
Unresolved,
Unknown,
Not yet.
So it braces,
It tightens.
It starts running worst-case scenarios to protect you.
That's not weakness.
That's biology.
But here's what's also true.
You can teach your body that the waiting is safe.
That open hands receive more than clenched fists.
That staying soft in the uncertainty is not naive.
It's actually the most powerful thing you can do right now.
That's what we're doing today.
Bring your attention to your hands.
Let them rest open,
Palms facing up if that feels natural.
Notice if they're holding tension anywhere.
Not to fix it,
Just to notice.
Now take a breath in for four counts.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold for four.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Out for six.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Again.
In for four.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold.
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
That extended exhale just activated your parasympathetic nervous system.
Your body is literally shifting right now.
Not metaphor.
Biology.
One more round on your own.
Breathe in for four.
Hold for four.
And out for six.
Now bring your awareness to your chest.
The center of it.
This is where creatives tend to hold the waiting.
The tightness around a hope you're trying not to crush.
The low hum of not knowing.
Place one hand there if you'd like.
And I want you to think,
Just briefly,
About the thing you're waiting on.
Don't chase it.
Just let it surface.
Notice what happens in your body when it does.
Does your chest tighten?
Does your breath change?
Does something in you brace?
That's your nervous system flagging it as a threat.
Now here's what I want you to say.
Out loud if you can.
Or silently if you need to.
I have done what I can do.
The rest,
It's not mine to force.
Say it again.
I have done what I can do.
The rest,
It's not mine to force.
Take a breath.
Here's what I know about creatives.
About you.
You're not passive.
You're not sitting around hoping.
You're someone who shows up.
Does the work.
Puts it out there.
And then has to be in the gap between effort and outcome.
That gap is real.
It's uncomfortable.
And nobody talks about how to actually be in it.
But the gap is also where everything gets decided.
Not by you pushing harder.
But by you staying open.
Staying available.
Keeping your frequency clear enough to recognize the thing when it arrives.
A tight nervous system misses things.
An open one catches them.
Bring your attention back to your breath.
With each inhale,
Breathe in the word open.
With each exhale,
Release the word safe.
Before we close,
I want to leave you with this.
The waiting is not evidence against you.
It is not proof that it isn't coming.
It is part of the crossing.
You don't stay on a bridge.
You cross it.
And the most important thing you can do while you're on it.
Is stay open.
Stay soft.
Stay moving.
You've done the work.
Now let the work work.
Begin to bring your awareness back to the room.
Wiggle your fingers.
Wiggle your toes.
Take a full breath in.
And let it go with a sound if you need to.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes.
You're still in the waiting.
But your body just got a little bit safer inside it.
You got this.
