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In the sunrise of my life, I remember experiencing an indescribable, sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that often felt like a four hundred foot drop from a roller coaster. Encountering shame, fear, or loss of control triggered these uninvited episodes–episodes that would remain nameless until I was introduced to the term “anxiety” in my late twenties.
"I was born into a cultural context that did not offer access to training involving the mind, body, and spirit connection.
Any form of physical distress was addressed with a spiritual antidote.
As I entered adulthood, I began to pray through these unnamed reactions without language to communicate the physical intensity. In the absence of words, God offered me the consolation of His presence, proof that our lack of language need not limit the reality of His manifest love.
Over time I learned to navigate triggering situations with visible poise masking the invisible chaos of anxiety. I had not yet been given permission to embrace the full stop of a biblically informed check-in with God and myself.
One day, as I sat with my own Spiritual Director, I heard words that changed my life.
"What is your body telling you in this situation? Did you know your body is a wisdom center?
For years I had believed gut-level discernment is often the leadership of the Holy Spirit shepherding yielded Christ-followers to lean into the direction of His sovereign movements.
The problem was that I had been conditioned to dismiss God-given instincts in the name of conflict avoidance.
I knew my body was the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19) but I had yet to connect my life with God to the importance of this reality in daily decision making.
This began to change as I implemented three new rhythms to connect with God in the face of physical anxiety. I offer them to you now:
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