The Power of Prayer, Meditation, Journaling to Reduce Stress and Improve Mental and Spiritual Health
A few months after I became a mother, I found myself feeling stressed, overwhelmed, trying to figure out how to adjust to my new normal. Everyone tells you when you’re expecting how your life is going to be turned upside down. Some people are very encouraging and highlight the good things - the love you will feel for your newborn, the new sense of purpose and pride it will give you. Others chime in their “helpful” comments - “You will never get a good night’s sleep again!” “Enjoy your free time now, you will look back and wonder what you did with all that time before you had kids!” And while we imagine how our lives will change in the best but also very challenging ways, there is no way to be prepared until it happens.
Many of us find support from friends or family members who are in a similar life stage and can empathize with us. But oftentimes as mothers, we can struggle to transition to this new role but are afraid to say much because we are afraid it will make others doubt our love for our child or our commitment or ability to be a mom. It feels selfish to think about ourselves when we have been trusted with this precious gift of a baby that we must love and nourish.
Anyway, I say all this to share how I first got started with my morning reading/prayer/journaling routine at the start of 2020. For me it started out by reading “the verse of the day” on the Youversion Bible app, writing it down, and then journaling thoughts/prayers about it. I began each morning this way (or sometimes later if my daughter woke up earlier than expected 🙂) and slowly began to feel a little more peace and clarity come into my life. It helped me to process the difficult changes I was going through, as well as to be intentional about the type of mother I wanted to be. It also helped me navigate how to balance being a mom while also trying to fulfill my other roles of wife, friend, physical therapist, etc.
It does not mean I’m perfect, have it all figured out, or don’t frequently make mistakes. But when I do make mistakes, it helps me to learn and grow from them.
Despite being in good physical health in the years leading up to becoming a mom, I had never realized that my mental, emotional, and spiritual health were lacking, contributing to feelings of discontentment, insecurity, and confusion. Establishing this morning practice has led to me living life more intentionally, guiding me in difficult decisions, and being able to better show up for those around me. Without it, I know I would not be where I am now, pursuing a career as a wellness coach.
So many of us are caught up in the hustle of this life, between work, parenting, housework, home projects, etc. We are so focused on doing that we forget about being. We feel tired, overwhelmed, overworked, and wondering when we are going to get a break so that we can enjoy our lives. Our lives pass us by, our kids get older, and we wonder where the time went.
Scheduling a consistent time to pause, rest, and reflect gives us the opportunity to practice gratitude for the good things in our lives, face and accept the difficult things, and make decisions from a place of purpose and groundedness. Even more than I want to encourage you to become physically healthier by eating better and exercising, I desire to inspire you to create a habit to love and care for your heart, mind, and spirit.
It is very hard at first - our minds will begin to drift to the things we need to do, the other ways we could be spending this time that feel “more productive.” So start small. Wake up 10 minutes earlier and commit to spending 10 minutes in quiet (ideally with a cup of coffee 😀). Once you can find consistency in that, you may find that you want to increase this time because you feel the benefits of it and want more.
What do you do with this scheduled time? It is ultimately up to you and what you find most helpful, but I have listed some ideas below:
Read a short passage of scripture
Read a couple pages of a book you find inspirational (if you need recommendations, let me know!)
Read a short daily devotional
Journal about things you are grateful for
Journal about the hard emotions you are feeling
Write a journal for some one else (spouse, kids)
Pray (in your mind, out loud, or written down)
Guided meditation (many great free app’s out there or Youtube)
Breathing meditation
One final thought to consider as you implement your new practice. I was recently talking to one of my clients about purpose. How it can sometimes feel stressful to figure out “What is my life’s purpose??” “Did I make the right career choice, because I don’t feel fulfilled?” “I’m trying to do the right thing, but I have no idea if I’m on the right path.” “What will my future hold??” (This has been me on many occasions). But instead of trying to have our life’s purpose all figured out, we cultivate meaning and purpose in our lives by daily small acts of kindness. We fulfill purpose simply by seeing others, smiling, offering a few words of encouragement, helping someone with a small physical task, and being vulnerable and honest. These small things add up, creating a ripple effect as they pass on the kindness to some one else, and ultimately I believe coming back to us in some shape or form.
As much as well all desire to know where we’re going to end up and what the exact path is to get there, we were designed with this limitation for a reason. Have faith that staying consistent in the small, kind, generous acts will in time lead us towards fulfilling the purpose that we were destined for. And the best way to stay committed to these small daily acts is to start each day in solitude, filling up with peace and intention to take throughout your day.
