Sigh … audibly. Deeply. Frequently. (So says my fitness instructor)
Dreamer’s latest angiogram date looms. After 5 bypasses, why are we here again? Dismay feels substantive enough to mold—like river sludge between cupped palms.
Sigh. Empty the hands, lift them in trusting surrender.
An audible sigh re-inflates the vital, occasionally squashed alveoli within our lungs, keeping us alive.
So sigh some more.
A sigh alleviates stress. Research shows that 12 hourly sighs help us regroup, emotionally. Read more here.
- Yes, bad news strikes, and fear makes us bristle, become thistle-y with those we love
- Yes, sometimes even the air weighs on us, seemingly saturated with unshed tears
- Yes, how easily we slide toward the sump of dread
Stalled out again,
going nowhere fast,
I remember “nowhere”
plus the addition
of one slender space
becomes “now here.”
Presence. One slender pause—a breath, a hum, a prayer—invites a sacred recalibration. The built-in reset for body and soul.
Inhale. Sigh aloud. Repeat.
“there is a changing of everything —
when breath becomes prayer.”*
Richard Rohr teaches a simple breath prayer. Using the name YAHWEH for God: inhale, audibly voicing the YAH; exhale, audibly voicing the WEH.
I also like Dr. Andrew’s Weil’s calming breath exercise:
- Exhale as much air as possible with a big whoosh
- Place tongue behind upper teeth, inhale for an easy count of 4
- Hold breath for a count of 7
- Exhale audibly for a count of 8
Do this four times. As it becomes easier, increase to eight repetitions, twice a day.
I vary the 4-7-8 exercise by counting on my fingers, simultaneously humming or praying.
*Prayer, Ann Voskamp
Singing I Love You, Lord is my daily devotion mantra – He deserves all the glory, all the worship, all the honor. Thank you for penning that song. I didn’t know it was you – just found out from Judi Carlson, what a blessing she is. I read Hope Deferred and am now hooked on how your word smithing lit up every nerve in my body. 🙂 Looking forward to reading more of your blogs.
Janis, hello. Any friend of Judi’s is welcome here. 🙂 It delights and amazes me to know ILY,L lights up your days. I’m grateful you find the words here illuminating! Thank you so much for taking time to tell me. Blessings on you!
“Lord, You are with Laurie & Dreamer in every second, in every heartbeat, in every sigh. Will You please give them the gift of knowing Your undeniable presence during these days when their hearts beat in tandem with kaleidoscope thoughts.
Oh, to click one button and settle lightly as a feather into your prayer, already in motion here . . . thank you, Carol. What a gift.
I love this: “in every second, in every heartbeat, in every sigh.” Worries vaporize with this comprehensive truth as well as your honest, vivid assessment: “hearts beating in tandem with kaleidoscope thoughts” … The greater truth encompassing, cradling, my changing thoughts, fragments falling into a new pattern . . . Exactly!
…And one of my breath prayers: “I trust you, Jesus”(on the inhale); “my gracious, sovereign Savior” (on the exhale). I like this one because it refocuses my attention on Jesus, not my circumstances. And it reminds of his lovingkindness and omnipotence no matter what I see happening or how I feel. ‘Love your phrase, “sacred recalibration.” That’s exactly what breath prayers do! As for the situation you and Dreamer face: May you ride through the angiogram process on a Holy Spirit breeze of ease and peace.
Nancy, that’s a beauty. I’m adding it to my Wee Hours Repertoire (typically my most vulnerable time). How I love this prayerful word picture you’ve given me: I can almost feel my hair lifting around my face. Ease and peace . . . breathing it in.
Laurie, I’m so very sorry. Michael and I walked a similar sighing road. He had six bypasses following a near-fatal heart attack in 2000. I sighed. I cried. I reached out for God. I am praying that all will be well with your Dreamer during this test, and that all your highest dreams for him are realized. It is good to sigh. One of our chorus’s singing exercises, after we all take a good, long, deep breath, is a kind of high sigh, descending, like a slide. It is a great way to loosen both voice and spirit. I just feel better when I do it. I find I sigh a lot, even in public…. taking a deep breath, and then exhaling a breathy “ahhhh….” People actually turn their heads, and look. I don’t care, because ah . . . it feels so good. The psalmist understood the need to sigh deep sighs, and look what happened when he did: “At dusk, dawn, and noon I sigh deep sighs—He hears, He rescues” (Ps. 55, MSG).” So sigh away, and just know that your sighs are deeply sacred, deeply heard, and He will rescue.
Lynn, oh what a long road you two have walked. Thank you for this perfect psalm verse! The Sacred Sigh. That’s how I’m going to think of it each time.
You’ve reminded me too of that very same vocal exercise, which I learned during college days. I will bring it back into the repertoire!
Thank you, Lynn, for sharing your happy ending as well as your empathy and comfort with me,
I have to fight to keep from slump into that slump of dread. We’ve been married 46 years now, and we are both pretty healthy. But I find my mind wandering when I wonder which of us might meet our maker first and how will the one who remains fare. Breathing helps.
Hoping and praying for good news, Laurie.
Sandy, surely I understand this. It’s not easy to think about, is it? We make the most of every moment and surrender to Him, who holds are days. But . . . it is not easy. Empathizing with you, dear one.
Love
Lynn
Sandy, wow, that’s so beautiful. It’s almost 45 years for us. The time remaining becomes exceedingly more precious, doesn’t it? I think about those same things, often late at night if I happen to wake. Going on alone feels inconceivable! I have to repeat “I trust You,” over and over when those fears clamor. Lynn, your counsel is spot on. I am lifting our three marriages to the One “who holds our days.”
Thank you so much dear Laurie and Sandy for voicing this. I’ve been afraid to. We are sacred-sighing together. May He hear and rescue. May he lengthen our days and our love.
Amen and amen
what a sweet reminder to breathe and of what it means. Thank you, Laurie and I saw your post on facebook. Praying today for health and guidance
Honestly, Carol, autopilot is too often my default. I get wrapped up in tasks and schedules and ideas and worries. I used to think sighing was defeatist. (And I suppose it can be.) Now I’m embracing sighs as ingenious tools for well-being and health and peace. Like being secretly armed in these wrenchingly fractious times. A modest superpower, the sigh. 🙂 The more I remember to link prayer to breath, the more grateful I feel for the intricacies of God’s design as well as God’s healing presence.
I appreciate your prayers so much, thank you.
I have one too. Breathe in on ABBA. Exhale on “I belong to you.” It reminds me who I am and who my daddy is every time I breathe.
Oh, that is stunningly beautiful. I will definitely use this. Thank you for sharing.