Breathe Deep

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I just recently read a book. It wasn't a super spiritual book by any means. As a matter of fact, it was a book about healthy eating habits to help you live life to the fullest, called The Makers Diet. I highly recommend it to anyone suffering from illnesses.

Anyway, in one of the chapters the author lists several things you can physically do, non-diet related, that can actually promote positive reactions for your health. None of them were really eye-opening, brand new strategies to me, but as typically happens, something stuck out to me.

Rubin, the author, spoke about our breathing and how it can greatly affect our outlook on a situation.

He compared our breathing as adults to that of a newborn child. An infant comes into the world breathing those deep belly breaths in order to continue to develop her lungs and maximize the air capacity that God placed within. But somewhere between infancy and adulthood we get in the habit of the shallow breathing that only uses a fraction of our lungs' capacity. This greatly affects our state of life.

My mantra this year is “BE STILL.”

I have a habit of doing. Oh, I have the best intentions to sit and bask in the glory of the Lord all around me and stay in that contentment. But my mind gets the best of me, my heart starts beating a little bit faster and before I know it, my lungs are pumping rapidly and those shallow breaths predominate the rest of the day as I wade through my to-do list.

This past week I have been intentionally practicing my belly breathing. You should try it. Take a practice breath. If the only thing that moves is your chest, then you are not breathing correctly. You are breathing in the chaotic world around you. You are breathing in just enough to get by to the next shallow breath.

Now try to expand your belly while you take those deep breaths in.

Breathe in the smell of the flowers around you.
Breathe in the cool breeze in the morning.
Breathe in the meal that God allowed you to put on your table.
Breathe in that sweet smell of clean children (because if your family is anything like ours, it sure doesn't happen as frequently as it should).
Breathe in God's mercy and love and exhale a thanks for getting you through to that next breath.

I can't promise that it will help you get through the grocery store checkout line without kids begging you for the candy strategically placed within their reach. Or make the bickering over favorite toys not make you want to pull your hair out. Or that the phone call concerning a bad health report won't induce immediate confusion and panic.