Category / Mindfulness Exercise

a glimmer of light represents glimmers
by Karen Twinem

How to Feel Calm? Look for Glimmers

Any one dealing with anxiety these days? Scientific research continues to validate Christian and other forms of mindfulness as a sure way to feel calm. It says we literally can feel better when we look intentionally for “glimmers” in the present moment.

What are glimmers? The term comes from the Polyvagal Theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges in 1994. The theory emphasizes the role that the autonomic nervous system, especially the vagus nerve, plays in our health and behavior. Glimmers and triggers are cues on opposite sides of the spectrum that impact the nervous system.

You’ve probably experienced triggers: cues that activate our fight-or-fight response or flee response. Triggers can be very subtle, even unconscious. One example would be the impact of the smoke from a barbecue on a person who survived a burning house. Our triggers automatically make us anxious, fearful or even angry.

Glimmers are the opposite: positive cues that tell us we are safe and connected. They bring us back to calm and happy. Glimmers include petting a dog or cat, laughing with a friend or sniffing your late mother’s favorite perfume. Do you have a happy place? It’s surely filled with glimmers.

Christian mindfulness brings the joy of the Lord into the picture. Enjoying God’s presence helps us slow down and find glimmers all around us. And the glimmers spark gratitude, which makes moods even brighter.

Glimmers Defeat Anxiety

Elle Studio + Wellness reports that, for every trigger, we need three glimmers. In today’s world, I think we need all the glimmers we can get.

The Simple Things, a British magazine I love, had a story on glimmers in its February 2025 issue. The article’s author, Lottie Storey, talked about the importance of “glimmer hunting.” We all have different glimmers. We can look for them in nature, music, friendships and scents. Giving up some time scrolling on the phone will allow us the quiet we need to find more of them.

Some suggest keeping a list you can use to counter triggers. Here’s a few of my glimmers:

  • Petting and snuggling Bert and Ernie, our cats
  • Decorating my Grandma Corbett’s bookshelf for the current season
  • Stickers of affirmative sayings on my to-do list
  • A beautiful blue sky with white clouds
  • Pictures of my kids and granddaughter
  • Trees changing color in autumn
  • The scent of a rose
  • A funny book
  • Sarah Young’s series on “Jesus Calling”

Each person’s search for glimmers requires mindfulness. As always, I recommend Christian mindfulness, the practice of the presence of God in the present moment. Stay in the present moment with God, paying attention to your senses. What do you see, hear, touch or taste that brings you a glimmer of joy? Can you talk about that with God? Can you bring it into your life more intentionally?

Once you know what makes you feel peaceful and joyful, you can bring more of it to your day. Sharing these feelings of joy with God in gratitude brings you closer to the source of peace.

It’s an ugly world out there. We need glimmers in our lives every day.

A Bonus Glimmer: Trini-T Ministries

Stickers and T-shirts with inspirational, message-based designs are important glimmers for me. I recently found Trini-T Ministries, which creates gifts, apparel and devotionals to encourage believers and spark conversations of faith. Each product reflects the presence of Jesus in our everyday lives. Check out trini-t.com and use our one-time discount code PRESENTINCHRIST to get 15% off through October 31, 2025.

For more thoughts, check out this post How to Find Lasting Joy

God is in this shower
by Karen Twinem

Is God in the Shower?

Of course. God is in the shower with you. And you can experience it through Christian mindfulness.

This practice allows us to walk in the presence of God in the present moment. Even when we are getting wet.

Showers often are the opposite of Christian mindfulness. (Much more so than baths, but that’s another post.) You turn on the water, get in and suddenly you are pondering yesterday’s meeting. Or that talk with your kid’s teacher. Or what to say to your spouse about the unfinished project that’s taken up the coffee table for weeks.

Why shower like that when you can experience the joy of the Lord as the water sprays on you? It just requires attention and gratitude. If you decide to pay attention to the experience, it can become a calming, precious part of your day.

When you turn on the water, thank God for running water, for hot water, for soap. Many people in the world do not have these things, and you do.

As you clean yourself, pay attention to the smells. Right now I have lavender, rosemary and mint in my shampoo and conditioner. And there’s a spray of eucalyptus hanging from the shower nozzle. God made all these scents. So express gratitude for that.

You can also thank God for a body that works (at least for the most part). And for hair, if you have it. You can wash scars while you thank God for successful operations or, in some cases, beautiful babies.

When thoughts about other people (past, present or future) occur, notice. Lift them up to God in prayer briefly, and get back to experiencing your senses.

As you dry off, offer up prayers for people without the things you take for granted. And ask for the grace to maintain a clean mind, mouth and heart in the day ahead. I usually end the experience with worship music as I dress.

Finding God in water is a good experience. So try to enjoy God’s presence in the shower. You may want to do it everyday.

by Karen Twinem

Using Loved Ones as Mindfulness Bells

Your mindfulness bell can talk to you. And ask for things. And even be difficult at times. How? Just decide to use a loved one … your spouse, your child or even a pet … as a mindfulness bell.

A mindfulness bell is a sound that reminds you to stop and turn your attention to the present moment … to the person in front of you. Like many people, I’ve had apps to schedule mindfulness bells during the day. 10 a.m., noon, 3 p.m., 6 p.m. … like that.

Having your bell be the sound of a selected person is different. You never know when they will want your attention. So, when they speak to you, you practice Christian mindfulness:

  • Stop
  • Take a breath
  • Ask for God’s presence and help
  • Focus all your attention on loving the person

This idea came from reading “The Mindful Family Guidebook: Reconnect With Spirit, Nature, and the People You Love.” Its author, Dr. Renda Dionne Madrigal, is a Turtle Mountain Chippewa, a clinical psychologist and a certified mindfulness teacher. She sees mindfulness from an indigenous American viewpoint, which has many differences from my own.

Her idea of using your child as a mindfulness bell appealed deeply to me. Dr. Madrigal calls this “an informal stopping-and-noticing practice.” Just as many of us stop and pay attention when our phone app (or even the telephone) rings, Dr. Madrigal suggests we stop and pay full attention when our child wants us.

My children are grown. I’ve decided to use the practice with my husband and a very shy cat.

Don’t have the experience of stopping for a mindfulness bell? Dr. Madrigal suggests that you try an app for a few weeks to get used to it. A good one is the Insight Timer app.

It’s easy to pretend that you don’t hear the 14th call of the day. And it’s easy to feel that your tasks are more important than a mindful response to someone else’s need. But doing this will exercise your attentiveness muscle while building your ability to live in the moment.

woman deep breathing
by Karen Twinem

Breathe in Serenity

Christian mindfulness is a certain path toward serenity, and yet anxiety can still suddenly overwhelm us. Often it’s an understandable response to a bad situation. Before you can think to say “I trust you, God,” you drop head-first into an ocean of dread.

Breathing with intention is the best response. After all, you have to breathe it anyway. So using Christian mindfulness as you breathe calms you down while quickly reconnecting you to God’s presence. The technique is simple.

  • Stop and sit down. (If you are feeling dizzy, lie down and close your eyes.)
  • Set an alarm for at least five minutes.
  • Invite God to sit with you.
  • Breathe slowly and deeply, in and out. Pay full attention to your breathing. As thoughts arise, offer them up to God as prayers and return to concentrating on your breath.
  • When the alarm rings, offer a prayer of thanksgiving for your ability to breathe.
  • And return to practicing the presence of God.

This practice does wonders. It underpins many Christian mindfulness exercises in this blog.

One point of caution: If you have a daily challenge with severe anxiety, it’s important to your soul, as well as the rest of you, to seek medical help. Generalized anxiety disorder is a diagnosable condition. You can get help with medicine and therapy to stop the storms swirling in your brain.

Jesus has given us the gift of His peace, unlike any other kind in the world. Intentional breathing exercises help us calm down and welcome back His presence after a big upset.

by Karen Twinem

When God Says “Stop and Rest”

I thought I was giving my all for Christ. But my blood pressure got to 198/93. I got shingles. And my left foot was numb. So God said something unexpected: Stop and rest.

Life has been very difficult since I got a spinal fusion last spring. The recovery looks fine on x-ray. But my whole left side has been in terrible pain. The latest possibility is nerve root inflammation. Who knew my nerves had roots?

Before I got to the neurologist, my ex-husband died, alone and friendless. This is the fellow who tried to kill me in 1985, abused our kids and continued to be verbally abusive to me up to our last telephone call.

Unfortunately the police found his body in a motel in our town, far from our oldest child. I knew God wanted me to help my child with the cremation, private family service and collection of his property. So I did. The price was high.

But then God told me to stop and rest … through my husband, my spiritual director and pastor and private prayer. In fact, He also told me to do something I really love: to enjoy Him. I do enjoy God, especially when I pray, practice His presence, read about Him and … yes … rest in Him. My beloved spiritual director suggested that I give up my service to the church for a year to get back into good condition. So I am.

How does it look to rest every day? For someone with my over-active sense of responsibility and fear of laziness, it’s a challenge. I’ll bet it’s a challenge for you, too. Even those of us who regularly practice a Sabbath, may have a hard time figuring it out.

The how is a two-step process:

  • Figure out how you’ll rest.
  • Figure out when you’ll rest.

Block out 15 minutes on your schedule every day to relax and do what makes you calm: a walk outside, a breathing exercise inside, just sitting outdoors or anything else. You can be alone or with someone else. Just stop and rest.

If you are working, you can rest in a lightly used restroom. You can close your office door. You can rest during lunch. You can stay 15 minutes later to rest before going home. If you are home in the midst of family life, you can go outside. Sit in the car. Close the bedroom door before or after dinner. You can do it! Enjoy God. Every day.

Jesus invited his disciples to “come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while” when the ministry got especially busy. (Mark 6:31) And as Isaiah 30: 15a says: “For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel has said, ‘In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength.’ ” Let’s trust the Lord enough to give ourselves 15 minutes of rest a day.

by Karen Twinem

Breathe With God

The primary Christian mindfulness practice is to breathe with God. An underlying part of many spiritual exercises, it also is a quick way to reconnect with God, restore inner peace and lower stress.

The four-part process is as simple as breathing. With intention and attention, of course.

  1. Turn your full attention to the exercise.
  2. Invite God into this exercise and ask Him to bless it.
  3. Breathe in and out slowly for the next five minutes, using your Jesus prayer, breath prayer or mantrum.
  4. As you finish, express gratitude to God for this moment.

Click here to learn more about selecting a Jesus prayer or mantrum.

This exercise can be done anywhere, at any time and around anyone. You can quickly breathe in and out without attracting attention to yourself. It brings you back into the present moment in the presence of God. That is the very definition of Christian mindfulness.

by Karen Twinem

RESOURCE: MINDFULNESS AND SLEEP

“Mindfulness and Sleep: How to improve your sleep quality through practicing mindfulness” is a British book packed with good ideas for a good night’s sleep.

Author Anna Black believes that mindfulness meditation helps us to become accept wakefulness in the night. By reducing anxiety, we can sleep … or not … with a quiet mind. A Harvard study backs up this idea because mindfulness helps to invoke the relaxation response.

The book contains about 25 exercises to improve sleep quality. For example, “Checking Your Posture” is a practice done during the day to establish the relaxed posture that helps sleep. You can stand or sit while you check your posture with eyes open or shut. Put both feet on the floor. Place your hands in a cupped position in your lap. Slowly run your attention from the soles of your feet through your ankles, calves, knees, thighs and pelvis. Then go to the base of the spine and run your attention up to the head. Keep adjusting your posture as needed.

The author has many good suggestions, including doing a body scan on only your hand and doing a slow, steady body outline while you are lying down.

I would add a Jesus prayer or a breath prayer while doing these small moves to deepen the relaxation and build your rest in Jesus.

This book has 4.3 out of 5 stars on Amazon. Other resources for Christian mindfulness are found here.

by Karen Twinem

Ignore Your Inner Critic

Do you remember a time when you were told who you are? It’s nice to hear that you’re kind or smart. But sometimes you hear that you are clumsy, stupid, ungrateful or worthless.

Where do those names go? Yes, they are still in your head. And often they become part of the inner critic who doesn’t like much of what you do. Today’s Christian mindfulness exercise is helping us to recognize that your inner critic is talking and to learn how to stop listening to it.

It is all part of detachment, the art of experiencing feelings without allowing them to control you. Numbing out feelings is unhealthy. That’s not what I’m suggesting. Detachment steps in to allow us to make choices about our thoughts and actions. In Christian mindfulness, we allow ourselves to walk with Jesus and to do God’s will.

Learning to focus on the presence of God helps us to recognize the negative impact of our inner critic. We do what we should do, regardless of how we feel. This allows us to be loving to people we don’t like and to participate in situations where we have felt awkward in the past. We can do hard things with hard people.

The first step is to pray. Ask God to help you listen to your thoughts. Spend some time writing down what you hear. Are you getting criticism and ridicule? That’s the inner critic. Be aware of what the inner critic sounds like. Keep a list of what you hear, if that helps. These hurtful statements from the past have little to do with your identity in Christ.

Once we recognize our inner critic’s voice, we need to deliberately ignore it. When the words arise, pray before you take any action. Ask for an increase in God’s presence. And turn your thoughts towards praise and gratitude. Then do the next right thing.

Ignoring your inner critic can help you to detach from emotional reactions and walk in the ways of peace.

by Karen Twinem

Think: It Could Be the Last Time

My former boss died last week. I worked for her for 13 years. She taught me how to be a communications strategist, how to embrace New York, and how to deal with difficult people without losing your cool. We went through her divorce, the deaths of her parents, my son’s disability, and the deaths of my father and sister-in-law. I have many good memories and a little sadness from difficult times.

The last time I saw her was at a Christmas party just before the pandemic. She was busy with a client, and I needed to leave. So I stood near her, waiting for an opening. It was brief. I gave her a hug and wished her well. I don’t remember what she said to me. It was the last time I saw one of the most monumental people in my life.

Sometimes we are fully conscious that we are saying goodbye to a loved one. It was so at my dad’s deathbed when they took him off a ventilator. My mother, brother, sister and I watched him take his last breath in full awareness of the finality of the moment.

But those times are rare.

This Christian mindfulness exercise helps us be less cavalier about seeing your loved ones. It’s simple: Just remind yourself that this could be the last time you talk to them. This sounds like Debbie Downer created the exercise, but it also helps you to be more aware of the person. After all, death comes to 100% of us, and not always in the order we were expecting.

We are often distracted, particularly around our family. We half-listen. We get annoyed. We don’t recognize how important every interaction is. I even think this colors our reaction when we lose someone to death. I wish I’d known … I wish I’d said … I wish we’d gotten past this.

Try listening to a loved one with the idea that it could be the last time. It makes the future better.

by Karen Twinem

Overcome Election Anxiety

Bombarded with fears about what will happen to the United States? Feeling the crush of election anxiety? You’re not alone.

I am a registered Independent because neither party has a platform that I fully endorse. I dislike the lack of civility, the tone of campaigning and the name-calling that has infiltrated our political system. And I’ve experienced fears for our democracy that I never expected to have in my life. As Sarah Young writes in “Jesus Listens,” “People are calling evil good and good evil.” This leads to anxiety.

Jesus does not want us to lead lives filled with dread. So we have to deal with anxiety thought by thought by thought. We can be sure this is possible because Paul tells us to “take captive every thought.” (2nd Corinthians 2:5) Christian mindfulness makes it easier to fulfill this advice.

To take your thoughts captive and overcome anxiety, you have to do five things repeatedly: Notice. Stop. Pray. Refocus. Act.

NOTICE: Listen to your thoughts. We know that paying attention on purpose helps us to listen to the chatter in our minds. It’s a good thing, too, because our thoughts direct our emotions. Whenever we get wound up in anxiety, bad thoughts are at the core.

STOP: Take a few deep, slow breaths.

PRAY: Once we feel a bit more calm, we need to pray for God’s grace to help us keep focused on Him. You can pray:

Lord, help me to not be overcome by uncertainty and fear. Help me not to wallow in fears of evil. I know none of what’s happened is a surprise to you. I know in the end You will triumph. And I know that I may not even be understanding this correctly. Instead, I trust in you as my constant companion.

REFOCUS: God wants us to focus on His presence in the moment. So visualize Jesus alongside you. Think about God’s character and all the ways He is with you. Focus on God’s goodness.

ACT: God wants us to be a light shining in the darkness. You can do this if you practice the presence of God. If you seek His will for what you should do to become a force for good. Fill your calendar with things that you know God wants you to do. Such as?

  • Spiritual practices, such as all types of prayer, Bible study, Sabbath, gifts of your time and money, and intentional Christian fellowship in church and small group.
  • The seven spiritual works of mercy: Counsel the doubtful. Instruct the ignorant. Admonish the sinner. Comfort the sorrowful. Forgive all injuries. Bear wrongs patiently. Pray for the living and the dead.
  • Acts of corporal mercy to address the needs of the poor and helpless: Feed the hungry. Visit the imprisoned. Buy clothing for those who need it. Care for the sick. Shelter travelers. Offer drink to the thirsty.
  • And what you say. If you can’t communicate in ways that show the gifts of the Holy Spirit, be quiet. Talk to God about your concerns, instead of dumping them on family, friends and social media.

Focus on the good you can do. God has prepared works in advance for you to do. As you become a force for good, your anxiety melts away.