Prayer is often thought of as a form of ingratiating the divine or asking the divine for what you want and perhaps for guidance. Meditation can include that, and also includes a very important extra ingredient – listening for the answer. There are many forms of mediation and prayer to try. You may have grown up reciting particular prayers. There is no need to abandon that. Consider, instead, adding some new forms in just to try them. Be experimental and see what works for you. The following list is just a start. Add your own variations as you find them.
Forms of Prayer
Specific Prayers For Specific Occasions – these are recited the same way every time such as blessing a meal. Use the ones you know or make your own specific to your situation.
Sending Gratitude – connect with the divine and give thanks for everything wonderful in your life. You might speak it out loud or just in your mind. Feel the gratitude in your heart and send it to the divine.
Asking – connect with the divine to make a request. Ask for what you want and then give over your desire for it to the divine, trusting that the divine will deliver it, if it is in your best interests.
Contemplation – quietly contemplate a thought, question or quote from your favorite religious or other text as if you are contemplating it together with the divine. Insight and guidance often comes during this type of prayer.
Forms of Meditation
There are so many forms of mediation that are worth exploring. Search on types of mediation, research each for more detail, and make your own based on these categories or others. Feel free to combine methods into each session. For example, you might begin by focusing on the breath, then focus on the silence and ask for guidance, and then end with manifestation.
Clearing The Mind By Focusing On Something Else…
Focus on a word or sound
Focus on your breathing
Focus on specific places within the body and how they feel
Focus on what is happening in and around you in this moment
Focus on the silence – this is the ultimate goal of most forms of mediation. It can be challenging to achieve so it helps to warm up by focusing on something else first such as the breath, and then, when the mind is more calm, rest in the silence. This is usually when answers and guidance come. Feel free to ask the universe / divine what you want to know such as how to solve a challenge or the answer to a particular question.
Manifesting (Asking For What You Want)
Samyama – Think of what you want, then take your desire for it and drop it into the infinite silence inside you, knowing that if it forwards your purpose, it will of course be granted.
Feeling-Based Manifestation – Imagine how it feels to already have what you want. Visualize it lightly in the back of your mind.
Loving Kindness – send love to yourself, those your care about, friends, neighbors, and work your way outward to sending love and good wishes to people you do not like, those who have transgressed you, and even further out to the world and the universe.
Guided Meditation – there are many wonderful mediations led by trained teachers who guide you through what to do. If you are not yet ready to mediate on your own, try seeking a guided mediation on a mediation app, on your favorite streaming service or on various podcasts.
Making It Your Own
If you are religious, you can combine prayer and meditation techniques to feel more connected to the divine and to nurture that relationship. If you are spiritual, but not religious, you can combine these techniques for that same connection outside of institutionalized religion. And if you are neither spiritual nor religious, you can still learn to quiet the mind and connect to the universe and all the answers it has to offer.
You can read about many interesting mediation techniques (and I recommend it), but do not think that you must follow each to infinite detail. That is why I have presented them in such generality here. Play with techniques, combine techniques, and experiment to find the right combination of prayer and/or mediation for you. They key in all of these is to quiet the mind. That is, to simply sit down, shut up and listen. How you get to that state of a quiet, listening mind is not important. The practice of getting there is what matters and is what will bring you the most benefit. This is liberating. Developing your own ceremony, ritual or routine that is optimized for your own benefit will play a major role in accelerating your evolution through the stages towards complete connection with every aspect of your life.
