Note: “Letters of Love from Above” is a series of letters that I would imagine a loving Heavenly Father might write to you. If you are uncomfortable with that idea, imagine Life, or The Universe, Truth or Karma, Mother Earth, Mother Teresa, or Mother Goose, for that matter, is writing the letter. But for me, it is a loving God reaching down to His sons and daughters as I would imagine that reach looking like in words.

My Dear Child,

Do you feel lost and alone? Trapped in circumstances you
don’t feel are in your control to change?

Are you stuck, desperate, empty, disillusioned?

Do you feel abandoned, forgotten, discarded, left behind,
tossed aside?

Has life been turned upside down and pulled inside out?

Are you in pain, broken, smothered, depressed, unable to
move or breathe or think or hope?

You may even be angry at Me and want to throw in the towel
and walk off the field.

I understand.

But please, don’t.

Hold on.

Stay in the game.

The Sun Will Rise Again

You need to know that the mountain you are climbing does not
rise forever. There is a peak. You will reach it.

I know that you may not feel like holding on anymore, much
less climbing any longer. Your arms ache, your legs are cramping and your head is
throbbing with an ache that won’t go away. The emptiness you feel is bearing
down on you, closing in on you, pushing at you, scraping and scratching at the
walls of who you think or thought you were.

But only I can see the end from the beginning.

And I need you to know that the sun will rise again. The seasons will
change, the pain will fade, the
intensity of the darkness you feel engulfing you into its nothingness will eventually be replaced with hints
of light and hints of love and hints of joy once more. And then that light will
grow. And so will the love and so will the joy.

So I want you to know that there are better times ahead. The
pain will fade. The emptiness will slowly be filled. The darkness will be
replaced by growing degrees of light.

If it feels like there is no way out, that light will never
shine again in your life, that there is no use continuing, trying, smiling,
wishing, wanting anymore, I need to remind you that you are my creation. You
are my child. I am your Father.

That means more than you can understand right now.

But this much I can ensure you: There is a part of me inside
of you. There burns within you the spark of divinity. The flame of eternal
potential still flickers in your darkness even if you can’t see it or feel it
right now.

You Matter

You are of infinite worth to Me.

The love I have for you is greater, stronger and deeper than
the bitterness or disappointment or pain or sadness you feel right now.

I know it feels like you are wandering aimlessly in an
eternity of emptiness and pain, each desolate day bleeding into the next
mind-numbing day of desperation. But believe me when I tell you that it is
decidedly not at eternity.

I Know Eternity

Please don’t take this the wrong way when I say that your
trials are just a blink of an eye in the eternal scheme of things. I know it
doesn’t feel that way, of course. But your perspective is tied to your
experiences. Mine is not. My perspective stretches through the eternities. And
that, by the way, is where my focus is too.

My perspective reaches far beyond the horizon or your vision.
Yours is on mortality. Mine is on immortality. Yours is now. Mine is forever.
Yours is on your suffering. Mine is on what your suffering will produced inside
of you in the long run.

Mountains to Climb

All my children, therefore, have mountains to climb, just
like One once had a cross to bear.

You see, valleys don’t climb. Despite the comfort and beauty
and peace of warm sun-lit valleys, you would be left at the end of the day,
unrefined, your potentials unmet, your character untried, and your soul would
be no better off than before entering the valley.

Valleys are flat. But mountains rise.

You were never meant to live out your days in equanimity,
comfortably stuck in your comfort zone. Life is all about rising, about
growing, about climbing and becoming.

Not in relation to anyone else, but in relation to your own potential.
I know what that potential is and it is so much more than you even have the
capacity to imagine.

So my role as your Heavenly Father is to stoke those coals
of potential, to allow you to pass through the chilling winters and scorching summers
of life, to sometimes descend into the dark abyss of pain to help forge inside
of you something so much more than you can see right now.

Mountains, as you certainly know, require much from those
who climb them. They test you, putting callouses on your feet and muscles in
your legs and backs and shoulders. They require strength and commitment,
endurance and a willingness to push beyond your limits. And so they build
inside of us those qualities of eternity that have not yet matured on their
own.

By the time you reach the top of your mountain, you will
have become someone a bit stronger and more experienced than you were before you
started. You will be filled with more confidence and capacity. You will be
tougher and stronger and kinder and more compassionate.

So please, hang on. Push on. Endure on.

Life is about Climbing

I have seen untold numbers of people over the millennia come
so close to the end, so close to achievement, to success, to victory, to
mastery, to breakthrough, then quit, never realizing that had they simply held
on a moment longer, they would have found the beginning of peace and joy and
rest.

So please endure as well as you can. I will be there,
walking in your every step. I will be there in the cool morning breeze as a
reminder that I have not forgotten you. I will be there in the songbird’s
whistle reminding you that you have not been forsaken. I will be there in the
warm sun on your face, the hug of a friend, the smile of a child, the morning
glow of a distant sunrise as a reminder that there will always be new days and
there will always be cause for hope.

If you are never called to climb your own personal mountain,
where would your toughness come from? Where would your confidence that you can climb future mountains come from? Where would your perseverance and inner
strength and even your compassion for others on similar journeys, your ability
to inspire others up their own mountains come from? And what about humility and
a tender heart and the ability to mourn with those who mourn?

You are becoming a better person than you ever could have in
the flat valleys of content specifically because of the mountains in your life
that call you to climb higher than you ever would have gone on your own, higher
than you thought you could conceivably climb.

You are More than you Think

But I know how high you can actually climb. And I know the kind of person you will be on the
other side of your mountain.

Please let me be clear that I’m not saying that I directed
the drunk driver to drink or the shooter to shoot or the cancer to spread or the
despot to abuse or the economy to collapse.

But what I am
saying is that whatever your particular set of horrible, painful, desperate
circumstances may be, that your bitter challenges can still lead to beautiful
things if you are willing to climb.

Turning Problems into Opportunities

I don’t cause bad people to do bad things to good people.
But I do know how you can turn the pain into something powerfully motivating
and transformative in your life. I know how you can turn anger into
forgiveness, hate into love, anxiety into peace and despair into joy.

I don’t take away problems so much as I help you take
advantage of those problems. I help you turn negatives into positives. I help
you to spot the silver linings to the dark clouds of life. I point out that
even when everything seems to be falling apart, in fact, most of life isn’t.
There is much to be grateful for. There is much to keep hope alive.

Every painful step is an opportunity for you to learn
patience, to learn tolerance, to learn endurance, to develop your faith, to
lean on Me, to take the next step when the next step seems scary or lonely or
empty or pointless.

The steeper the mountain, the harder the climb, for sure.
But when you stay the course, you will also find that steep mountains lead to
the most breathtaking views as well.

Grow

One of the most basic purposes of life is to grow, to
change, to improve, to polish the rough parts of your life, to buff up the
murky raw materials, turning you into something better, higher, more
passionately committed to a life of love.

And that, to me, is the most beautiful view.

That process, though, like any refiner’s fire, can hurt
tremendously. But keep in mind that your pain is evidence that you are, in
fact, in that fire, refining your very being, preparing you for better, higher,
more eternal things.

So please don’t give up. Push forward yet another day.

I will not abandon you in your trials. I will not forsake
you in your tribulation. While the challenges you face are largely yours to
endure, here’s what I certainly will
do as you reach to me in your darkest hours:

I will hold your hand.

I will point the way.

I will wipe away your tears.

I will listen.

I will understand.

When you cry to me, I will come to you.

You will sense me in your heart. You will hear me in the truths
you will learn as you climb. You will feel Me lighten your load as your
shoulders are made stronger, more able to bear the weight of your trials and
challenges.

I will encourage you and inspire you and reveal myself to
you along the way, as you fight, as you struggle, as you work, as you endure,
and as you climb.

View from the Top

There is a beautiful view from up here. There is peace and
joy and the profoundest contentment born of the profoundest accomplishment.

And remember, and never forget, that I love you. More than
you can possibly understand. But that love motivates Me to allow you to climb
higher than you otherwise would. Because, in the end, it is up here, higher
than you currently are, that I dwell.

So come meet me on the mountain. I’ll be there with you,
leading you, comforting you, healing you, directing you, correcting you,
encouraging you, inspiring you, and revealing Myself to you in the all the
details of your life.

The personal mountain you are climbing now will help you
learn to see me there. And how could I possibly remove that opportunity from
you?

With Love,

Your Father in Heaven

Photo: Royalty Free from Pexels

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How about incorporating mindfulness exercises for anxiety reduction as life hacks for stress free living?

Sounds appealing…but feeling doubtful if applying mindfulness can work?

You’d like to welcome any anxiety relief idea except that you could be wondering how to even adopt a mindfulness practice of watching the breath quietly when your mind is constantly filled with worry. As far as you know, worry is not something that you can easily cast aside. You have not been able to stop feeling anxious on a lot of matters pretty much.

And so, you suspect that you won’t be able to concentrate with worry in tow. What’s more you don’t believe that you have time to sit on a meditation cushion for long periods of time. Not when you need to be up and about, fighting fire in your environment or working your butt off lest you fall behind.

Well, I’d like to share some mindfulness exercises for anxiety reduction that do not require you to sit in a monk-like lotus position for hours. These mindfulness exercises are ones that you can easily incorporate into your life. They are like life hacks that are meant to assist you with cutting down overwhelm.

When practising mindfulness, you are focused on centering yourself rather than be caught in a fluster. The calmer you become, the more able you are with gaining clarity for problem solving and centeredness for weathering any storm. Consequently, you get more done with a lot less stress!

Let’s proceed, shall we?

First, let’s understand mindfulness by what it is not. Clearing any mistaken beliefs is going to help. Finally, get to apply practical mindfulness exercises for anxiety and stress reduction easily!

What Mindfulness Is Not and Is

Mindfulness is not just for the Buddhists or is it some new age fad. Neither is mindfulness a practice that is confined to the time when you are seated on a meditation cushion alone. On the contrary, mindfulness can be practiced by just about anyone and throughout the day.

Mindfulness is simply the act of being fully present to the moment. You are also in conscious awareness to whatever thoughts, feelings and emotions are flowing through your mind, body and spirit. Hence, you are not trapped in the past or worrying about the future. It is about being in the now.

The definition of mindfulness given by Jon Kabat Zinn in his book Wherever You Go, There You Are is:

“The awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment.”

Note that you are attentive to the experiencing of the moment as it-is. You are neither in constant critique or fretting about your situation. Without any pre-conceived ideas or expectations, you are open to what you may discover as the moment unfolds.

It is as if every moment is a new encounter. Thus, you are able to meet the world with openess. Anxiety and stress simply dissolves in the face of present moment awareness and awakened consciousness.

7 Mindfulness Exercises for Anxiety

Let’s put all the above explanations into practical ideas for mindfulness exercises for anxiety that you can easily apply.

Mindfulness Exercise #1: Breathing.

You are breathing all the time so much so that unless you pay attention, you may have forgotten what it means to be alive. When you bring focus to your breathing, you are building a connection with your physical body. You are also noticing how you are interacting with your surroundings.

Mindful breathing involves bringing your conscious awareness to your breath as you inhale and exhale. Sometimes, for a start, you may take an exaggerated breath: a deep inhale through your nostrils (to the count of 3), hold your breath (count of 2), and a long exhale through your mouth (to the count of 4). Some people place their attention on their nosetrils while others watch the rising and falling of their stomach.

Whenever your mind wanders because it was distracted by thoughts or bodily sensations, simply need to bring your awareness back to your breath. You don’t judge or criticise yourself whenever you get distracted. For a start, practice mindful breathing for 10 minutes in the morning when you wake up. Do this daily and you’d find yourself getting into the habit of practising mindfulness.

Mindfulness Exercise #2: Shower

Bath time offer great opportunities to practice mindfulness exercises for anxiety reduction. Pay attention to the sensations that you are experiencing while showering. By applying mindfulness, you are being more present, thus allowing you to relax even further.

Feel the water on your skin as it splashes all over you. Feel how it runs from the scalp of your head and to the rest of your body. Take in the smell of the shampoo and soap. Notice how rejuvenating cleansing yourself with water is.

Mindfulness Exercise #3: Drinking Tea

Take in the aroma of your tea as it hits your nose. Feel the warmth of your cup through your fingers. Take measured sips and savor each of them mindfully.

Mindfulness Exercise #4: Walking Meditation

Walking meditation was one of the first mindfulness exercises I started with. I was introduced to it by a monk twenty years ago when I visited him in Chiang Mai for a private retreat. I was given the following instructions…

Slow down your walking and walk as if in slow motion. Observe your feet in a forward movement. Feel your feet on the ground. Notice your muscular movements. Be present to how your feet is meeting its surroundings.

Mindfulness Exercise #5: Physical Exercise

When you are too much in the head, stress can build. You end up over-thinking, with no clarity on how you can best solve your problem. Too much mental activity can also affect your sleep.

Physical exercise helps you get out of your head. The next time you exercise, apply mindfulness too. Listen to the beat of your heart. Notice the quickening of your breath. Observe your breathing. Feel the sweat forming on your forehead. Bring attention to your bodily movements. Immerse yourself in the physical activity.

Mindfulness Exercise #6: Washing Dishes

Washing dirty dishes no longer needs to be a dread! I was given this personal advice by a visiting monk that I met years ago. He suggested that I turn this activity into a mindfulness practice.

Pay full attention to washing dishes. Feel the water on your hands. Observe how the sponge soaks up the soap. Notice how heavy the plates and bowls are in your hands. Focus on washing plates with presence, rather than worrying about something else.

Mindfulness Exercise #7: Reconnect with Nature

Reconnecting with way is one avenue whereby you can apply mindfulness. Park your worries aside for a while and go to the garden.

Simply feel the gentle breeze on your skin, the warm sunlight on your face and the sensations that you experience simply by just being in nature. Notice how the shadows cast by the leaves change by the shifting sunlight.

Mindfulness Exercises for Anxiety Reduction

Mindfulness exercises for anxiety reduction are hacks for stress-free living.

Without conscious awareness of how you are living each moment, it is easy to lapse into running on autopilot. Your mind is in its default conditioning. It has the worry program installed.

Applying mindfulness exercises involves retraining the mind throughout the day. You are giving yourself a fresh reboot. The more regular you are with checking in on yourself, the more able you become to calm yourself, stay present and to recollect your focus.

Everyday activities can present opportunities for you to practice mindfulness exercises. Washing dishes, drinking tea and taking walks in the park are gateways for experiencing your senses. Your whole being becomes engaged with life and you are aware of it.

Instead of stress, you are able to meet peace with each moment. Your energy levels become restored. With daily mindfulness exercises for anxiety reduction, you create a compound effect that raises your sense of wellness.

Love and abundance always,
Evelyn Lim

Share Your Thoughts
Do you practice mindfulness? What mindfulness exercises for anxiety reduction do you apply in your life? Share what they are in the comment section below.

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