Breathe

 This has been a very hard year for our family. Maybe I will tell more of the story later, but for right now, I think we all are just settling in to a new normal. I've learned so much about myself through this process....good and bad, and I do plan on sharing more about THAT in the coming weeks. 

For today though...one of the coping tools I discovered during this time was "breath praying." It started instinctually, in my desperation. I found that intentionally breathing slowly and deeply calmed me. I was filled with so much fear and anxiety during this time, that I could feel it in my physical body. Heart racing, crying often, short tempered, feeling deeply overwhelmed and concerned. 

One day while working with a client, there is a 5 minute period of time during a medical procedure, where we are still and quiet together. I began using the time instinctually to place my loved ones into God's hands. I would inhale..."I place ____ and ___ into your hands" and exhale, "to be loved perfectly by you." 

Within a few weeks I discovered a book, Breath As Prayer by Jennifer Tucker. Who knew that what my inner spirit told me I needed was a real thing?  Some of the prayers included.......

Inhale: I give you all my burdens 

Exhale: and you will give me rest. 

Inhale: You go before me

Exhale: and you follow me. 

Inhale: When I am afraid

Exhale: I put my trust in you.

As weeks moved into months, a friend sent me a picture that she had purchased for me and explained that Yahweh, the name for God, is a breath. 

Today a friend sent me this beautiful TikTok video of a reading of a poem written by Sandra Thurman Cantorale. 

Over and over again, I was given something to hang onto when I didn't know what to do next. Breathe. One breath at a time. When I was losing my way, which I did often, I was brought back to this simple instruction...breathe. Breathe. Breathe. In.... and.... out, in.... and.... out. Be still and breathe. 

With so much love....

Annette