How can your body be involved in prayer in a genuine way? Those who experience the nearness of God in prayer often radiate this in their entire being. They experience a deep bodily rest of calm and peace without being aware of this themselves.
We can never "reach" the nearness of God with a rigid posture. God's nearness is and always will be a free gift of grace. We can close ourselves off from this offer of grace by being physically restless and by changing our posture constantly unconsciously pulling ourselves away from the sense of peace. Ignatius suggests that we intentionally choose a posture for prayer and stick with it until "we find what we need".
Remaining physically still during prayer time has been found by many people to be especially helpful for entering into inner quiet. Others have exactly the opposite experience. Their unrest is so strong that they find it easier to come into meditation more slowly by using steady, regular movements rather than trying to plunge immediately into a period of quiet. Still others can compose themselves satisfactorily by writing when they pray. Each person should choose what is most helpful to them.
In any case, it is not the posture we choose that is essential for prayer. (We are speaking here, of course, only of the assigned times of prayer, for throughout the day one can pray using any posture.) In Christianity there are and have been more prayer postures used than the average Christian today realizes.
When
we deliberately choose a prayer posture which is unfamiliar and enter into
it fully, then the significance of the exercise becomes clear, namely how
much our body itself can pray. When we "look in", so to speak, on this
posture we can express the experience in a short prayer sentence. However,
it takes time before we feel comfortable enough with a particular posture
so that a prayer sentence can be formed from it.
- Stand straight with arms stretched out sideways and hands turned upward...
- Sit
straight on edge of firm stool, legs secure on floor and hands slightly
apart,
left
hand on right hand open in front of stomach like a vessel, thumbs relaxed.
.
- Sit on stool with folded hands and upper body bowed...
- Kneel upright on floor with hands folded on breast and head erect but relaxed..
- Kneel and lean elbows on a support breast high, lay face in opened flattened hands. .
- Kneel on floor with forehead touching floor...
- Lay on you stomach on floor with hands loose beside the body...
- Lay on your stomach on floor with arms stretched out sideways...
- Lay on floor flat on your back without pillow, straight but relaxed and with hands completely relaxed...