Using a mindfulness practice as a Christian, you should, as in any form of mindfulness, try to be aware of the present moment, yet in secular mindfulness, people pay attention entirely to themselves and explore the reality of their thoughts entirely.
What Is The Difference Between A Christian Practice of Mindfulness And Other Mindfulness Exercises?
In a Christian focus of mindfulness, you should also focus on Christ Jesus. Keep in mind that Jesus will help bring hope and joy to your spirit. Christians always look to Christ in order to get over challenging hurdles in their everyday life.
Eastern religions may use sound bowls and many kinds of incense in their spiritual exercises and meditative practices. This usually isn’t done during Christian meditation practices, but certainly can be. Don’t let that deter you from the positive effectiveness that Christian mindfulness exercises can bring. Also, realize what the power of the holy spirit and God’s sacred word together can do for your emotional and spiritual health.
Mindfulness Is About Being In The Present Moment, Not Worrying About Tomorrow or Yesterday
You may ask, if I’m not thinking about the future or the past, then what should I be thinking about? Being a mindful Christian means that we think about the right things that are in connection with the word of God.
This is an effective way to focus on the life that God has given you today. As you will see from the list, worry is not one of the things that we should think about. We replace worry with the word of God. Paul reminds remind us to live a prayer-filled life, he says “Don’t worry about anything, but in all your prayers ask God for what you need, always asking him with a thankful heart” – Philippians 4:6.
How To Practice Christian Mindfulness
Before practicing mindful Christian meditation, it is important to point out that Christ will bring spiritual peace to our life. He is there in every opportunity given to you through your own experiences. As Christians are practicing mindfulness, they should pay attention to God and not to themselves in the flesh only.
Keep an overhead view while practicing Christian mindfulness. This means that you should try to invite Jesus and keep him present every day in your spiritual life.
From the Christian perspective, the experience of mindfulness is one of God’s many gifts to us. It can be compared to a kind of gentle bliss as you apply your Christian faith to the awareness of the presence of God through a sense of grace and gratitude.
Engaging in daily prayer and through devotional time, these mindfulness exercises are an effective way to enhance your connection with God, and you can do it through the following techniques.
8 Mindfulness Exercises for Christians Who Are Connecting With God
There are plenty of meditation exercises to practice mindfulness which will be beneficial for your Christian walk and here are 8 of the best mindfulness activities, methods, and exercises you should attempt to practice Christian mindfulness properly:
1. Non-judgmental Present Moment Awareness
This first mindfulness exercise is a general exploration of one of the core concepts of mindfulness, a non-judgmental acknowledgment of the present moment.
Start by assuming a comfortable position and taking a few deep breaths. Begin to notice the things that make up your physical surroundings. Hear the sounds around you, whether it’s sounds of nature or the passing vehicles in the city streets.
It’s essential that you don’t pass judgment on whatever comes to your mind. Simply hear what you hear and don’t think of it as good are bad. The sounds are just simply there. Continue realizing whatever appears for a few minutes, allowing yourself to involve your total self in the present.
2. Physical Body Scan
This is another great technique for engaging with mindfulness. To begin the ‘body scan’ you should assume a comfortable position. Here, instead of focusing on your surroundings, give all your attention to your internal physical sensations and put all your attention on recognizing how your body feels. Start with your feet and work your way through your entire body, in a slow scanning approach.
Notice what sensations are present. If you don’t feel any, then just accept your body feels great and how blessed you are to be in this moment. During the body scan, do you notice any tickles, aches, discomfort, or pain? Notice all of these sensations without passing judgment. Take your time to investigate exactly how your body truly feels. While performing the body scan, you should feel a renewed relationship between your consciousness and your physical body.
3. Prayers and Affirmations
Now that you know how it feels to fully experience the present moment, begin bringing in elements of your faith and some of God’s word to enhance those experiences. Perform one of the previously described exercises for a few minutes to get into a relaxed, mindfulness meditation state. Then, bring to mind your favorite brief prayer or Christian affirmation. Speak it in a quiet whisper rhythmically alongside your breathing.
For example, try, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me,” from Philippians 4:13.
Repeat it for a minute or so, being careful not to put too much thought into its meaning or implications. The best way to practice Christian meditation is by making a prayer to our God, Jesus Christ, in silence.
Make sure to have quiet surroundings to be in the zone of solace while praying to God. Try focusing on your breath while praying in silence. Seek God’s grace and recite something in your head based on your experiences with Jesus Christ.
Others can read the Holy Bible to find words of God to verbally or mentally narrate while praying and practicing Christian mindfulness.
4. Bible Verse Reading
Another fantastic way of practicing Christian mindfulness is by reading biblical passages from god’s word, the Holy Bible. It is a less demanding method of practicing mindfulness to connect with God and involves simply reading scriptures from the Bible. We know the scriptures contain God’s message to the entire world and universe. Therefore, try to take some time to do a simple practice to meditate on certain bible verses or passages that resonate with you.
It is better to keep your eyes closed and take a deep breath first. Focus on how it feels and what makes the passage stand out. Reflect on the message God and the Holy Spirit are trying to deliver to your heart. Since there are many things to distract us during our waking hours, our minds naturally tend to get distracted. But after getting into the flow of mindfulness practices, you will find yourself gaining more wisdom, momentary awareness, focus, and tranquility in your daily life.
You can combine elements of the first exercise with your Bible reading, noticing the feel of the pages in your hands. Notice the sensations that the sacred words bring about in you. Notice the gentle rhythm of reading the passages and of going from line to line, passage to passage.
5. Deep Breathing
Finally, use deep breathing as a meditation technique to induce a state of mindful well-being.
In deep breathing, assume a seated position. Inhale through your nose, gently expanding your stomach are to slowly capture as much air as possible. At the same pace, release the air back out through your mouth. Once you find a comfortable rhythm, you continue doing this for around 10 minutes.
You will find the increased oxygen and focused attention given to your breaths bring you into a relaxed state of being.
6. Appreciate Your Surroundings
We should learn to notice and appreciate God’s creation around us. Be thankful for the natural beauty we witness in our everyday moments. An effective way of doing so is by going outside and making time out of your daily life at home, office, or school.
Another method is going on a relaxing vacation to peaceful places like beaches or forests. Practice mindfulness by noticing your body sensations. Hear the calm winds blowing, the birds chirping, or the waves crashing on the blue ocean shore.
Be grateful for everything God has given you to experience at this moment. That will help to get rid of negative feelings like anxiety and depression. It is also better to pray to God to relax the soul and strengthen your relationship with Jesus. Appreciate the fact that these exercises help with healing and remove negative emotions from the past. If practiced regularly, it can bring power and compassion to the soul.
7. Take Care Of Your Body
The Bible book of Leviticus covers this topic and is a wonderful source to refer to if you want to purify your body and get the benefits of healthy eating. Unfortunately, many people ignore their physical body’s needs with nutrition. Some Christians think that the mind and spirit are more important than our bodies. But to practice Christian mindfulness, we should develop the principle of concentrating on ourselves as a creation of the Lord that is a body, mind, and spirit. It’s important to remember that God has made our bodies his temple, so that alone should be a great motivator for all Christians to want to take care of our body.
In other words, it is crucial to take proper care of the body that God created for us. An effective way of doing so is by performing the mindful body scan we covered in number 2 above. Again, to do this, sit down and close your eyes. Make sure your mind focuses on the top of your head. Then take your attention lower to each part of your body: face, neck, chest, arms, back, and legs.
The fundamental difference many notice is that the body will respond to what it needs right now. This exercise will also help you be aware of the present moment.
8. Have Control Over Your Emotions
Human beings tend to feel a lot of emotions based on what is happening around them. To be fully present, try to avoid allowing extreme feelings to take over the brain. Nothing good ever happens when you are frustrated or sad. In fact, you might hurt yourself and others by saying something through frustration if you don’t have control over yourself mentally.
This is a terrible aspect to find yourself in. To avoid this, focus on letting go of unnecessary emotions and enjoy the gift God has given us. Use the exercise practice of meditation to assist you in doing so.
Whenever possible, take a moment to relax and pay attention to how you feel. Be mindful of thoughts of anxiety, stress, and anger and locate and acknowledge all of them. Stay in the moment and label them with acceptance. Next, ask yourself the reason for feeling this way, and then agree to let the emotions go.
Research has proven that mediation increases your inner peace, positive feelings, and better situational outcomes for all human beings. With those exciting benefits, it’s clear why you should try meditating as much as possible for your spiritual well-being.
Connecting With The Goodness of God The Mindful Way
God is ever-present in our lives, even if sometimes it doesn’t feel like it. Remember that God will never leave nor forsake you. If you’re struggling with mental health, we encourage you to try one of the many mindfulness-based stress-reduction techniques, like mindful breathing, a meditation practice, or simply day-to-day mindful awareness developed through practicing mindfulness methods.
Use your renewed state of mindfulness to enhance your faith by bringing in warming words from the scriptures or repeating a gentle prayer. You will hopefully be able to unlock a new way of connecting with God and the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
As you may have discovered, everyone can practice mindfulness in different ways. However, we should keep our God’s presence and maintain it within our Christian framework. This way, we can help ourselves be more positive human beings, as proven by scientific research.
Subsequently, most worldly mindfulness practices in a secular form are not based on the Scripture, so this means you know how to approach a mindfulness activity inclusive to a Christian spiritual practice and with other traditions and prayers. In Christianity, we are called to be mindful of God’s teaching.
As a result, if practiced correctly, we discover encouragement in being united with Christ and living in the light of present reality.
Recent Posts
Overthinking and ruminating can take a toll on one's mental health and well-being. Fortunately, mindfulness has been proven to be an effective tool for breaking free from these negative habits....
Psychology of Mindfulness: Unlocking the Power of Present Moment Awareness
Are you feeling overwhelmed by the fast-paced world we live in? Do you find yourself constantly worrying about the future or dwelling on the past? The practice of mindfulness may be just what you...