Imagine going to a heart surgeon who may be your last hope of staying alive and she says, “We need to offer healing prayer for the body.”
WHAT?? Do the words “second opinion,” come to mind?
I try to keep that image in mind during the times I tell my patients to consider a daily practice of prayer and meditation as part of a comprehensive approach to healing.
But it’s not what you think it is. I’m not saying:
- You are in such bad shape, you better pray for a miracle!
- Beg God, Yahweh, Jesus, Buddha or Ganesh to help you because I can’t
- I think you need to believe what I believe
It’s actually funny to even imagine a doctor telling a patient any of these things. But it is important to fully understand what a spiritual practice of healing prayer for the body can do. Yes, that’s what I’m saying: you don’t pray FOR something. By being still and meditating, your body heals.
A recent study has shown that the rates of getting healed are faster amongst the patients who perform prayers regularly since their hearts are filled with faith, optimism, psychological and spiritual comfort, and tranquility, all of which boost the immune system.
Why does healing prayer work?
The following explanations have been offered as to how prayer helps improve health:
- The relaxation response – prayer elicits the relaxation response, which lowers blood pressure and other factors heightened by stress.
- Secondary control – prayer releases control to something greater than oneself, which can reduce the stress of needing to be in charge.
- The placebo response – prayer can enhance a person’s hopes and expectations, and that in turn can positively impact health.
- Healing presence – prayer can bring a sense of a spiritual or loving presence and alignment with God or an immersion into a universal unconsciousness.
- Positive feelings – prayer can elicit feelings of gratitude, compassion, forgiveness, and hope, all of which are associated with healing and wellness.
- Mind-body-spirit connection – when prayer uplifts or calms, it inhibits the release of cortisol and other hormones, thus reducing the negative impact of stress on the immune system and promoting healing.
In his book Healing Words, Larry Dossey writes that the body responds to these practices with what he calls the relaxation response, which consists of “a lowering of the heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate; a reduced need for oxygen; less carbon dioxide production.” In effect, the relaxation response is the opposite of the stress response and can be consciously used to modulate the impact of stress.
Ah ha! Stress. That secret killer which is at pandemic states in normal times, is even more heightened during this other pandemic. Stress attacks our body and our immune system. So scientifically we have started to prove what emotionally makes sense: meditation or healing prayer calms our body and reduces stress.
It makes perfect sense to recognize what prayer can do for the body.
For specific resources to meditation tools I find useful, I encourage you to download my free restorative medicine prescription for a healthy immunity in troubled times.
Or start right now. Sit still. And begin.
