Centering Prayer

Centering Prayer is a recent re-presentation of one of the oldest forms of prayer in Christianity.
It is very simple. Do what you can to quieten your environment (close any nearby doors if you can). Close your eyes. Choose a word that means something to you. Short (one or two syllables) is best. Just the one word will do. You don’t need a different word each session. Just stick to the same one.
Give your attention to the word. Each time your mind wanders away, simply notice the fact and gently come back to focus on your word. And that is all.

You might want to start off trying this for only 5-10 minutes. After a few days or weeks, you might feel ready to stretch your session out to 15 or 20 minutes. Or not. There is no hurry. And no goal.

Do not look for any special kind of experience or ‘word from God’ when you’re doing Centering Prayer. Don’t worry about trying to achieve ‘no thoughts’ let alone any kind of ecstatic bliss. You are simply practising letting go of whatever you happen to be thinking about in the moment. The point of the exercise is in developing the muscle for letting things go.

Choose a duration by sliding the small vertical line below the time. When you are ready, click the button on the left to begin. A bell will sound to start your contemplation, and then a bell will sound at the end of that duration to let you know you’re finished. No need to keep an eye on the clock!

Centering Prayer is very relaxed (and hopefully relaxing). You don’t have to keep repeating the word in a regular fashion. Although you might want to in the early stages.
With Centering Prayer you only repeat the word within yourself once you’ve noticed that your attention has wandered. For this reason, in Centering Prayer, the word you choose is your ‘sacred word.’ It is not a ‘mantra.’ A mantra is for constant, disciplined repetition and belongs to the (closely related) practice called ‘Christian Meditation.’ Of course there is some overlap. The basic distinction is that Christian Meditation revolves around ‘continuous repetition’; while Centering Prayer involves ‘discontinuous repetition’: you use the word, but only when you need it.

Enjoy!