100 Breath Prayer

Here is an invitation to a spiritual practice that anyone can do, that can be done nearly anywhere, and can be done almost any time—100 Breath Prayer. 

The form is simple—pray through 100 breaths. The action is also simple—one or two words, one breath. An example—

O (in)

God (out)

Be (in)

Here (out)

Help (in)

Me (out)

Know (in)

You (out)

That is four breaths. Repeat that cycle 25 times and there is a 100 Breath Prayer.

That is simple, yes? The thing is that as we slow ourselves down to a word per intake or outtake, those words can sink into our consciousness. We find that we mull them over, turn them around, and hear them. As that happens, the hope is that these words can effect the way in which we are within the world. They can ground us, challenge us, compel us, or correct us. They can also comfort us, guide us, and keep us as we seek to remain faithful.

No one needs to be locked into using just these suggested words, either. Allow yourself to connect with where you are at any given moment—what do you need right now? what woud help? what is in the way? where is God? where are you? Use the answers to such a set of questions to guide the formation of the prayer. For instance, you may have a worrisome business meeting on the agenda. Take time for 100 Breath Prayer beforehand. Breathe through the fear, anxiety, or possibilities such a meeting holds. Check in with yourself about how you really feel as the meeting comes. Pray through best case and worst case scenarios. What about the other people there? What can you pray for them? How do you want to be with them? How can God help? Hopefully, you can see how this applies to home, too. Pray through the interactions of the day with loved ones, friends, and random encounters. 

Our tendency is to compartmentalize most everything, ordering our existence by moving from one box to the next. We slide into doing so with God, as well. God is for Sundays and sometimes Wednesdays. Those are the boxes for prayer and worship. But our Gospel tells us continually that God is all the time, everywhere, for everyone. Taking on this simple practice allows to experience that presence, perhaps in profound ways as you lose yourself in breathing. 

One warning—a regular practice of 100 Breath Prayer will lead into more reflection, consideration of who and what we are, and deeper sense that there is more than meets the eye to all of us all the time. 

For some, that is a frightening and alien proposition. 

An easy way to make a gathering at church spiked with unease is to leave folks in silence for a prolonged period (“prolonged” often defined as anything lasting more than 60 seconds!). In our noisy world, silence is off-putting. Self-reflection is scary because a good many of us are not sure we are going to like what is there (or, in a few cases, afraid there will be nothing there). However, the way the Bible, our Word, continually sets before us the way into the presence of God is precisely through the silences and moments of deep consideration. God found Jacob wrestling with his next-day meeting with Esau; God found Moses walking by himself with his sheep; Jesus went off by himself to pray again and again; and Paul’s letters all indicate that Paul spent a huge amount of time in consideration, meditation, and prayer as he realized his theology. We need the silences as much as we fear them.

The more deeply we can find ourselves, finding God with us, the better able we will be to walk in the world with God, perhaps truly making a difference for good in our homes, neighborhoods, and towns. 

Try this practice. See what happens.