Combining prayer and movement

As more Utahns than ever take to the outdoors in prayer, the rest of us may not notice.

Unless she is carrying a rosary, you might not know your co-worker is planning to pray as she leaves the office for her lunchtime stroll. Unless he tells you about his spiritual practice, you might not know your neighbor is praying for you as he walks by your home each morning. Unless you happen to witness one of your Muslim friends making his daily prostrations, you might not think about the link between movement and prayer in so many faiths.

As meditators seek to live beyond words, worshippers, too, find it difficult to describe exactly how motion combines with prayer to bring them closer to God. Still, plenty of spiritual leaders do advocate for meaningful movement. They make it sound doable — and rewarding.

"One of the most useful and grounding ways of attending to our body is the practice of walking meditation," writes Jack Kornfield. He explains how movement fits into Buddhism in his new book, "The Wise Heart."

In her book "Meditation in Motion," Barbara Bartocci quotes Christians, for the most part. She mentions a woman who walks, a man who skates and another man who swims. Their daily devotionals are simple and repetitive. "Lead me, O Lord," they pray, as they make their laps. Or "Show me the way," they pray, over and over again. Or "Guide me in your path."

In a forward to the book "Peace Is Every Step," the Dalai Lama explains the connection between the most simple motion, that of breathing, and inner peace. Furthermore, he says, inner peace is the first step to peace on Earth. The author of the book, Thich Nhat Hanh, recommends outdoor walking — mindful walking — as a way to nourish the soul's awareness.

"The sun penetrates into the flowers, and at some point, the flowers cannot resist, they just have to open up," Thich Nhat Hanh writes. He writes of walking slowly, breathing deeply and smiling all the while as you repeat your simple thought or prayer. As a way to center your mind, he recommends beginning with the shortest of phrases. "Breathe in," as you inhale. "Breathe out," as you exhale.

At religious retreats, Christians may be asked to open the Bible at random, or may be given an especially evocative verse from Psalms, say, or from one of the Gospels. The supplicants will be asked to choose a phrase that resonates, somehow, or "glimmers" in their mind. Then they will be sent outside to a garden or a dirt path to pace and recite.