Sarah Mitchell Counseling

Take a moment to breathe. Enjoy just a few cycles of this box-breath self-care exercise.

Intentional deep breathing can help regulate your nervous system and clam your body.

Start at the top left corner of the box and breath into your diaphragm. Count to four as slowly as you can while continuing to expand your lungs. When you reach full expansion (or four counts), pause and hold your breath in for four more counts. Slowly release your breath in a steady stream for four counts or until you cannot exhale any further and hold the breath out for four more counts. Repeat the cycle at least four times or however long you like.

For an added twist try inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.

Sadness is an expression of love when what is loved is lost.

Such loss can be so painful and is not the way the world was created to be. When we grieve our losses, we give voice to what we value and honor its goodness in our lives even as we ache in it's absence.

Lament describes this process of being our grief. It is a complaint directed to someone; to a God who cares (Matthew 11:28), who knows loss (John 11), who empathizes with our suffering (2 Corinthians 1:3-7), and who has done something about it (Isaiah 53).

If you are experiencing sadness, I would encourage you to put words to your loss, naming its importance to you, and share this in prayer with God and/or with a trusted companion. This is a process, and it takes time, so be gentle with yourself as you grieve.

First in our Emotions Series: JOY.

Happiness, calm, excitement, this is the emotion we most often desire to feel. Take a moment to think why you like to feel this way and how JOY actually feels in your body. It might sound a little silly... of course we want to feel happy! But why?

JOY tells us when we have found contentment, when we feel safe and connected. This is so important because it brings balance to our nervous system and it moves us into engagement with others and the world around us.

The elusive thing about JOY is that it reminds us that we are meant for another world. We were meant for perfect relationship with God but have fallen from that. We catch glimpses of this JOY right now, and revel in it's goodness even while it reminds us of a time when we will again be with our God and our JOY will be complete (Revelation 21:1-7).