A Mindfulness Prayer

 Here is a little prayer I've been saying as I go to sleep, or anytime I want to just refocus and ground myself in the moment. There are a few variations you can use to begin the prayer. 

I breathe into my...

Mind and headspace

I breathe into my eyes and face

I breathe into my jaw and neck

I breathe into my clavicle and shoulders

My arms and elbows, forearms and wrists, hands and fingers.

I breathe into my heart and ribs,

I breathe into my organs and stomach,

I breathe into my hips and back,

I breathe into my legs, and knees, shins and ankles, feet and toes. 

With each breath, I try to focus on sending oxygen through my body and as I do I relax my muscles. I find it calming and quieting. You could focus on any parts of your body. I use eyes because my eyes always feel tired at the end of the day. My hips and back are prone to soreness. Sometimes I pray down my body and I'm done or I'll go back 'Up' my body and say it in reverse. It kind of flushes out the aches and pains or tightness or whatever we are holding onto with our bodies. Experts say that our muscles and fascia can hold onto trauma or negative emotional experiences long after the experience itself and until we release it, our bodies and our brains are in a state of heightened alertness, similar to the fight or flight response. Our brain is looking for danger so it knows when to protect us. As we go through our lives, the muscle memory of the trauma can begin to wear away at us, through the chemical response of increased cortisol and inflammation in our body, which can lead to disease. (BTW, I am not a medical doctor, but this is my understanding based on books and classes I have taken on trauma. I'm trying to say it in simple terms.) So, for our own healing, we can pray.

I bless my mind...

Or,

I pray into my mind.

Or,

I bring my mind peace..., I bring my heart peace... and so on

Or, 

God Bless my mind...

I do wonder what it would do to pray for the world in this way. Can we pray for the healing of the world? Start with Nashville. Because just as our bodies hold trauma, our world does too. The collective trauma we have endured is not easy to dismiss. Repeated trauma is not easy to heal from. But maybe a prayer would help. 

I pray for Covenant School and the students and teachers there, 

I pray for their neighbors and Nashville. 

I pray for those who have lost children. 

I pray for my neighbors here and around Philadelphia. 

I pray for my children and the students they go to school with, in Boston and South Bend and SanFrancisco and the Lehigh Valley. 

I pray for our country and its leaders. 

I pray for Ukraine and countries at war. 

I pray for children affected by violence. 

I pray for families tucking their children in at night and worrying about what tomorrow will bring. 

I pray for children everywhere. 

I pray for students everywhere. 

I pray for families everywhere. 

I hope that as we enter the weekend and begin Holy Week next week, this helps you to find some quiet and peace. We are reminded this week that Christ's suffering was for us and that by entering into his suffering, we are freed from sin and depression, from anxiety and worry, from regret and remorse. We can live in forgiveness, resurrection, hope, and love.  I bid you peace.