Holy Noticing: How A Christian Can Practice Mindfulness Sample

 Body: Pay attention to your physical body states and sensations

The Scriptures reflect the high value God places on our bodies, with perhaps the clearest arguments coming from the pen of Paul. One of his favorite images was the human body. He called the church the Body of Christ (Rm 7:4). He describes spiritual gifts by using a body as a metaphor (1 Cor. 12). He tells us to “offer your bodies as living sacrifices” (Rm 12:1, NIV). He even describes our body as a temple of the Holy Spirit: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?” (1 Cor. 6:19, NIV). 

In the next verse, he commands us to “honor God with your body.” These words honor, temple, and sacrifice reinforce our responsibility to make wise choices that keep our bodies healthy, to the best of our ability. These choices certainly include healthy eating, regular exercise, and adequate sleep. But for the purposes of this first holy noticing practice, such choices should also encompass how we respond to stress in our minds and hearts as they relate to our bodies.

The first component of the BREATHe model, B, stands for paying attention to your physical body states, which helps us control the effects of chronic stress. Here’s a simple way to do that: Imagine a camera or scanner moving slowly over your body and taking images, beginning with your left leg, moving to your right leg, then your torso, then your left arm, right arm, and finally moving through your neck and out your head. As you do this ‘body scan,’ pause at various places along the way to become more aware of the various sensations in your body.  When you do this you will experience two benefits. 

First, a body scan can help us become more attuned to where in our body we might be holding stress or tension. My stress tends to show up in my shoulders. A body scan can make me aware that I am hunching my shoulders, which makes my muscles tense. I then can take specific actions to release that tension like relaxing or stretching my shoulders. This simple body awareness and body adjustment helps decrease the negative effects of stress on my body. 

A second and related skill is the gratefulness exercise. As you do your body scan, pause and reflect on God’s amazing creativity and handiwork by thanking Him for your body. Express gratitude and praise for your body like David did when he wrote, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Ps. 139:14, NIV).