Ghia—Have you ever been tired of praying with the same old words? Have you ever wondered how to pray always? Perhaps your breath could be an answer.

Hooray!

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Gia here.

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Welcome to the Creative Spiritual Journey

podcast, where Judy and I explore faith,

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nature, and the simple practices that

bring wonder and joy to everyday life.

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for the last couple of years, I've

had an idea rolling around in my head.

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It's the idea of praying without words.

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What do you think?

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Is that possible?

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I like to believe it is.

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So in my next few episodes, I'm going

to share my thoughts on this idea.

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So let me explain where

I'm going with this.

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First of all, why would anyone

want to pray without words?

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And if you could, what would be the point?

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Well, I don't know about you, but

sometimes I just don't know what

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to say, or I don't have the energy.

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Or maybe I have prayed about the same

thing for so long that words fail me.

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Or maybe I'm just too tired

of the same old words I find

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myself saying over and over.

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Yet I know prayer is

important, so what do I do?

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this is where I find value

in praying without words.

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And here is another reason why I have

come to love this practice After his

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near-death experience, Elder Jeffrey R.

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Holland said he was told to

testify that we need to pray

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more, pray more than we do.

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He said, However much

you've prayed, pray more.

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And in however many places you

have prayed, pray in more places.

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And however many times you have prayed

in a day, pray more times in a day."

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Being able to pray more is an awesome

reason to practice praying without words.

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Now let me be clear, the practices

I'm going to share aren't intended

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to make your prayers better.

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They are simply practices I've

been playing with to switch up

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my prayer patterns and habits.

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My feeling is that they ground me

in my body and prompt me to be more

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aware of God's presence in my life.

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They support me in praying more,

and even lead me to the possibility

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of being able to pray always.

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All this said, the first prayer

practice I'd like to share with you is

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using your breath as a form of prayer.

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You might be thinking, "Oh, no,

don't tell me to focus on my breath.

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I've tried that in meditation

or mindfulness exercises,

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and it doesn't work for me."

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If that's you, hear me out and

see if the way I share the use

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of breath changes your mind or at

least inspires you to try again.

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Now, let me say that there's something

about the breath that has always

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captured the human imagination.

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Across cultures and throughout history,

people have noticed that the breath

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seems to be connected to something

deeper than simply keeping us alive.

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As humans, it seems we instinctively

use breath to talk about life,

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emotion, and even the spirit.

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We can see this in how breath has

been embedded in our colloquialisms.

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We say things like, "She

was a breath of fresh air.

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It took my breath away.

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Let me catch my breath.

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I waited with bated breath.

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The sight was simply breathtaking.

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She was breathing down my neck.

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Please give me room to breathe.

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He breathed a sigh of relief.

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I need to take a breather."

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Or when we warn someone

not to breathe a word.

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Maybe we use these expressions

because breath is always with us.

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No matter where we are or what we're

doing, it's there, and miraculously,

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it changes with our state of mind.

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When we're anxious, our breathing

becomes shallow and rapid.

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When we are peaceful, it slows.

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This is why long before modern physiology

could explain it, people discovered

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that intentionally paying attention

to the breath helps settle the mind.

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And once the mind becomes quieter,

it's easier to concentrate, to form

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new ideas, to accept change, and in

my opinion, to receive revelation.

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With that in mind, the first

way I like to use a breath

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practice is in personal prayer.

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I especially find it meaningful when I am

praying over a meal I'm having by myself.

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What I like to do is stop and

take three slow intentional

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breaths, breathing in gratitude.

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Or maybe I should say breathing

in the feeling of gratitude.

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Instead of offering a list of

things I'm grateful for, I breathe

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in how those things make me feel.

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You may already know this, but I

believe the reason we pause to pray

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with gratitude before a meal goes

deeper than simply giving thanks.

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Gratitude invites our body to slow

down, release worry, and let go of the

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urge to rush towards the next thing.

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Eating in a state of peace and

gratitude allows us to more fully

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receive the nourishment before us.

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Yes, of course, offering words of

gratitude is wonderful, but I believe

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breathing in gratitude works just as well.

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And for me anyway, I am more keenly

aware of the gratitude because

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I am tuned into my feelings.

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At first, this might

take a little practice.

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I like to imagine seeing

my grown daughter.

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I love her so much, and I see

her so rarely these days that

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it's wonderful when I do.

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Focusing on those experiences

brings up wonderful feelings

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of gratitude in my heart.

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Now, after months of practice, I

can breathe in the feeling

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without having to picture her.

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And now the feeling of gratitude

has grown to mean so much more.

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now my gratitude breath engenders

a gratitude for the whole of life,

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for this mortal experience, for the

knowledge of who I am and why I am

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here, and for my love of God, and it

feels like lightness and joy in my chest

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again, quite often, words might be

the most appropriate form of prayer.

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I do believe words are powerful.

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I mean, God used words

to create the Earth.

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of course, we should use

words, and I love words.

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But when I have tried to breathe in

this emotion, I feel like I'm working

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directly with my body, which means that

my feelings can't get lost in my mind.

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and it gives my body a chance to actually

experience gratitude, not just think

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about it, which means that over time,

I'm helping my nervous system recognize

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and return to the state of gratitude.

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My breath becomes a gentle reminder,

and gratitude becomes more than an idea.

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It becomes a pattern my body knows,

and the better it knows it, the

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easier a place it is to remain.

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I also love this prayer practice because

it's something I can do anywhere.

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In a public place, in a restaurant,

in a line at the grocery store, while

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I'm sitting on the stand in sacrament

meeting waiting anxiously to give a talk.

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Oh my gosh, I don't even

know how to express how much

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I love this kind of prayer.

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I generally start by breathing with

three slow intentional breaths, and after

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that I add as many breaths as I want,

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And that's it.

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That's how it works.

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You can practice with any emotion, love,

peace, excitement, whatever you want.

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But if you're not sure,

start with gratitude.

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It's a good one.

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and like I said, I often practice this

before a meal, but I have found myself

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using it in other places as well.

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This last Sunday, I found myself

breathing in gratitude while I was

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listening to the sacrament prayer.

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I really found that it brought the

prayer into my body and enhanced

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the whole sacrament experience.

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And I'm sure this would be a powerful

practice to use while anyone was praying.

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All I can say is try it and

see what happens for you.

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Now, with this idea, I want to share

another place I like to use three

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slow breaths, and that's at the end

of my traditional personal prayers,

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especially my morning prayer.

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After I've said my prayer and before

I rush off, I like to pause and take

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three breaths and just focus on the

air moving in and out of my body

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and see what thoughts come to mind.

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I try not to have any expectations,

and I try to stay focused on my

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breath so that my mind doesn't wander.

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I do this with the intention of giving

God a moment to tell me something,

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something he wants me to do, someone

he wants me to reach out to, something

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he wants to remind me of, or it could

be something he wants me to know.

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Perhaps an encouraging thought.

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I know three breaths seems kind of wimpy.

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Is that really enough time

for God to speak to me?

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But it's surprisingly longer than you

would think, and when you're trying

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to get going with your day, it's

hard to spend more time than that.

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So take it for what it is.

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And honestly, there are times when

my mind is just bouncing around in so

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many different directions that I can't

slow down enough to feel anything.

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But at other times, I've really felt

inspired Now, it seems appropriate

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to say more about breath here.

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You may have noticed that I always

say, "Take three slow breaths."

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I never say, "Take a deep breath."

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That's because for me personally, if

you tell me to take a deep breath, I

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automatically breathe into my chest.

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There isn't anything wrong with breathing

into your chest on a deep inhale, but

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it's best to breathe into your belly using

your diaphragm, and then into your chest.

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I just go straight for my chest

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I'm not sure where I developed this habit,

but I suspect it's from years of trying

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to hold in my belly in an effort to look

and feel skinnier, which I consider an

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unfortunate side effect of growing up

in a culture obsessed with body image.

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Now, as you're listening to me, you may be

wondering if you breathe into your chest.

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Let me just say that as soon as

you try to notice your breath, it

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changes, which means it's really

hard to notice your natural breath.

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The best way is to catch

yourself after the fact.

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Barring that, I just periodically

put my hand on my belly and

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check to see if it's moving.

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Now, the other thing I want to say

about this topic is that while I

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use the word slow to describe the

breath, it's possible to breathe slow

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and shallow, which isn't optimal.

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Ideally, we should breathe

with slow, deep breaths.

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So here is a different

way to approach this.

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Let me quote Donna Farhi.

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This is from her book, The Breathing Book.

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She says, "Although it's

counterintuitive, exhaling more

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fully will naturally result in a

spontaneous deepening for inhalations.

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Long, full exhalations tell the body

that all is well, and by consciously

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lengthening the exhalations, we can

trick ourselves into relaxing even

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in the most stressful situations.

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Oh, did you get that?

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I think it's really cool.

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She's saying that we will naturally take

deeper breaths if we focus on the exhale.

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Good trick to know, don't you think?

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Now when you hear me cueing you

to take a long, slow exhale in my

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next meditation, you'll know why.

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Now, this idea of focusing on the

exhale leads me into another topic

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about the power of the breath.

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Listen to this story that

Donna tells from her same book.

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She says, " Eric spent many years

living as a monk in a Zen monastery.

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In his first year, he underwent a

tremendously painful and emotional time.

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completely overwhelmed by the

intensity of his feelings, he sought

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out the guidance of the head abbot.

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As he sat before the abbot, he explained

his dilemma, and with great hope,

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waited for the abbot to advise him as

to how he might alleviate his suffering.

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The abbot answered simply, " If you

can breathe in, you can breathe out."

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What do you think?

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It sounds kind of profound,

but what does it really mean?

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Personally, I think it's

about breath as prayer.

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Let me explain.

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At first glance, the Abbot's

answer almost sounds dismissive.

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Eric pours out years of anguish,

and the response is, "If you can

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breathe in, you can breathe out."

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It could seem like he's saying,

"Just breathe," as though

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breathing is a cure for suffering.

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I don't think that's the point.

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I think the Abbot is directing

Eric towards something much deeper.

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Don't try to solve this moment.

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Live through it.

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That's what prayer helps

us do, don't you think?

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Breathing, simply breathing, can

become the smallest act of faith.

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When you're in overwhelming grief, fear,

shame, or despair, your mind races ahead.

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How long will this last?

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Will I ever be okay?

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How do I make this stop?

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The Abbot's words gently bring us

back to one thing we can actually

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do: breathe in, breathe out.

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Not because breathing fixes suffering,

but because suffering becomes

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bearable one breath at a time.

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Let's look at some scriptures.

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Genesis 2:7 says, "God formed man from

the dust of the ground and breathed

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into his nostrils the breath of life,

and the man became a living being."

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One of our first gifts from God

was a breath, the breath of life.

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We aren't alive unless we are breathing.

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And then in Mosiah it says,

"God is preserving us from day

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to day by lending us breath."

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This tells me that every breath

is a gift, not just the first one.

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And I want to make this something.

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I want to make breath a prayer because

it seems to me that every faithful inhale

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can become an act of receiving, and

every exhale can become an act of trust.

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Now, I want to be careful here.

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I'm not saying you should simply be able

to breathe and let go of grief or trauma.

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I'm saying that the breath teaches us that

we were never designed to hold burdens.

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We were created with an innate

rhythm of receiving and releasing.

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Sometimes what we release is fear.

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Sometimes it's control.

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Sometimes it's perfectionism.

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And we may have to release the same

burden 100 times before they finally

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lose their grip, and that's okay

because if we can breathe in, we can

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breathe out for as long as it takes.

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Here is an example of how

my personal practice looks.

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I was recently praying with words about

the fires that have been ravaging our

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area, and in the process, I realized

I was praying with fear and worry.

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So I stopped and just breathed.

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I didn't think any words, I just breathed.

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But in essence, I was

saying, "I trust the Lord.

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The fires are in his

hands, whatever happens."

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To me, my simple breath expressed

my emotions, and in the process, I

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was engendering my body with trust.

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No words, no visualizations,

just a pause and a few moments

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of slow intentional breaths.

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And it's my belief that these

breaths have the ability to bring me

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into closer relationship with God.

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And when used daily, they further

me in my practice of praying always.

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So those are the thoughts of my heart.

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I hope you find them useful.

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Until next week, namaste.