Categories: Scrubs

A meditation for your break

Breath Prayer
Breathing in: Guide me…
Breathing out: …Guard me

Reflection While Taking a Break

Stand in front of the coffee machine (or tea kettle)
and deeply bring your shoulders up to your ears
in a delicious shrug to release tension.
Slowly prepare your warm drink with awareness of each action.
Be deliberate as you take your first sip,
allowing the tensions of the morning to slip away.
Close your eyes and see yourself in a favorite vacation spot.
Imagine this break will last for a very long time.
Invite a small smile to soften the tension in your face.
Maybe you can give yourself a few moments of silence.
Let yourself lean into the strength of an unnamed Source of goodness.
Ask for whatever strength you need to feel refreshed by these moments.
Allow yourself a deep, cleansing breath,
perhaps silently say the breath prayer: guide me…guard me…
as you leave your break and return to responsibility.

From the Bible

Blessed is the One who
Daily bears us up;
The comforter who leads us
To wholeness.
—Psalm 68

Rabbi Sheryl Lewart

Sheryl Lewart was a beloved spiritual teacher who lectured and led workshops and seminars in mystical Judaism (Kabbalah, Hasidism and Mussar). She served for 12 years as rabbi of Kehillat Israel—the largest Reconstructionist congregation in the world—in Los Angeles, and gave seminars regularly on values-based decision-making. Before passing away of cancer in late 2012, Sheryl offered spiritual direction and guidance in order to help others understand that by developing our own spirituality, we discover a deeper intimacy with God and a genuine compassion for all of creation. God, it has been suggested, is the wind that blows our ship, but it is up to us to turn the rudder and shift the sails in order to more fully catch the wind that freely blows.