Just Breathe

A Lesson Learned: By Robin Thomas

It struck me that the common denominator of all prayerfully relaxing techniques is to BREATHE.

Yoga, Buddhism, Muslim, Psychology, Christianity, birth and anger management, they all tell you to breathe.

Awaiting the birth of my daughter I took a childbirth class with my husband where they taught the way to manage the pain of labor by regulated breathing, “he, he, who, who……he, he, who, who”

This gets oxygen into your blood stream and helps you relax. Why do they teach the little breaths? Because when you are in pain you stop, or forget to breathe. A practiced exercise helps you get the ball rolling so you can transition into deeper breathing.

In one of my browsing for boredom times I came across a video on a technique to help you sleep. It sounded like malarkey but of course I tried it. And you know what? It worked. If you put your tongue on the roof of your mouth and hold it there while you breathe in as far as you can, then let it out slowly and repeat this 3 more times (without taking your tongue off the roof of your mouth), you will begin yawning and be able to fall asleep. Why? Because deep breath is relaxing.

In Genesis 2:7,

“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

God is the BREATH OF LIFE, so God is the key ingredient in life.

We need air to breathe like we need the breath of life to live eternally.

Breathing is something the healthy most definitely take for granted. To be deprived of breath is to be deprived of life. Ask anyone hooked up to a ventilator.

Anger management techniques focus on breathing, count to ten before you react, take a few deep breaths and calm yourself.

BREATH = CALM = FOCUS

Prayer is a means in which we can breathe, calm ourselves and focus on the Creator. Whether you take a few minutes while you are drinking your coffee or as you take a walk through God’s glorious creation, breathe in, focus and thank the Lord for being the BREATH of LIFE!

Take time to see the small stuff, a squirrel gathering acorns, a gentle breeze rustling the new spring blossoms or the first crack of the ball against the bat of your child or grandchild, or just hearing about your teenager’s day.

I like what George Strait says in his 2009 song release, The Breath You Take,

“Life’s not the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away”