I know…I know… Not everyone believes in God… Not everyone
likes God… You do NOT have to believe in God or like God in order to use prayer
and benefit from it on your healing journey. I mean it! Please, keep reading.
No matter what spiritual path you are on, you can facilitate your healing
through the daily or regular use of prayer.
Here is one of the definitions of prayer provided by the
Merriam-Webster dictionary: “An earnest request or wish”. Here is another
definition that I really like: “A solemn request for
help or expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship” (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com).
Here is an interesting idea, make your object of worship anything that works
for you. It could be a tree in your backyard or Universe or energy field or
your intuition or some real or imaginary
Our modern psychological and medical science has accumulated
an abundance of data showing that practices of prayer, especially the ones that
include gratitude, can help in healing of multiple physical and emotional
ailments.
When it comes to specifically healing from trauma, I am a proponent
of positive affirmative prayer, which includes the following steps:
1.
Positive
affirmations of your choosing that are worded in the present tense and as a
positive statements about you. They can range from “I am vibrant, whole,
and healthy now” (no appeal to any
deity) to “I am healed through God’s Divine love and wisdom” (God is
recognized)
2. Expressions of gratitude for things or
changes that you would like to see in your life. It is upfront thanks, meaning
that you express gratitude BEFORE your wish is granted. Many spiritual teachers
believe in the POWER of gratitude. Rhonda Byrne, a New Thought author, goes as
far as saying that “gratitude is the great multiplier” referring to the
observation that things you regularly express gratitude for tend to manifest in
your life.
3. Quiet meditation/reflection time. Taking
5-10 min to focus on your breath or mantra (repetition of a word, using it as
an anchor, word has to carry positive meaning). Some examples of mantras
include: Love, gratitude, om, here now, calm, peace. Bringing your focus to
mantra or breath over and over and over again when you notice that you got
distracted.
From the perspective
of neuroscience, this kind of regular practice leads to shifting brain’s natural
negative bias into the new positive vision, establishing new neuronal pathways,
calming amygdala (brain’s center of negative emotion processing, over-active in
trauma survivors), restructuring negative core believes (so common in trauma
survivors).
From my clinical experience, when you take time out of your
day on the regular basis to align with the deepest and most sacred part of
yourself, you set priorities for your conscious and unconscious mind. You
consistently send signals to your brain (for those science types) or your soul
(for those spiritual types) of what is the most important in your life right
now and what your mind-body-spirit system needs to focus on.
Of course, for those healing from trauma, I suggest that you
focus on healing, releasing the past, and moving forward into the life you
envision for yourself.
If you would like some more help in establishing affirmative
prayer practice, you can read: “Handbook of Positive Prayer” by Hypatia
Hasbrouck. Also, there is an excellent resource for prayer support available to
any person of any spiritual belief or lack thereof. It is called Silent Unity, the 24/7 prayer ministry.
You can call 1-800-NOW-PRAY (669-7729) and a trained prayer associate will pray
with you and for you (or your loved one) and will suggest a prayer that you can
use for your particular situation. Alternatively, you can submit your prayer
request online at http://www.unity.org/prayer or use UPray app on your smart phone. Once
your submit your prayer request, it is put into the Silent Unity Prayer Vigil
Chapel, where prayer has been going on non-stop, 24/7 for 125 years.