Episode 137

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Published on:

27th Jul 2026

137. Praying Without Words—Breathe

Ghia—Have you ever been tired of praying with the same old words? Have you ever wondered how to pray always? Perhaps your breath could be an answer.

Transcript
ghia:

Hooray!

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Gia here.

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Welcome to the Creative Spiritual Journey

podcast, where Judy and I explore faith,

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nature, and the simple practices that

bring wonder and joy to everyday life.

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for the last couple of years, I've

had an idea rolling around in my head.

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It's the idea of praying without words.

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What do you think?

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Is that possible?

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I like to believe it is.

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So in my next few episodes, I'm going

to share my thoughts on this idea.

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So let me explain where

I'm going with this.

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First of all, why would anyone

want to pray without words?

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And if you could, what would be the point?

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Well, I don't know about you, but

sometimes I just don't know what

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to say, or I don't have the energy.

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Or maybe I have prayed about the same

thing for so long that words fail me.

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Or maybe I'm just too tired

of the same old words I find

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myself saying over and over.

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Yet I know prayer is

important, so what do I do?

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this is where I find value

in praying without words.

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And here is another reason why I have

come to love this practice After his

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near-death experience, Elder Jeffrey R.

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Holland said he was told to

testify that we need to pray

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more, pray more than we do.

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He said, However much

you've prayed, pray more.

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And in however many places you

have prayed, pray in more places.

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And however many times you have prayed

in a day, pray more times in a day."

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Being able to pray more is an awesome

reason to practice praying without words.

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Now let me be clear, the practices

I'm going to share aren't intended

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to make your prayers better.

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They are simply practices I've

been playing with to switch up

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my prayer patterns and habits.

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My feeling is that they ground me

in my body and prompt me to be more

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aware of God's presence in my life.

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They support me in praying more,

and even lead me to the possibility

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of being able to pray always.

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All this said, the first prayer

practice I'd like to share with you is

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using your breath as a form of prayer.

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You might be thinking, "Oh, no,

don't tell me to focus on my breath.

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I've tried that in meditation

or mindfulness exercises,

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and it doesn't work for me."

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If that's you, hear me out and

see if the way I share the use

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of breath changes your mind or at

least inspires you to try again.

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Now, let me say that there's something

about the breath that has always

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captured the human imagination.

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Across cultures and throughout history,

people have noticed that the breath

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seems to be connected to something

deeper than simply keeping us alive.

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As humans, it seems we instinctively

use breath to talk about life,

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emotion, and even the spirit.

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We can see this in how breath has

been embedded in our colloquialisms.

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We say things like, "She

was a breath of fresh air.

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It took my breath away.

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Let me catch my breath.

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I waited with bated breath.

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The sight was simply breathtaking.

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She was breathing down my neck.

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Please give me room to breathe.

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He breathed a sigh of relief.

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I need to take a breather."

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Or when we warn someone

not to breathe a word.

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Maybe we use these expressions

because breath is always with us.

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No matter where we are or what we're

doing, it's there, and miraculously,

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it changes with our state of mind.

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When we're anxious, our breathing

becomes shallow and rapid.

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When we are peaceful, it slows.

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This is why long before modern physiology

could explain it, people discovered

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that intentionally paying attention

to the breath helps settle the mind.

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And once the mind becomes quieter,

it's easier to concentrate, to form

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new ideas, to accept change, and in

my opinion, to receive revelation.

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With that in mind, the first

way I like to use a breath

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practice is in personal prayer.

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I especially find it meaningful when I am

praying over a meal I'm having by myself.

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What I like to do is stop and

take three slow intentional

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breaths, breathing in gratitude.

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Or maybe I should say breathing

in the feeling of gratitude.

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Instead of offering a list of

things I'm grateful for, I breathe

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in how those things make me feel.

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You may already know this, but I

believe the reason we pause to pray

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with gratitude before a meal goes

deeper than simply giving thanks.

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Gratitude invites our body to slow

down, release worry, and let go of the

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urge to rush towards the next thing.

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Eating in a state of peace and

gratitude allows us to more fully

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receive the nourishment before us.

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Yes, of course, offering words of

gratitude is wonderful, but I believe

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breathing in gratitude works just as well.

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And for me anyway, I am more keenly

aware of the gratitude because

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I am tuned into my feelings.

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At first, this might

take a little practice.

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I like to imagine seeing

my grown daughter.

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I love her so much, and I see

her so rarely these days that

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it's wonderful when I do.

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Focusing on those experiences

brings up wonderful feelings

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of gratitude in my heart.

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Now, after months of practice, I

can breathe in the feeling

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without having to picture her.

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And now the feeling of gratitude

has grown to mean so much more.

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now my gratitude breath engenders

a gratitude for the whole of life,

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for this mortal experience, for the

knowledge of who I am and why I am

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here, and for my love of God, and it

feels like lightness and joy in my chest

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again, quite often, words might be

the most appropriate form of prayer.

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I do believe words are powerful.

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I mean, God used words

to create the Earth.

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of course, we should use

words, and I love words.

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But when I have tried to breathe in

this emotion, I feel like I'm working

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directly with my body, which means that

my feelings can't get lost in my mind.

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and it gives my body a chance to actually

experience gratitude, not just think

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about it, which means that over time,

I'm helping my nervous system recognize

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and return to the state of gratitude.

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My breath becomes a gentle reminder,

and gratitude becomes more than an idea.

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It becomes a pattern my body knows,

and the better it knows it, the

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easier a place it is to remain.

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I also love this prayer practice because

it's something I can do anywhere.

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In a public place, in a restaurant,

in a line at the grocery store, while

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I'm sitting on the stand in sacrament

meeting waiting anxiously to give a talk.

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Oh my gosh, I don't even

know how to express how much

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I love this kind of prayer.

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I generally start by breathing with

three slow intentional breaths, and after

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that I add as many breaths as I want,

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And that's it.

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That's how it works.

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You can practice with any emotion, love,

peace, excitement, whatever you want.

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But if you're not sure,

start with gratitude.

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It's a good one.

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and like I said, I often practice this

before a meal, but I have found myself

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using it in other places as well.

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This last Sunday, I found myself

breathing in gratitude while I was

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listening to the sacrament prayer.

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I really found that it brought the

prayer into my body and enhanced

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the whole sacrament experience.

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And I'm sure this would be a powerful

practice to use while anyone was praying.

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All I can say is try it and

see what happens for you.

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Now, with this idea, I want to share

another place I like to use three

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slow breaths, and that's at the end

of my traditional personal prayers,

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especially my morning prayer.

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After I've said my prayer and before

I rush off, I like to pause and take

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three breaths and just focus on the

air moving in and out of my body

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and see what thoughts come to mind.

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I try not to have any expectations,

and I try to stay focused on my

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breath so that my mind doesn't wander.

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I do this with the intention of giving

God a moment to tell me something,

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something he wants me to do, someone

he wants me to reach out to, something

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he wants to remind me of, or it could

be something he wants me to know.

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Perhaps an encouraging thought.

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I know three breaths seems kind of wimpy.

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Is that really enough time

for God to speak to me?

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But it's surprisingly longer than you

would think, and when you're trying

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to get going with your day, it's

hard to spend more time than that.

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So take it for what it is.

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And honestly, there are times when

my mind is just bouncing around in so

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many different directions that I can't

slow down enough to feel anything.

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But at other times, I've really felt

inspired Now, it seems appropriate

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to say more about breath here.

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You may have noticed that I always

say, "Take three slow breaths."

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I never say, "Take a deep breath."

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That's because for me personally, if

you tell me to take a deep breath, I

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automatically breathe into my chest.

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There isn't anything wrong with breathing

into your chest on a deep inhale, but

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it's best to breathe into your belly using

your diaphragm, and then into your chest.

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I just go straight for my chest

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I'm not sure where I developed this habit,

but I suspect it's from years of trying

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to hold in my belly in an effort to look

and feel skinnier, which I consider an

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unfortunate side effect of growing up

in a culture obsessed with body image.

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Now, as you're listening to me, you may be

wondering if you breathe into your chest.

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Let me just say that as soon as

you try to notice your breath, it

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changes, which means it's really

hard to notice your natural breath.

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The best way is to catch

yourself after the fact.

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Barring that, I just periodically

put my hand on my belly and

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check to see if it's moving.

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Now, the other thing I want to say

about this topic is that while I

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use the word slow to describe the

breath, it's possible to breathe slow

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and shallow, which isn't optimal.

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Ideally, we should breathe

with slow, deep breaths.

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So here is a different

way to approach this.

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Let me quote Donna Farhi.

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This is from her book, The Breathing Book.

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She says, "Although it's

counterintuitive, exhaling more

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fully will naturally result in a

spontaneous deepening for inhalations.

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Long, full exhalations tell the body

that all is well, and by consciously

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lengthening the exhalations, we can

trick ourselves into relaxing even

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in the most stressful situations.

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Oh, did you get that?

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I think it's really cool.

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She's saying that we will naturally take

deeper breaths if we focus on the exhale.

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Good trick to know, don't you think?

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Now when you hear me cueing you

to take a long, slow exhale in my

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next meditation, you'll know why.

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Now, this idea of focusing on the

exhale leads me into another topic

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about the power of the breath.

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Listen to this story that

Donna tells from her same book.

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She says, " Eric spent many years

living as a monk in a Zen monastery.

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In his first year, he underwent a

tremendously painful and emotional time.

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completely overwhelmed by the

intensity of his feelings, he sought

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out the guidance of the head abbot.

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As he sat before the abbot, he explained

his dilemma, and with great hope,

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waited for the abbot to advise him as

to how he might alleviate his suffering.

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The abbot answered simply, " If you

can breathe in, you can breathe out."

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What do you think?

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It sounds kind of profound,

but what does it really mean?

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Personally, I think it's

about breath as prayer.

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Let me explain.

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At first glance, the Abbot's

answer almost sounds dismissive.

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Eric pours out years of anguish,

and the response is, "If you can

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breathe in, you can breathe out."

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It could seem like he's saying,

"Just breathe," as though

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breathing is a cure for suffering.

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I don't think that's the point.

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I think the Abbot is directing

Eric towards something much deeper.

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Don't try to solve this moment.

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Live through it.

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That's what prayer helps

us do, don't you think?

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Breathing, simply breathing, can

become the smallest act of faith.

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When you're in overwhelming grief, fear,

shame, or despair, your mind races ahead.

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How long will this last?

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Will I ever be okay?

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How do I make this stop?

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The Abbot's words gently bring us

back to one thing we can actually

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do: breathe in, breathe out.

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Not because breathing fixes suffering,

but because suffering becomes

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bearable one breath at a time.

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Let's look at some scriptures.

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Genesis 2:7 says, "God formed man from

the dust of the ground and breathed

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into his nostrils the breath of life,

and the man became a living being."

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One of our first gifts from God

was a breath, the breath of life.

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We aren't alive unless we are breathing.

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And then in Mosiah it says,

"God is preserving us from day

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to day by lending us breath."

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This tells me that every breath

is a gift, not just the first one.

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And I want to make this something.

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I want to make breath a prayer because

it seems to me that every faithful inhale

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can become an act of receiving, and

every exhale can become an act of trust.

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Now, I want to be careful here.

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I'm not saying you should simply be able

to breathe and let go of grief or trauma.

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I'm saying that the breath teaches us that

we were never designed to hold burdens.

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We were created with an innate

rhythm of receiving and releasing.

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Sometimes what we release is fear.

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Sometimes it's control.

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Sometimes it's perfectionism.

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And we may have to release the same

burden 100 times before they finally

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lose their grip, and that's okay

because if we can breathe in, we can

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breathe out for as long as it takes.

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Here is an example of how

my personal practice looks.

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I was recently praying with words about

the fires that have been ravaging our

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area, and in the process, I realized

I was praying with fear and worry.

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So I stopped and just breathed.

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I didn't think any words, I just breathed.

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But in essence, I was

saying, "I trust the Lord.

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The fires are in his

hands, whatever happens."

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To me, my simple breath expressed

my emotions, and in the process, I

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was engendering my body with trust.

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No words, no visualizations,

just a pause and a few moments

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of slow intentional breaths.

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And it's my belief that these

breaths have the ability to bring me

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into closer relationship with God.

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And when used daily, they further

me in my practice of praying always.

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So those are the thoughts of my heart.

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I hope you find them useful.

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Until next week, namaste.

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About the Podcast

Creative Spiritual Journey
one small, deliberate step at a time
We are all on a journey—a journey home to our heavenly parents. Any experienced traveler knows there are days you laugh and days you cry.

We aren’t here to tell you how to live—we are here to share how we live—how we survive, thrive, and even find joy!

The journey gets messy with rainstorms and sleepless flights but the hard times—the miserable times—those make the best stories.

And the vistas, the sunsets, the little birds outside the window—those are the reminders that God is in the details, he is aware of us, he has trod the path before.

The Creative Spiritual Journey Podcast is hosted by Judy and Ghia Cooley—two sisters in their wisdom years—who love the savior and are dedicated to making this journey one small, deliberate step at a time.

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