I am still amazed, every time I read it, that the very first thing God did after forming man from the dust was to breathe into him. Not speak to him first. Breathe into him.
The Woman I Walked Past
I once walked past a woman with slouched shoulders, her eyes avoiding everyone around her, carrying something invisible and heavy. I felt the Lord whisper something to me in that moment I’ve never forgotten: “If only my daughter would breathe.” I didn’t fully understand it then. I understand it more now — breath is not only physical. It’s the ongoing, quiet evidence that we’re still, even now, being sustained by Someone greater.
The Science Behind the Whisper
There’s a real, measurable reason a deep breath calms you. Your vagus nerve acts almost like a brake pedal on your nervous system. A slow, intentional breath physically shifts your body out of fight-or-flight and into a state of rest and repair, lowering cortisol as it goes. I find it beautiful that something God designed to be entirely free, endlessly available, and impossible to run out of — turns out to be backed by real science.
A Simple Practice to Start Today
Whenever you find yourself ruminating or overthinking past issues and worrying about the future try this breathing technique. Before you scroll away from this, try Breathe in for four counts, hold for four, breathe out for six. Do it three times. Notice what shifts, even slightly, in your shoulders and your jaw. You can increase the counts as you wish. After breathing intentionally, even prayer and focusing on God becomes more accessible from a place of calm induced by this intentional calming breaths.
If you’ve never once thought of your breathing as a wellness tool, or as a spiritual signal that you’re still being kept alive by grace, I unpack this fully in The ABCs of Wellness Through Biblical Wisdom Book.
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