Deep BreathsCentering Down I need a reset. How about you? Are you breathing? Lately, I’ve been tracking the things I know will help me navigate all that’s unfolding around me. This constant onslaught of disheartening news can subconsciously negatively affect our nervous systems. Add the usual stressors of life, and we can easily become emotionally dysregulated and unable to cope. I’ve come to understand that I must intentionally center down to stay attuned to Spirit in these moments. When I feel out of sorts, I can’t just push through — I have to be deliberate. So I shift. I adjust my music to instrumental lo-fi. I light candles. I set timers when working to remind myself to pause, breathe, and take breaks. I make sure I am hydrating with water and herbal teas. I establish rituals to bring my spirit and nervous system back into rhythm. I pray. Today, will you center down with me? Will you slow down long enough to hear what God is speaking in this moment? Howard Thurman is the perfect guide for this kind of soul work. May his words usher us into stillness today and in the days ahead. — Rev. Moya Harris, Director of Racial Justice, Sojourners How Good Is It to Center Down "How good it is to center down! To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by! The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic; Our spirits resound with clashing, with noisy silences, While something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment and the resting lull. With full intensity we seek, ere the quiet passes, a fresh sense of order in our living; A direction, a strong sure purpose that will structure our confusion and bring meaning in our chaos. We look at ourselves in this waiting moment—the kinds of people we are. The questions persist: what are we doing with our lives? —what are the motives that order our days? What is the end of our doings? Where are we trying to go? Where do we put the emphasis and where are our values focused? For what end do we make sacrifices? Where is my treasure and what do I love most in life? What do I hate most in life and to what am I true? Over and over the questions beat upon the waiting moment. As we listen, floating up through all the jangling echoes of our turbulence, there is a sound of another kind— A deeper note which only the stillness of the heart makes clear. It moves directly to the core of our being. Our questions are answered, Our spirits refreshed, and we move back into the traffic of our daily round With the peace of the Eternal in our step. How good it is to center down!" — Howard Washington Thurman
|
