Dwelling in Hope

A tool for your toolbox in your mental health journey is the process of meditation.  According to Wikipedia, meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. 

Christian meditation is the habit of focusing on your identity in Christ and releasing all things that are not in alignment with who God says you are.  

Margot Nagib (Clinical Psychologist) states that according to research, you can see a significant change in as little as three days of meditation and that many individuals report that over time the effects of mediation are better than medication.  That can be because it significantly reduces stress, anxiety, depression, unhealthy self-focus, addiction and chronic pain.  It significantly increases attention, concentration and divine connection. 

There are various approaches on how to do meditation and sometimes it takes practicing various methods to see which works best for you.  There are a number of tools, podcasts, counselors, or apps that can walk you through the practice of meditation until you get comfortable doing the process on your own. 

Typically you try to find a comfortable and peaceful location to sit in that you can focus and be quite with God.  It is best to perform meditation the same time and do it daily to have the best affect. If closing your eyes helps you focus and to attempt to shut down the distractions around you, try doing so.  I also find it easier to visualize what I am trying to meditate on when my eyes are closed. Take a number of deep and slow breathes in and out to get started.  

One of my favorite meditations to try is how to focus on joy and release all the things that are weighing you down.  Feel free to add or replace words you want to breathe out.  Let’s begin by focusing on joy as you take deep breathes in and focusing on the below words you want to release when you breathe out.

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out loneliness  

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out anger

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out regret

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out pain

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out depression

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out abandonment

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out confusion

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out anxiousness

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out insecurity

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out rejection

Breathe in JOY

Breathe out shame

Breathe in JOY