I can always tell I'm stressed when I feel myself losing my breath. Strangely, I don't always realize before I note my lost breath that I am that degree of anxious. Anxiety takes my breath.
It also tightens my chest and furrows my brow. It tenses my shoulders and grips my neck. I feel it in my body, so much.
Often, that's the first thing I notice. Then, I note that my heart is weary, my mind is racing and my spirit is heavy. Can you relate?
Do do you feel that same physical manifestation of your spirit's worrying, or do you have unique other symptoms? Do you feel the pressure of your spirit before or after your breath is gone?
David understood this feeling. His body reacted to his anxiety.
He could have been relating to us when he said, "Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones." Psalms 102:2-5
Yes. Aside from the forgetting to eat my food part, he describes what I feel like when I'm having a bad day; when the anxiety feels heavy.
I know many of us are feeling exactly this way as we dread/anticipatec Election Day coming this week. You may feel that way because of many reasons besides that. But, I want to encourage all of us to simply... Breathe.
I love how God connects our bodies to our spirit, making the two interact with each other so that we can know our heart needs calming. I love how we can engage our bodies, to calm our inner self by just breathing.
Try it. Breathe deep, friend. Be still. And just breathe.
Breathe in grace, and out worry.
Breathe in peace, and out anxiety.
Breathe in refuge, and out fear.
Breathe in forgiveness, and out guilt.
Look around, take it all in, and just breathe.
I took this the picture above in the midst of craziness. I was stressed. I was enjoying capturing a day in my life on Instagram (a fun challenge from the Hollywood Housewife) and I was anxious. Kids were everywhere, school wasn't working, kids weren't paying attention and I was distracted. My breath was tight, and felt yuck.
I looked down and saw the sweetness.. shoes, books, dishes, weeds, toes.. all things that perfectly represent me. It all made me breathe deep.
May you find reason for breathing deep this week. Breathe in the good, out the bad. Breathe in the moments and out the worries. Breathe in the sovreignty of God, out the temporal. Breathe in the eternal and out the momentary.
Just breathe.
It also tightens my chest and furrows my brow. It tenses my shoulders and grips my neck. I feel it in my body, so much.
Often, that's the first thing I notice. Then, I note that my heart is weary, my mind is racing and my spirit is heavy. Can you relate?
Do do you feel that same physical manifestation of your spirit's worrying, or do you have unique other symptoms? Do you feel the pressure of your spirit before or after your breath is gone?
David understood this feeling. His body reacted to his anxiety.
He could have been relating to us when he said, "Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. For my days vanish like smoke; my bones burn like glowing embers. My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food. Because of my loud groaning I am reduced to skin and bones." Psalms 102:2-5
Yes. Aside from the forgetting to eat my food part, he describes what I feel like when I'm having a bad day; when the anxiety feels heavy.
I know many of us are feeling exactly this way as we dread/anticipatec Election Day coming this week. You may feel that way because of many reasons besides that. But, I want to encourage all of us to simply... Breathe.
I love how God connects our bodies to our spirit, making the two interact with each other so that we can know our heart needs calming. I love how we can engage our bodies, to calm our inner self by just breathing.
Try it. Breathe deep, friend. Be still. And just breathe.
Breathe in grace, and out worry.
Breathe in peace, and out anxiety.
Breathe in refuge, and out fear.
Breathe in forgiveness, and out guilt.
Look around, take it all in, and just breathe.
I took this the picture above in the midst of craziness. I was stressed. I was enjoying capturing a day in my life on Instagram (a fun challenge from the Hollywood Housewife) and I was anxious. Kids were everywhere, school wasn't working, kids weren't paying attention and I was distracted. My breath was tight, and felt yuck.
I looked down and saw the sweetness.. shoes, books, dishes, weeds, toes.. all things that perfectly represent me. It all made me breathe deep.
May you find reason for breathing deep this week. Breathe in the good, out the bad. Breathe in the moments and out the worries. Breathe in the sovreignty of God, out the temporal. Breathe in the eternal and out the momentary.
Just breathe.
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