Take a Deep Breath
What have biblical counseling leaders like David Powlison and others at CCEF taught about the validity of physiological interventions like deep breathing exercises as a part of comprehensive biblical counseling? We find one significant answer to that question in The Journal of Biblical Counseling, 32:3 from 2018, both in David Powlison’s Editorial, Slow Growth, and in Todd Stryd’s article, “Take a Deep Breath”— How Counseling Ministry Addresses the Body.
The articles by Powlison and Stryd are each behind a paywall, but they are worth the price. I’ll share some quotes—not too many because I want to respect the intellectual property rights of Powlison, Stryd, and CCEF—but just enough to encourage you to read further.
The Focus of Stryd’s Article
Stryd provides this introduction to his purpose.
“Thus, the aim here is to give due attention to our bodies because they are relevant to thoughtful Christian living, and to locate breathing interventions within a biblical-theological framework. This task requires us to navigate extra-biblical information while remaining faithful to the core tenets of our Christian commitments” (63, emphasis added).
As you will see below, throughout his article, Stryd consistently affirms the biblical validity of carefully incorporating deep breathing exercises into a comprehensive embodied-soul approach to biblical counseling. What does Powlison think of Stryd’s conclusions and recommendations?
David Powlison’s Endorsement of Stryd’s Article on Deep Breathing Exercises in Biblical Counseling
At the time of Stryd’s article, Powlison served as the Executive Director of CCEF and as the Editor of The Journal of Biblical Counseling. In his Editorial, Slow Growth, Powlison outlines eight “significant growth points” that had emerged over the first fifty years of the modern biblical counseling movement under the dual leadership of Jay Adams and John Bettler. Powlison then segued into his introduction of current issue of The Journal of Biblical Counseling, having this to say about Todd Stryd and the other authors of articles in that issue.
“As we finish out our 50th year of ministry, we are happy to offer some of the fruit of that slow, maturing growth. I am delighted that all of the Featured Articles in this issue are written by the up-and-coming generation of biblical counselors at CCEF” (9-10).
Notice what Powlison does here. He identifies Stryd’s article on the legitimacy of deep breathing exercises in biblical counseling as among “the fruit of the slow, maturing growth” of the foundational work done by Jay Adams and John Bettler. Rather than being contrary to nouthetic biblical counseling, Powlison sees deep breathing exercises as a sign of continued positive growth in the biblical counseling movement.
Powlison, who had final editorial control over what was written in The Journal of Biblical Counseling, then summarizes and affirms Stryd’s article on deep breathing exercises as a legitimate physiological intervention in biblical counseling.
“Speaking of stress and anxiety, what about adults? How do we help them? Is it OK to teach breathing techniques as part of helping people calm their bodies when they experience extreme stress? In his article, ‘Take a Deep Breath’—How Counseling Ministry Addresses the Body, Todd Stryd explores the place that breathing techniques can have in a Christian’s care and ministry. He shows how and why a counselor might make a breathing exercise part of biblical counseling with a distressed person” (11, emphasis added).
What Role Does the Body Play in Counseling Issues?
Stryd begins by examing a biblical theology of the body and a pastoral theology of ministry to the embodied-soul.
“Where do we begin when thinking about the place of the body in general, and breathing in particular, as a part of counseling ministry? For one, God made our bodies, and our physicality must always factor into a biblical understanding of the person. Counseling ministry should not operate as a super-spiritual, hyper-cognitive way of meeting with and helping strugglers. Good sleep, healthy eating, physical activity, a reprieve from stimuli, a quiet walk in a beautiful place, and thoughtful breathing all have a part to play. Therefore, it’s important for us to understand how the body connects to counseling issues” (63, emphasis added).
“Just as rapid and shallow breathing can increase our body’s response to danger and risk, so, too, slowing it down and increasing its depth tempers the body’s fight or flight response. This is often how breathing exercises are used in counseling situations—to arrest the body’s disorderly response and reestablish some level of emotional/physiological equilibrium. All this should not be surprising to us as Christians. Our biblical anthropology professes that we are embodied souls. Our humanity is composed of both body and soul—a distinguishable but interwoven unity of the material and immaterial. Together, they constitute the image of God and operate in unison to make earthly life possible. We depend upon the basic information our physical body provides for navigating the world around us— alerting us and keeping us safe, healthy, and engaged. Likewise, our rational and spiritual faculties temper the body’s simplistic assessment of threat and self-preservation, keeping its reactions in check and guiding wise responses” (65, emphasis added).
“As a common grace good, it’s not surprising that conscious breathing, or any one of its various iterations, is now a common recommendation within the helping professions and the medical community. It is used both as a preventative and corrective tool for a variety of problems such as anxiety and panic disorders, hypertension, chronic pain, immune disorders, and syndromes related to emotional hyper-arousal” (65, emphasis added).
Balanced Wisdom for Embodied Souls
As Stryd continues, he further develops a theological anthropology foundation for seeing biblical counselors as soul phyisicians of embodied-souls who minister compassionately and comprehensively to the whole person, including by incorporating physiological interventions.
“Our Christian anthropology appreciates the reality that breathing exercises can reduce the production of stress hormones, stabilize the heart rate, and balance the levels of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the blood stream. These play a significant role in bringing the body and soul back into balance. The bodily mechanism of breathing can be purposefully leveraged to reestablish equilibrium. Regaining balance physically can help us draw upon our faith and God’s principles, promises, and counsel” (66, emphasis added).
“Alongside the practice of creating space for reflection, the act of pacing our breathing can itself be an act of faith and trust. To slow down and steady our response, despite challenging circumstances, is an act of faith and trust in the promises that “God is near,” and “He will never leave nor forsake,” and “He dwells with you and will be in you.” It helps us to “Be still and know that I am God.” Stillness involves both body and soul—and can pay attention to both” (67, emphasis added).
A Framework for Breathing Exercises
Having established his biblical-theological foundation, Stryd next walks readers through what it looks like to care for the whole person.
“I have sought to locate breathing exercises within a Christian understanding that we are embodied souls. That leaves us with the practical question: As a tool, a breathing exercise is a component of a more complex pursuit with an ultimate goal: faith working itself out in love. What does it look like to help the emotionally overwhelmed or out-of-control person by using a breathing exercise?” (67-68).
“To help someone who is emotionally overwhelmed like Kate, our care must encompass a robust understanding of how to minister to her as a whole person…. Ministry to Kate will press us to consider the interconnected relationship between her body and soul” (68).
“A breathing exercise is, in its most basic form, an opportunity for Kate to pause and change course. But, as you can see, it is not a stand-alone item for Kate or for any one of us. Rather, as a technique, a breathing exercise can be a component of a larger counseling plan, with a more ultimate goal—conformity to God’s calling on our lives. This means Kate’s attentive breathing is not an end in itself. It’s more than achieving a level of poise and equilibrium or avoiding conflict with other people. Rather, Kate’s use of attentive breathing is a tool to assist her in her goal of honoring God and loving her roommate in a challenging and pressured context” (73).
Concluding Thoughts: Wisdom from Above
Stryd concludes by once again explaining the biblical basis for whole-person care, including the use of embodied interventions such as, but not limited to, deep breathing exercises.
“Guided by Scripture, we can be certain of who God is, what he has done for us in Christ, and what his purposes are for us. But in the particulars of pairing strategies and tools to certain problems and people, countless questions remain. What bodily mechanisms are fair game for Christians in counseling ministry? What we’ve explored with breathing bears on similar questions regarding rest, diet, exercise, and the like. When and how do you address such matters in counseling? What situations or problems warrant a bodily intervention? Though these questions should not drive us away from this aspect of care, they do require us to proceed with caution” (73-74).
“Yet, addressing the body is not in conflict with our Christian commitments because of the fundamental unity between body and soul. Equipped with wisdom from above as our foundation and starting point, we don’t have to sidestep the body in our care for Kate, or anyone else. The act of breathing in a strategic, attentive manner can be practically embedded into the way we help people live out their goals of love, virtue, and righteousness. We can use every resource at our disposal to achieve the goal of our faith. The Christian pursuit of body/soul balance does not belittle the utility of attentive breathing, but at the same time pursues much more. God’s people are encouraged to use both body and soul to pursue the kingdom goals of loving God and loving our neighbors” (74, emphasis added).
The Rest of the Story
Stryd’s article is not an anomaly in the CCEF/JBC universe.
Mike Emlet: In 2024, in the JBC 38:2 edition, Dr. Mike Emlet, long-time colleague of Powlison at CCEF, wrote, A Biblical Rationale for Embodied Spiritual Practices. As the title suggests, throughout his article Emlet develops a biblical theology for embodied care, and specifically affirms the use of interventions such as deep breathing exercises and grounding exercises, as one part of comprehensive, whole-person care for embodied-souls. I interact with this article here: Of Course Biblical Counselors Counsel About the Body.
Ed Welch: In the 2019 JBC 33:2 edition, Dr. Ed Welch, long-time colleague of Powlison at CCEF, wrote, Trauma and the Body: An Introduction to Three Books. In his article, Welch provides a selective summary of the most relevant information from three secular trauma texts by Bessel van der Kolk, Judith Herman, and Antonio Damasio “so that we can both learn from the authors’ careful research and think Christianly about non-Christian literature.”
For additional Christian resources, beyond the realm of just CCEF, see: Should Biblical Counselors Counsel About the Body?: 32 Resources.
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