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Compassion, The Parasympathetic Nervous System, and Keeping Company with Jesus

Wednesday Pause

Author

JoyOver
May 17, 2023

Wednesday Pause

Hi friend,

Happy Wednesday to you - whatever type of Wednesday it might be.

Take a moment to close your eyes and inhale, deep and slow.

1 … 2 … 3 …

Now exhale, slow and steady, and allow yourself to sink into the moment.

3 … 2 … 1 …

This is space.

Be in it.

Enjoy it.

Embrace it.

Now linger here …

and breathe …

for as long as you need.

When you have a few moments of time, spend time with the following pauses and carry them as moments of reprieve with you throughout the rest of your week.

-With Joy

For visual support in your quiet time, print off this month’s soul work theme “space” for your own time of spiritual praxis.

Pause for Thought

"Keeping company with Jesus in the space between wanting to change and not being able to change through effort alone can be a difficult thing to do. Desiring God and not demanding an outcome keeps us in the risky place of waiting and longing … So we find ourselves in the space between desire and demand. But when we are waiting on God and nothing seems to be happening, we must remember this space is an opportunity … we are invited to keep company with Jesus and take a risk that God’s intentions toward us are good.”

Spiritual Disciplines Handbook by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun

Pause for Practice

Within any given day there are a million things to do; life is full-tilt, jam-packed, and non-stop. And with these never-ending tasks, the expectation narratives also seem unrelenting—the woulds, shoulds, and coulds. We’re hard on ourselves, aren’t we?

But when was the last time you simply cut yourself some slack and offered compassion towards yourself in the same way you would a small child, an aging parent, or your favorite pet?

The following practice is a compassion exercise inviting you to extend grace and compassion for yourself:

  1. Breathe: Take three slow and deep breaths. Inhale, exhale, repeat.

  2. Speak: Tell yourself (out loud, or in your mind) that an event, a circumstance, or an unpleasant experience is a normal part of life, but it’s not part of you. You can step back from the emotion of it and zoom out. Breathe deep and slow.

  3. Reflect: Remind yourself that messing up, or dropping the ball, or having “one of those days” happens, and will continue happening, but that our circumstances don’t define our story. Breathe deep and slow.

  4. Extend: Either out loud or quietly in your mind, offer a compassionate encouragement to yourself. Picture yourself saying to yourself what would be easy to say to someone else: “May you be filled with peace and joy.” Breathe deep and slow.

Pause to Learn

Did you know? By practicing compassion for yourself and others, you release toxic stress by activating the parasympathetic nervous system: you lower your blood pressure, improve the function of your immune system, release serotonin chemicals in the brain—which help boost your mood and dopamine levels—and you become more open, inclusive and thoughtful, ultimately leading to a greater sense of peace and joy so you can experience life more richly and deeply.

The Science of Joy

Source: The NeuroCycle App by Dr. Caroline Leaf

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  • Click here for previous month’s art offerings

P.S. May you allow the sweetness of this little boy to wash over you.