Practicing Centering Prayer with the breath as your sacred symbol is a powerful way of consenting to God’s indwelling presence and action. The sacred breath is especially helpful when you are going through times of emotional purification, as the simplest opening into contemplation itself and – because it is an embodied symbol – as a wonderful way of receiving the grace of Christ’s incarnation in your practice, uniting the divine and the human, in your body, mind and spirit.
In practicing with the sacred breath you simply consent to God by noticing your breathing when you are engaged with thinking other thoughts. You don’t try to change your breathing. Rather than thinking about your breath, with your awareness, simply notice your breath in your body. You don’t need to do anything to make breathing happen in you, just as you don’t need to do anything to bring God into your life. God is already here, just waiting for you to notice and consent.
David is developing a new training in Deepening Centering Prayer with the Sacred Breath. This teaching is offered as a one-day workshop. It is also offered in more depth in the Sacred Breath of God teachings, as an ongoing class with resources to support your practice in-between sessions.
The Sacred Breath of God is also presented in even greater completeness as a ten-day Intensive Centering Prayer training retreat, in which are included practices for integrating Centering Prayer with activity, with the divine reading of scripture, and guidance about how to practice with the subtleties of the sacred breath thoughout the stages of the spiritual journey.
