Page 35 - LSFlipFinalV7

NICHOLAS BOOTHMAN
• Deep Breath #1: She inhaled slowly, deeply,
filling her lungs and tummy with air. Not the
polluted city air, but an imagined breath of
fresh, clean oxygen. She held it for a count of
four. Then exhaled slowly, deliberately,
releasing the tension with her breath. She
imagined the stress flowing out of her body,
like dark smoke dissipating into the air.
• Repeat twice. With each breath, she felt a tiny
sliver of the pressure release.
Sixty seconds. That's all it took. Three deep
breaths.
It wasn't a miracle cure. The stress didn't vanish
completely. But the edge was gone. The immediate
panic had subsided. She felt… more grounded. More
centered.
She opened her eyes. The city was still chaotic.
The noise was still deafening. But she was different.
She was… calmer.
She continued walking, her pace more measured
now. She had a weapon. A simple, but powerful tool
to fight back against the onslaught of stress.
She started to experiment.
35