Praying

“Praying" by Mary Oliver

It doesn’t have to be the blue iris,

it could be weeds in a vacant lot,

or a few small stones;

just pay attention,

then patch a few words together

and don’t try to make them elaborate,

this isn’t a contest

but the doorway into thanks,

and a silence

in which another voice may speak.

The idea of praying used to make me feel uncomfortable. Honestly, I felt this for most of my life...until I hit my rock bottom...until I found yoga...until I understood that communing and communicating with something greater than me and conversing with that intangible force (whatever it is and whatever you'd like to call it) that connects us all can be life-saving, nourishing, empowering, and necessary.

Prayer can (but doesn't need to) look like: kneeling at your bedside, walking peacefully in nature, writing in your journal, breath to movement embodied flow, gardening, gazing at stars, cooking meals for loved ones, singing, dancing, painting, swimming, running, or anything and everything that makes you realize that you are entwined with something that is MORE than your five senses - intangible and indescribable and beautiful and so incredibly powerful.

So what is prayer? It is a conversation with the divine "something" that nestles within each of us and that lives within all things.

It is yoga.

It is bare toes grasping green grass.

It is unexplored places and coffee dates with old friends.

It is asking for help and it is graciously receiving it.

It is the soft sunlight at the end of the day saying, "I'm holding you, I see you, and I love you wholeheartedly, flaws and all."

Let's whisper into the quiet and let's ask the questions lingering unspoken on our tongues. And let's trust...that we are held and that our words are being heard and resonated and reverberated into the places we cannot see and absorbed by the forces we cannot see.

Your prayer can be anything you choose it to be and I believe that is the magic. I believe in you and your own brand of mysterious magic...trust that you are seen, you are heard, your are felt and you are held. I love you. So much.