Midst

the REST of the week #95

Mar 04, 2024

What happens when the rest of the week gets lost? When your margins shrink and your punctuation gets sloppy? When the cracks in the daily routine are filled with too many things that are actually important, and there’s no room left for emergencies?

Well, if you send out a weekly newsletter, it might slip from being a Friday evening post, to a Saturday night post, to a “have a good week” post.

The events of this weekend will find their way into future invitations to rest, but for now, I want to reshare the breathing exercise because that really helped me to stay calm through a string of intense activities and dangerously little sleep.

That, and, of course, coming to Jesus over and over (Gospel of Matthew 11:28-30) with the intentional awareness that I do want to live from a place of internal rest and calm.

Kwamé Ryan, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra conductor (quoting a sign on his office wall) puts it this way:

Peace is not the absence of noise, trouble, or hard work, it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

On to the breathing exercise:

Sit in a comfortable chair with a back.
Lift the tip of your tongue to the back of your two front teeth and then slide it up to the ridge just behind your teeth. Hold the tip of your tongue there a blow out loudly (like blowing out a birthday candle, but keeping your tongue in position).
With your mouth closed, breathe in through your nose for 4 counts.
Hold your breath while you count to 7 in your mind.
Now, blow out for a count of 8 as you did in step #2, exhaling audibly.

Repeat these steps for a total of no more than 4 cycles at a time.

Some people may feel lightheaded when starting deep breathing exercises. Stop if you feel lightheaded and consult your medical care provider if the problem persists or you have any concerns.

Practice this throughout the day as needed and at night to quiet things down for a good night’s sleep.

May your week be filled with moments of sweet rest,

Alicia