Take a deep breath. Inhale through your nose. Hold. Slowly exhale through your mouth.

Release your shoulders. Unclench your jaw. Wiggle your fingers and toes.

We hold onto so much tension and stress, it’s time to allow your body to release those emotions and renew the peace we once held.

“Renew your mind” is often used to promote productivity or discipline, a way to turn renewal into another task to “do better”. It’s no secret that the modern day is focused on “hustle culture” but true renewal is not about fixing yourself — it’s about being transformed.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” - Romans 12:2.

Renewing your mind is not simply ignoring or replacing negative thoughts but more accepting those thoughts as they are and allowing God to meet us in those moments of pain. We cannot heal by suppressing the negative, raw emotions.

Throughout the Bible, we see that God helps restore not through acts and achievement but by the relationships surrounding us. God requires us to live with stillness, scripture, patience and faith. This form of renewal doesn’t happen overnight. True renewal begins quietly within and slowly builds and transforms your reality. A stark contrast to today’s hustle culture pressuring the process to show instant results.

Living in a state of chronic stress holds our minds in a perpetual state of survival mode leading to a severely dysregulated nervous system. The idea of “positive thinking” in this state is near to impossible, prolonging that feeling of stress and healing. Our bodies need to feel safe and rested in order to hear the truth, a setting God designed with intention.

Now, how does that look in your daily life?

Establishing small, daily practices help regulate your mind and body while shaping new patterns into your life. Try adding one new practice into your morning/night for the next month and see how your body responds. Here are a few ideas:

Slow-paced walk without the use of music, podcasts or a weighted vest
Scripture studies with no set time or chapter goal in place, simply sit with God’s word
Meditation and breathwork, utilizing the do not disturb setting on your electronics

The productive, outcome-focused world wants to ambush and overwhelm you with ways to multitask to achieve more. Why take a slow, healing walk when you can also listen to an educational, self-help podcast while wearing a weighted vest? The point of renewing your mind is to slow down to your body’s natural state, allowing one emotion to flow into the next without judgement or restraint.

If there is one thing you take away from this, let it be this: rest does not equal laziness.

Rest is not laziness — it’s obedience.

Put it in God’s hands and release yourself of that burden. Your role is simply to participate and surrender control. Let go of that idea of perfection.

As we allow our minds to renew and accept the transformation, you will begging to feel more at peace, allowing yourself to pause rather than spiral. You will replace criticism with compassion. Your mind will no longer be a place to fear but a place to seek refuge in. Imagine a world where you aren’t guilting yourself into action or harboring ill-will toward yourself for resting. Your mind should be a place of sanctity and safety.

Renewal is a lifelong endeavor that is everchanging, so don’t rush it. Don’t rush to “finish” renewal and certainly don’t rush to “catch up” — that doesn’t exist. And if you feel the need to catch up, try going back and rereading from the beginning.

“but those who hope in the Lord

will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

they will run and not grow weary,

they will walk and not be faint.”

Isaiah 40:31

What it really means to renew your mind (without hustle culture)