I know that breathing has already been discussed several times, but it is something I find difficult. Please tell me what would be the easiest way, or what you yourself use, to enter a state of prayer.

Well. Everything that concentrates the mind relaxes us. Attending to something in a concentrated way is good; it unifies attention and intention and makes it easier to gradually become master of the mind. One begins to use it as a tool, to stand “behind it” and not so much to identify with its movements.

Breathing has been used a great deal throughout history, as you know, because it is always available, in any situation; it is a sensation we always have at hand to guide us, to anchor prayer.

From a technical point of view, the Jesus Prayer is the right support for concentrating and re-uniting the mind. And breathing is an accessible way of stabilising the body and ordering its functions.

Between what is seen or perceived and oneself there is a distance that can be greater or smaller. If there is no distance between me and the situation, I live at the mercy of what happens. I remain “subject” to it, losing my capacity to choose.

If, on the other hand, there is some time or distance between what happens and myself, if there is some degree of separation, reflection becomes possible and I can choose between alternatives. I am not the same as what happens; I am someone who is looking, in order then to act.

I insist, always speaking to you today from a technical point of view: breathing and the Jesus Prayer become that necessary minimum distance that enables me to choose the Gospel way of acting.

Because at times it is not possible to follow the teachings of Jesus unless we bring an attitude of attention to what we are living, to everything that happens around us and that very often asks us for a response.

In the face of what happens in our life and around us, the first response can be the inner prayer of the Name of Jesus, accompanied by a gentle deepening of the breath.

That is to say: I do not hand my body and my mind over to the tension of what is happening, but hand them over to prayer and to a trusting attitude. And from there I answer, respond, decide and act. Or I do not act, which in certain circumstances is a highly advisable action.

The trusting attitude and deep breathing go together. One is not possible without the other.

In daily life, remembering the breath and deepening it can be a quick way of bringing the Jesus Prayer back on course. And that alone can put a distance between me and events.

As for the specific times of personal prayer, I try to bring the phrase and the Name towards the heart by means of the in-breath. I take it gently and deeply, as if I were filling the heart with air.

And I do not breathe out immediately, but hold the breath briefly, as if savouring the air I have drawn in. Only then do I release the breath freely, following this “exit” of the air with a new and relaxed repetition of the prayer.

Little by little I have seen that the heart, not as a concept but as an organ, has become more present in daily living. Its presence is more noticeable, its beat has become perceptible, and I see this as related to a growing ease in recalling one’s own emotions, as if one’s sensitivity were increasing.

This new sensitivity has interesting consequences, and also some that need care, matters I hope to tell you about soon.

I greet you invoking the Holy Name of Jesus.

Recommended reading: Genesis 1:2

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