The act of prayer and praying adds a healing balm to the psyche. It pulls you up and deflects negativity whenever it arises. Prayer can protect you when everyone else is going down. It also pulls others up in your life.

The animals in our surroundings can immediately get us into a spirit of prayer and play. Isn’t it delightful that prayer and play aren’t mutually exclusive?

Prayer is nourishment to every cell in our flesh and blood bodies. Prayer reveals the full spectrum of perception rooted not only in this world but also dimensions beyond this one.

Our cats and dogs nourish in the same way as a prayer, meditation, a period of peace.

Prayers can become a beautiful meditation piece, a vision board with an accompanying photo of your dog and/or cat to illuminate the flow of the prayer.

Prayer can help you to tune into the people around you, although it can’t make you turn off the news or the cell phone. Prayer does act as a concentration tool to help recognize the times you’ve failed to concentrate!

Paying attention does not shut everything else out. We are that which is aware of the totality. Skills like prayer and meditation develop with practice, as we appreciate the qualities of mind transcending rational linear thought processes. We must have faith in the process and in our potential to make progress. And then we dedicate 20 minutes or more a day leading to the commitment to go deeper.

My extended family prays five times a day religiously. This is a form of continuous practice and leads to a service and love beyond understanding. OM