Breathe

I recently inherited a Series 4 Apple Watch from my brother, who had just upgraded to the latest version.  Prior to owning one, I had had no real desire to use an Apple Watch, but I thought it might be helpful for keeping track of my fitness goals so I took the time to set it up and watched a few tutorial videos on YouTube.  It turns out that the watch IS quite helpful for tracking fitness goals and for other things, but my absolute favorite feature of the Apple Watch is an app called “Breathe.”  The Breathe app notifies me every so often (by causing my watch to vibrate) that I should take a moment to stop and pay attention to my breath, and then it leads me through a very brief, very effective exercise to help me do so.  

You wouldn’t think that I would need an app to remind me to breathe, but after using this tool for the past few weeks I realize that I sure DO need to be reminded.  With work and home and family responsibilities vying endlessly for my attention, I find myself flitting from one “to do” to the other, rarely taking a moment to just be - and to just breathe.  Add on top of that a relentless drip of not-so-great news filling up the screens of my days of late, and I have plenty of excuses to focus on anything but my own peace of mind.

If there is one thing I have learned from Unity in my 20+ years of attendance, it is that the key to life, the universe, and everything is my ability to stay grounded in the present moment.  I know this, and yet I am inconsistent with my practice of mindfulness and meditation.  I can relate to Paul’s struggle in Romans 7:15 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

This is why I am grateful for the simple, helpful tools which are at our fingertips these days, thanks to technology, and I do my best to allow them to support me in my intention to be more mindful in my everyday life.

~Rebecca