Checking In...
It's me, hi.
Hello there, long time no check in.
You may have noticed that we didn’t have a practice in May. Turns out life got a little much around here for me. But I’m back and we’re picking up where we left off.
Look for a new practice for the month of June hitting your inbox this week. We’ll be practicing Centering Prayer and I’m excited to add it more to my daily rhythms. I think you will be too. (Or not, which is the beauty of our differences really.)
Before we launch in to a new practice though, I thought it’d be helpful to create a space to share how things have been going with our other two practices, or any other practices you’ve been trying out recently.
Or maybe faith and spirituality and all things Jesus have felt dry and distant lately? There’s freedom and space to talk about that too.
As a reminder, our first 2 practices this year have been sleep and praying the Examen. Click the links to freshen up on those practices.
My practices of sleep and praying the Examen
For me, I’ve really noticed an improvement on sleep…when I’m intentional about it.
One sleep help I learned from a previous podcast I shared in the sleep post said that delaying caffeine for the first 60-90 minutes of your day can help balance your circadian rhythm. I didn’t want to believe it because I love nothing more than a cup of hot coffee while reading in the morning. But for the interest of practicing sleep I thought I’d try it.
And wouldn’t ya know it, it actually worked for me.
On the mornings I delay caffeine, I’m no longer tired in the afternoons. Now, I’m still not 100% positive this works all the time for me, and maybe it’s a fluke. But in case you find yourself having an afternoon slump, maybe give this a try?
The more my practice of sleep felt helpful, the more I noticed energy in the mornings and day. This gave me a chance to prioritize my slow mornings with God and connect to Him there. But it also just made me feel like a more healthy human being throughout the day too.
So I guess I’ve realized this year how I need to treat sleep like a priority and realize that the days of staying up late all the time are over. Is this adulthood?
As for the Examen, I feel like this one has been a miss for me, and not because of the practice itself. Tbh, the times I’ve prayed the Examen have been very life-giving. I’ve recognized the Spirit’s movement more in my days because of it, and if I was to be honest, praying the Examen has been the times I’ve felt most connected to God the past few months.
However, I sometimes struggle still feeling like it’s a task for me to add to my to-do list. Trying it in the evenings hasn’t worked super well, because out of habit I’m use to tidying the apartment, doing my skin care routine, getting in bed to read, and then falling asleep. Adding another task in that routine kept feeling unnatural, and I found myself not looking forward to it.
So I think I’m going to switch it to in the mornings, and I’ll use that time to look over the previous day before. I’ll let you know how that goes.
How has it been for you recently?
Have the practices of sleep and/or praying the Examen been life-giving? Or has it been a struggle?
How does your connection to Jesus feel right now?
Click the button below to leave a comment for our community. And feel encouraged to respond and encourage one another.
But also, if you’d like to share my privately, my inbox is always open. Reply to this email or drop me a line at melainarae at gmail dot com.
Looking forward to June and practicing Centering Prayer with all of you!
-Melaina