Catch your breath…
Top 10 Reasons to Start a Daily Spiritual Practice*
10. The season of Christmas is coming and you are not sure how you
will survive it.
9. Thinking about Christmas makes your head spin.
8. Because you seek some calm and peace in your life.
7. Because it feels like a lot is happening in your day…you can barely
keep up…or remember what you’re doing.
8. Because you seek some calm and peace in your life.
6. Because not much is happening in your day…it is difficult to find
something meaningful.
5. Because you worry when you go sleep and/or when you wake up.
4. Because you want to live well…with joy and purpose.
3. Because you really don’t want to go to church, but are looking for
something…
2. Because you do attend a church/faith community, but need more
inspiration/encouragement through the week.
1. Because you can start now and you have everything you need.
*By spiritual practice, I mean taking time to pause and catch your
breath during your day. Some people call it meditation, prayer,
mindfulness, reflection. There are many different methods that have
been practiced over time, place and many spiritual traditions. I invite
you to call it whatever helps you get started… I invite you take some
time in the morning and evening to pause, to catch your breath and
“let your soul catch up to you.”1
I am offering a simple format for you to do this; a combination of short
readings and questions to ponder. You may want to write or draw your
thoughts and observations. Sometimes in the act of writing/journaling
1
This little story of letting you soul catch up to you is in Living In Two Kingdoms by David Adam
for ourselves we discover things and gain insight we otherwise might
miss. You may prefer just to ponder…do what works for you and be
willing to experiment and be surprised.
Upon waking…in the morning…
I don’t know about you, but I can often wake up with a worry or
concern on my mind. Rather than simply say to myself don’t worry, I
find it helpful to replace those thoughts with something else. Reading
this poem by John O’Donohue is a great way to wake up …read before
you even get out of bed…or during breakfast…or on your transit
commute…
“On Waking
I give thanks for arriving
Safely in a new dawn,
For the gift of eyes
To see the world,
The gift of mind
To feel at home
In my life.
The waves of possibility
Breaking on the shore of dawn,
The harvest of the past
That awaits my hunger,
And all the furtherings
This new day will bring.”2
Or try these words from Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr,
“Some mornings I choose to choose life. There are mornings
when I remember that it is not only the shining in the eastern
sky that is rekindled at dawn. I remember that I am part of the
shining. The spark of light in my own soul is rekindled, and I
begin my day in glory.” 3
To say this to ourselves is both grand and humbling. We recognize that
we too are part of this great cosmos, how grand! Humbling also
because we recognize we are a speck of light within the vastness of
2
3
To Bless the Space Between Us by John O’Donohue pg. 94
Seven Sacred Pauses: Living Mindfully Through the Hours of the Day by Macrina Wiederkehr pg. 48
the web of life and possibilities. Either way, grand or humbling, we
belong to something much bigger than ourselves….we belong.
On days when we are pulled in lots of different directions and days
when we have more time than purpose these questions can help us
live mindfully through the day. Spend a few minutes or more with each
question.
-What is rising up in me today?
This is about becoming aware of what you are thinking about and how
you are feeling about the things going on in your life and the world.
You don’t need to judge or solve or plan (you have the whole day for
that!) but just let yourself become aware of what is going on in you.
For example, “I have lots to do today…drive kids to school, go to work,
grocery shop, drive kids to dance class, I am wondering how it will all
get done?” “I realize I have lots happening right now.”
-What needs to rise in me today?
“Morning is a call to our own resurrection, and so we reflect on what
needs to rise in us. On some days we may need to awaken to joy. Or
perhaps we need to pray that a positive attitude for our work will be
resurrected. Sometimes it is compassion for a co-worker, an aging
parent, an alienated spouse, a troubled teenager, or a colicky child
that is needed. If you prayerfully look into your heart, you will
probably know what kind of resurrection needs to take place to honour
the Awakening Hour.” 4
-What is my intention for this new day?
By taking a moment to ask this question we allow some time and
space to make our intention for this new day. This question has
surprised me the most. One day I made the intention to “do things
today that are good for me.” Later in the day when faced with lots of
decisions my intention surfaced and making decisions became easier.
My intentions change from day to day, but often previous intentions
come to mind when needed.
-You are done the morning practice… have a mindful day…have
great day!
I have used the morning practice from Seven Sacred Pauses with a
poem from To Bless the Space Between Us to offer a simple way to
4
Wiederkehr pg 49
start a daily spiritual practice. Use what speaks to you and add to it if
you like…you can start now and have everything you need. Enjoy!
I would love to hear about your experience with this. Try this for a
week and next week I will add an evening practice. If you have any
questions or would like to share your experience please contact me at
[email protected] or phone 604-939-5513.
Blessings,
Julie Lebrun
Book Review: Seven Sacred Pauses by Macrina Wiederkehr.
This is an excellent book that offers an easy and accessible way to
start the Christian spiritual practice of Praying the Hours. In this book
Wiederkehr takes the spirit of this centuries old spiritual practice and
puts it into words that are easy to understand and do. It is helpful to
anyone who wants to do what the sub title suggest, “Living Mindfully
Through the Hours of the Day.” She points out in the introduction that
today people often associate mindfulness as a Buddhist concept…and
in fact the Christian practice of praying the hours has the same goal of
“living awake and ready to embrace the gift of the present moment.”
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