Why Road Trips Bring Wisdom

I remember looking out the backseat glass of my mom's moving station wagon, watching cornfields move by. Sometimes the cornfields would turn into soybean fields and then back to cornfields again. The perfect alignment of their rows created alignment in my thoughts. The rows looked different when planted on a hillside, this required different thinking.

Periods in the car are great opportunities to sit in stillness. Sitting in stillness brings wisdom. With hotspot wifi, xm radio, built in DVD players and more in our cars, it's easy to continue the cycle of business and stimulate ourselves with gadgets. Without the radio, we can usually resist the urge to sing and participate in quiet observation. Our family observes a quiet time on our way to church each Sunday. I'm not sure what my kids are thinking between the "Are we almost there?", "Stop hitting me!" and "________took their shoes off" interruptions. I know their lives are lived in a constant state of distraction and I want them to see the cornfields as I once did as a child. 

In rare moments I have the opportunity to sit in silence in my moving van, on a road trip without children. At these time, I once again, I feel like myself, my true inner child self with thoughts aligning and wisdom budding. I've even written a few songs on my road trips! (see post "What Gives Me Faith"). As the landscape changes out the window, I discover my inner-landscape. If you are searching, I encourage you to get in the car alone and drive without radio or cell phone. The quiet observation out the front pane will bring you wisdom. You might find God brings a song to your heart too!

Note to Self..."Just Breathe"

Breathing is an essential aspect of yoga and meditation, I often tell my classes it's their favorite thing to do.   How we breathe in a pose determines how deep we go, what energies are activated and well, it just feels wonderful to move and breathe.  It feels wonderful to breathe!  Whether sustaining ourselves as a living being, or having a hot mess to deal with, there are a multitude of reasons to "Just Breathe".   Breathing clears our minds, and opens our heart; breathing makes space within us helping reveal our best ideas, beliefs and deepest fears.  Listening to the subtleties of a breath tells a story of our life, a story we are often unable to put into words.  Breathing is primitive and profound altogether.  Breathing is spiritual. 

Used 350 times in the New Testament, "pneu'ma" (pnyoo'-mah), an old Greek word for breath literally refers our breath being the very Spirit of God.  Losing its combination of physical and divine nature as the Bible was translated from Greek, this word became "spirit".  Through Christ our breath becomes coeternal with God, as the Holy Spirit overtakes us.  Life giving pneu'ma gives us the power of God manifest through our breath.  Did I mention breathing is powerful?

If you're not motivated to "Just Breathe" yet, here are a few more practical reasons.


1.  Breathing oxygenates the blood and body bringing nourishment and sustaining life. 
2.  A person skilled in breathing techniques can actually passively activate every muscle tissue in the body through breath. 
2.  Breathing helps the body develop muscle tissue, making us stronger. 
3.  Breathing enhances metabolism and fuels digestion making us leaner and optimizing the nutrition in our food. 
4.  Breathing stabilizes the nervous system which makes us more calm, attentive and alert, reducing anxiety and helping the body systems communicate better (the nervous system is the link connecting body systems).
5.  Breathing releases toxins, yes, 70% of the toxins and waste in our bodies are released in the form of carbon dioxide.  Releasing toxins help reduce risks of cancer and prevents wrinkles.  Take an exhale now. 
6.  Studies have shown breathing to reduce pain.  Lamaze worked for me in the delivery room and has for millions of other women too. 
7.  Breathing improves posture and better posture produces better breathing. 
8.  Breathing strengthens the lungs which helps the body fight off respiratory issues.  Asthma has been a significant issue with my kids, it's scary to have difficulty breathing.
9.  Breathing boosts energy levels...try taking a deep breath and see if you feel more energetic.
10.  Breathing helps ease the weight of emotional issues, and if you don't believe this, make a note yourself to set aside time each day to "Just Breathe" and see how you feel...

The Meditation That Guarantees Failure and The Meditation That Guarantees Success in Life

My high school Spanish teacher use to tell the class,  "Your brain is like your body, if you don't exercise, it will get flabby."  Of course the Senora was referring to our lack of intellectual stimulation over summer break that resulted in an extensive review and schoolteacher frustration   She obviously thought we could and should have known more...I do the same thing with my kids.

Sitting in silence amidst my own thinking usually reveals to me why I need to sit longer amidst my own thinking.  At a primitive level, my thinking is flawed, and unless trained, it becomes flabby and weak, just like muscle...the Senora was correct.  Sitting in silence amidst my own thinking requires me to accept myself and the world just as it is, broken and wonderful altogether.  Resisting acceptance of the world and refusing to embrace it develops "Should-Be Meditation" (SBM).  This meditation involves a subconscious perseveration on the following thought:

 _________(Insert Situation, Person, Circumstance etc.)        should be _________________.

Chronic overuse of SBM results in "Should-Be Meditation Syndrome" (SBMS) and will manifest into issues such as overeating, addictions, depression, actions of hatred and more.  SBM is something we are born with; newborns usually come out kicking and screaming.  As we develop, either we allow SBM to overtake us with SBMS or we train our mind to not be flabby with SBM.  Everyone deals with this:  How many totally content people do you know in the world?  When circumstances are within our power to change, SBM can be very useful to provide motivation.  Unfortunately or fortunately, our power to change much in the world is limited which is why SBM guarantees failure.  Living with SBM seizes our thoughts, contracts our bodies and imprisons the mind.  It makes us fearful because we can't directly change circumstances and it leaves little mind space free to enjoy life as it is--broken and wonderful.    It's really hard to sit still with SBM and nearly impossible with SBMS.  The cure for SBM and SBMS is sitting still amidst our own thinking which usually reveals more SBM and requires more sitting still amidst our own thinking.  Perhaps you're thinking you should make time to sit still amidst your own thinking?

After years of practice, sitting still comes more naturally to me.  My mind and body actually crave long lengths of silence.  Growing to the place of craving stillness requires the meditation of gratitude.  It's essential to be grateful for the smallest little things.  The slower I live, the more grateful I become, savoring the extraordinary in the ordinary.  And for the meditation that guarantees success:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.--Philippians 4:8
Yes, gratitude guarantees success!

Following the advice of my Spanish teacher, raising 4 children and not wanting their minds or muscles to become flabby, I continually have to put my SBM into check...am I expecting too much, should they have known more?  Sometimes hard to say.  Breathing in Philippians 4:8 I will sit still and accept them and others as they are--broken and wonderful altogether.  I hope you will join me in doing the same!
(By the way, I just invented SBM, but hope it soon goes viral :-) )

Deadspace is Sacred

Deadspace is an entertainment faux pas, Lord forbid we miss .025 seconds of digital screenshot stimulation.  We had a blizzard this week and my street is deadspace.  Looks pretty peaceful out there and sounds peaceful too!  I never realized the noise of passing vehicles until they weren't there.  Deadspace is sacred and I need some things to die for me to hear and see! Deadspace is the hallmark of meditation, perhaps this is why the corpse pose is recommended?  I hear God and grow the most from deadspace.   Jesus had to enter deadspace to complete a divine work for all people and one of the greatest recorded messianic miracles involved resurrecting a friend from deadspace (John 11:43-44).  Lazarus had to be dead for the miracle to be so phenomenal.  The apostle Paul was blessed with much deadspace to do his work while "doing time" (Philippians 1:13).  You get my point: Deadspace is sacred!  Unfortunately our natural tendency is to resist deadspace, this time when God does a great miracle in us.   I sometimes wonder if God will judge our character based on our reaction to the deadspace of the Windows 7 spinning circle.  Deadspace...

















annoying and peaceful and important and sacred all together!   So what was your reaction to the short deadspace or did you even bother to scroll down?   Next time you are annoyed by deadspace, or impatient with that red traffic light, remember, God might just be trying to do a miracle in you!

That Awkward Moment of Silence

We’ve all experienced that awkward moment of silence.  You know, the one where everyone just darts their eyes and fidgets.  Despite great staging efforts, the shock value of Hollywood entertainment pales in comparison to silent awkward moments of our everyday lives.   Take for example when Uncle Frank’s colostomy bag breaks in a restaurant, or when our 4-year-old niece decides to go streaking in front of the family at Thanksgiving, or when we learn our sister has cancer.  These moments give us a glimpse of eternity, at least we remember them for a lifetime!  

Awkward moments are magnified at church.  One Sunday my young daughter stood in front of church and spontaneously announced she was going to use her biggest light, giving an overhead right handed bird throughout four verses of “This Little Light of Mine.”   Our worship services are planned out to ease this awkward silence with smooth transitions.  Even the planned time of silence is softened with some light background music.  If the electricity went out, I’m sure all focus on the divine would shift to awkwardness.  Through yoga and meditation, I have learned to submit to some awkward poses while breathing in the moment.  The same goes for the silence in meditation; I can sit still and trust God.  Through my faith and practice, the awkward moments in life are ordinary and extraordinary all together and I am strengthened to see eternity in these “awkward moments”.  The next time you find yourself in an awkward moment, try being still and looking straight into the moment, take a breath and wait to see what God reveals for you!