If you’ve ever taken part in a religious service, chances are you’ve been given guidelines on how to pray. You may have been told to pray with your eyes closed or your head bowed, for instance, or that a certain day and time is meant to be devoted to prayer. While all of these parameters can help us connect to a higher spiritual force, they can sometimes limit the way we think of prayer or lead us to believe there is a “right way” to pray. In truth, there are many different ways to pray, and it doesn’t have to end when we leave our place of worship.
The idea of praying with our eyes open means being present and connected throughout the day and not limiting our spiritual work to a certain time or place. We are meant to take in everything we experience, extracting the Light from it and using it to fuel our growth. But it takes work to stay present and mindful in our busy lives.
Here are 3 tips to nurture a mindful sense of awareness:
1. Make time to unplug and remove distractions.
Our world moves so fast, and there are so many distractions that it has become increasingly difficult for us to focus on the people and the beauty around us. Downtime and silence have become rare commodities in our hectic lives. Our phones and screens are distractions and noise that rob us of the ability to look around and notice the power, beauty, and inspiration all around us.
Actively work on removing distractions and paying attention to your surroundings. Ask yourself, “How many moments of focused attention did I have today?” Take at least 5 minutes each day to notice your blessings. Having the consciousness to stop and pay attention helps you to extract the most you can out of each moment.
2. Appreciate and enjoy the physical world around you as a way to connect to the Creator.
When people think of a truly spiritual life, they often picture a monk going to the top of a mountain to be by himself and connect to a higher power through prayer. While personal connection and silent meditation are important parts of a spiritual practice, we are not meant to live our lives on a mountaintop. We are meant to be in the physical world, enjoying everything life has to offer. That’s why we have this physical world - to actively participate in it.
The beautiful paradox is that to be a spiritual being, you must be deeply enmeshed in the beauty of the physical world. A balanced spiritual life is not one that is completely separate from the physical world but rather one that is deeply aware and attentive to the world and people around us. This connection to the physical actually deepens our connection to the Creator.
Take a look around and appreciate the natural world – everything and everyone around you. There is a great spirituality to be found in the physical.
3. Know that there is limitless fulfillment you can extract from every moment.
Everything is connected to the endless Light of the Creator, which means that every moment and experience contains an unlimited amount of potential. We settle for less by allowing ourselves to experience such a limited amount of pleasure from everything. Although we may believe there is more that we can get out of life, we don’t often think about how the potential is limitless. There is endless pleasure, inspiration, and blessings in everything around us.
The knowledge that we are only extracting a small percentage of what we can experience can help inspire us to pay more attention to everything and everyone in our lives. A person can live 100 years but achieve so little joy and fulfillment because they did not grab hold of each day. There is so much more to extract from every moment. We are limitless, and so is the fulfillment we can experience in any second. Don’t let life go by!
Prayer doesn’t have to end when we leave our place of worship. Being mindful of the beauty that exists in each moment and each person and finding ways to extract that is a powerful form of connection to the Creator. Consciously put effort into removing distractions, appreciating the world around you, and focusing on experiencing all that each moment has to offer. Through this, you will find deeper connection and greater fulfillment.
