
Start Your Week With Presence & Purpose
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Ashley Bentley
The Neurodivergent Experience podcast presents Mindful Mondays. I'm your host Ashley Bentley, and this is your space to begin again. And we're continuing our November Neuroscience series, a month dedicated to understanding the neurodivergent nervous system. Last week we explored the ladder within, how our bodies shifting states of safety, stress and shutdown create the backdrop of how we experience life. And this week we're taking the next step, learning to climb that ladder through something else. It happens unconsciously, but it's the only part of our autonomic nervous system that we can also take conscious control over. So it is the bridge between the physical and the metaphysical, the logical and the emotional, order and chaos. It can energize us and it can relax us and it can send us into totally different realms similar to psychedelic experiences. What is this thing? It is our breath. This mysterious, beautiful life force that's constantly moving in and out, ebbing and flowing, rising and falling. Now, I'm a breathwork practitioner, so I love to get into the science of our breath and how we should be breathing and what's happening when we breathe. And you know, if you're interested in any of the science, I I encourage you to take my 14 day nervous system Regulation Mastery course on Insight Timer. It will give you all the information you need. But today I want to spend some time talking about the magic of this constant companion and why we talk about it so much in terms of meditation and how befriending the breath will always bring you back to presence and purpose, which is exactly what we're trying to do here on Mindful Mondays. And if you've been listening to the neurodivergent Experience podcast lately, you'll know that Simon and Jordan and myself have all been walking through that very familiar forest called burnout. And maybe you felt it, too. The fog that settles over your mind, the heaviness in your chest, the dull ache of trying to keep up with a world that never pauses for breath. Exhaustion, brain fog, irritability, the feeling that even joy takes effort. These are not failures. They are signals, sacred telegrams from the wisdom of your body, whispering, slow down and breathe. And if you listen to episode 60 of the Neurodivergent Experience podcast on autistic meltdowns and emotional regulation, you'll remember we talked about how these intense moments aren't failures of control. They're signs that the nervous system has hit a threshold. And this is exactly why understanding the breath matters so much. Because it's one of the fastest ways to bring the system back towards safety when the waves get too high. The late, great Alan Watts once said, no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now. And so here we are, living now, one breath at a time. And if you listened to last week's episode, you'll remember the polyvagal ladder, our map of the nervous system. And if you haven't listened to last week's episode yet, I encourage you to do so. That episode will help you recognize where you are on the ladder.
Guided Meditation Voice
And today, our breath will help us climb that ladder.
Ashley Bentley
Our breath is this mysterious, beautiful life force that's constantly moving, and it happens automatically. Yet it is the only function of the autonomic nervous system that. That we can consciously guide. And that makes it a bridge between worlds, body and mind, logic and emotion, science and spirit. It can energize us. It can calm us. It can even carry us into altered states of consciousness that mirror psychedelic experiences without a single substance. Only air. And about 10 years ago, I had my first real glimpse of just how powerful the breath can be. I participated in a holotropic breathwork workshop here on the Isle of Man. And this is a practice that uses nothing but your own lungs to enter altered states of awareness. And within minutes, I felt as though I was traveling through memory and light with emotions rising and dissolving with every inhale and exhale. It was a profound experience, like rediscovering a language my body had always known. And that experience changed everything for me. It set me on a Lifelong path to explore the breath, and not just its science, but also its mystery. It showed me that the breath is not just a mechanical act, but a mystical one. The original prayer. And yet, as mystical as it is, the breath is also deeply practical. Now, just imagine that I tried to sell you a single product that could relax you when you needed it or energized you when you needed it. And not only that, but that same product could also calm anxiety and boost focus, ease digestion, improve sleep, strengthen immunity, and even help loosen the grip of addiction. You'd think I was selling snake oil, but it's all very real, and it's all built into your diaphragm. Every slow, deep breath presses gently on a large cluster of lymph nodes in the belly, helping to keep your lymphatic system moving beautifully. Deep breathing also massages the digestive organs. It regulates the heart, oxygenates the brain, and sends a quiet message of safety throughout the entire system. It is medicine we carry within us, invisible, immediate, and infinitely wise. The breath is both pharmacy and prayer, the most accessible medicine we have. And the science itself begins to sound like poetry, doesn't it? Which brings me to one of my favorite reflections on the breath from the late, great Alan Watts. He once said, breathing is important in the practice of meditation because it is the faculty in us that is simultaneously voluntary and involuntary. You can feel that you are breathing, and equally, you can feel that it is breathing you. So it is a sort of bridge between the voluntary world and the involuntary world, a place where they are one. And isn't that extraordinary? We tend to divide life into categories, me and other, self and world, doing and being. But the breath reveals those borders to be illusions. You can control it, yes, but even when you forget, keeps going. It is life's promise that you are never truly separate. Who then is beating your heart while you sleep? Who digests your food and heals your wounds and orchestrates the trillions of processes inside of you? Perhaps it is the same intelligence that spins galaxies, the same rhythm that moves the tides. When you inhale, the universe expands through you. And when you exhale, you return that offering. You are the cosmos, breathing itself awake. And in Jungian language, the psychopomp lives here, the inner guide who mediates between the conscious and the unconscious, between the human and the divine. Each breath is that guide leading you safely across the threshold. You can live life intentionally, or you can let it unfold. Either way, life will keep breathing you. You can hold your breath for a moment, but eventually the body insists on living you cannot stop the tide of life any more than you can stop the turning of the earth.
Guided Meditation Voice
Each inhale says, I am alive.
Ashley Bentley
And each exhale whispers, I trust life to continue without my control. And when you breathe through the nose, the air is filtered and warmed and infused with nitric oxide, a natural messenger that opens blood vessels and improves oxygen delivery. Even racehorses sprint with their mouths closed. And we are designed the same way. Breathing through your mouth signals to the body that there's danger. But breathing through your nose tells the body all is well. And in episode 81 of the Neurodivergent Experience podcast, Jordan and Simon spoke about life on high volume, the ups and downs of hypersensitivity. They explored how the neurodivergent brain often takes in more sensory data, more sound and color and texture than it can comfortably process. And our breath can become an anchor in that intensity, helping us to turn down the volume just enough to stay present without shutting down. As the yogi say, the mind follows the breath. Control your breath and you control your thoughts. Breathe unconsciously and life happens to you. Breathe consciously and life happens through you. The breath is how we harmonize mind and body, logic and intuition, hunger and peace. It's how we find balance without demanding perfection.
Guided Meditation Voice
A rhythm that reminds us that we.
Ashley Bentley
Are all built to return again and again to equilibrium. And burnout is what happens when we forget to breathe with life. And breath can bring us back to that rhythm, the natural pulse that never demanded perfection, only participation. So here are a few ways that you can return to that rhythm, not as performance, but as devotion. The easiest way to calm your system is to lengthen your out breath. Our breath is directly tied to both.
Guided Meditation Voice
The parasympathetic and the sympathetic.
Ashley Bentley
Every breath in activates our sympathetic, and.
Guided Meditation Voice
Every breath out activates our parasympathetic rest and digest.
Ashley Bentley
So intentionally lengthening your out breath is the quickest way to calm yourself. And there's also one of my favorites, the physiological sigh. This is a double inhale followed by an exhale. You can do this in moments of anxiety or overwhelm. Two breaths in, one breath out, a trinity of calm. And if you're looking to activate yourself, three breaths in followed by an out breath is known as the breath of joy and can bring energy and vitality in. Or if you're looking to calm yourself, another technique is ocean breathing. And this is where you exhale as if you are fogging a mirror. And it's an incredibly effective way to calm an overwhelmed neurodivergent nervous system. And how about a little bit of bite sized Buddhism? In Buddhist practice, there's a meditation called Anapanasati, the mindfulness of breathing. The Buddha taught it as a complete path to awakening. He said that when one knows the breath, one knows the body.
Guided Meditation Voice
And when one knows the body, one knows the mind.
Ashley Bentley
And when one knows the mind, one knows freedom. It's the original neuroscience of presence. When you bring awareness to each inhale and exhale, you are quietly watching the nervous system in motion, the sympathetic activation of the inhale, the parasympathetic calm of the exhale. One breath expands and one contracts. It's the balance between doing and being, effort and surrender. So the next time you find yourself rushing or worrying or spiraling, just pause and notice the breath. It has always been your teacher. And you know, as I was working on this week's episode, a memory came to mind. I remember saving a quote once written on the tag of a tea bag. They were a lovely set of herbal teas that I had. And each one had a different saying on the little tag that attaches to the thread. And this one read, the voice of your soul is breath. Now, this was probably about 15 years ago, and I saved that little tag and I kept it on my desk at work for years. This was long before I ever knew about breathwork or even deep spiritual practice. But something in me knew that saying was true, even if I didn't yet understand how it was true. And I used to marvel at it. The fact that I had this phrase sitting in my peripheral vision every single day, quietly whispering to me, even though I couldn't explain its full meaning. And even now, even though I understand that saying more deeply, I know that it still holds a mystery. And I think its meaning shifts depending on the day as well. It's one of those truths that can't fully be explained, but somehow it hits right at the heart of our humanity.
Guided Meditation Voice
Every time we hear it.
Ashley Bentley
So pay attention to those little moments, the small sayings, the quiet things that land powerfully even when you're not entirely sure why. Those are the seeds of meaning waiting to be nurtured and cultivated. And tending to those seeds within your soul will bring forth a bounty of presence and purpose in your life. And that, to me, is the perfect definition of microdosing meaning. And it's something you can begin doing right away. And as we move into today's practice, if you are driving or operating heavy machinery, please ensure to pause the recording when you can safely come back into stillness.
Guided Meditation Voice
Just begin by finding a comfortable position it could be sitting or lying down or reclining somewhere that you can fully let go.
Ashley Bentley
And just allow your body.
Guided Meditation Voice
To settle as though gravity itself is an embrace. And whenever you feel ready, feel free to gently close your eyes and just notice your breathing, the gentle rise and fall that happens all by itself.
Ashley Bentley
No need to change anything yet.
Guided Meditation Voice
Just notice this constant companion. Right now you are standing on the bridge, the bridge between the voluntary and involuntary.
Ashley Bentley
The meeting point of body and spirit control.
Guided Meditation Voice
And surrender. Each breath a conversation between your conscious mind and the deeper intelligence that keeps your heart beating, your cells humming, your life unfold. And bringing awareness now to the space just below your navel, your center of vitality. And imagine a tiny candle flame glowing there. And with every exhale, you feed this flame a little more oxygen and watch it grow steady, warm.
Ashley Bentley
Alive. Just watch as the flame expands with.
Guided Meditation Voice
Each breath, filling your abdomen with golden light. And you can feel its warmth radiating through your belly, your ribs, your chest. And it spreads down now into your.
Ashley Bentley
Legs and feet.
Guided Meditation Voice
And into your spine and shoulders. This is your fire of life.
Ashley Bentley
Your.
Guided Meditation Voice
Creative spark, your healing force. With every inhale, you draw in fresh air to stoke it. And with every exhale, the flame brightens, sending warmth and vitality through your entire being. This warmth spreads through every muscle.
Ashley Bentley
Every.
Guided Meditation Voice
Cell, every atom, every neuron. And the light rises up the spine.
Ashley Bentley
Illuminating the heart, the throat, the.
Guided Meditation Voice
And your whole body now glows, a.
Ashley Bentley
Lighthouse of awareness, steady and radiant.
Guided Meditation Voice
Good.
Ashley Bentley
That's right.
Guided Meditation Voice
And as you are focusing your awareness on your breath, this already happening breath.
Ashley Bentley
I'd like you to bring awareness now.
Guided Meditation Voice
To both palms of the hands and on your next in breath, can you imagine breathing in through your right palm, up your right arm, into your heart space, and on the next exhale, imagine that traveling down your left arm and out through your left palm.
Ashley Bentley
And switching.
Guided Meditation Voice
Sides on your next in breath. Can you imagine breathing in through your left palm, up your left arm, into your heart space and allow that breath to exit out through your right arm and out through your right palm.
Ashley Bentley
Switching.
Guided Meditation Voice
Sides again and just continue this for a few cycles, balancing the right and left sides of your body, the solar and lunar currents within you. This is how your energy loves to move.
Ashley Bentley
And reciprocity.
Guided Meditation Voice
And flow. Breath as a bridge, heart as meeting place and dropping, all effort now and just bringing it back, back again to the already happening breath. And I'd like you to bring your focus now to the space in the middle of your forehead, the mind's eye center. Can you imagine that on your next breath, you are Breathing in through your mind's eye center. And as you exhale, breathing out again through the mind's eye, Inhaling in through the center of your forehead, drawing clarity and illumination inward. And exhaling through the same point, releasing mental fog and confusion and worry. Every inhale opens perception and every exhale clears the window of awareness. Your thoughts begin to slow, your awareness expands wide, luminous, unbound. You are the watcher of the breath and you are the breath itself.
Ashley Bentley
And bringing it back once again to.
Guided Meditation Voice
That inner flame, the one in your belly. It's fed by every single breath you take. And feel it expand through your torso, down your legs to your toes, up your spine to the crown of your head. You are radiant from within, the very embodiment of presence, vitality and peace. Breathing in, the flame brightens. Breathing out, the warmth spreads. Breathe in, expansion. Breathe out, release. Every inhale a beginning, every exhale a letting go. You are the breath between worlds, the still point where body and soul meet. The voice of your soul is breath. And as you feel the gentle pulse of life moving through you, heartbeat, breath, awareness, all in harmony. Notice the calm glow behind your eyes, the quiet hum that that remains even in stillness. This is you. Aligned, alive.
Ashley Bentley
Connected.
Guided Meditation Voice
And when you're ready, take one final deep breath in through your nose and exhale out of your mouth with a sigh. And wiggle your fingers and toes and feel the warmth of your palms, steadiness of your heart and the light of the flame still burning quietly within. As you come back to the space around you carry this awareness with you. The knowledge that your breath is always there, ready to energize you, calm you, or bring you home. Every breath a teacher. Every exhale a prayer. Every inhale a return. And whenever you're ready, and not a moment before, feel free to gently open your eyes.
Ashley Bentley
Thank you so much for joining me today on the Breath Between Worlds. And remember, your breath is not something you do, it's something you allow. You are the witness and the wind.
Guided Meditation Voice
The dreamer and the dream. And may this week be a practice in remembering to breathe life in fully.
Ashley Bentley
And to release it freely.
Guided Meditation Voice
And remember.
Ashley Bentley
If you'd like to explore the deeper.
Guided Meditation Voice
Science of breath, you can find it.
Ashley Bentley
In my 14 day nervous system Regulation.
Guided Meditation Voice
Mastery course on Insight Timer.
Ashley Bentley
And next week we continue our November Neuroscience for the Neurodivergent Nervous system with episode 11 from survival to Flow Repatterning Old Responses where we'll learn bottom up.
Guided Meditation Voice
Techniques to show how safety, play and.
Ashley Bentley
Imagination can reshape the nervous system itself. Until then, may your breath be low and slow and your mind clear as.
Guided Meditation Voice
The sky and your heart soft enough.
Ashley Bentley
To feel the universe breathing with you.
Guided Meditation Voice
Sam.
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Jessi and Lenny Ware
Hello. This is Jessie and Lenny Ware from Table Manners, a podcast direct from our dining table where we talk all things food, family, growing up, and everything in between.
Ashley Bentley
And everything in between.
Jessi and Lenny Ware
This season we've had Reese Witherspoon reveal the greatest cookie recipe. We had Gary Oldman, who's freshly knighted. Sir Gary Oldman. Sir Gary Oldman. We did some singing with Gloria Estefan. And Jeremy Allen White has shared some culinary stories with us. And it's not just this series. We've had plenty of other brilliant guests where you can listen back to all the episodes. People like Cher, Dolly Parton, Kate Winslet, St. Paul McCartney, John Legend, Benny Blanco, and Selena Gomez. We've had them all and we fed them very well. Come and listen to Table Manners, the podcast with me, Jessi Ware, and Lenny Ware.
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Podcast: The Neurodivergent Experience
Hosts: Jordan James, Simon Scott
Special Host: Ashley Bentley
Date: November 9, 2025
"The Breath Between Worlds" is a special Mindful Monday episode led by breathwork practitioner Ashley Bentley, continuing the November Neuroscience series focused on the neurodivergent nervous system. This episode delves into the transformative power of breath as the only autonomic function we can consciously control—a bridge between body and mind, logic and emotion. Ashley shares scientific insights and personal narrative, guiding listeners through the importance of breath for presence, regulation, and healing, especially within neurodivergent experiences like Autism and ADHD. The episode culminates in a guided meditation structured to bring listeners back to equilibrium through mindful breathing.
| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote / Moment | |-----------|---------|----------------| | 01:40 | Ashley Bentley | “It is the bridge between the physical and the metaphysical, the logical and the emotional, order and chaos. It can energize us and it can relax us and it can send us into totally different realms similar to psychedelic experiences. What is this thing? It is our breath.” | | 02:46 | Ashley Bentley | “Burnout... The fog that settles over your mind, the heaviness in your chest... These are not failures. They are signals, sacred telegrams from the wisdom of your body, whispering, slow down and breathe.” | | 09:14 | Ashley Bentley | “It is medicine we carry within us, invisible, immediate, and infinitely wise.” | | 09:31 | Ashley Bentley (quoting Alan Watts) | “Breathing is important in the practice of meditation because it is the faculty in us that is simultaneously voluntary and involuntary… a bridge between the voluntary world and the involuntary world, a place where they are one. And isn’t that extraordinary?” | | 11:38 | Ashley Bentley | “The mind follows the breath. Control your breath and you control your thoughts. Breathe unconsciously and life happens to you. Breathe consciously and life happens through you.” | | 14:50 | Ashley Bentley | “When one knows the breath, one knows the body. And when one knows the body, one knows the mind. And when one knows the mind, one knows freedom.” | | 15:26 | Ashley Bentley | “The voice of your soul is breath.” (from a teabag tag) | | 17:12 | Ashley Bentley | “And tending to those seeds within your soul will bring forth a bounty of presence and purpose in your life. And that, to me, is the perfect definition of microdosing meaning.” |
Ashley leads listeners through a carefully layered meditation, focusing on:
Notable closing lines:
Ashley Bentley’s delivery is poetic, compassionate, and grounded in science as well as personal experience. The language throughout blends the mystical (“the original prayer”) with the practical (“breath presses gently on a large cluster of lymph nodes…”), encouraging a holistic, non-judgmental approach to self-care and neurodivergence.
“The Breath Between Worlds” gracefully bridges neuroscience, self-compassion, and practical tools, providing neurodivergent listeners (and allies) with both understanding and actionable strategies for regulation, presence, and meaning. The episode stands as both a stand-alone resource for guided mindfulness and an ongoing invitation into the inclusive, supportive ethos of The Neurodivergent Experience.