As I’m teaching a workshop July 18 on Body Prayer, I decided to see what Wikipedia had to say about it.  Not much!  I found it sketchy and a bit esoteric.  I was looking for contemporary interpretations. I had more luck when I Googled “Body Prayer.” I found several interesting entries but nothing exactly like my journey with Body Prayer.

What does the Dictionary say?

As “Body Prayer” was not in the dictionary, I started with the word “Prayer”.  Definitions included:

“The act of communication with a divine being”, “To address the supreme being”, and “Spiritual Communion”. Adjectives were often “earnest, sincere, devotional.”

What does Judith mean by Body Prayer?

The work-in-progress definitions of “my” Body Prayer include:

“Consciously playing with movement, breath, and sometimes sound, to create prayer”

“Opening to God through mindful, meditative, expressions of movement”

“Experiencing spiritual connection through physical, intentional, creative play.”

Body Prayer Experiences.

The first Body Prayer I remember was a heartfelt “dance-celebration-prayer to God” in our English back garden in 1959. Surrounded by grass, flowers, trees, birds, and the open sky I experienced a deep sense of awe, beauty, and love.  I was seven years old.  I ran into our little house, threw my arms round my mother and announced, in a state of exuberance, “I’ve found God, Mummy. God’s inside us…God’s around us. It’s true, it’s all love.”

For several decades, now, I’ve studied and practiced yoga, meditation, creative movement and writing as spiritual practices. Since the early 1990’s I’ve also been a student of the Dances of Universal Peace. Qi gong, walking, InterPlay, and singing are other embodied ways I love to play.

These physical, contemplative and creative practices help me shift gears naturally both mentally and emotionally. They slow down my over stimulated brain, get me “out of my head,” relax my body, deepen my breath, and sooth my soul. They cause me to feel content, joyful, rich, and “enough.”  The practices soften me, somehow, towards beauty, kindness, and the presence of God.

It’s fifty plus years, now, since my first Body Prayer in my back garden. I find myself wanting to share my more personal practices and experiences with my students.

What will we do in JV’s Body Prayer Workshop?

I plan to lead a few short movement meditations and body prayer phrases I use for peace, happiness and prosperity. I want to share a body prayer practice from the Lord’s Prayer, as taught by Aramaic Scholar Neil Douglas-Klotz in Prayers of the Cosmos.

Together, we’ll explore the energetic effects of yoga poses on mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.  Finally each participant will have the opportunity to create a personal Body Prayer addressing a problem or issue in their life.

How can I attend the workshop, July 18^th, 2010?

Please click here for details, or you click here for the Body Prayer Workshop registration.  You may also telephone or email me with any questions.

Home Phone:    919.803.3191

Mobile Phone:   919.233.9777

Email:   jv.judith@gmail.com

Web Site:  www.jvyoga.com

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Experience a Body Prayer moment right now:

~Place your hands on your heart or your belly and feel yourself breathing.

~Think of something for which you feel grateful, or say a prayer.

~Breathe and move:

Exhale….do nothing

Inhale…raise your arms slowly out and up, palms up.

Exhale…float arms down.

Repeat a few times.

~Return your hands to your heart or belly.  Smile quietly to yourself, and breathe.

~ End with a tiny bow or a silent “Thank you.”

~Notice any shift in breath, body sensations, feelings, and thoughts.

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I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences regarding prayer forms using breath, movement, and sound (as opposed to words) in your faith tradition or spiritual practice.

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The Power of Meditation   

LISTEN!!!

Diane Rehm Show,   Tuesday 22^nd June

 FANTASTIC RADIO HOUR regarding benefits of various styles of

Meditation, Mindfulness, Yoga, Breathing and Prayer.

Please visit http://thedianerehmshow.org/

It’s everything we do in yoga class and more!!!

~jv~

I just had a couple of weeks off teaching yoga.  I did a reasonably strong yoga practice at home most days.  I walked each morning or evening.  I even went to the beach for three days.  But at the end of my break I noticed my shoulders felt tighter than usual.  This first week back teaching, a student asked, “Can we do some shoulder stuff?  My shoulders are so stressed.”

I led a series of very gentle movements borrowed from the Feldenkrais Method.  Next we played with a few easy, self-massage movements.  Finally I talked us through more traditional neck stretches.  “Mmmm,” were the responses.

After class, several students said how relaxed their shoulders were.  I noticed my shoulders felt better too.  I took a nice deep breathe and felt the centered pleasure of contentment and relaxed ease.  I realized how much my shoulders had missed the simple series I often led in class.

The shoulder series we practice

~increases circulation, mobility, and flexibility

~releases tension, and discomfort

~improves posture

~facilitates deeper breathing

~helps prevent frozen shoulder

~ increases the relaxation response and thereby increases wellness

~stimulates “happy” brain chemicals to flood our body

~perhaps improves our love lives!

No matter how accomplished you become at sun salutations, warrior poses, handstands or cobras, an array of slow, mindful, meditative movements and gentle stretches can be a powerful antidote to the stresses of everyday life.  Go on! Try some…move those shoulders nice and slowly, playfully, take some luxurious deep breathes; add a few nice, noisy sighs….and make your shoulders happy again.