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5 Tips for Living In The Present Moment

Urgency. Immediacy. Insistency. Life has a way of trying to choke out your ability to live fully in the present moment.

 

Kids always need something. Your boss always needs something. Even your past tries to haunt you playing scenes over and over again in your mind like Groundhog Day. 

 

But God doesn’t want you living a slave to urgencies nor does He want the past to rob you of the present. In fact, Jesus addressing this saying:

 

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:33-34

 

Jesus is urging you to not worry about tomorrow but to seek the kingdom. And finding the kingdom isn’t difficult. From the time after His temptation in the wilderness thereafter He preached where to find the kingdom. He said it was AT HAND! 

 

At hand, in the present moment there is perfect love. At hand we have an opportunity to bask in what IS. Yesterday is a memory and tomorrow yet exists but the present moment is ripe and bursting with God’s tangible manifest presence if we would just avail ourselves to experience it.

 

So just how do we lean into the present of His presence? Here are 5 practical tips for living in the present moment.

 

1. BREATHE – Friend are you oxygen deprived? Don’t feel bad, most people are. Be intentional about your breathing. Are you breathing shallowly? When you focus your attention on your breath, it forces you to slow down and draws attention to the present. As you inhale deeply, expanding your diaphragm, give thanks to God. Thank Him for the Pneuma (breath, wind of God) and ask Him to fill you afresh.

 

2. BODY AWARENESS – Right now bring awareness to your body. Are your facial muscles tight? Are your shoulders hunched? Is your jaw clenched? Drawing attention to your body brings you into the moment and extends to you an invitation to relax. As you draw awareness to your body and relax, thank God for creating you fearfully and wonderfully. Commit to using all your members as instruments of righteousness for helping to build His kingdom.

 

3. ENGAGE YOUR SENSES – God created you with a physical body that has senses so that you can engage with all of creation. Fully utilize your senses. Look and BEHOLD all the beauty before you: the blue sky streaked with cirrus clouds, buds on the tree, the wrinkles on the hand of your grandpa and even the crooked grin of a two year old. Listen to a bird’s mating call, the lap of the ocean and the hum of the air conditioning unit. Utilizing your senses is a powerful way to connect with what is happening now. Habakkuk 2:1 says I will stand on my watch to see what He will say. When our eyes are open we can hear from God. Did you catch that? Isn’t God amazing?!

 

4. BE A NOTICER – Jones, in the book The Noticer by Andy Andrews has the uncanny ability of seeing things others miss. When we lean into God, we can sharpen our discernment, catching things that we may have otherwise missed. Again when we are inundated with the cares of the world, we can miss many God moments. Let us pump the brakes and slow down enough to be a noticer.

 

5. GIVE THANKS – My, my my! Gratitude is a game changer. Your heart beating in your chest, running water, shelter, provision, creative genius, cognitive function, love, I can keep going and going. One of my children has been struggling lately with serious quarantine fatigue so I had them start a gratitude journal. It’s been going well so far and has been a way for this child to redirect the energy of harping on the past or trying to predict when life will return to some semblance of normal; and turn their attention to giving thanks for what is. 

 

I’ll leave you with these words from Brian Courtney Wilson in his song Already Here. I love how this song affirms where we find God. Be blessed as you embrace living in the present moment.

 

“We watch and we wait, Lord, anticipate the moment you choose to appear. We worship, we praise until there’s no debate. And we recognize you’re already here. YOU’RE ALREADY HERE!”

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired to Live Fully!

 

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5 Simple Steps for Stress Reduction

Friends, do you know we are in a crisis? And it’s very likely that this crisis has shown up on your doorstep or even entered your own body. The World Health Organization has dubbed stress the health epidemic of the 21st century. If not properly dealt with, stress WILL adversely affect your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health.

As a business owner, mom of 6, ministry leader and wife, I’ve been faced with my fair share of stress. When I am not aggressively abiding in Christ, stress has the propensity to overtake me. I’ve been beaten down by being overwhelmed, anxious, fearful and irritable. And in those moments, I’ve come to see that I don’t like those feelings. I don’t like being edgy and frustrated. It is downright sickening to be plagued with aches, pains and tension headaches caused by stress.

So what can we do to combat it? Consider employing these simple steps.

  1. Awareness. Bring awareness to your body. Are you clenched so tight that your shoulders and ears have become one? Is your brow furrowed? Are you clenching your teeth? Listen to your body. It’s talking to you. If your body parts are tense, command them to relax.
  2. Just Breathe. Literally. You know about lack of sleep but what about lack of breath? Most of us are depriving ourselves of deep, cleansing breaths. Deep breathing slows the heart rate, lowers blood pressure and invites calmness. Go ahead. Give it a try. Just as God breathed the breath of life into the first man, invite Him to breathe afresh in you today. I talk a bit more about breathing in another post I did on STRESS.
  3. Meditate. Whatever you think about constantly is what you are meditating on. Since you’re meditating anyway, be sure to FOCUS those thoughts on things that are true, lovely and of good report (Phil 4:8). If you find yourself consumed with toxic thoughts, arrest them, cast the down and replace them with the truth of the Word.
  4. Atmosphere. Do your physical surroundings promote peace or chaos leading to stress? Clutter and disorganization can create a stressful environment. Enlist help if you need to, in order to create an orderly environment. Bring calm into the atmosphere with the use of essential oils. Two of my favorites for whoosah are clary sage and lavender.
  5. Get Out. Yes, as in get outside. Just today I invited my husband to break his normal routine and to join me in sitting for a while at one of my favorite wildlife preserves. He said his time there was amazing. Being outdoors is so good for you. When God created man He placed him in a garden (outdoors) to connect with creation and to have dominion over it. Lower your blood pressure, sharpen your mind, boost your energy and MORE just by getting outside. And when outdoors feel free to take your shoes off, stand in the grass and exhale as you give God thanks for fresh air, for being root and grounded in Him, for keeping the earth spinning on it axis and for loving you all at the same time. He is truly an amazing God!
  6. BONUS ONE….Since I did list breathing as a stress reduction technique in an older post, I wanted to give you a bonus pointer and that is to watching your eating. What you consume directly impacts you so try to choose foods that work in harmony with the wonderful design called YOU. Avoid processed foods and consume foods that are nutrient dense, wholesome and are what God created. Eating this way fuels your body and brings clarity of thought while consuming unhealthy foods can make you feel bloated, sluggish, and raise blood pressure among other things. And that alone can certainly cause you to become even more stressed.

So what’s currently stressing you? And what wellness practices do you use to combat it? I am here praying in advance that you employ the simple strategies listed above. Be sure to come back and let me know how they worked for you.

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired to Live Fully!

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5 Ways to Reduce Stress

“Relax! You’re wearing your shoulders for earrings.” This amusing quip was relayed to be by a friend. And she is absolutely correct. Some days I feel I carry the weight of the world on my shoulders so to counterbalance the weight I hunch my shoulders. Needless to say my trapezius are well defined.

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But I have taken her words to heart and have implemented the following strategies to manage stress; for indeed the Lord encouraged us to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us. Please pause with me as you carefully consider these 5 ways to reduce stress.

 

BREATHE

Slow

Deep

Intentional

This type of breathing slows the heart rate and reduces stress. As you breathe deeply, consciously move down your body relaxing your eyebrows, shoulders, and limbs all the way to your toes. Feel your muscles relaxing as you supply your entire body with much needed oxygen.

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Breathe so deeply that you feel your ribs expand. You will feel the difference. I think so many of us have gotten used to breathing shallowly, short puffs in and out that deep breathing is foreign.

 

Now do it with me.

 

Deeply inhale through the nostrils until you feel your ribs expand. Hold a few seconds, and then release your breath slowly out of your mouth. Now do it again. With each inhalation thank God for the breath of life and with each exhalation release whatever is causing you stress. Visualize it leaving you. Mmm. I did that with you and I’m already feeling more relaxed.

 

The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4

 

 

EMBRACE THE NOW MOMENT

 

What peace awaits right before your eyes? Stop and take a look. As I type this I’m listening to the bird symphony being conducting right outside my window.

All love, joy, peace and beauty can it be found in this moment. A child’s smile, an encouraging word shared with a co-worker, buds on the trees, the sweet tart taste of a green apple; our daily lives an inundated with beauty but we must slow down enough to appreciate it. For more on embracing the now moment, click here.

 

Be still, and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10a

 

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EXERCISE

When you exercise, you release endorphins that improve your mood. Studies have also shown that you get the added benefits of better sleep, released tension and improved self-esteem when you exercise so get some exercise in today. Even if you don’t regularly exercise, start where you are. A 10-minute walk up your street and back practice that deep breathing technique and you WILL feel better.

 

 

BE PROACTIVE

You know some of things already that stress you, so cut them off at the pass. If rushing in the morning causes stress, see what you can do the night before to facilitate a smoother morning. At night you can partially prepare breakfast, pack lunch(es), pack bags, tidy up fill up on gas. All these little things contribute greatly to reducing your morning stress.

 

Some stressors are out of your control. Someone cuts you off when driving or you’re the victim of identity theft. While you cannot control that, you can choose to respond versus react. Reacting is giving way to your emotions and impulses and letting them drive your behavior. When you react you are generally operating out of fear. Responding is when you pause before taking action. You take a deep breath then DECIDE how to best move forward given the information you are confronted with.

 

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HAVE FUN

Life can be so serious. Life can be so intense. But please, give yourself permission to LIVE! I’ve had to come to terms with this over the last few years. From my rising to my setting, I am serving people. The mental, physical and emotional demands on me are great. To meet those demands, I would sacrifice doing things that bought me pleasure. Then when I finally would do something pleasurable, I would feel guilty because of it. I had to ask God to help me with that. And He told me I had carried out this self-imposed suffering. I was torturing myself. Through prayer, He helped me free myself and I can now do something pleasurable without the guilt. While my schedule does not permit me to engage in the things I deem pleasurable very often (i.e. I’d love to be on the beach everyday) I have committed to doing things I enjoy. So what do I like other than the beach? Typing these posts while sitting in a coffee shop, exercising in a group or class, browsing in a bookstore, having dinner with a friend.

 

How about you commit to doing something this week simply because it brings you pleasure?

 

A study by the American Psychological Association reports that only 37% of us feel we’re effectively managing our stress, so that leaves more than half of the population then debilitated by the issues of life. And many common methods of distressing are ineffective and tend to make you feel worse afterward like:

 

~Eating

~Drinking

~Watching TV

~Surfing the Internet

 

These usually leave you not only with the initial stress but now bring added guilt. So instead of doing those, join me in breathing deeply, embracing the now moment, exercising, being proactive and having fun and let’s cause of stress to dissipate.

 

For more on managing stress, visit the following links:

Know You, Manage Your Emotions 

Tips for Less Stress

Stress Free Steps

http://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/stress

 

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

 

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!

 

Happy to connect with friends at Life Giving Linkup & Purposeful Faith

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Embrace

Jesus makes it very clear that it would do us good to focus our time, energy and efforts on this present moment.

He says in Matthew 6:25-34 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?“ So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

We would be wise to follow his instructions in this.

SLOW DOWN

Bask in the beauty, majesty and splendor that abounds at this very second. The wonderous way your body was made. Feel your heart beating within your chest. Inhale. Exhale. Breath in the breathe of life.

What sounds do you hear? What beauty lies before your eyes?

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This moment; NOW, is all we have. The past is gone and the future isn’t here yet. Embrace THIS moment now. Be encouraged, empowered and equipped to be present for His presence by embracing Him in this moment.

Challenge: Examine where you spend most of your thought life?  Are you dwelling on the past?  Are you concerned and anxious about what’s to come?  Be intentional about embracing this moment called now; the now moment.

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