The Prayer Thread is a collection of teachings and practical prompts to help as we learn to pray in community. This text was originally delivered on March 20, 2024 as a short teaching at our online weekly prayer sit.
Many of us who were taught to pray as children were taught using words. So, we think of prayer as words (especially the fancy or heartfelt ones). As we grow and interact more with the world, we may come to think of prayer in terms of relationship—as dialogue, mutuality, sharing of self, receiving of other. If, and when, we begin to tend to the work of healing, we might come to understand prayer as movement.
For at least a few thousand years, humans have recognized the movement of energy and have equated health with the abundant flow of energy. If something is blocked, it is not flowing in health, and needs healing. We can understand prayer as the movement that helps to heal blocks and limitations.
If your mind is closed, open it up a bit by moving to the left or right. If your heart is closed, open it up a bit by moving out toward another, or in toward yourself. If your words flowed too freely and offended someone, pull them back in and move them out of the way by making amends. If your longings were held in too rigidly, allow them to sway and move toward loosening. If your eye ducts are dried up, let your tears fall, moved by pain and sorrow. If your hips are tight and sore, let them swing open and feel the pleasure of movement and release. If your vitality is low, seek out the blockage in your energy system, and let it flow again.
Each and every of these actions are movements that support healing and wholeness. As we release the blocks and limits, we supply ourselves, others, and the world with a vitality that awakens and vibrates, helping us to remember how to be fully alive. May we move freely and pray lovingly!
