15 New Breath Prayers: Joy edition

Take what works, chuck the rest, and let God love you.

Hi friends,

I’m just nicely back from our summer family holiday. I shared a bit about our big adventure over on Instagram here and here once we returned¹ but the TL;dr version is that two weeks ago, we embarked on a 50-ish hour family road trip down to Nebraska to see Brian’s side of the family and then drove up to spend a week in the Lake of the Woods area of Ontario. It was a (mostly) restorative time for all of us; we needed the time, the space, the beauty, and each other.

We also needed to just have some pure fun as a family with cribbage tournaments, long talks, longer kayak journeys, sunset watching, feasting, swimming, playing mermaids, reading fiction books cover to cover, all of it.

While we were there, I wrote a few more breath prayers related to my theme of the year (“have fun on purpose”) with a focus on joy, and I decided I’d like to share those with you for this week’s Field Notes.

As I’ve said before,² I’ve found breath prayer to be a low barrier for those of us who sometimes feel a bit weird about prayer or have lost the old pathways of prayer or just need a few deep breaths. Sometimes this is the only way I can pray for broad stretches of time. It connects prayer between my body and my soul. It’s quite expansive, welcoming, and hospitable: you can find your own words, rhythms, and needs whether you use these as I’ve written them or just as inspiration for your own self.

How to Practice Breath Prayers

Breath Prayer is an ancient form of prayer and it is easily adaptable. Simply choose one or two lines to meditate on and inhale and then exhale through them.

A Centring Practice to Begin

You can pray a breath prayer literally anywhere without any special rituals or whatever but I’ve found that I like to find a quiet corner for a few minutes and I usually start by lighting a candle.

Then just quietly become aware of your body. Sit in a way that is comfortable for you, a position that will allow you to take a deep breath in and out. Close your eyes.

Imagine a room or a place where you feel safe, your own sanctuary: it can be a real place or one that exists in your imagination. Imagine yourself in that sanctuary. Imagine the way the air smells and the way the light feels.

Breathe slowly and deeply while holding that place in your mind for a few moments, until you have all the details of it gathered around your soul.

You’ll enter into your time of prayer or meditation from within that sanctuary.

One historic form of breath prayer is known as The Jesus Prayer.

So, with that as an example, here’s how it works:

Inhale. Fill your whole self with breath. Feel the air in your lungs. And then pray aloud or to yourself:

“Lord Jesus Christ, son of God,” 

Exhale slowly and fully.

“Have mercy on me, a sinner.”

And then simply repeat this practice. Start with ten good breaths in and out, with the words being spoken aloud or quietly held in your mind, it’s up to you. I often choose a couplet and just pray that one for a whole day, off and on. Don’t feel the need to pray these all at once lickety-split or in an order or to rush things or include all of them by any means.

Take what works, chuck the rest, and let God love you right where you.

Now let’s begin.

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15 New Breath Prayers on Joy

Each couplet of inhale/exhale stands is its own stand-alone prayer.