Excerptional Preview
The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book. A re-release of a previous writing project. The concept is based on the twenty-eight day intentional living experiment. This is probably another month or two from release, but I thought I could give you a quick preview. So here we go. Take a breath, take a moment of silence, and enjoy.
Daily Task Number One
Breathe and Be Quiet
Silence and the Heart
Every day, this is the first task. This is our foundational habit for a successful, intentional life. This simple, yet powerful act is a life changing. A perfect way to begin every day is to love the Lord our God with all our heart. Breathing and being quiet is our intentional action that will help us take this experiment to heart and set our hearts right each day.
Presence and Transformation
There is a connection between breathing, being quiet, and being transformed. These actions are not difficult, but they do require attention and intention. In the silence, we can begin to let go of ourselves. Spending this time in quiet meditation allows us awareness of the presence of God. As we let go of the past and the future, we can simply be present. This daily practice allows us to draw our attention and intention where it belongs right now. Breathing and being quiet takes time and patience. We can’t allow ourselves to judge this time as “wrong” or “right.” We just keep showing up, trying, and practicing. That's what intention looks like. Show up and keep showing up. Let’s give it a try right here. Let's start the transformation. Let's start right now.
Breath and the Flow Life
Let’s take a moment and just think about our breathing. Just feel the air moving in and out. Slowly. Deliberately. Focusing on this breath only. This breath right now. We can’t breathe for yesterday. We can’t breathe for tomorrow. We can only breathe the air we need right now. Breathing is continuous and essential to the flow of life. Let's allow ourselves to get lost in this present moment and appreciate it.
The Beating Heart
Now let’s think about the beating of our hearts. Our hearts aren’t worried about the past or the future. Our heart provides the continuous flow of life-giving blood and is all about the now. Pretty nice analogy to the presence of God. Every moment, whether we pay attention or not, our breathing, our heartbeats, and the presence of God continues.
The Game-Changer
Let’s take another moment to practice simply being quiet. Being aware. Being fully right here, right now. Being in the presence of God. We don’t need a plan or an agenda. We need to BREATHE and BE QUIET. This simple practice requires consistency, focus, and patience. This daily task is a game-changer. Think about that for just a moment. Breathe and be quiet. This is a powerful way to begin a day or to simply take a moment to reset our minds and clear our hearts throughout the day.
Things to Try
So what does it look like to breathe and be quiet? In this twenty-eight day experiment, we will play around with some ideas and see what works for us. As we move forward, let's enjoy the practice and the presence of the moment and of God. Here is a list of things to try out:
Sitting comfortably with eyes closed
Sitting up straight with good posture
Lifting the crown of the head with relaxed neck and shoulders
Paying attention to body tenseness, letting go and relaxing
Breathing in deeply, pausing, breathing out slowly, pausing (repeat)
Focusing on the breath, in the nose and out of the mouth
Quieting the mind, letting go of thoughts, being patient with ourselves
Noticing sounds, but not judging the ever wandering mind
Gently bringing ourselves back to the present and the quiet
Enjoying the moment, being at peace, being present, being still
Being intentional and practicing as often as we can throughout the day, every day
These are just a few ideas to get started. Feel free to try these out, add to this list, and take away from the list. We are simply trying things out to see what works best for each of us. This is an experiment so have some fun with it.
And there you go. Quite excerptional, huh? Give some of these ideas a try. Pay attention to your breathing and practice some silence throughout the day. And let me know how it goes.
Enjoy the day!
