Holy Spirit Discernment Practice
Guest Contributor Rachel Glowacki is a registered yoga teacher and a Yoga Alliance continuing education provider with over 2,500 teaching hours. Rachel is dedicated to continuing her own education through workshops, online trainings and self-study. From her family’s recent cross-country relocation to her son’s request to follow his dream to enroll in a soccer academy in another state, Rachel has been calling upon the Holy Spirit for discernment a lot lately! We are grateful for her willingness to share this lovely breath practice. You can learn more about Rachel here.
Do you like chocolate? That’s a simple question with a simple answer. But, what happens when you need to get on your knees to make a difficult decision or any decision that causes you to feel disconnected in your mind and body? Where do you turn? Do you search and search for friends and family to tell you what you should do? Do you google obsessively to find the scripture or answer? Where do you go?
Follow your breath in and out, and if your breath is full and expansive, that is your body saying YES. If your breath is short and choppy, that is your body saying NO.
In Christian traditions, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the “counselor and breath” that dwells within the body. In yogic traditions, the breath is referred to as prana, the life force that travels throughout the body. Our bodies contain the spirit, the prana, the counselor and life force. But somewhere along the way, we argue with our minds and bodies, forgetting that the wisdom is living and breathing within. We just need “to be still and know.” (Psalm 46:10)
As a yogi and Christ follower, I am learning to listen to how my body responds with the flow of my breath. I practice with the simple life choices, like whether I should eat or drink something. That’s a warm-up for really difficult questions like, “Do I send my 13 year off to soccer boarding school?” The breath guides me every time and reveals my innermost being. It gives me space to allow that quiet whisper of the Holy Spirit to counsel me. This practice has never failed me. The body doesn’t lie, while the rational indoctrinated mind does.
I learned this breath exercise at the National Kids Yoga Conference by yogi artist WAH!. She was singing and guiding us all to tune into our bodies, giving ourselves the space and time to feel what a “yes” breath is and what a “no” breath is, by simply asking questions, and then breathing them in and out. What if we started to get more quiet and paid more attention to how the spirit moves and counsels us within, instead of leaning on our own opinions or ideas or those of other people?
I don’t know about you, but I am starting to believe that what Jesus says in Luke 17:21 —that the Kingdom of God is within you—is actually true.