Breathing blessings and joy of the holiday season make FLASS depart from the usual medical topics of lung diseases and breathing problems. Breathing blessings and joy to our friends, readers, and co-workers makes our holiday hearts beat high this year. There is no better time to extend to our friends, fellow physicians, and readers, a rare gift of warmth and personal gratitude. Florida Lung, Asthma, and Sleep Specialists thank you for your friendship, support, and readership.
Breathing Blessings and Joy from Holiday Blogs: A FLASS Tradition
Breathing Blessings With Those You Love = Making Mindful Time For Togetherness.
You might recognize bits of this blog from some of our days of old. We have written this holiday message for many years. But the message never gets old, year after year. And we will say it again, “We believe the best parts of any holiday celebration, for all religions and countries, will always be spending time with our loved ones…”
A Season of Holiday Hope and Joy
Yes, breathing blessings might be difficult as we face flu, RSV, and Covid this year. However, blessed with vaccines, antivirals, and new pharmacology every day, we see our communities renewing their faith in Heaven and humanity. With new hope for healthy lungs arriving daily, we would be remiss not to express renewed faith in this special season.
Breathing Blessings Flows Both Ways
Breathing Blessings Of The Surprises That Nature Can Bring: Joys of the Season… Even if You Are Bound to the City.
Forgive us for sharing a little philosophy at this blessed time. Breath is a gift we take in and let out. Comparably, holiday “Giving to those in need and following the customs that we love together deepens our love for each other–and the Almighty.”
Thus, as we have written in previous years, let our words ring out with Lungs full of Breath and Joy, Merry Christmas, a Brilliant Hanukah, a Shining Kwanza, and a Happy New Year to all of you from all of us at FLASS!
Lungs Full of Breath, Blessings, Prayer, and Gratitude
We have a lovely quote we have used or paraphrased several times over the years, in good times and bad. We share it again, to delight old readers and new. And the words might make you breathe blessings and joy. We even hope to provoke some of your most authentic, from-the-heart Christmas Smiles.
Read on with a few words from Thomas Monson, who wrote, “Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people.”
Likewise, we realize Christmas means “forgetting self and finding time for others.” Therefore, FLASS thanks the nurses, doctors, first responders, and office workers who have met the COVID-19 pandemic challenges.
They continue to meet that challenge in new forms while balancing the twin challenges of influenza and RSV. As Thomas Monson adds, the meaning of Christmas “is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values.”
Breathing Blessings and Season’s Joy
Soon we will count New Year’s resolutions. But for now, let us make counting our blessings our theme during this magical holiday time. You see, we know that holidays can be a very lonely and depressing time for some, especially given the previous pandemic and current economic restrictions. This year let’s work doubly hard to avoid that seasonal depression. With lungs full of breath and joy, let’s look at this time in the Holiday light of inspiration.
Breathing Blessings with the FLASS Family
To accomplish that goal, FLASS has a holiday prescription for you. If you are having a problem feeling positive this week, we won’t bring you platitudes and pills. We do have a simple activity to chase away the holiday blues. If you feel depression coming over you, take a very few deep breaths. Focus on the act of breathing deeply. Do this three times. It is a physical thing that can elevate your spiritual mood.
Breathing Blessings in Times of Adversity Versus Joy
At FLASS We have been counting breaths and counting survivors, vaccines, and diminishing dollars…You would think just counting cases of flu, COVID, and RSV would totally discourage us. But, As we approach the Holidays of Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanza, let’s start counting something else—Blessings. Let’s blog a little about how we can count blessings and create healthy holiday attitudes. Yes, we will smile with our Lungs!
Breathing Blessings While Counting Them: A Way To Cope with Holiday Stress
Experts tell us the trick is not just to count each blessing. We can accomplish that mindlessly and it doesn’t help if we are depressed. So, we must count each blessing intentionally and intently. And focus on breathing while we do it.
FLASS Four Breath-taking Ways to Count Each Blessing and Calm Holiday Stressing
- Do a simple physical action slowly, with your full attention. Alternately you might try doing a familiar action with your non-dominant hand. Next, feel your lungs fill with breath while you intensify your focus.
- Even something as simple as tying your shoes can become a blessing as you breathe mindfully through the action. Think about your Lungs Full of Breath. Just feel it. Count it as a blessing, for here at FLASS, we treat those who cannot. Breath is a blessing. It deserves gratitude.
- Enjoy simple pleasures. Our little children can often teach us this skill. There is no better time of year to see this. Many a gloomy person has found smiles in the toy aisle, watching children dream and play.
- Be available for other people, even if it means Zoom time, phone time, or drive-by greeting time!
There you are: four blessing and breathing exercises that might help you mentally or spiritually to cope with Holiday stress.
For more about using breathing exercises to soothe anxiety, you might wish to check out this helpful online resource.
FLASS Sends You a Wish For Blessed Breathing and More in 2024.
Finally, we wish you all the joys of holiday heart and home and we hope you can find yourself breathing the blessings of others as you breathe out blessings of your own upon your friends and family. And as always, thank you for reading our annual FLASS holiday blog.