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Welcome to the Bedtime 
Scientist. 

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Tonight we're going to wonder 
about something. 

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Most people never learn that 
feelings don't just live in your

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head, they live in your body 
too. 

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Real physical things happening 
in real physical places. 

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And there's a reason for them. 
Sometimes, when something 

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exciting or nervous is about to 
happen, you feel a flutter in 

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your stomach, like tiny wings 
opening and closing. 

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People call them butterflies, or
sometimes your cheeks get warm 

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when you laugh hard or when 
someone says your name in a kind

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voice. 
Sometimes your chest feels full 

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or your throat feels tight, like
you have to swallow around 

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something that's hard to 
explain. 

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And sometimes, when a feeling 
gets very big, your eyes fill 

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with tears. 
These aren't pretend things, 

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they're messages. 
Inside your body, there's a 

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network of nerves called your 
nervous system, and messages 

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travel along it all day long. 
Tiny updates. 

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The body telling the brain 
something important is 

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happening. 
The brain answering back. 

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I'm listening. 
It's a conversation that never 

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fully stops, even when you're 
asleep. 

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When something exciting is about
to happen, your brain sends a 

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message down the line. 
Get ready. 

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Your heart begins beating a 
little faster. 

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Your body moves energy and blood
toward your arms and legs in 

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case you want to run or jump or 
throw your arms around someone 

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you love. 
And deep in your stomach, the 

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small muscles there begin to 
flutter, a tickle that is the 

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butterflies. 
It's your body helping you 

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prepare for something important 
before you even know what it is.

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That's one place feelings live. 
There are others. 

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When your cheeks grow warm, 
something else is happening. 

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Under the skin of your face are 
tiny blood vessels, like small 

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rivers. 
They open a little wider and 

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more blood moves close to the 
surface. 

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That's where the warmth comes 
from. 

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It happens when you're 
embarrassed sometimes, but also 

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when you feel loved or surprised
or noticed by someone. 

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Big feelings have a way of 
showing up where we can see 

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them, and sometimes they show up
where only you can feel them. 

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The lump in your throat may be 
one of the most remarkable 

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things the body does. 
When a feeling rises inside you,

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your throat opens slightly wider
to bring in more air. 

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A small muscle near the back of 
your throat does the opening, 

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and when you try to swallow 
against that openness, you feel 

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the lump. 
Your body wants you to be able 

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to breathe deeply when something
matters, to gasp or shout or 

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sing or cry if you need to. 
Your body is making room for the

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breath, for the feeling, for 
whatever you're carrying. 

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And sometimes when a feeling 
gets too big to hold quietly 

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inside, the body makes tears. 
Tears can come from sadness, but

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they also come from laughing 
very hard, or missing someone 

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you love, or hearing a song that
reaches something deep inside 

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you. 
Sometimes people even cry 

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because someone was gentle with 
them when they needed it most. 

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When tears come, the body is not
failing, it's letting something 

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out. 
Scientists have found that 

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emotional tears actually carry 
stress chemicals out of your 

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body. 
When you cry, you're releasing 

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them through your eyes. 
That's part of why people often 

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feel calmer afterwards. 
Their breathing slows, their 

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shoulders soften, their nervous 
system begins to settle. 

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Their body is finishing the 
conversation. 

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Different feelings show up in 
different parts of the body, and

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there's a reason for that too. 
Your stomach has more nerve 

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endings than almost anywhere 
else inside you. 

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Some scientists even call it 
your second brain. 

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That's why excitement and worry 
show up there first, before 

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you've even named the feeling. 
Your throat is where breath and 

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voice and swallowing all meet. 
It's the place inside you where 

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what's held in and what's LED 
out cross paths. 

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Your face has more muscles for 
showing feeling than nearly any 

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other part of you. 
You were built to wear what you 

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feel so the people who love you 
could see it. 

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And your chest holds the heart 
and lungs, the two parts of you 

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that respond fastest to anything
important. 

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So when a feeling shows up 
somewhere in your body, know 

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that it isn't random. 
That place was built for it. 

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Sometimes feelings are very big 
and words don't quite reach 

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them, but your body always has 
somewhere for them to go. 

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And once a feeling has a place 
to live, it often feels a little

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easier to be with. 
This is the part I want you to 

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really remember. 
Every flutter in your stomach, 

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every warm cheek, every tight 
throat, every tear was your body

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noticing that something inside 
you mattered. 

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Your body has been listening the
whole time, and when a feeling 

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gets too big to hold by 
yourself, you can ask for help 

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or move your body or rest. 
All feelings are OK. 

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What we do with them is what we 
get to choose. 

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Long before there were cities or
schools or bedtime lights, human

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bodies were already doing these 
same things. 

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Hearts speeding up, breath 
catching, faces warming, eyes 

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filling with tears. 
For thousands and thousands of 

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years, people have carried 
feelings through their bodies. 

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Every child, every parent, every
grandparent. grown-ups feel 

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these things too. 
Your body is doing what bodies 

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have always done. 
And right now, as you rest, that

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conversation is beginning to 
slow. 

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Inside your body, there's a 
long, quiet messenger called the

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vagus nerve. 
It runs from your brain, down 

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through your throat, past your 
heart, and all the way into your

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belly. 
And right now, it's the one 

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carrying the body home, your 
heart beating more evenly, your 

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breathing is getting longer and 
softer, the muscles in your 

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shoulders, your jaw, your 
forehead are all letting go of 

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the day, one by one. 
Even the small space between 

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your eyebrows where so many 
thoughts like to gather, is 

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beginning to loosen. 
Your body is telling your brain 

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it's time to rest, and your 
brain is listening. 

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They're slowing together, the 
way they always have, the way 

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they will tomorrow night and the
night after that. 

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And just before you drift off to
dream of butterflies, warm 

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cheeks, and all the feelings the
body remembers, I want you to 

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know something about you. 
Your mind is a wonderful thing, 

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so full of curiosity, and I like
your mind just the way it 

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wonders. 
I'll be back again soon to 

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wonder more with you.