Recently, a friend and I had the privilege of doing a workshop with Catholic school children with some ways to calm themselves to avert stress and anxiety with a Catholic approach.
Our approach included prayer, breathing and movement.
With prayer, we encouraged them to cry out to Jesus (in their hearts) with acclamations such as saying the name of Jesus and calling on the Holy Trinity, the Holy Family, the Blessed Mother, the saints and the angels in times of challenge and trial.
The children beautifully shared some of their favorite prayers that they know by heart and say at home with their families. A couple of children said they wrote their own prayers with their parents and siblings. We talked about the power of praying for one another and calling on their favorite saints to come to their assistance.
We emphasized that we are all God’s beloved children and that He wants us to talk to Him and share everything with Him throughout out the day, no matter what.
St. Teresa of Avila said, “God dwells within you, within every cell of your being. Seek Him there, in the depths of your own heart.” We can all use the reminder that God lives within us and is always with us and we have the gift of being able to pray unceasingly to Him.
Next, we moved into breathing techniques to relax the body and we practiced breathing in Jesus and breathing out everything not of Jesus. Every breath we have is a gift from God and paying attention to our breathing helps us to stay calm and better able to hear and respond to the promptings from the Holy Spirit.
We talked about how breathing high in the chest is stressful to the body and that when we practice deep, slower belly breathing there is a calming effect on the body. The children practiced belly breathing by placing a shoe on their bellies and breathing in and out through their nose while watching their bellies rise and fall. There were lots of giggles and we appreciated their joy.
St. John Eudes said, “He belongs to you, but more than that, He longs to be in you, living and ruling in you, as the head lives and rules in the body. He wants His breath to be in your breath, His heart in your heart, and His soul in your soul.”
My friend shared that she survived lung cancer, but she had to have a lung removed, but she is now cancer free. There were some gasps from the children. We explained that over time the other lung has become stronger and she can now enjoy pickleball and other athletic activities without noticing any difference in her breathing.
Most importantly, she shared how she trusted in God to be with her, to strengthen her and to care for her as she navigated this trial. She told the children she thanked God for this situation, for her faith and for the strength God gave her to inspire others as a powerful witness of trust in God.
Finally, we talked about movement and how we can honor our bodies that are made in God’s image. We did some stretching to warm up our bodies. Then we prayed a decade of the Rosary with different movements for the Our Father prayer and for each Hail Mary prayer. This is a Catholic prayer and movement practice called SoulCore.
In “Theology of the Body,” Pope St. John Paul II said, “The body, in fact, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the spiritual and divine.”
We give thanks for the time we had with the children to share our faith and to be inspired by their faith, their joy and their desire to learn and grow. God is faithful and He is working in our families and in our Catholic schools so beautifully making visible the invisible: the spiritual and divine within each of us.