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How to Create Space Between Trigger and Reaction
May 5, 2025
Our brains often respond to triggers based on past experiences not the present moment. In this clip from Adaptable | Behavior Explained, we explore how breathwork and mindfulness can help calm your nervous system and expand the space between stimulus and response. Just a few minutes a day can help you respond more intentionally and with more control. #Mindfulness #BreathingTechniques #EmotionalRegulation #AdaptablePodcast #RespondNotReact
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but we as humans we don't respond the
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same way we remember that data we encode
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it maladaptively oftentimes and then we
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go we can't come here because it's a
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dangerous place and so how do we expand
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that space so that we can gain more
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control over our reactions so today I'm
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going to give you some practical tips
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and techniques that are designed to help
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us bring down that space bring down our
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prefrontal cortex and increase the space
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between that stimulus and our reaction
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so that we can have a more adult
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response so the first thing I'm going to
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talk about is 478 breathing so we're
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going to breathe in and and breathing
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and all breath interventions are really
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effective because they're always
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available to us they don't cost us any
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money they can help us change states
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within like one minute and so everybody
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has a minute to shift states and so 478
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breath we're going to breathe in for
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four seconds and we're going to have the
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tip of our tongue to the back of our
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teeth when we breathe in and we're going
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to breathe in through our nose so we're
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breathing in for four and then we're
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holding for
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seven and then we're exhaling for eight
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and that eight count really needs to be
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a deep breath out your mouth all the way
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from your belly and your diaphragm and
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exhale for eight so the first one is 478
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breathing in for four hold for seven
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exhale out the mouth for eight the next
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type of breathing is box breathing or
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full square breathing and it's simple
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and effective and it helps calm our
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nervous system just like 478 breathing
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so I want you to try them both and see
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which one you like better i like 478
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better because we only need three cycles
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and then we're in that in about a minute
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and then we're good to go so but with a
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box breathing we're going to inhale
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slowly through our nose for 4 seconds
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we're going to hold our breath for a
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count of four and then we're going to
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exhale slowly again out your mouth for a
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count of four and then you hold your
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breath again for a count of four so you
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go through the cycle like a box and then
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you're going to repeat that cycle
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several times again all breathing
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techniques help us regulate our breath
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reduce stress change our nervous system
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reaction now the next thing that takes a
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little bit more practice is mindfulness
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meditation mindfulness and meditation
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are huge buzzwords these days but a lot
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of times people require they add
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stimulus even in their their meditation
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practices with apps and things like that
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and I'm not saying that's a bad thing
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but you're really doing well when you
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can meditate or be mindful with
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meditation without any interruptions and
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you're able to just be in the present
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moment without judging it without
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evaluating it and you're able to just
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practice a mindful meditative practice
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and a formal practice really ought to be
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adopted so that you can check yourself
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in between the stimulus and the response
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and it changes the brain there are
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several things that change the brain
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meditation is one yoga is another and in
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EMDR therapy we know changes the way the
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brain fires data and fires reactivity so
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with meditation I'm just going to walk
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you through this a lot of people figure
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that meditation is about there's a lot
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of supposed to it's about emptying your
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mind and that's just not the truth so
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you're going to find a quiet place to
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sit or lie or stand you're going to
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close your eyes and just take a few deep
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breaths and then you're going to focus
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on your breath you're going to notice
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the sensation of your breath think about
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the air entering and leaving your body
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and if your mind wanders because minds
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wander you're going to just gently bring
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your focus back to your breath and
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you're going to practice for like 5 to
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10 minutes daily most people have 5 to
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10 minutes daily you know you have 5 or
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10 minutes in your life to put down your
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phone to stop scrolling to stop watching
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so much TV and tune in to yourself it
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just doesn't take that much to create
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those beautiful changes in the brain so
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the regular practice or a formal
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practice of meditation helps to increase
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awareness again if I know that I'm
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triggered then I have more space between
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that stimulus and reaction to respond
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instead of react
#Anxiety & Stress
#Mental Health
#Self-Help & Motivational