Prayer is simple.

Like everything else, prayer is energy. People who pray regularly know its power. They know that it works-- not as mere wish fulfillment but as a means of connecting with a much deeper layer of meaning and causality in the Universe. The act of prayer recognizes the existence of a greater whole that surrounds us, influences us, and of which we are a part.

In his book Reinventing Medicine, Larry Dossey, MD, includes an example of a clergyman who set up an experiment to test the power of prayer. Father Sean O'Laoire, a Catholic priest and psychologist working in the San Francisco bay area, presented a paper at a Harvard University Conference in 1997 on distant healing. He studied the effects of prayer on 406 distressed people, half of whom received prayer and half of whom did not. O'Laoire found that those prayed for improved in all eleven of the criteria he used to measure self esteem, anxiety, and depression. However, he also discovered that the agents doing the prayer improved more than the subjects for whom they were praying for in ten of his eleven criteria.

The findings are intriguing. Findings like these resonate not only with the experiences of those who pray, but with discoveries in modern physics. Non-Locality Theory, firmly established in modern physics, suggests that no matter where one is in the world, what happens around him or her is affected immediately by events all over the universe. In other words, the whole universe in interconnected. No man is an island.

There are no right or wrong prayers. No rules about prayer. Authenticity is all. Prayer is simple.

Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing,
and love salutations in the marketplaces,
And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.

Mark 12:38-40

Spend some time each day in Prayer. Meditatively listen to one of the new Simple Prayer recordings in the "Personal Development" section of mythoughtcoach.com, to commune with a power much greater than you are.

Clean

We all have things in our lives that must be done every day. Things we may not necessarily ENJOY doing, but we still do them. We know that when we don't they bring problems to us later on. They can range from things as simple as brushing our teeth, putting in contact lenses, or taking out the trash.

Bringing and maintaining order in your living space, a big theme in the lives of many, requires regular attention and effort. The time spent performing such daily tasks can become an ideal opportunity for growth. First, since you do them daily, they serve as an ideal occasion for reminding yourself of your core commitments and values, or of your current goals. Perhaps even more importantly, the process of cleaning, of bringing order to the space you live in, is an ideal metaphor for the practice of living thoughtfully.

An ideal time to serve yourself with this reminder is during the time you are cleaning. Take that time to talk to yourself, to release any worries and preoccupations that are bogging you down, and to bring your thoughts back to your core values. For a model of this kind of self talk, try out "Housework and Cleaning Meditation." Of course, if your problem is that you find it hard to get started cleaning in the first place, "Think Like a Clean and Organized Person" just might get that broom in your hands!

To live thoughtfully, which is what "My Thought Coach" is all about, is not the end of a process but the process itself. To live thoughtfully is a form of practice, a daily exercise, of bringing your thoughts back in line with your highest values and your best potential. This is something you can no more achieve once and for all than you could expect to clean your house once and for all. Or wash the last dish. Or take the ultimate shower to end all showers. Things always get messy again.

So it is with our thoughts. There are so many things out there that tug at our attention, which can so easily dominate our thoughts and emotions. To get back in the driver's seat of your own mind requires a regular return to the center, a daily reminder of who you are.

You have the power to affect change to your physical body you also have the power to affect change to your physical SURROUNDINGS. All things physical allow us to master the things going on WITHIN us. You are indelibly connected to your environment, as the world is inside you as you are within it.

Edit Your Memory

Did you know that your brain puts a marker on each powerful experience that you have? These tagged memories can at times wreak havoc in your life, as triggers bring them to the surface. In extreme cases, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can occur.

Guided meditation and progressive relaxation can soften these markers. They train the brain to become skilled in the rare art of "being present," instead of re-living over and over the same experience.

Listening to the guided mp3s on mythoughtcoach.com will also prepare your brain to become an "observer" instead of a powerless victim to the strong emotional responses that are bonded to these past traumatic events.

Your life will change when memories from your past lose their grip on you. You become truly free.

The link below leads to a fascinating article in the NY Times about the research that is being done in the area of memory. Neuroscience has led to an experimental drug that could block certain memories.

Brain Power
Brain Researchers Open Door to Editing Memory
By BENEDICT CAREY
Published: April 6, 2009