How do you pray?

March 28, 2016

How do you pray?
I've recently been reading a book called How Do You Pray? It's a beautiful collection of different people sharing how they pray. Some people you'll know and some you'd like to know by how they pray. The writers come from different spiritual paths and some are not spiritual at all. Here are the words of Patricia Ellsberg that moved me deeply. What a way to greet the day;-)
I aspire to make of my life a prayer—to be awake to the miracle of being. A friend said, as he was dying of cancer, “Every breath without pain is exquisite.” That statement often comes to mind and challenges and inspires me to live with radical appreciation for the gift of being alive. I see feelings of gratitude and love and joy as a form of prayer and have found a way to access these feelings each day. My practice is drawn from many spiritual teachings, such as metta or loving kindness, Vipassana, Qigong, guided meditation, Reiki, biofeedback and the Emergence Process. It is like having a secret lover. I think of myself as a horizontal mystic: I meditate lying down, early in the morning while still in bed. Upon first waking, which is usually an hour before I have to get up, I begin my practice by placing a hand on my heart and one on my belly, sensing their warmth. I focus my awareness on my breath, breathing deeply and slowly. As suggested by the Institute of Heartmath, I imagine I am breathing in and out through the area of my heart. I access feelings of love and appreciation either by remembering or imagining a time when I experienced them, or simply by invoking the felt sense of these positive emotions. Even if there is some heaviness of heart, from an anxious dream or a difficult situation in my life, after some time of breathing in and out these good feelings, my heart begins to expand and fill with light. It’s as if I am turning on an inner emotional rheostat, intensifying the energy and warmth of positive emotions. I invoke the full presence of my Higher Self or Essential Self, which is radiant, loving, wise and compassionate. I shift my identity from the separated ego of my personality and become one with this luminous being. My whole being is infused with the radiant, loving energy of essence. I experience soft body bliss. I feel I am resting in a vast field of love, breathing and being breathed by love. I become the Beloved I have been seeking. From this state of consciousness, I can access guidance and greater wisdom about my life. If I am facing a problem, often a solution or new perspective will arise or the problem seems to dissolve. I set intentions for the day and imagine myself doing what I need to do with the loving energy of my Essential Self. I send blessings to those I love and out into the world. Indeed, as my friend said as he was close to dying, “Every breath without pain is exquisite.” This is the way I pray.

Mindfully sent from one miracle in time to another. Please share with us... How do you pray?

xo  Gisele

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