Image via WikipediaTake deep breath.
Pause a minute and breath in deeply.
Feel your chest rise and expand with each inhale and relax as you exhale.
Taking deep breaths is healthy for us in so many ways – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Genesis 2:7
The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4
In the Bible breath is a powerful symbol of the presence of God. The air we breath every moment of our life is invisible, but life giving. The breathes we take, most of time without our control or even our awareness keeps us alive.
The air surrounding us is a massive ocean—invisible, yet completely necessary for our life, for we are quickly dead without it. Makes me wonder if one reason God created the air—and how his living creation breaths – was to show us how great and immediate and pertpetual is our need for Him.
“Take a breather,” advised the coach after a hard workout.
“Take a deep breath,” says the doctor.
“Listen, are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?” writes poet Mary Oliver.
As a nurse, I love learning about fascinating details God created in the human body. And something as simple as breathing holds many lessons for us.
I heard a doctor say on television the other day that the surface size of the two human lungs is equivalent to the size of a tennis court.
If all of the capillaries that surround the air sacs, the alveoli, were unwound and laid end to end, they would extend for about 620 miles.
It only takes about 1½ seconds for your heart to spread blood over a lung area and then shoot it back into circulation. This happens about 100,000 times every day, usually totally automatically.
I have taken care of the asthmatic in the ER who couldn’t inhale the oxygen he needed or the one suffering from emphysema who leans forward, heaving through pursed lips struggling with every exhale.
We take it for granted – our breathing. We breathe in and out every day, every night, most of the time without ever thinking about it.
Yet we die when we can’t breath.
Take this moment to appreciate what God gave us in our ability to breath. Take a deep breath. Inhale slowly. Exhale longer. This is life.
Let’s be grateful for breathing and for the Breath of Life.
“Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more; hate less, love more; and all good things are yours.” – Swedish Proverb
Take a moment today for breathing and enjoy the presence of God.
Thank you for this! It’s taken me a week to read, but I’m glad I did. (My post last Monday discussed breathing a bit, too, but from a patient’s perspective in a very limited way.) It’s lovely to make your acquaintance a little bit here. I’ve been greatly blessed by Christian nurses both as friends and healthcare providers.
Grace and peace to you in Jesus, Jeanie.
Thank you for visiting and commenting. I really needed to focus on deep breathing this week as I took on way too many projects and commitments. Breath, Jeanie, I kept telling myself and when I did, reminded me of God.
I guess it goes back to pausing, to being still, and just breathe! I cannot sleep once again tonight. I think I will just go back to bed and concentrate on breathing, and god!
The moment I read your opening sentence, I began to take notice of my breathing. And as I went on reading, I felt calmer than ever. Indeed, every breath is a gift from God.
Thank you for such a calming post with a beautiful, heavenly message along with it. God bless! 🙂
Irene
Loved the medical facts you listed on this one Jean… Breathing is something we should all be thankful for!
Have a Blessed Day!
It’s amazing how calming this can be. I was so enjoying the breath during my yoga class today.
Good analogy sis I love it