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<v Speaker 1>Us studious. Welcome to the Stillness Journal. I'm Maya, and

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<v Speaker 1>today I want to talk about something. We are rarely

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<v Speaker 1>given permission to honor your own rhythm. There is a

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<v Speaker 1>pace that belongs to you. Not the one your family

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<v Speaker 1>taught you, not the one your work demands, not the

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<v Speaker 1>one the world insists you should keep, but the one

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<v Speaker 1>that lives in your bones, the one that moves in

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<v Speaker 1>your chest when no one is watching. And this pace

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<v Speaker 1>has been trying to reach you for a long time.

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<v Speaker 1>It has been knocking quietly, waiting for you to listen.

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<v Speaker 1>We live in a time that worships speed. The faster

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<v Speaker 1>you answer an email, the more reliable you seem, The

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<v Speaker 1>faster you finish a task, the more productive you are,

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<v Speaker 1>the faster you move through your day, the more you

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<v Speaker 1>have accomplished. And somewhere along the way, we began to

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<v Speaker 1>believe that faster was better, that to keep up was

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<v Speaker 1>to belong, that to slow down was to fall behind.

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<v Speaker 1>But there is a kind of exhaustion that comes from

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<v Speaker 1>living at a pace that is not yours. It shows

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<v Speaker 1>up as a heaviness in the morning that has no

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<v Speaker 1>clear source. It shows up as a restlessness in the

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<v Speaker 1>evening that nothing seems to soothe. It shows up as

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<v Speaker 1>a quiet kind of grief that you cannot quite name,

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<v Speaker 1>And it is the grief of a life lived in

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<v Speaker 1>someone else's tempo. Settling, Let your body find the surface

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<v Speaker 1>beneath you, Let it soften into wherever you are. Let

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<v Speaker 1>your shoulders drop, even just a little. Let your jaw unclench,

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<v Speaker 1>even just slightly. Let your hands open, even if just

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<v Speaker 1>a fraction. There is nothing to figure out here, nothing

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<v Speaker 1>to solve, nothing to understand. Just this breath and the

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<v Speaker 1>next one, and the one after that. The rhythm that

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<v Speaker 1>is yours may not be the rhythm of the people

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<v Speaker 1>around you. And that is not a flaw. It is

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<v Speaker 1>not a failure of discipline. It is not a sign

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<v Speaker 1>that something is wrong with you. It is a sign

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<v Speaker 1>that you are tuned to a different drum. And the

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<v Speaker 1>work of a life sometimes is learning to hear that

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<v Speaker 1>drum clearly enough that you can move to it, even

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<v Speaker 1>when others do not. There is a kind of courage

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<v Speaker 1>required to live at your own pace, because the world

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<v Speaker 1>will ask you to explain it, the world will ask

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<v Speaker 1>you to justify it. The world will suggest that you

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<v Speaker 1>are being difficult or unrealistic, or selfish when all you

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<v Speaker 1>are doing is trying to honor the way you are made.

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<v Speaker 1>And the world will not always understand. But the world

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<v Speaker 1>does not have to understand for you to be allowed

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<v Speaker 1>to live this way. Your rhythm might be slow, It

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<v Speaker 1>might be quieter than the rhythms of the people you love.

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<v Speaker 1>It might involve more pauses than you have been taught

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<v Speaker 1>to take. It might mean saying no to things that

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<v Speaker 1>look like opportunities but feel like obligations. It might mean

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<v Speaker 1>saying yes to things that the world would not necessarily celebrate,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is all right. That is your right, that

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<v Speaker 1>is your work to honor. When you live out over them,

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<v Speaker 1>the body begins to send signals. It tightens, it tires,

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<v Speaker 1>It rebels in small ways that are easy to overlook.

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<v Speaker 1>A headache that arrives without explanation, a sleep that does

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<v Speaker 1>not restore attension in the chest, that has nothing to

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<v Speaker 1>do with anything you can name. The body is not

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<v Speaker 1>punishing you, It is not betraying you. It is asking you,

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<v Speaker 1>in its quiet way, to come home, to come back

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<v Speaker 1>to the pace that is yours. And coming home does

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<v Speaker 1>not have to be a dramatic gesture. It does not

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<v Speaker 1>have to mean quitting your job, or leaving your relationship,

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<v Speaker 1>or moving to a new city. Sometimes coming home is

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<v Speaker 1>just a small choice. A choice to pause before you answer,

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<v Speaker 1>a choice to take a slow breath before you begin

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<v Speaker 1>your day, a choice to let the dishes wait while

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<v Speaker 1>you sit for five minutes with your tea, a choice

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<v Speaker 1>to walk instead of rush, A choice to listen to

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<v Speaker 1>the body before you listen to the calendar. The smallest choices,

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<v Speaker 1>repeated with care, begin to reshape the way a life feels.

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<v Speaker 1>They do not change the outer circumstances very much, but

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<v Speaker 1>they change the inner weather. They change the way you

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<v Speaker 1>meet your days. They change the way your nervous system

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<v Speaker 1>holds the world, and over time they change the rhythm itself.

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<v Speaker 1>They bring it back towards something that feels more like you.

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<v Speaker 1>I think sometimes we confuse the rhythm that is ours

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<v Speaker 1>with the rhythm we wish was ours. The wish is real,

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<v Speaker 1>the longing is real. But underneath it there is another rhythm,

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<v Speaker 1>a quieter one, an older one one that has been

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<v Speaker 1>there since you were small, the rhythm of the child

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<v Speaker 1>who liked to take their time, the rhythm of the

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<v Speaker 1>young person who needed longer to process before they answered

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<v Speaker 1>the rhythm of the person who always felt a little

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<v Speaker 1>out of step with the people around them. That rhythm

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<v Speaker 1>is not a problem to be solved. It is a

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<v Speaker 1>gift to be tended. It is the way the world

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<v Speaker 1>comes into you. It is the way you metabolize experience.

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<v Speaker 1>It is the way your nervous system knows how to

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<v Speaker 1>land safely in a body. And if you can learn

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<v Speaker 1>to honor it, not fight it, not fix it, not

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<v Speaker 1>pretend it is something else, you will find a steadiness

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<v Speaker 1>that no amount of speeding up could ever give you.

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<v Speaker 1>There is a kind of wisdom, and that the fast

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<v Speaker 1>world does not have access to. The fast world sees

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<v Speaker 1>what is on the surface. It sees the immediate, it

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<v Speaker 1>sees the urgent. But the slow world sees what is underneath.

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<v Speaker 1>The slow world sees the seeds before they sprout. The

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<v Speaker 1>slow world sees the roots before the flowers. The slow

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<v Speaker 1>world knows that some things take the time they take,

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<v Speaker 1>and that pushing them rarely helps. You may have a

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<v Speaker 1>project that is moving slowly. You may have a relationship

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<v Speaker 1>that is unfolding slowly. You may have a healing that

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<v Speaker 1>is happening slowly, and the world may be telling you

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<v Speaker 1>to speed it up to push harder, to do more,

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<v Speaker 1>to be more efficient. But the slow world is asking

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<v Speaker 1>you to trust, to let the thing take its time,

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<v Speaker 1>to let the seasons do their work, to let the

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<v Speaker 1>soil do what soil does. Trusting your rhythm means trusting

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<v Speaker 1>that you are not behind, you are not late, you

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<v Speaker 1>are not missing anything. You are exactly where your rhythm

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<v Speaker 1>has brought you. And that place is not a mistake,

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<v Speaker 1>it is not a failure. It is the place from

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<v Speaker 1>which you're next step will be the right step, not

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<v Speaker 1>the fastest step, the right step, and there is a

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<v Speaker 1>world of difference between those two things. I want to

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<v Speaker 1>invite you, just for a moment, to listen for your

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<v Speaker 1>own drum, Not the drum of the calendar, not the

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<v Speaker 1>drum of the inbox, not the drum of the expectations

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<v Speaker 1>that have settled on your shoulders, but the drum underneath,

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<v Speaker 1>the one that beats in the chest when everything is quiet,

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<v Speaker 1>the one that has been there since before you learned

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<v Speaker 1>to hurry, the one that knows your name in a

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<v Speaker 1>voice no one else has ever used. Living at your

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<v Speaker 1>own rhythm will sometimes mean disappointing other people. It will

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes mean being misunderstood. It will sometimes mean saying no

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<v Speaker 1>when everyone else is saying yes. It will sometimes mean

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<v Speaker 1>taking longer than the world thinks you should. And these

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<v Speaker 1>are not failures of character. These are the cost of

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<v Speaker 1>loyalty to yourself. And that cost is worth paying again

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<v Speaker 1>and again, because the alternative is a slow erosion of

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<v Speaker 1>the person you are. There is a tenderness required for this,

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<v Speaker 1>because you will not always get it right. You will

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes push too fast, you will sometimes accommodate too much.

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<v Speaker 1>You will sometimes lose the threat of your own rhythm

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<v Speaker 1>for weeks or months at a time, and when you notice,

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<v Speaker 1>when you come back to yourself, the work is not

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<v Speaker 1>to shame yourself for the lapse. The work is simply

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<v Speaker 1>to begin again, to breathe again, to listen again, to

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<v Speaker 1>come home again. Coming home to your own rhythm is

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<v Speaker 1>not a destination you arrive at once. It is a practice,

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<v Speaker 1>a daily, hourly practice of returning, of pausing long enough

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<v Speaker 1>to ask the body what do you need, of listening

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<v Speaker 1>long enough to hear the answer, of trusting the answer

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<v Speaker 1>enough to act on it, even in small ways, even

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<v Speaker 1>when no one is watching, even when it feels inconvenient.

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<v Speaker 1>The world will keep spinning at its own speed. It

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<v Speaker 1>will keep producing its own demands, it will keep offering

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<v Speaker 1>its own rhythms for you to fall into, and you

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<v Speaker 1>will not be able to stop the world. But you

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<v Speaker 1>can choose again and again to step back into your

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<v Speaker 1>own pace, to remember that the world does not get

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<v Speaker 1>to set your tempo. That tempo is yours, it has

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<v Speaker 1>always been yours, and no amount of noise from the

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<v Speaker 1>outside can take that away unless you let it. I

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<v Speaker 1>want to leave you with a small practice for the

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<v Speaker 1>days ahead. Once or twice a day, when you remember pause,

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<v Speaker 1>put a hand on your chest and ask, what is

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<v Speaker 1>my rhythm right now? Not what should it be, not

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<v Speaker 1>what would be more efficient, What is it right now

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<v Speaker 1>in this body? And then wait, listen, notice what comes.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe the answer is fast, maybe the answer is slow.

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<v Speaker 1>Maybe the answer is somewhere in between. Whatever it is

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<v Speaker 1>that is your tempo for this moment, and you are

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<v Speaker 1>allowed to honor it. And as you go through the

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<v Speaker 1>rest of your day, I want you to remember this.

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<v Speaker 1>You are not a machine to be optimized. You are

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<v Speaker 1>not a project to be completed. You are a living

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<v Speaker 1>creature with a tempo that belongs to you alone. And

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<v Speaker 1>the most radical thing you can do in a world

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<v Speaker 1>that wants you to hurry, is to move at the

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<v Speaker 1>pace that lets you feel your life, not skim it,

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<v Speaker 1>not race through it, feel it from the inside, at

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<v Speaker 1>the speed of breath. That is enough. You are enough

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<v Speaker 1>at whatever pace you are able to move today, you

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<v Speaker 1>are enough. The world has tried to convince you otherwise.

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<v Speaker 1>But the world is wrong about that. The world has

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<v Speaker 1>always been wrong about that. And your own rhythm, the

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<v Speaker 1>one that has been quietly waiting for you, knows the truth.

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<v Speaker 1>It has always known the truth, and it will keep

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<v Speaker 1>waiting kindly until you are ready to come back to it.

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<v Speaker 1>So come back when you can, come back in the

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<v Speaker 1>small ways, come back again and again. There is no

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<v Speaker 1>failing at this. There is only returning, returning to the

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<v Speaker 1>pace that is yours, Returning to the breath that is yours,

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<v Speaker 1>Returning to the body that has been carrying you home

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<v Speaker 1>all along, at exactly the speed you needed to arrive