Category: Mental Health

Jesus, Mental Health

Keys to Emotional and Mental Health for Christians

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Biblical Meditation
Christian Meditation

Biblical meditation is a key to our mental and emotional health.

It is also a key to our prosperity and success.

Today I listened to this sermon from Bill Johnson. The key text he presents in this message was Joshua 1 which is the account of Joshua taking over after Moses died to lead the Israelites into the Promise Land.

He illustrates that we all know how to meditate, because we have all experienced times where we were kept up all night thinking about something we were concerned about. I can certainly relate to this. This scripture is the key to transforming that way of thinking.

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8

Christian meditation – to reflect, to moan, to mutter, to ponder, to quietly repeat. The way this looks is to repeat Scriptures and relate these truths to our lives. At about 22 minutes into this sermon, Bill shares how he uses Psalm 127 to meditate and pray it out. For me, I have used Psalm 23 as a meditative passage in recent months where I breath in “The Lord is my shepherd.” I breath out, “I lack nothing.” I continue on from there, but I choose to make this a slow meditative practice that sows and waters seeds in my heart.

Making Scripture Personal

Another approach to Biblical meditation that I love is making scripture personal. Here is an example:

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16

Personalized – this becomes “I have known and I have believed the love God has for me. God is love, and when I abide in love, I abide in God and God in me.”

Bill shares that Christian Biblical meditation is an ongoing encounter with God. Where we harness our thoughts and emotions and submit them to God’s Truth. According to the scripture above it is a key to prospering and having success.

Psalm 1 is a parallel scripture to the Joshua 1:8 admonition.

Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the [a]ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psalm 1

Because Biblical meditation is a key to our mental and emotional health this is one of my go-to tools when I am in distress and as more of a maintenance practice that I do on a regular basis. I’d love to hear what some of your meditation strategies include.

In this post – I shared 10 things Christians can do when they are feeling antsy, which may also be helpful to you.

Mental Health, Yourself

Processing Anxiety

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“When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your comforts delight my soul.” Psalm 94:19

This scripture acknowledges that we have times when anxious thoughts can flood us. It also acknowledges that these are times when God comforts us in such a way that we can be delighted. Too many times I have wallowed in anxious thoughts for far longer than needed. A big reason for this was too much of a self focus.

“You know better” is something that has gone through my mind many times regarding falling prey to anxiety. I am learning that there are many factors that can contribute to times of anxiousness. My way out of them really isn’t about me making myself bad.

Here are some tools I’m learning relative to processes those anxious feelings.

Bottom-up approach

For me often anxiety shows up as a bodily sensation more so than a specific pattern of conscious thinking. Certainly thoughts are involved on some level. For me the sensations often show up as what feels like a rush of adrenaline which feels like an urgent sense to move, a racing heart, dry mouth. These are all very real reactions of our body when the sympathetic response has been engaged. The sympathetic system is commonly known as our fight, flight, freeze response. Dr. Gentry defines stress as “painful past learning intruding into the perceptual system here in this present, causing us to perceive threat where there is little to no danger.” This causes our body to release energy. He also describes the flight or flight response in practical terms as us responding with acts of aggression or avoidance, which are breaches of our integrity.

We also have a parasympathetic system. This is known as our rest and digest system. Engaging our parasympathetic system often requires us to engage our body to address the body symptoms we are experiencing. Dr. J. Eric Gentry has some amazing videos on YouTube explaining these options. He is a an expert in Traumatic Stress and Compassion Fatigue. When we address our anxiety system from the body first, instead of the mind, is called bottom-up approach. Dr. J. Eric Gentry encourages us to learn to relax our body as a first step in creating space to process through our difficult emotions. Since learning these principles I have been paying more and more attention to my body and consciously releasing tense muscles several times a day.

Tools for Hope

Because I know how much you just want the sensations to stop when you are feeling anxious, I want to share some of the resources that I have come across that have been helpful to me, in the hopes that it leads more people to freedom in this area. Dr. Gentry shares most of these items in a video he has put out on youtube – called Tools for Hope.

  • Focus on your senses, not the thoughts around them. For example looking, listening, smelling etc. He illustrates that in general our senses will show that we are not in danger currently. The thoughts are based on painful past experiences. This contaminates the sanctuary of the present moment. It is a big deal that we realize that we are currently safe. Trauma survivors often don’t realize the difference between feeling safe and being safe. This is cognitive restructuring. This is very similar to a grounding technique that many people teach – where they recommend when you are overwhelmed with a flush of sensations or thoughts, instead of focusing on, engaging the thoughts focus on what you can see, hear, feel, taste, smell.
  • Relaxing muscles
  • Breathing
  • Connecting with body through touch – hand on heart etc.
Family, Mental Health, Mind

Resource for Parents with Children who feel Anxious

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Do you, as a parent, wonder how best to help your child(ren) navigate feelings of anxiousness? I know for myself I had a lot of insecurity and lack of tools around these types of subjects.

As a Christian mom, my greatest goal was to point my children to Jesus. That certainly has not changed, but from a practical standpoint, I often wondered if I was navigating certain situations in the most helpful way, not only short-term but also long. Today I came across a podcast (her podcast is called Flusterclux) with Lynn Lyons. She is a psychotherapist with more than 30 years experience, specializing in anxiety. I think you will agree she has a very down to earth, practical, empowering way of explaining things. I also think you’ll find much of what she shares will not only be helpful to your child(ren) but you as well.

Mental Health, Mind, Yourself

10 Things Christians Can Do When They Feel Antsy

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I think we all have those times when we feel a bit unsettled, or a bit antsy. Many times, as Christians, we are given the impression that if only our faith was great enough, we would never feel anxious. In this post I want to provide some really practical things you can do when you feel anxious or unsettled, while still acknowledging that God is on the throne.

1 Feel the feeling

I can hear people arguing already. After all doesn’t the Bible tell us many times not to fear and to be anxious for nothing? It does, however H. Norman Wright’s writings on grief helped me to see the tone with which these admonitions were likely given with and that is one of strengthening and encouraging, rather than scolding. Think of how you might handle if your small child woke in the middle of a storm, the tone with which you might say, “awe, hon’ you don’t have to be afraid, I’m right here.”

When we are willing to feel our feelings, rather than trying to stuff them, we will often find that the feelings can process through and not get stuck or stuffed, only to re-surface another time.

2 Breath prayer

Once we have connected with the feeling(s), it can be very helpful to involve our parasympathetic nervous system. This is a physiological system that is involved in regulating us, calming us down. Slow rhythmic breathing is one such skill that can be engaged in to bring this system more online. Breath prayer incorporates the slow rhythmic breathing with praying. So we slowly inhale focusing on a truth, and slowly exhale focusing on a truth. Some of my favorites are (while inhaling) focus on “My God is here” (while exhaling) “I am at peace” – see how each phrase has 4 syllables, this helps it to stay rhythmic. I’ve since learned that extended exhales can be even more calming. So now I often have a shorter phrase for the inhale and a longer for the exhale. Example: (while inhaling) “My God is here.” (while exhaling) “I am loved and have a sound mind.” This gives me a count of 4 syllables on the inhale and 8 on the exhale. I generally will repeat these phrases/breaths at least 3 to 5 times. I highly recommend this as a very practical way of addressing the immediate sensations of anxiousness, but also as I pro-active practice throughout the day.

3 Grounding in the now

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

The only time we can do or feel anything is now. Very often when we are feeling antsy it has to do with our mind being in a different place than our body. Our mind may be focusing on the past or the future, while our body is here now. I’ve learned a few exercises over the years that can help to ground me in the now, where faith is. One of my favorites is all about utilizing our five senses to connect directly with what is happening right now. If you find your mind is all over the place in terms of racing thoughts, try looking for 5 things you can see right now, 4 things you can touch/feel right now, 3 things you can hear right now, 2 things you can smell and 1 thing you can taste. The 5 senses help ground us in now. This also is a great rescue tool, meaning it can be utilized right in the moments of panic.

4 Self compassion – through touch

Dr. Kristin Neff has written extensively on self-compassion. One of the things I learned from her was the value of offering ourselves compassion through physical touch. When we experience unsettling feelings, it can be very helpful to simply place our hand gently on our hearts. Combining this with breath prayer can be very powerful.

5 Reminders of prior successes

Sometimes when I am going through antsy feelings, I lose perspective and begin to think everything I do is failing. In order to bring more perspective to this, it can be very helpful to remind ourselves of prior successes. A truth I would offer you to embrace is that you have successfully gotten through every challenge you have faced thus far in your life. I don’t mean everything is resolved. I don’t mean you handled them all the way you would always want to. The reality is you have done the best you can up until now and that is worthy of appreciation.

6 Pen and paper

I know journaling can be something that a person tends to gravitate toward or against. I want to encourage you, if you are feeling agitated to give it a try. There is something about the tactile sensation of putting pen (or pencil) to paper. Additionally this can help get things out of our head and onto paper where sometimes we can see things from a new perspective. A few options if you don’t prefer to journal in full sentences include just jotting down words or phrases that are on your mind, or doodling. Both of these still accomplish much.

7 Move body

I have found often when I feel antsy, I feel a bit of an adrenaline rush. To process this, it can be very helpful to move our body. My favorite is to go for a walk in nature. Dr. Andrew Huberman, a Stanford Neurobiologist, shares that dogs tend to shake when they need to release stress and this is something we can benefit from as well. Additionally, he shares the value of broadening our visual focus in times of stress. Looking out a window can be very helpful.

8 Reach out

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

God designed us to live in connection to one another. He sent His son because He desired a larger family (Romans 8:29). Sometimes the best thing we can do is make a connection with another human being, not for them to replace God, but for them to remind us that we are each humans in need of our God.

9 Think eternally

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2

This may sound somewhat contradictory to item #3 above, which spoke about the only real time we can do anything is now. As I explain further, I hope it will become clear how both of these approaches can be helpful and are not actually adversarial in any way. Thinking eternally simply puts the now in perspective. I’m sure you have heard people share that when you are in a disagreement with someone you love, a good practice can be to think about if this issue will matter in 5 years. Similarly, it can be very helpful when we are in distress to remind ourselves that God has all of time figured out and that is something we can keep our trust in Him for.

10 Set up Rhythms of Grace

My last tip for those times that you feel antsy, is something I’ve been learning the value of more and more over the years. It is grounded in the idea that decision fatigue is a real thing. Sometimes we literally get tired just from all the decisions that are required of us on an ongoing basis. In order to minimize this type of stress, I like to incorporating things in my life that I call “Rhythms of Grace.” These are things I can and do practice on pretty much auto-pilot – no need for decisions each day. Brushing your teeth is likely one of these for most people. We just tend to get up, head to the bathroom and brush our teeth. This serves us well, but is not something we have to invest a lot of mental efforts into. During this last year, I have chosen some things that I have incorporated into my day in a similar way. Since it is very helpful to have these things anchored with things – the same way brushing your teeth is anchored with getting up in the morning – I have chosen 5 general times in the day that I have anchored “Rhythms of Grace.” For me that is 1) first thing in the morning 2) mid-morning 3) mid-afternoon 4) evening 5) when going to bed. I can share the specifics of mine, but the specifics of yours can and should, most likely look different. For me first thing in the morning, I begin with breath prayer right in bed … I love waking up taking a deep breath and thinking something like “It’s Christ in me” “I am enough” or “My God is here” “I am at peace” Mid-morning and mid-afternoon I have alarms in my phone to remind myself to be present. I have scriptures I read and breath deeply at these times. In the evening I move my body in someway – most often taking a walk outside. When going to bed – I try to end each night with prayers of gratitude and taking time to honor successes. For me this means that I try to reflect on things that I considered “wins” from the day. They can be big or small. As you can see my rhythms don’t take a ton of time, but they are conscious ways to incorporate many of the things I listed in the above tips.

I pray some of these things can help you in moments of panic or stress and some can help to minimize the amount of stress you experience. Please feel free to reach out in the comments if you need prayer.

Mental Health

3 Lessons from the Winter Season

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Winter
Season – Winter

I think you will agree the natural world has much to teach us about how our lives work. Many people think that other than being impacted by weather or beauty in nature there is not much more too it. I believe that nature actually has a whole lot to teach us that we can apply to our everyday lives. In today’s post I will delve into some more of the lessons that I feel can be gleaned from the winter season. If you’d like to see my original post about the winter season – you can see it here.

1 Prep when you receive a weather report that a storm is coming.

First I want to acknowledge that there is a mixture of feelings that can come when we are in a season that includes forecasts that we may be able to prepare for, but really have no control over when, where and how that storm comes in. At times I have experienced dread and/or anxiety when I’ve been informed of impending storm. Other times I have experienced indifference, kind of like, just let me know when it’s over. Still other times a storm is greeted by excitement. Over time I have come to understand that the very fact that my reactions can be so different, indicates that it is not the storm itself that is the problem. My reaction to it may or may not be what leads to the turmoil.

I have also seen that when God allows us to have a forecast of a coming storm, it is often to help us take steps to prepare. For a winter storm, this might mean gathering supplies. Certain forecasts lead to empty bread shelves. For a life-storm, it may be similar. Have you ever known a particularly packed schedule was ahead of you on your calendar? Have you ever looked at that as a forecast? Perhaps that is an invitation to gather up supplies or do practical things to ease your load during that time. A really practical thing I have done in these seasons is make dump and go crockpot meals. I love these because often the whole meal is contained in one dish. This makes clean up is easier. Also these recipes tend to be flexible on when they get eaten. Flexibility is often a key in these seasons.

2 You cannot shovel the snow before it falls.

Sometimes in the winter our mobility is temporarily limited. I don’t like this. But it is. Sometimes our mobility is limited because the travel conditions are just too dangerous. Sometimes we are forced to make decisions which acknowledge these limitations. With point 1 above sometimes I have found that I can over-plan for things and almost want to shovel the snow before it arrives. I’ve come to understand through nature that this is not possible. So, yes, plan, prepare the best you can, but understand that somethings can only be addressed when they actually come. A truth about faith is that you can only have faith “now”. Hebrews 11 tells us “Now faith is.” I find it so encouraging to realize that God provides grace in the moments we need it – when the snow falls, so to speak.

3 We don’t have the same amount of light in all seasons.

The facts are that in winter there are less daylight hours. And paradoxically this can lead us to further see the value in having light. Additionally the short days can be a time of rest. I think this parallels life quite well. There have certainly been times in my life when I have had to acknowledge I just didn’t have light or clear direction in a particular area. How much of my time was wasted in trying to figure it out in the dark, so to speak. Instead perhaps God was offering me to rest in that season, knowing He would bring the light in due season.

I hope these three lessons have been helpful to you. If you are in a winter season and would like prayer, please feel free to reach out.

In this post I wrote some of the first lessons I saw in the winter season.

Mental Health, Mind, Yourself

Feelings

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Today I heard a quote by Mel Robbins, which got me thinking.

“How you’re feeling right now, is a function of what you see in the future.” — Mel Robbins

While I think there is some truth in this quote, it certainly isn’t the full picture, so please know as you read this there is more to feelings than simply making future goals.

Path
Path of Life

Scripture tells us, that God will make known the way we should go. It also tells us where we can find joy.

“You will make known to me the path of life, in Your presence is fullness of joy in Your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Psalm 16:11

I really appreciate much of what Mel Robbins shares, because, first, she is extremely practical. And honestly I think sometimes we just need someone to tell us something we can do that will make a difference. Second, she has a great way of boiling things down that can feel overwhelming. I very much appreciate that!

Emotions can be influenced by physical, mental, and spiritual things.

Now I’d like to add to the conversation about where feelings come from. As Mel mentioned in the quote above, our outlook on the future certainly can influence how we are feeling. In addition to this, I believe our feelings also can be indicators of more immediate things. These can include physical, mental, and spiritual things. For example in this post, I wrote about the some physical things such as dehydration, low blood sugar etc that can impact anxiety. Certainly our sleep or lack thereof can influence how we feel emotionally.

I want to encourage you that addressing any one of these areas can be helpful to you. So don’t allow the idea that these three can be involved to add to your overwhelm. Instead I’d suggest starting with whatever feels most do-able, knowing anything you do in these areas with the intent to serve yourself is likely to make a difference.

Can you offer yourself what you would a friend or a child?

Perhaps thinking about it from the vantage point of serving a friend, or a child might help also. If you had a friend who was distressed, would you grab them a cool cup of water, or warm cup of tea? Can you do the same for yourself. If you had a friend or saw a young child distressed would you be willing to simply hold them and say comforting things like “I’m here for you.” “It’s going to be ok.” Can you offer yourself the same? A phrase I say to myself on a regular basis right now is, simply …

I will be kind to myself today.

As simple as that phrase is, it has been powerful for me. As most of us are aware when we think about how we speak to ourselves, the tone can be quite harsh. I have been blessed to have two children, and anyone with more than one child who is able to speak, probably knows the feeling of having to remind one or both siblings to be kind to the other. Well, I’ve found that I needed to be reminded (or told for the first time) to be kind to myself. Can you set this intention also today – to be kind to yourself? It doesn’t have to mean you love everything you do, or that you are not open to making needed corrections. It simply means that you are committed to dealing with those things with kindness.

Following Jesus’ Model

There actually is a scripture that very much aligns with the Mel Robins quote I started this post with.

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

Jesus when he was going through the worst experience of his life, he focused on joy that was to come later. So give yourself permission to see good things in the future, if right now is especially hard. If you need prayer – please feel free to reach out.

Jesus, Mental Health, Spirit, Yourself

Being Seen

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I listened to a podcast called Things Above, which is based on Colossians 3:2 “Set your mind on things above, not on things that are on earth.” In this episode, the host, James Bryan Smith, talks to Michael John Cusick. He is a Christian Counselor who runs a ministry that does intensive counselling in Colorado. His ministry is called Restoring the Soul. I want to share some of my notes from this podcast in the hopes that it will be helpful for others.

The scripture he began speaking about was Proverbs 20:5 “The purposes of ones heart are deep waters, but a person of understanding draws them out.”

He related this to all the ways we mishandle our pain. Wow, did that resonate with me! In other words, often we can deceive even our own selves about why we are doing the things we are doing.

He shared about 5 “W’s” – Wickedness, Weakness, Woundedness, Warfare, and Wiring. Many people focus on the first W – through sin-management. Addressing the other 4 Ws often take care of the sin, without making it the focus.

Shame breads disconnection.

He shares that our deepest calling is to live in place where our soul is Seen, Soothed, Safe, and Secure. Our brain and nervous system is designed to be interpersonal. He goes on to explain how our “fig leaves” (referring to how Adam/Eve tried to hide their sin) do not cover as much as we think. He describes how when God sees us at our worst, He greets us with “well, of course.” Simply because we are so well known.

He talks about these needs for being seen, soothed, safe and secure are needs our entire life. When we don’t get these met, we tend to either try to play big or play small. When we don’t sense that anyone is coming for us, we find substitutes. He encourages us to take time to receive the gaze of God in our life to heal areas where we have not felt seen, soothed, safe or secure. Wow, again. How often have I tried not to “need” anything. Or respond with things like “I’m fine.” When I refuse to receive, I am refusing to be seen and soothed.

So this week I want to encourage you to allow yourself to be seen, soothed, safe and secure by receiving was is needed from God.

Mental Health

Christians and Mental Health

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JOY Impact

Part of why I created this blog was to provide content that is the type of content I have searched for in the past and either not found the type of content I was hoping for or I felt like there was something I could add on the subject.

Christians and mental health is definitely one of those subjects. I feel like there is a lot of well-meaning content, which can be shaming simply because of its incompleteness or because of a lack of empathy. Some such things that I have seen often are messages that seem to indicate if a Christian struggles with mental health issues it is automatically an indication of a lack of faith. I don’t think that is the case.

I think a significant point for us to realize is that as Christians we are three part beings – spirit, soul and body. We are to care for each part. Each part actually can impact the others as well.

Paul prayed,

“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:23‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Too often I have acted as if God is only concerned with my spirit.

I am realizing that is a lie. It is incomplete.

In different seasons of my life I have really struggled in my soul. It might be helpful to describe what I feel the soul is – I have heard it described as your mind, will and emotions. I think that is a fairly good description. This makes sense because God tells us that the battle field is in our mind.

“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10:5‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Because this is a subject I have done a lot of reading and searching and praying about, I am going to continue to write about this and I am going to provide links to sites and resources that I have found along the way to be helpful. In the hope that this will serve as a resource for others and will also serve to help to allow you the grace to quiet the shame and simply receive the truth of God’s love, as I seek to do the same.