There are lots of ways to ground ourselves, to de-stress, and to increase the space between what happens around us and our reaction. Breathing exercises have received a lot of attention and have been shown to reduce anxiety, depression, and improve mental health overall. Click here to read a recent review of these studies.
For Christians, entering God’s presence and reading God’s word are the primary ways we ground ourselves. The apostle Paul puts it like this in Philippians:
Rejoice in the Lord always…Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Worship, prayer, placing our needs before God, and thankfulness are paths to God’s peace. On top of prayer, Paul adds thinking about good things:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
St. Paul says “pray without ceasing” and King David says “I have set the Lord always before me” (Psalm 16:8.) There’s not just one way to ground yourself in prayer, but one way has been popular for thousands of years–the Book of Psalms. At any given moment there are hosts of Christians singing, chanting, and praying them.
Choose a meaningful Psalm in the morning and keep going back to it throughout the day, or for a whole week or even for month. Psalm 103 is a great place to start.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
The opening of Psalm 90 is all about how big and timeless God is. Its a great prayer to ground ourselves in his presence:
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
There are 150 Psalms so if you read 5 a day, you can read the whole Psalter in a month. Some days you’ll have a lot more to read than others so here’s a balanced plan you can use for reading all the Psalms in a month.
One of the great reasons to read all of them and not just our favorite parts is that we can overlook Psalms that are not emotionally uplifting but very profound. Like when the author of Psalm 88 ends his song by saying “my only friend is darkness.” Its not positive, or optimistic, but it is honest prayer and it helps to see that even one of the authors of the Bible has been where we are!
All of us have a lot going on in our minds at any given moment and its so easy to get distracted. Reading aloud tells your mind “this activity has priority.” Moving your finger across the page as you read also helps. if you’re going to read several Psalms, try standing for the first Psalm, keeping track with your finger and reading aloud. If you struggle with ADHD or anxieties, using your body tells the parts of your mind competing for attention “this is what we’re doing now.” Its not perfect, but it helps! If you’re a Christian, you’ll be amazed how grounding it is to read the Psalms in this way!
If you don’t know where to begin, here’s a schedule for reading the Psalms in a week. Don’t get bogged down trying to read all of them every day but read those Psalms for that time and day of the week.
It helps to ground oneself throughout the day. The flurry of day’s activities often knocks us off-center. Small moments of breathing or prayer help get us moving again towards our values instead of reacting like being tossed around in a pinball machine! Instead, find a moment to sit still, take some deep breaths, pray, or read a psalm!