I have trouble relaxing. It’s hard for my body to “let go.” A high school gym coach tried to use me to demonstrate how to expel water from a drowning victim’s lungs. I was lying face down on a mat as he lifted me up by the back of my belt. In theory I should have dangled like a rag doll. Instead, I stiffened like a giant starfish. I’m still more starfish than rag doll.

I have since learned that body tension can negatively impact prayer. Father M. Basil Pennington, a Cistercian monk, wrote this specifically about Centering Prayer, but I think it applies to all prayer. “If we enter into [Prayer] taut and tense and do not take a bit of time to relax and let our muscles loosen us, we will come out of the Prayer just as tense as we went into it . . . and the tenseness will certainly not facilitate our prayer.”*

What can we do about tension and prayer? Father Basil recommends rolling the head around several times before praying. He also suggests three time taking a deep breath and slowly letting it escape without effort. My piano professor taught me an exercise for relaxing. Stand up then bend all the way down from the waist letting all the air escape from the lungs as you bend. Let your arms dangle. Take several slow, deep breaths while gradually returning to a standing position.

I know these exercises don’t sound very spiritual, but it’s worth trying to relax before you pray to see if it helps.

Read Matthew 11:28-30 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

*Centering Prayer, p. 200.