Seeking the Spirit Within

Seeking the Spirit Within

1

The Fall

Setting Yourself Up for Success

Though they fall seven times, they will rise again.

—Proverbs 24:16

When I thought, “My foot is slipping,”
your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.

—Psalm 94:18

Most of the time, when people refer to the Fall, they’re talking about Adam, Eve, and the fruit. Whenever I think of the Fall, my mind immediately goes to Jesus falling three times before He was crucified. I love this image because knowing that Jesus fell three times on His way to the Cross makes me believe that my falls are also an important part of God’s plan. My falls make my heart meek and humble, but they also inspire me to keep my gaze on every step I take to minimize unnecessary falls in the future.

I also remember that Jesus had help along the way. Through all the pushing, shoving, and kicking, Simon of Cyrene lessened Jesus’s burden (Matthew 27:32). We play the roles of Jesus and Simon at different times. Sometimes it is others’ burdens that we are lessening by walking alongside those who need our love and support. Sometimes we’re the ones falling, carrying the heavy burden, executing God’s plan, while feeling the constant shoving and pushing of others around us.

I reflect on the distance that Jesus had to traverse for Him to be crucified. Had the distance been short, He might not have met Veronica, Simon of Cyrene, or His mother—Our Lady. He would not have been able to talk to the wailing women or experience Veronica’s endearing act of wiping His face, which occurred after He fell the first time. There were a lot of people whom Jesus ministered to while on His journey to fulfilling God’s plan for our redemption.

Sometimes having a winding path with a lot of falls may not be bad—we get to execute God’s plan by experiencing the falls and meeting our own Simons and Veronicas, creating moments of endearment. Sadly, we may encounter people who try to trample and kick us while not offering any help at all. However, the ones who do help us and love us, despite our closeness to the ground or burden of a heavy cross, really make strong impressions. These moments of love shine through a dark night like a beacon of light and inspire us to do the same for others.

Your journey with breathing exercises will be similar. There will be days when you have no desire to do the exercises, and that is perfectly fine. It is like the times when you didn’t want to stick to your diet, go to bed on time, refrain from eating sugar, help the homeless person, say the Rosary, or go to Holy Mass. The awareness of these moments is just as important as having the moment itself. Every time you have a fall, either by not doing your practices in a disciplined fashion or catching yourself breathing in a way that’s not recommended in the coming pages, unite yourself with the Fall of Christ. Recognize that His falling and getting back up was a part of His divine plan, just as it may be a part of yours. You can fall a million times, provided you rise a million times. Doing my breathing exercises is like brushing my teeth—a task so essential that others would suffer if I didn’t complete it. And so, if you’re the kind of person who is constantly looking to do something nice for another, do your breathing exercises!

Work on yourself first before you decide to advise others to follow your ways. The best way to minister to others is not through words but through actions. It is always helpful to have others keep you accountable when you are attempting to do something new. Bring your Simons and Veronicas along with you on this journey, and, who knows, they might end up doing the exercises as well; then you can all work on embodying Christ’s light and experience the power of Holy Spirit together.

Exercise

The first exercise is to become aware of how many breaths you take in a minute—which is your respiratory rate. Use a timer and time yourself for one minute, counting the number of inhales you take during that time. Write down the number of inhales you took and keep it in your record, along with the other questions you answered in the self-examination section earlier in the book. This exercise needs to be done only once this week, but you will be tracking your respiratory rate in the coming weeks.

Next, you are going to practice seeing what your body does while you are breathing. Put your hand on your stomach and observe the movement of your hand while you are breathing. You should feel a gentle outward movement on the inhale and a similar inward movement on the exhale. If you’re struggling to feel this movement, you can lie on a flat surface and rest a book on your stomach. You should see a gentle rise when you inhale and a gentle fall when you exhale. Don’t try to force your stomach in and out, but rather observe the natural motion of your stomach as you breathe. If you notice that the movement is the opposite of what was just described, then intentionally work on raising the book on the inhale and letting it fall on the exhale. Breathing with this intention will begin the process of retraining your body to breathe correctly. If you’re unable to do this exercise, ask a friend or family member to breathe and watch their body’s movement. Watching another person do the exercise correctly can teach you to do it correctly as well.

Once that is done, set an alarm for every hour on the hour. When it sounds, take at least a minute to focus on your breathing. If this is too much for you, choose times of the day when you can commit to becoming aware of your breath. I suggest coupling the exercise with something you’re already doing. For example, you can do the exercise every time you step into a car or every time you are standing in line at the grocery store or waiting to get cash at an ATM. The options are limitless as to how you can incorporate this exercise into your life. This exercise has more to do with the awareness of your breath than it does with how you are breathing. In the upcoming chapters, we will go into the how, but for now, you can practice freely.

As explained previously, there will be moments or days when you completely forget to be aware of your breath, which would be considered a fall. Treat your falls with patience and love, thanking them for giving you opportunities to pick yourself up again and to keep moving forward with the exercise. The act of not being aware of your breath is just as important as being aware of your breath.

Reflection Questions

1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how hard has it been for you to be aware of your breath at set times during the day?

2. Have you been able to incorporate self-discipline to stick to your pre-decided times?

3. Have you been aware of your breath outside the times that you had set to pay attention to your breath?

If the answer to the last question is “Yes, often,” then it’s time to move forward.