Breath: The Master Switch

There is a switch inside you. You have been carrying it your whole life, and most days you never touch it. It sits underneath thought, underneath effort, running quietly in the background — and yet, unlike almost everything else your body does on autopilot, you can reach in and turn it with your own hand. That switch is your breath. This is not a metaphor I am reaching for. It is a fact of your physiology. Your heartbeat, your digestion, the dilation of your pupils, the release of your hormones — these are governed by the autonomic nervous system, the part of you that runs without permission. You cannot decide to lower your blood pressure. …