Life is often stressful. And all of us need ways to calm our mind and body.
One of my favourite ways to help calm my own mind and body is through a breathing exercise which incorporates Psalm 46:10. It uses your body and your mind to slow down and focus in.
It's meant to be a gentle invitation to be still. So be sure you use a gentle voice with the words.
It goes like this...
-- slow, deep breath --
Be still and know that I am God.
-- slow, deep breath --
Be still and know that I am.
-- slow, deep breath --
Be still and know.
-- slow, deep breath --
Be still.
-- slow, deep breath --
Be.
-- slow, deep breath --
How true are those words... on every level an invitation to be present and focus your mind. Focusing in on each of these words, and the different meaning held in each line, helps to slow and focus (rather than ruminating or building anxieties).
I really love using this to access calm because it uses one of our superpowers . . . our breath. Our breath is one of the things we have limited, but not total control over. (Like a lot of life!).
When someone changes the pace of their breath, it changes a lot of how the rest of the body responds. For example, series of short, shallow breathing will raise a sense of anxiety felt elsewhere in the body. Furthermore, those with chronic anxiety and stress have more shallow and faster breathing in general than those who are at a more relaxed/neutral state.
I could go on about the science of it, but the point is to invite you to breathe... and to know it is a gift to breathe in deeply the air that surrounds you and be still.
It is a gift to breathe in deeply the air that surrounds you.