Photographs depict the temples, worshippers, and landscapes of India, Nepal, and Southeast Asia

Find hope amid anxiety through the spiritual practice of breath prayer in this beautifully illustrated and practical guide to connecting body, mind, and spirit during times of stress. Breath as Prayer will lead you through the practice and the proven health benefits of Christian breath prayer: intentional prayers centered around Scripture that focus our minds on Christ as we calm our bodies through breathing. Breath as Prayer offers: More than 80 breath prayers focused on Scripture, along with brief meditations Gorgeous original full-color illustrations A quick-start how-to guide to refer to as needed Guidance on how to implement a breath prayer practice The science behind breath work and prayer and why it works An invitation to reflect on the effect of breath prayers on your body With a beautiful foil-accented cover, Breath as Prayer is an ideal gift for: Anyone experiencing stress, anxiety, or fear Grief and anxiety support groups Prayer groups and prayer ministries Men and women looking for new avenues for connecting with God Teens and young adults dealing with stress and anxiety Adult baptism and confirmation God created our bodies, minds, and spirits to be intimately connected with one another. Purpose-filled breathing is one of the most effective, calming ways to integrate all aspects of who we are, especially during times of intense stress. Breath as Prayer invites you to the crossroads of Christian contemplative practice, Scripture, psychology, and science to deepen your faith, bring peace to your body, and discover a new reliance on Christ. Breathe deeply, lean into God's Word, and discover why every breath can be an invitation to pray.

"Breath Prayer is an insightful guide to reclaiming this practice of the heart--harmonizing the sacred rhythm of the body with words that sing to the soul--in every moment of the day." --Carl McColman, author of The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism and Eternal Heart Whether reciting the gathas in Buddhist practice, the Shema in Judaism, or the Jesus Prayer in Christianity, for centuries the practice of breath prayer has helped center people from a variety of faith traditions on the sacred in everyday life. Through brief words of prayer or petition said silently to the rhythm of one's breath, this simple, meditative act combines praise for the divine with focused intention, creating a profound spiritual connection in the quiet, and even mundane, moments of the day . In Breath Prayer, Christine Valters Paintner, online abbess of Abbey of the Arts, introduces us to this spiritual practice and offers beautiful poem-prayers for walking, working, dressing, cleaning, sitting in silence, doing the dishes, living in community--breathing the divine into our daily lives. Over time these recitations become as natural as breathing. We don't so much recite the prayers as the prayers recite us, guide us, and open our hearts to the everyday sacred. With each of the forty prayers, Paintner includes reflections on life's ordinary beauty and heartfelt advice for discovering the sacred all around. Breath Prayer concludes with guidance for creating your own breath prayers to deepen your practice.

This simple little book from a great spiritual giant attends to what we human beings are most inclined to forget: preparing for and engaging in prayer. It is an examination of what we ourselves must bring to the discipline of prayer--whatever form it takes--in order to make prayer authentic and real, a deep and profound part of our lives. None of the brief reflections in this book are ever finished, ever closed, ever fulled resolved. They are all ongoing steps along the way, steps we retrace over and over again as we do all the other parts of life, until they become the very breath we breathe, the vision and energy of our souls.

Prayers to guide your journey of raising kids in a complicated world. In an age of distraction and overwhelm, finding the words to meaningfully pray for our children--and for our journey as parents--can feel impossible. Written with warmth and welcome, To Light Their Way gives voice to your prayers when words won't come. Filled with more than 100 modern liturgies, this book guides you into an intentional conversation with God for your children and the world they live in. From everyday struggles like helping your child find friends or thrive in school to larger issues like praying for a brighter world rooted in peace and truth, these pleas and petitions act as a gentle guide, reminding us that while our words may fail, God never does. At the core of To Light Their Way is the deepest of prayers: that our children will experience the love of God so deeply that their lives will be an outpouring of love that lights up the world.

This major new poetry collection from bestselling poet and priest Malcolm Guite features more than seventy new and previously unpublished works. At the heart of this collection is a sequence of twenty seven sonnets written in response to George Herbert’s exquisite sonnet 'Prayer', each one describing prayer in an arresting metaphor such as ‘the church's banquet’, ‘reversed thunder’, ‘the Milky Way’, ‘the bird of paradise’ and ‘something understood’. In conversation with each of these, Malcolm’s sonnets offer profound insights into the nature of communion with God in all circumstances and conditions. Recognising that all poetry is a pursuit of prayer, After Prayer also includes forty five more widely ranging new poems, including a sonnet sequence on the seven heavens.

Today, when our human family is facing so many challenges, it is more important than ever that we find peace and sustenance in our hearts. Love on Every Breath, or Tonglen, is a seven-step meditation for anyone who wants to nourish and open their heart. An ancient and profound meditation that has been practiced in isolated mountain retreats in the Himalayas for centuries, it is now available to us in the modern world. Lama Palden Drolma, a Western teacher trained by Tibetan Buddhist masters and also schooled in contemporary psychotherapy, introduces readers to the meditation in this powerful, user-friendly book. She walks readers step-by-step through the meditation, from beginning issues of sitting with awareness and focusing on the breath to taking in and extending love. Real-life challenges of sadness, anger, and overwhelm are addressed with "On-the-Spot" versions of the meditation. Love on Every Breath is a meditation that changes our experience in the moment — and changes our lives.

This book explores the origins of breath prayers and coaches readers on how to use this method of prayer today.