Daily Rhythms (Breathe His Name) - #020

In this episode, we explore how something as simple as your breath can become a daily rhythm that anchors you in God's presence. Discover the science behind intentional breathing, the biblical significance of breath, and how every inhale and exhale can become a quiet prayer that draws you closer to the One who gave you life. 

Transcript

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Hey guys, it's Megan Tenner. Welcome back to the Pockets Paradise podcast. I am so excited to dive into what I have for you today. It's gonna be short, but it's gonna be sweet. So uh join in and I hope you enjoy. Hey guys, welcome back. It's Megan. I'm so excited to be with you today. My friend Larson is out of town, but um we're gonna deeply miss her as always. But I hope that I can still give you some godly goodness that can get you through today and stick with you for a lot longer than that. Um we're in the series of daily rhythms, and we're talking about things that Christians have done since the beginning of Christianity that are based in Scripture and take after um what Jesus modeled for us and what God models for us and what the design of our bodies that he created models for us. And so we just want to reiterate that um you are saved by grace through faith, and there's nothing you can do to earn his love or lose it. Um we're saved. That's the good news. The better news is that on top of that, we get to integrate these rhythms in our lives that facilitate a deeper relationship with a living God who wants what he knows you, but he wants you to get to know him and he wants to do life with you, and he wants to strengthen you, and he wants to heal you, and he wants to give you so much more than what we settle for. And so Larson and I really felt it pressed upon our hearts to kind of dive into that with our listeners because in the day and age that we're living in, um we just need more Jesus, man. And so, and the good news is there's no end to him, and he is willing to give himself to us. Um, and we have a wonderful God, and he has designed us to crave him and to connect with him. And so that's all these daily rhythms are. There's no magic potion to having a deep relationship with the Lord. It's just intentionality showing up and doing things that are based in scripture and tried and true uh to connect with him. And another thing I want to say before we dive into today's content is um we've touched on this too, is that we're all unique. God is the same forever. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, forever. He never changes. That's why you can study his character and know who he is at all times. He is the solid rock that you can count on no matter what. And so there's so much comfort and peace knowing that because us humans, we change daily, right? Um, which can be a very good thing. But God never does because he's perfect and he's all-knowing and he's all powerful and he's sovereign and he's kind and he's so much more than what we can put into words, but he's something we can count on when we fluctuate. He is steady. And so um I just want to encourage the listener that um these daily rhythms are just a way for us to connect with him and grow deeper with him as we grow and change. And there's no magic to it. It's just we're all different and we all connect to God differently. So we um want to just show you and talk about different ways to connect with him that are open to all of us, but one might be more um more, I guess, practical for you than another one in this season of your life. So we're gonna talk about a bunch of different ones. So today, I as a counselor do this a lot with my clients, and it is so tried and true by science, um, so heavily researched, and um is just a testament to the goodness of God as well. But it's breath work and it's something that is so simple, it's free, you can do it anytime. Um, and as long as you're alive and able to breathe, you have access to this incredible tool to reset your nervous system and connect with the living God. So um, I have several clients that come into my office and they're anxious, they struggle with anxiety. And um usually we'll do an input inventory and I'll kind of assess, you know, how much is on your plate? What is in your life that's spiking your cortisol? Um, what are some things that are out of your control that you're worrying about? Um and we kind of just analyze their life and look at it under a microscope and say, okay, what are we doing here? And how are you living and how is that working out for you? And then once we get to the bottom of all that, we say, okay, now that we understand what's going on and what you can control, let's go to even a deeper level of let's your nervous system is out of whack. And it's trying to regulate and it's struggling. And when you're anxious, um, that's your brain trying to tell your body that you're not safe and you need to find safety. So, for example, a lot of times the example that's used is your brain doesn't know the difference between being chased by a bear and just being in an uncomfortable situation. So sometimes our body can have this huge reaction to something that's not that big, but your brain doesn't know the difference. It just knows it's seeking pleasure and avoiding pain and trying to protect your life. And so don't automatically hate your brain for doing its job, but sometimes we just had to recalibrate it into knowing that it is safe in an in the environment that you're in. And you do that through breathing. So your brain is like a computer, and every nerve in your body that it if you ever look at the nervous system, you know, when you have the pictures of the skeletal system and the muscular system, and then the nervous system is insane. Um, I remember going to the body at human body exhibit where you could see a real life nervous system, and I was just absolutely blown away by the intricacy of how God has designed us. But we have nerves everywhere in our body, and they're all little receptors that are going to our brain or the computer of our body and letting it know if it's okay or not. You know, am I safe or not? Am I healthy or not? Should I run? This is where the uh, you know, the fight, flight, freeze, and appease comes into play. It's the very basic part of your brain is hardwired to keep you safe. And so a little bit of anxiety is healthy. It's not healthy when it comes to the point where it's altering your life and your relationships and how you live and it's ruling you and you're not ruling it. But your body is designed to give your brain this information to keep you alive. And so when you're having struggling with anxiety, the number one thing you can do is give your brain the information that tells it it is safe. And the number one thing you can do to do that is through breathing. So when you're stressed out, you're usually breathing shallow, your jaws are clenched, um, you're either breathing shallow or you're not breathing at all. You're holding your breath. Um, and different emotions bring out different breathing patterns. Um, but if you think of the most relaxed human state, it's usually when sleeping. And specifically sleeping babies, right? Or a puppy. Have you ever watched a puppy sleep and you see their little fat bellies and how they're just they fully fill up and they fully collapse? And I I know that I've heard this several times where you watch a baby and you're like, oh man, like just watching them makes me relax, right? Because it's you're co-regulating with them and you don't even realize it. Um yesterday was 4th of July, and my three-year-old fell asleep on my chest for a couple hours, and she hasn't done that in ages. It feels like she's only three, so it wasn't ages, but it's been a while. And I I just felt my body relax with her. And she was breathing so deep, and my body co-regulated with her and began to do the same. And it was the most peaceful couple hours I've had in a while. Um, because you fully release and breathe, and your body knows that it is completely safe and it releases what it needs to release to feel good and to calm down. So, what I encourage my clients to do is when they're struggling with anxiety and they're trying to connect with God, so all of this is about getting reconnected with God, right? I tell them to pause to assess their breathing and what's going on in their body and then do something about it. And so um I encourage them to practice doing this before they're in the middle of a panic attack or in an anxious situation, because when you practice before the game, you're ready for the game, right? If you just show up to the game with no practice, no stretching, no warmups, you're rusty, you're obviously not going to play well when it's game time. So I set a timer personally on my phone three times a day in the morning, around lunchtime, and in the evening. And sometimes it's three minutes, sometimes it's five minutes, but it's just me taking deep breaths and doing breath work, recentering my nervous system. And then if I have a moment that's tense or causes an anxious reaction in me, I can stop and do the breath work that I've been practicing, and my brain kind of snaps into muscle memory and it calms down much quicker. And what's amazing is breath work is also what our special forces, like our Navy SEALs and Green Berets and all the high-intense special forces that go in on special missions and have to get things done, and it's very intense. Um, they have special training and breathing to remain calm. Because when you are in a state of fight or flight, you don't think clearly. You make unreasonable decisions because you're trying to survive, right? Whereas when these guys go in, they are stealthy and they have a mission and they have to complete it, and it is very well practiced and organized. And the entire time they are doing box breathing that that they have been practicing for a very long time. So they are in this highly intense situation, but their body is completely calm and believes it's safe when it's in fact not safe, um, but it believes it's safe and they're able to do their mission because they're able to control their heart rate and their breathing, which is incredible. So why wouldn't we do that in counseling? Um, I actually had a male client come in the other day and he was struggling with panic attacks, and he's like, I don't know what the heck's going on. And they can be very terrifying if you've never experienced them. And so he was actually having one in my office, and I said, I want you to just do what I tell you to do. I said, We're not gonna talk about anything, we're gonna breathe. And so I walked him through box breathing, and we did it for 10 minutes, which 10 minutes feels like an eternity when you're struggling with anxiety, but it's not. But by the end of the 10 minutes, he kind of shuddered and sighed, and his body just calmed down. And he said, Holy cow, what was that? And I said, That was your nervous system switching back to safety mode, is what I call it. There's scientific terms for it, but that's the layman's terms I'm gonna use today. Um, so yeah, there's power in it, and there's science behind it, and it works and it and it brings clarity and calmness to your mind in a world of chaos that and the enemy wants you to be chaotic, he wants you to be busy. And sometimes this anxiousness just comes from the pace of life you're living. Like breath work forces you to slow down and be present and reconnect with the presence of God who lives inside of you. Like you just have to become aware of who he is and where he is, and that he's for you. And oh, oh, you're right here. I can breathe. I can the world's gonna keep spinning for a few minutes if I just sit with you for a minute. Um, and it's healing and he gives you what you need. And so I love in the Bible um the um the way that breath kind of trails through the story of the Bible. So when Jesus is first on the scene is in the creation story, and the first thing the first interaction he has with us after molding Adam out of clay, right, is he breathes life into him. And every breath we breathe is breathed into us from God, which is incredible. I love when God when God um changed Abraham's name. His name was Abram, and he added Abraham, like the uh in the middle, because the word for breath back then was ruach, and so the uh I can't do it, but it's like a throat sound, but it's like a ah sound in the middle of his name was God breathing the breath of life into his name. The same with Sarah, Sarah at the end of her name, the breath of life in her name, and he was breathing the life of a new nation into them, which is amazing. And then you look at um the Bible when it says, you know, all things that have breath praise the Lord just by breathing. Because every time you take a breath, you're breathing his breath. When Moses went to the burn found the burning bush and took his sandals off because he quickly realized this was a holy moment and he was just looking for a sheep and stumbles across this phenomenon and he's um in awe and he says, Who are you? Who is this? And God says in the Bible, it's translated, I am that I am, right? I I am the great I am. Um and which means a lot of things that I could go into another day. If I'm sitting here like going through, what should I say about this? So he says that I am that I am, um, but in the actual original translation, it was um consonants with no vowels. So it was Y H W H. And they believe that it was the sound of breathing. Um so he says, you know, who am I? And he says, I am the I am, but it his name was the sound of breathing, which means he is life, he is the sustainer of life and the creator of life, and uh the alpha and the omega, Yahweh. So we added the vowels and we we say Yahweh. Um but that's how God introduced himself to Moses. And so what I love is every time you take a breath, you're essentially saying God's name. So when I'm working with my clients and when I do this myself, I consider breath work prayer. Um and I when I inhale, I'm thinking thinking his name, yeah. And then when I exhale, I think way. And and as we get deeper into the prayer rhythms, and once you understand the counts and you kind of know what it feels like to be in box breathing, then I add prayers to it. So for example, inhale, be still, exhale, and know that I am God. Inhale, be still, exhale, and know that I am God. And so I'm I'm thanking these scriptures as I'm breathing his name and calming my nervous system down. So it's the mind, the body, and the soul all at the same time. And you're declaring the word over your life. Um, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Um, fear not, for he is with me. Fear not, for he is with me. Like there are so many scriptures that you can turn into breath prayers that center you in every way. And so I would encourage you to find what scripture you need in this season of your life, what is making you anxious, and how can you overcome it with the breath of life and connecting to the word of God and the presence of God. It's powerful, it's powerful, and it's never not worked. I've been doing this for almost eight years, and I've never done this with a client and it not worked, which is amazing. And I've never done it in my own life where it didn't work. It you're and if it takes longer, keep breathing until it does work. Um, but just for anyone who might be interested in what box breathing is, it's so simple. And there's YouTube videos too that can help you, like if you need a visual to show you when to breathe in and when to breathe out, if counting is too much. So do what you need to do. But the basics is you breathe in for four seconds, you hold that breath for four seconds, you exhale for five or six seconds, and then you hold the exhale for four seconds. So the typical one is four, four, four, four. With my clients, I always say exhale a little bit longer than you inhale. Um, both work. But the just I just think of it in a box where I'm inhaling, holding, exhaling, holding, inhaling, holding, exhaling, holding, and it forces your body to slow down. It forces your breath to slow down, it forces your brain to say, oh, wait a second, I'm okay because I'm breathing slow and deep, like a baby or a puppy, right? So I must be safe. And it does an UNO reverse card on your brain and it and it so it tricks it into believing it's okay again because it is. And once you realize that you have the power to do that, like you can't always control the anxious feelings that come on you, but you do have the control of what you do with them. So when you breathe and you overcome that anxious feeling, you're able to use that energy because anxious is a high energy emotion, anxiety is a high energy feeling, that can be channeled into productivity, that can be channeled into intercessory prayer, that can be channeled into connecting with the presence of God and just leaning into his love. It can be channeled into something good and it can keep you alive in more ways than just physical. And so if you hear nothing else from me today, that's what I want you to know is that when you're breathing, you are you are bringing God praise. You know, the the first cry of a newborn baby is proclaiming God's name. The last breath you'll ever take is proclaim proclaiming God's name. His enemies, even when they're breathing, they're saying his name, whether they like it or not. Every animal, every breathing thing on this earth is saying the name of the creator of the universe who made it. And it's no different for you. That creator loves you, and he is the breath that is sustaining you, and he has designed your body to react to it. So I encourage you become aware of your breath, become aware of his presence and do the work you need to do to calm your nervous system down and reconnect with him, and he'll do the rest. So let me pray for you, and I hope you have a wonderful week. Lord, I love you, and I am so thankful for the breath in my lungs. I'm so thankful for another day. Thank you for this new day and the new mercies that come with it, Lord. Thank you for being the breath that sustains me, that sustains us. I pray for the le the listener today, Lord. I just pray that they sense your presence in a new way, that they become aware that you are closer than their skin. All they have to do is turn inward and sit still long enough and breathe deep long enough to know that you're there. And you've been there. You're patient and you're kind. And you love them more than they can ever comprehend, Lord. And there's nothing they can do to lose that. There's nothing they can do to get more of it. It just is what it is, and it's beautiful. It's the best gift anyone could ever receive. So, Lord, we praise you. We breathe your name, and we pray that it glorifies you all the days of our life. In Jesus' precious and holy name we pray. Amen.