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I’ve recently read Bonnie Gray’s book Breathe: 21 Days to stress less and transform chaos to calm. Breathe is a daily devotional book covering concrete strategies to reduce stress plus scripture verses to help us rest in Jesus’ care for us.
Soul Care Quiz
Bonnie is a Soul Care Mentor, speaker, writer, and podcaster. Start your Soul Care journey by taking her Soul Care Quiz: https://thebonniegray.com/soulcarequiz/
The quiz and book cover 4 topics of wellness:
- Emotional
- Physical
- Spiritual
- Social
The quiz has questions related to 21 stressors and the book discusses each stressor with actions to take to help you improve that element of wellness.
Of the 4 topics of wellness in the quiz, based on my scores, I need to work on my emotional, spiritual, and social wellness.
How To Use Breathe
Based on your Soul Care Quiz results you can go directly to the wellness section you need the most. Bonnie starts each chapter off with a bit of her journey related to the topic. Then she brings in research related to the topic. Next, she shares scripture verses related to the section and ends with tips to try and 2-3 questions to ponder to help you improve that area of stress.
My favorite part of the book are the Breath Prayers. You tell yourself a short phrase as you inhale, and say another phrase as you exhale. I’ve found this to be very calming and grounding when I’m upset.
For example, in the Loosen Your Grip: How to Relax When You Feel Anxious chapter, the breath prayer is Inhale: Relax. Exhale: Loosen My Grip, Jesus. She encourages us to adjust the phrase to whatever is most helpful.
My next favorite part of her book are the doable activities she shares with us. So in this same chapter, she talks about how the process of making a hot cup of tea mindfully and savoring it can actually help one relax. When I slow down and drink a cup of tea this way I do feel more relaxed. I don’t find the same relaxing benefit if I’m drinking tea at the computer.
Each chapter ends with 2-3 questions to help you assess things you may want to change to reduce your stress.
Wrap-Up of Breathe
I’m finding this book to be a very helpful addition to my mental health toolbox. I highly recommend it for your mental health toolbox, too. If you need more mental health self-care resources please check out this post:
Mental Health Awareness and Self-Care Resources
I’d love to hear your thoughts below on this book if you’ve read it.
Till next time, Kathy
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