Gifts from the Garden, Part 1: God's original blueprint for calming an anxious mind

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

Genesis 1:31a

Let’s set the record straight: Panic and anxiety are a physiological problem, not a spiritual one.

They aren’t sin.

They aren’t a failure.

They aren’t a lack of faith.

And they aren’t your fault.

We all inhabit mortal bodies subject to decay. Panic and anxiety are no more within your spiritual control than cancer or a broken bone. And like many medical problems, there are solutions. Real ones backed by science.

But really the solutions are designed by God – present in the account of Genesis 1–2 when creation was perfect. These chapters make up less than 0.2% of the Bible and yet they contain many profound truths for us today. Science is just playing catch-up.

God foreknew the outcome of his creation; he knew Adam and Eve would sin, he knew that he would send his Son to die in our place before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20). He also knew the problems a corrupt world would cause for our physical minds. And provided things to help. What a magnificent, gracious, loving Father we have.

THE PANIC

I know that feeling of panic. The racing heart. The fear. The need to escape, now. Like, right now. The breathlessness. The freeze. The thought “I am dying.”

I also know the guilt, the shame, the sense of failure, the belief that I was responsible, that it was all my fault. My mental state even stopped our missionary work; so I felt I really was guilty and a failure.

I used to experience panic attacks multiple times a day, and the non-stop anxiety that accompanied them. It was my daily reality for years. I read Christian book after book. I researched. I spoke to a Christian psychologist.

Nothing clicked. The panic and anxiety didn’t stop. I thought it never would.

But God offered me hope.

For the next three weeks I’m offering you the same hope God showed me: 12 scientifically proven strategies that ground your body and calm your mind, all engineered in at Creation.

The first four focus on your internal biology: the physical anchors God has provided to stabilise your body right now, because anxiety isn’t a faith issue, it’s a physiological one:

1. BREATH

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.  (Genesis 2:7)

Every single breathing strategy that alleviates panic is nasal. The four best: box breathing, the physiological sigh, the breath hold, and the extended exhale – all start the same way: inhale through the nose. And when God breathed life into Adam it was into his nostrils!

Research shows that nasal breathing connects the amygdala (the brain’s emotional centre) and the hippocampus (the brain’s memory centre). This connection creates regulation for a panicked mind, triggering rest, but this connection is bypassed by mouth breathing.

I highly recommend practising these techniques in advance (Google them). Any tool is most effective when you already know how to use it. My personal favourite is the breath hold; it is also the most effective for hyperventilation.

How:

• Take a small breath through your nose.

• Hold for 5 seconds.

• Release.

• Breathe normally for 10 seconds and repeat.

The science is simple: Hyperventilation causes an imbalance of CO₂; holding your breath rebalances your blood CO₂. As an added bonus, the act of counting shifts your brain’s focus away from your anxious thoughts.

2. EAT REAL FOOD

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (Genesis 1:29)

It started with a newspaper article–some English doctor talking about UPFs (Ultra- Processed Foods) and their impact on the brain. It led to a new hyper-focus: 8 books, numerous academic research papers, and – the biggest single change I made.

I started eating real food.

For context, my diet had always been fairly healthy. But when we returned to Australia convenience trumped everything. After all, I was on holidays. Then I had a mental breakdown and major skill regression; so feeding everyone conveniently was just easier.

I started by committing to just one month. And actually, the biggest motivator wasn’t even my mental health, it was this:

“Increasing intake of UPF by 10 per cent was associated with a 25 per cent increase in the risk of dementia and a 14 per cent increase in the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.” (1)

Diseases my dad was acutely suffering from. So I committed to just one month without any UPFs to see if it was even possible to sustain.

By the end of that month, the change felt miraculous.

The anxiety drop was incredible. I felt like I was thinking again for the first time in a long time. I started to feel like me again. Numerous studies have since demonstrated the gut-brain axis – a calm gut equals a calm mind.

I felt good enough that the choice became permanent. God’s provided us with real food; it’s time to reclaim the fuel God designed our bodies for.

3. REST AND SLEEP

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. (Genesis 2:2)

God designed humans to rest.

God designed humans to sleep.

You need both.

Full stop.

Without optimal sleep your mental health will suffer; it really is that simple. Find what works for you. Find your natural circadian rhythm.

Everyone knows the basic advice for better sleep: limit caffeine, limit blue light, and establish a routine, etc. But I’m going to add the aspect no one seems to talk about: Ask for help.

Ask for help so you can get the rest you need. Ask:

• Your husband to sleep in another room for a while

• A Friend to take the kids for the weekend

• Someone to clean the house

Whatever it is that stops you resting, ask for help with that.

And ask God for help, he’ll give you the wisdom you need (James 1:5). For a long time, I was having intense night sweats: waking up drenched multiple times a night. The doctor said I was perimenopausal.

But I realised it was actually a side effect of a medication I was on. When I stopped taking it, the night sweats stopped. I started sleeping again, and my mental health improved.

(NB: This was my personal experience. Always consult your doctor before stopping any prescribed medication.)

4. A SAFE PLACE

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Genesis 2:8)

Let’s dive into some Hebrew for a moment; the word translated garden here actually means a fenced or hedged area. God put humanity in a garden. That means even when the world was perfect, humanity needed a secure place to belong and feel safe.

For me, I had actually left the place I felt safest behind in another country. And it has been the hardest thing for me to find again: a place that feels like home.

Home is something I’m still actively building.

We all need a safe place to run to. The reality is, your anxiety and panic aren’t going to disappear overnight. You need a safe place to retreat to. Maybe it’s your home, maybe it’s only a room in the house, maybe it’s in your car or somewhere else you can go. Find it and label it: “This is my safe place. I am safe here.”

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Anxiety is a physiological problem, and it needs physical solutions – solutions God built in at the very start of creation to calm your anxious mind.

Solutions He Himself offered to those who were deep in the valley. When Elijah despaired of life, God responded by giving him a safe place, allowing him to rest, and providing him with real food (1 Kings 19:4-7).

And the reality is, these strategies coincided for me, and it is hard to know exactly how each one affected me. I do know that the combination of all four, plus the eight more to come over the next two weeks, transformed my mental health.

But I also understand the overwhelm of reading a list and feeling paralysed. So today, choose just one. Pick the one that feels easiest for you.

Start with just one.

Made, Just as I am, for His glory,

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. The insights, physical practices, and biblical principles shared in this series come entirely from my own personal experience, scriptural study, and journey through severe anxiety and panic. This content is for informational and educational purposes only and should never replace professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical or mental health condition.

(1) Ultra Processed People, Chris van Tulleken, (2023), Cornerstone Press: p.62