I know people who pray all day long every day. That was never my style, but I'm changing that.
Once I realized that my mental landscape was getting too clogged up with stuff that depletes my energy - like worry, greedy politicians, pandemic, climate change - I decided to do something about it.
I started by whisking away negative thoughts, opinions and judgements. I flicked my hands as though I was brushing lint from my shoulder and exhaled at the same time.
That was helpful. But I needed it to go farther. I wanted to add some positive energy. The next time I caught another cluttering thought, I exhaled and whisked as usual, but this time I realized, 'This could be a prayer.'
A full blown talking-to-higher-power prayer might add to the mental clutter. I needed something simpler. Then I remembered a quote from an old book 'He prayed as he breathed...' My breath itself could be a prayer. I got an image of my exhale being a pink cloud going out to meet the situation.
A pink prayer.
I whisked and exhaled the pink cloud with a desire for things to improve. Simple. As I continued, sometimes it was a blue cloud, sometimes violet.
It's a practice though. The first few tries weren't quite right. When I thought of a particular politician, the pink cloud I blew at him felt more like a pink punch than a pink prayer. I laughed at myself. It was a start.
It's been fun. I've been applying it to all kinds of things: personal problems, illness, certain politicians, even the part of me that jumps to judgement awfully quickly. The idea is to hold all these things gently. Humanity doesn't need my opinions, it needs kindness.
Is a pink cloud a prayer? You bet it is.
