As you begin reading my blog I invite you to inhale slowly, filling your belly with a deep breath. Hold it briefly, now let it out as slowly as possible. Take two more full deep breaths.
Taking deep breaths, usually three, is a practice I use in therapy with my clients and in my own life. I take deep breaths when I’m waiting in line or in traffic. I take them outside, especially this time of the year as blooms begin to fill the air. I also take them when I feel my stomach clinch with frustration, anxiety or even uncertainty. There has been more of that recently, maybe for you too, all the more reason to take deep breaths to ground and center ourselves.
Often when I pray, I settle into my prayer time with several deep breaths. The deep breaths ground me and slow me down. Through my breath my whole being opens to God and to the movement of the holy spirit. Some days when words don’t come, I sit slowly breathing, trusting that God hears my weary sighs and hears what is unspoken in my heart or racing in my mind.
Recently, the words of a hymn we use at Pentecost, Breath of God, came to mind. The third and fourth verses in particular speak to me today:
Spirit, Source of life and being,
You made of clay a living soul;
Take our dust and shape it in your image.
Breathe on us, O Mighty Breath of God.
Spirit, broken is the image;
All creation groans in anguish;
Give life to our wounded hearts.
Breathe on us, O Mighty Breath of God.
May we each breathe deeply…allowing our bodies to ground and our hearts receiving the grace of the Mighty Breath of God.
