Divine Mercy and Breath

http://clipart-library.com/divine-mercy-cliparts.html

Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. St. Pope John Paul II designated this feast day to be celebrated on the second Sunday after Easter. It is also the gospel reading about "Doubting Thomas". I went to {Click here:} Mass online with Bishop Barron.  He is the Bishop in Santa Barbara and has a website called Word On Fire. Even if you want to scroll through just to hear his sermon on Divine Mercy, I would really recommend it. It is awesome! 

What I found most inspiring was his message of God's breath into us. Our last few posts have been contributions from Marty and Michelle about the power of breathing. Michelle and Dan added comments on yesterday's posts about the healing power of breath to calm the body and the mind. Connect that to calming your spirit as well. We have been given the gift of Divine Mercy through the breath of the Holy Spirit. Bishop Barron challenges us to be a bearer of Divine Mercy by breathing that same mercy into our world. 

I am so excited to share the comments from Michelle and Dan from yesterday's post! I hope this blog continues to generate family interactions in encouraging one another... "we are all just walking each other home!" Who better to join you, than family? 

Michelle wrote:

Both my dad and I (and this is NOT new by any means) want us all to understand how easy this is (e.g., meditation, breathing, mindfulness,praying, etc.). All it means is to concentrate on your breath. You do not have to go out into a field by yourself for 17 hours with no food or drink and meditate. NO! It means saying a mantra or prayer in your head, feeling the air moving in your nose and out your mouth. This can take 30 seconds, 5 minutes, or...I had conversations with my aunties about how I've taken up meditating and both said, "There is NO way." Um, I've been dealt the Murphy-Kerley monkey mind, moving and doing is more important than sitting still and breathing. If I can do it, anyone can do it.

A couple of other thoughts...I might have mentioned it but there is an app called Insight Timer. It's free and has tens of thousands of meditations, music, prayers, etc.
Another thing to consider is tai-chi. There are classes available online. This is a practice that marries movement with breathing.

Dan and I have been talking a lot this past year about alternative holistic approaches to aging...he told me about how much his physical therapist helped him heal through...breathing! Here is Dan's contribution:

I had physical therapy last year for a trick knee. Turns out it wasn't my knee but my hip flexors. Therapist Tim gave me exercises to do, and while watching my form one day he blurted out "Breathe, Dan, breathe!". Duh, what? Turns out I never knew how to breathe. For 65 years I had been breathing completely wrong, expanding my abdomen during the exertion step instead of contracting. I learned to breathe: in-through-the-nose while relaxing the abdomen, out-through-the-mouth while contracting the abdomen. This new knowledge has given me new hope -- the next Tom Brady! -- and new insight, like how singers (like Marty) can blow a looooooong note through abdomen control. It's also given me insight into something else Marty does and shares with Michelle.

You know how you can get so worked up about something, you can lose sight of what's going on around you, what's really important? It can happen to me...a lot! I get "lost in my head" .. overly-concerned about what people are thinking about me. I'm on the first tee, everyone is watching me bend over and tee up the ball, take my practice swing. Are they smirking about the hitch in my swing? Are my shorts too tight? I find my brain spinning circles when I'm supposed to be concentrating on the ball. But then -- Therapist Tim to the rescue! -- "Breathe, Dan!" In through the nose, out through the mouth. In nose, out mouth. Relax the abdomen, contract the abdomen. I'm calmed, back in the present, back in the now, out of my head. Aah. Seems silly, but it works for me. And then I duck-hook it OB -- but heck, who cares?

 I am definitely going to find that app: Insight Timer... thanks, Michelle!

Birthday Shout-Out: April 19 🎂
Chris Beckwith (Michelle's son)... and might I add...a proud and happy grandpa to one-year-old, Everly Moore

Peace be with your Spirit! {I just drove through my Church parking lot to receive a blessing of Divine Mercy, while sitting in my car, with my mask on! Strange times, indeed!} Happy Sunday!
LYM,
Reenie