Breathing the Holy Spirit

I've been having trouble breathing. I went to my allergy doctor the other day. She said it was probably caused by my allergies, so I'm supposed to bump up my allergy medicine. She also gave me some breathing exercises to do. I'm supposed to breath in through my nose, and then breathe out of my mouth slowly, for five minutes at a time, eight times a day.

Before my appointment with my allergy doctor, I met with my spiritual director. During the meditation at the beginning of the session, she told me to breathe in the Holy Spirit. All I could think was, "I can't breathe." I wonder if any of us are having trouble breathing in the Holy Spirit? Or maybe we breathe those shallow breathes instead of the deep, diaphram breaths. Do we need breathing exercises to help us breathe in the Holy Spirit? When I do my breathing exercises, I'll think about breathing in the Spirit.

My pastor friend Caroline said that when she leads the prayers of the people in her church, she starts with centering prayer. She prints in the bulletin instructions, such as "With each breath in, breathe in the Holy Spirit, and with each breath out, breathe out your worries." She gives people about 20 seconds of silence to practice the centering prayer, and then she goes on with the prayers of the people.

With each breath in, breathe in the Holy Spirit. With each breath out, breathe out your worries. Practice that for five minutes at a time, eight times a day. Or whenever you think of it.