Three Steps Towards Peace (and a bonus)
Mindfulness
When you aren’t feeling a sense of peace, simply notice your feelings. Don’t attach a judgment to the emotion, but do give them a chance to send you a message. Our emotions offer us helpful insight that we miss if we choose to ignore the less pleasant emotions. Buried emotions can lead to a breaking point that often manifests itself in depression. So next time a tinge of sadness, loneliness, jealousy, etc. presents itself – allow yourself to feel it. Don’t quickly distract it with work, a TV show or a cupcake. Be mindful of the present emotion, give it a voice, gain the insight you can, and often you’ll see, the emotion will pass.
Meditate
Eastern or New Age meditation is making time to clear the mind completely. Biblical meditation is taking time to ruminate on Scripture. Choose which one you prefer, or a bit of both. Meditation strengthens your mind and calms your mindset in order to peacefully handle the stressful situations of your day. When I run, I like to be intentional with my breathing by attaching helpful affirmations for my day such as; “breathe in God’s love, breathe out God’s love.” You can incorporate breathing, yoga positions and positive affirmations that speak to your heart. Experiment and find what helps increase your level of peace!
Move
Moving your body is nearly as effective as some anxiety medications. When we raise our heart rate through movement, it produces a calming effect on our bodies. Movement is an effective way to use the body to help the brain. Consistent movement contributes to more energy and better sleep. Our bodies were created to move so find some ways you like to move your body. One way to start today is by incorporating a handful of squats throughout your day – for example; every time you use the restroom, do three squats. To more effectively incorporate a new habit, attach it to one you already regularly practice.
*Plus a bonus and the most important – PRAYER! Mark Batterson has written, “Think of worry as a prayer alarm. Every time it goes off, you put it to prayer.” We also see this from Paul in the book of Philippians “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Not at peace? Present that to God and allow it to deepen your intimacy with him. Time and time again I have seen God show me, in the midst of my worry, that he is the good father who provides!
She is excited to share pieces of her heart with you. She hopes you will enter this journey of authenticity with all of us!
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Love the prayer alarm! Timely (pun intended!) reminder of where to take all our ‘stuff’! Thx, April.
hehe, thanks for the pun, made me smile Diane! 🙂
Thank you so much for this practical post, April. Most of it is familiar to me, but I can always use a reminder, especially around this time of year. My daughter and I were just recently praying of the fact that she’s anxious, just about current events and other things on her mind. We were able to collect that verse you shared about being anxious for nothing. Love the fact the fact that you called worry a prayer alarm.
Thanks for sharing Gretchen!!
Mindfulness, Meditate, Move and PRAYER. Love the practicality of this post, April.
🙂 Thanks Jen, Happy New Year!!
I like to think of all of the above as a prescription to live a healthy spiritual, emotional and physical life.
I’ve been practicing this type of wellness since 2010 and use it to help with my neurological illness- it works.
I like the way you phrased it April- Mindfulness, Meditate, Move and Prayer- thanks!
Glad to hear Tara – welcome to the team!!!