Learn how to do centering prayer to relieve your overstressed and wayward mind.
Have you ever walked into a room and thought, “What am I supposed to be doing here?” Somehow my body will walk me right to the right spot on autopilot, like the fish tank, for example, and the visual will jog my memory: “Oh, right! I’m supposed to be feeding the fish.”
Our attention spans aren’t much better than the fish inside the fish tank. But, we can use that to our advantage.
The Bible knows we are prone to wander, that each of us has gone his own way, but thank God the Lord laid on Him the wrongdoing of us all (Isaiah 53:6).
Every time our mind wanders that is our chance to come back home. That is our reminder that we need God, that we need His centering presence for our over-stressed minds and wayward hearts.
A high level of stress that spills into a scattered mind is a great cue for us to slow down, settle for a moment, and pray.
Stress Makes For Scattered Minds
The more distractions we have during our day, the higher our stress levels go.
Stress is our response to strain. Controlled exercise is good stress, stress that trains us to rise to the imposed demands and makes us stronger. But, too much uncontrolled stress that we can’t handle puts a damper on our immune systems, lowers our perceived abilities, and causes anxiety.
A burden of stress too heavy to handle causes us to collapse inward on ourselves and makes us forget that we have a very eager and generous Helper, the Holy Spirit.
Just like I needed the visual of a fish tank to remind me of my short-term purpose, we need prompting to remind us of our deeper purpose, to abide with God in our day. A high level of stress that spills into a scattered mind is a great cue for us to slow down, settle for a moment, and pray.
Centering Prayer for Stress Relief
The beauty of prayer is that we can communicate with God anytime, anywhere, anyhow. Prayer strengthens our relationship with God, increases our awareness of Him in our daily life, like our daily tasks of feeding the fish or going to the kitchen for a snack. We yearn to be purpose-filled people, and centering prayer can help keep us on track.
The book Holy Noticing cites the stress relief benefits of prayer and meditation, which can “decrease the amount of cortisol in our bloodstream. It also increases brain density (gray matter) in areas involved in memory, learning, problem solving, conflict monitoring, emotional self-awareness, and self-regulation. It can even help improve our sleep.”
How to do Centering Prayer
Using centering prayer when I’m stressed and scattered helps me be aware of God and integrate my mind and body to the present.
While written prayers clarify the mind, centering prayer gives you a chance to practice centering the meditations of your heart.
Centering prayer is simple, and there are no real rules. The aim is to strengthen the inner space of peace by sitting in stillness with the Lord.
Consider these tips:
– Find a place where you won’t be disturbed, and resume a position where your body can be relaxed, and your mind remains aware.
– Close your eyes or gaze at something neutral, and open your heart to meet with God.
– Choose a word, phrase, or image from Scripture and practice holding it in your mind as the central subject as you let the rest of your thoughts go.
– You may also use your breath, using the rhythm of the inhale, exhale to regulate your spirit with the steadfastness of God.
– Use your breath or word/image as your anchor point to return to when your thoughts stray.
– Try for as little as one minute or as long as you need.
How many breaths can you count before your mind starts to wander? This is how scientists actually measure mindfulness, so that could be a fun exercise to try as well.
As you continue in your dedicated practice, you will notice yourself returning to this space of growing peace throughout the day to meet with the Lord and find your peace increasingly in Him.
Practicing the Presence of God
It is so incredibly tempting to run after the next shiny thing every 12 seconds in our modern day.
“Maybe someone has sent me an email that I can quickly conquer,” our dopamine-craved brains say. “Maybe somebody has left me a message” says the oxytocin. “What if there’s news out there that I need to know?”
Prone to wander, Lord we feel it, prone to leave the God we love! Instead of jumping across the next neuron synapse or the next best thing, centering prayer is an opportunity to seek God where He can be found: right here.
Centering prayer says, “God, where are you? Oh, still here? Great. I’ll stay here too. I’ll see what you’re doing so I can step into your good work. I’ll ask what you want to speak to me and actually, stop to listen. I’ll see if there’s any good news from You I need to remember. I’ll look for you in this moment, so I can follow You in the next.”
This practice trains us to look for God in every moment, to bring us back to His sacred center even in the middle of life’s most stressful seasons.
Kasey Shuler is an author, ACSM personal trainer, Platoon 18 Revelation Wellness Fitness Instructor and co-founder of the Joyful Health Collective. Her mission is to help women find lasting health by starting with grace and finding joy in movement. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Athens, Georgia, and would love to connect with you at joyfulhealth.co, or on Instagram @kaseybshuler.
Live in or near Athens, GA? Join her RevFit classes!
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Are you feeling stressed and overwhelmed, but don’t know where to find relief? Do you desire to live a healthy and whole life, but aren’t sure how to break free from the stressors in and around you?
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2 Responses
I have knee replacement surgery next week on the 19th and I would greatly appreciate your prayers regarding this surgery. Because of knee issues, it is imperative that I have surgery or I will be confined to a walker or wheelchair soon. I really loved the Stress Relief Mind & Body Reset and now am ready to move forward. What are your suggestions?
Hey Debra, We will certainly keep you in prayer! Now that you’ve completed PSR, maybe you could try RevWell TV (https://www.revelationwellness.org/rwtv/) or another challenge?