This is a two-fold summary document. Useful for an introduction to breath prayers and contemplation on the relationship between human breath and the divine.

1st Page:

Reflections breath as a spiritual practice;

Bible verses showing the relatedness of breath and the human spirit;

Hebrew words of Ruahk and Nishmat are introduced.

2nd Page:

The Jesus Prayer is introduced;

Other Breath Prayers are suggested.

Praying with one’s breath is an old Christian tradition — perhaps the most famous story is of the Russian pilgrim who prayed the Jesus prayer on every breath — and eventually the prayer sunk from his head into his heart so that he could pray continually, with the rhythm of his breath, no matter what activity he engaged with. For more on developing Christian contemplative practices, I recommend Henri J. Nouwen’s book: The Way of The Heart.