In an ongoing effort to change my life for the better, I started following Self on Youtube; a health and fitness channel. In one of these videos, the trainer leading the cardio workout said, “control your breathing, control your life” as she advised to take deep breaths during the moves. It wasn’t until she said those words that I realized just how shallowly I was breathing.
In the next move, I decided to really focus on my breathing instead of struggling through it. I exhaled deeply and instantly felt the release in my lungs; and with the deep breath that followed, I had the increase of strength and confidence to keep following with the workout. I tried this technique throughout the video and I was amazed at how my strength and focus increased.
Breathing seems to be one of those things that we take for granted. Not only is it something like working out or simply breathing second to second but also in those moments when the mind is overwhelmed. When these tensions arise, anxiety and fear, have a real effect on the body’s response. Our physical and mental life is deeply affected, but we also have to consider the spiritual life. It is so easy to become overwhelmed by the buildup of daily stresses and fears. However, just as we need to breathe intentionally during tense moments when the body's automatic stress responses are activated, we also are able to breathe deep the Holy Spirit when our hearts and minds are perturbed.
An example of a stressor that derailed me was just recently my cat got sick and spent some time in the hospital and if you have a pet you know: the vet is not cheap. Confronted with this unprecedented blow, I held on tight to my anxieties and the idea that I wouldn’t be ok. That somehow God would forget about me and would not provide. My hyper-focus on the future stole my peace because I sought to control what I couldn’t.
In my experience, I've let fear take root in my heart before and it is debilitating. I'm sure you've experienced this too-- fear turns us deep inward until we dwell only in our negative thoughts and feelings.
Going inward prevents the ability to turn outward and upward to hear God. The fear gets too loud.
Fear is that frozen response to an unknown or fierce predator. Fear halts our ability to both think rationally and can block us off from the voice of God.
The result is I end up feeling like I don’t need to ask for help and I’ll just struggle through. Situations start to feel completely hopeless and unable to change for the better. Does anyone else relate?
Sometimes I spiral until I believe it. I become the victim, unable to change or influence how I feel when things are tough. I let my fear of the circumstance overwhelm me.
But if we believe God to be all-powerful, looking out for my good, this can’t be true. It means that these things we tell ourselves are lies. And all of these lies and false beliefs cripple and divide us from the peace that God desires for us.
But like our bodies need a release and fresh oxygen, so do our souls. God made us to surrender all we are to Him in order to find restoration.
Unhealthy retention is toxic; we can’t hold our breath too long, just the same as we cannot hold in negative thoughts or beliefs for too long.
What if we practiced letting go of anxieties just as often as we breathe? What would it be like to let them go every time we thought of them?
Then there would be room for new breath and new life of the spirit and body.
The Holy Spirit is the air we are meant to breathe. He is the one we let into our souls when we breathe deeply. When we allow fresh oxygen to flow through our bodies to replenish our cells our minds are also able to pause and rest from its frantic race to grasp at control. By denying the lies to take root in us, we then let the love and grace of the Holy Spirit replenish our broken and trampled souls.
The practise of deep breathing in Lectio Divina is an example of how we slow down our bodies and allow space for the breath of God to breathe in us. Feet on the floor, back straight, inhale deeply, hold and then exhale. This basic practise of meditation allows us the freedom to pause and to become aware of where our hearts are at.
God speaks to us in the silence of our hearts. If our hearts are cluttered and overwhelmed with anxieties we cannot control, then it is harder to hear that still, small voice. Physically too, if our bodies are posed in a fight or flight response, what kind of life is that? God does not want us on the defensive, always on edge and trying to fend for ourselves. Instead, he asks us to soften our hearts; be open and receptive to his words of life. To be aware of the state of our thoughts and body is the first step to be open to the Holy Spirit and to invite him deeper into all aspects of our lives.
So, when we start to feel anxious and out of control with everything in our life, breathe. Inhale, exhale, slow and deep and measured. If it is important to have controlled breathing in a workout to make sure our bodies are filled with oxygen to do what it needs to transform our bodies, how much more important it is for us to take the time for the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts. We need to let go of our anxieties and fears and surrender them all to God, for he is always in loving control. He fills us with his Holy Spirit so that we may live and have new life within him. So it is not control for our own sake, but instead control over our responses to what triggers us to fear, anxiety and stress that we can recognize. Once these lies are identified then as children of God we are able to in loving, trustful supplication, turn over to God all that troubles us so that he may take care of us as he wills it.
