Slow me down, Lord! Ease the pounding of my heart By the quieting of my mind. Steady my harried pace With a vision of the eternal reach of time. Give me, Amidst the confusions of my day, The calmness of the everlasting hills. Break the tensions of my nerves With the soothing music Of the singing streams That live in my memory. Help me to know The magical power of sleep, Teach me the art Of taking minute vacations Of slowing down To look at a flower; To chat with an old friend Or make a new one; To pat a stray dog; To watch a spider build a web; To smile at a child; Or to read a few lines from a good book. Remind me each day That the race is not always to the swift; That there is more to life Than increasing its speed. Let me look upward Into the branches of the towering oak And know that it grew great and strong Because it grew slowly and well. Slow me down, Lord, And inspire me to send my roots deep Into the soil of life's enduring values That I may grow toward the stars Of my greater destiny. Wilferd A. Peterson.
As I continue on this up-and-down journey of post-concussion recovery, I have realized my powerlessness over my own and the world’s current CRZ situation (Covid-19 virus, the economy, others’ needs). It is in these times that I am pushed to remember I need to rely on God (who is my Higher Power). It is a lesson I have to learn over and over. You would think I would get it by now, but I like to do things MY WAY, so everything takes longer!
So I want to check in with you on how you employ a spiritual dimension to the core areas of need in life and offer a simple coping way in each area out of my own life.
Physical: How are you doing with your self-care?
Self-care is the foundation for all others. I have asthma and another condition which affects my very breathing, so I have to take medications to manage these conditions. Another thing I do is work on my ability to breathe more deeply from my diaphragm (remember Kegel exercises?!) This strengthens my abdominal and diaphragm muscles, which in turn improves my ability to breathe. Also, read the poem above on ways to connect with Nature!
Emotional: Our emotions can indirectly affect our immune system, either strengthening or weakening it. If we stay in a predominantly emotional state, this can be hard on our nervous system, too, and it needs time to rest. One of the best ways to help yourself is breathing, which is free, effective, and easily done.
Breathing exercise: Simply get in a relaxed position, eyes open or closed, breathe through your nose, out through your mouth, 3-5 times for moderate stress, and up to 10 times for greater stress. Also, remember breathing is a direct connection to God, life itself.
Mental: Our thoughts can affect us in different ways. To help manage my anxiety through thoughts, I was given the following phrase from the above poem when I was young, and I still use it today: “Ease the pounding of my heart by the quieting of my mind.”
Do you have a phrase, affirmation, slogan which helps you mentally? PLEASE SHARE!
Relationship: We are often harder on ourselves than anyone else could be. Also, others can affect us positively or negatively. To help myself cope with being hard on myself in relation to caring about what others think of me, I have learned to reach out to trusted friends/family to check out my often off-base perceptions. I also turn over these issues to my Higher Power or relate to the beauty of the above poem.
How do you handle relationships with yourself and/or others?
Spiritual: When nothing else works, I finally turn to God. The above poem helps me to remember how to do this in many ways. Also, a generic prayer I use nightly is:
“I ask for the best and highest good for myself, others (the two-leggeds and four-leggeds), all life on earth, our planet, the Universe.”
What prayer, inspiration, etc., helps you cope?
Wishing you a week filled with a greater connection to All That Is!
Blessings,
Carolyn
