Hello and Welcome!
It is a new week and a new day and I’m so glad you could join me as we continue our journey toward renewing our minds and improving our self-discipline. If you’re just joining me, you can read my article, A New Self Discipline Journey to learn more about why I am doing this, and how this may benefit you as well.
This week we are going to focus each day on mental health. Each day this week I will provide affirmations, scriptures, and daily challenges regarding this topic. Next week will be a new one!
With that said, let’s start our morning together!
BREATHING EXERCISE
Before we begin let us take some deep breaths to calm our mind and prepare us for this mornings discipline.
MUSIC FOR A NEW DAY
I personally like to have some soft music in the background, so if that’s something you like as well below you will find a song you can play for the duration of our time together.
PRAYER For Relaxation
Now that we’re calm, let us transition to a time of prayer. Over the next few minutes you can pray on your own or feel free to use the following prayer:
Jesus,
I am stressed. Help me to accept your invitation to come empty and receive the rest I need. Help me to willingly release my fear, my worries, my agenda, and my to-do list. Ease the tension and replenish my body.Silence the voices of doubt and speak Your words of truth. Remove the heaviness of my day and pour out abundantly into my life. Fill me with Your peace, joy, and love. Fill me until the overwhelm is consumed by Your grace, and my life reflects the beauty of resting in You.
Amen
A Prayer for Renewal | Sarah Forgrave
AFFIRMATIONS for Relaxation
Here are a few affirmations for this morning that you can put in your pocket and carry with you throughout your day.
As you read through them, repeat each one out loud at least three times before moving to the next. Take your time. Close your eyes and say them to yourself as well. Let these words sink into your heart and mind this morning (borrowed from wildsimplejoy.com):
- It’s okay to take a break. I need to rest.
- I am taking care of myself by taking this time to relax.
- Rest is essential for my health and well-being.
- I am breathing deeply and slowly, and my whole body is relaxing.
SCRIPTURES For Relaxation
As Christians, our affirmations should be rooted in the strength and power of God who empowers us and strengthens us to face every trial and every day (both good and bad).
Here are some scriptures that further support the affirmations we just spoke to ourselves. Again, repeat each one three times out loud before moving to the next one. Take your time. Maybe try to commit these to memory as well:
- Exodus 33:14, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
- Psalm 62:1-2, “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”
- Psalm 131:2, “But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.”
- Proverbs 19:23, “The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”
TODAYS CHALLENGE
Our challenge today is this: find a moment (or several moments) to relax.
At the time I am writing this school has just gotten started back, fall sports has just started, work is picking up, and I’m finding myself (and my family) busy every day and every night of the week.
It’s all we can do to stop for a moment.
It’s just a reality of life, there are seasons where things get busier than normal. And I, like most people right now, find myself in a busy season. The danger, however, is never taking a moment to relax in the middle of the busy. Not resting can wreak havoc on your body as well as your mind.
A lack of rest can actually cause a lot of problems:
- Poor attention span – unable to focus
- Reduced adaptability (cognitive flexibility) in changing circumstances
- Reduced emotional capacity – unable to process emotional components of information
- Impaired judgement
- Increased anxiety and depression
So, whether or not you want to, your body and your mind need you to stop sometimes.
This is our challenge today: find time in your day to stop and recharge a little. Schedule it if you have to. But put everything down and rest.
Quote of the Day
Today’s quote comes from the late journalist Sydney J. Harris, who said:
The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.
Sydney J. Harris
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