Tag Archive for "soul" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘soul’

Soul Shine

Posted on: February 1st, 2015 by Alden

This meditation is about allowing our souls to fill our hearts, to fill our minds and to fill our bodies with the radiance of heaven, so that we can bring that light into the world as tikun olam, the act of repairing the world. The meditation recognizes the majesty within each of us, declaring that that glory must be shared. This piece appears in This Joyous Soul: A New Voice for Ancient Yearnings from CCAR Press.

Soul Shine
Let your soul shine
In your chest.
Let your heart sparkle
In your eyes.
Let joy
Fill your limbs with radiance.
Let love
Fill your hands with splendor.
You are the instrument
Of G-d’s music,
The tool
Of repairing the earth.
You are the voice
Of wonder and awe,
The song
Of hope and tomorrow.

This gift,
This majesty within,
Is not yours to keep.
It is not yours to hold.
It is not yours to hide.

Let your soul shine
Luminous, elegant,
Brave and true,
A beacon of praise,
A lantern of song,
A summons for holiness
To enter our lives
And this world.

Let your soul shine.
Set it free.
Set it free to fill the space
Between the here
And the unknown
With abundance
And with blessings.

Postscript: If you enjoyed this meditation, you might also like: “Fresh Delights,” “Come Walk,” “Let Me” and “This is the Place.” And for musical accompaniment, here’s a link to the Allman Brothers Band singing “Soulshine.”

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Photo Source: tomboyArt on Esty

Sacred Cargo

Posted on: May 15th, 2014 by Alden

This new meditation is a reminder, a reminder that G-d gave us each gifts that are amazing beyond imagination: our souls, our bodies and our ability to bring holiness into the world. It can be used as a kavanah before prayer or engaging in a spiritual practice, such as yoga, or can be used as a reminder of our gifts from G-d before performing an act of tikkun olam, an act to better the world. This meditation will appear in my forthcoming book, Prayers for Healing the World.

Sacred Cargo
You carry sacred cargo within,
Your ruach, your nefesh, your neshama,
The spirit and breath of holiness,
Given to you by the One,
The Source,
Hakodesh Habarachu,
Blessed be G-d’s holy name.

You carry sacred cargo within,
Your heart, your lungs, your blood,
The vitality of holiness,
Given to you by the One,
The Source,
Hakodesh Habarachu,
Blessed be G-d’s holy name.

You carry sacred cargo within,
Your hands, your voice, your strength,
The instruments of holiness,
Given to you by the One,
The Source,
Hakodesh Habarachu,
Blessed be G-d’s holy name.

Postscript: I also have several pieces specifically designed as yoga meditations, including: “Breath: Yoga Meditation I,” “Strong: Yoga Meditation II” and “Pray and…: Yoga Meditation III.” If you like this meditation, you may also like “Come Walk,” “Bird is Bird” and “Leaving.”

Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Source: WikiMedia Commons

Quick Prayer of Joy

Posted on: March 29th, 2013 by tobendlight

Joy. Wow. What a gift. This is a prayer of gratitude for joy, including a reminder to live joy as a daily spiritual practice. It’s another in my series of meditations for use when prayer time is brief. Here are two more prayers about joy: “For Joy” and “Let Joy.”

ADDENDUM, March 6, 2017: An this prayer appears in my new book This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day from CCAR Press as “Prayer of Joy.”

Quick Prayer of Joy
G-d,
Thank You for joy and delight,
For wonder and awe,
For moments of gladness and celebration.
Grant me the ability to breathe gentleness
Into my hours and seasons,
So that I live awake to beauty,
To holiness,
To the radiance that surrounds us.
Grant me the wisdom to arrive each day
With passion and humor,
With song and dance,
With smiling eyes,
In service to myself,
In service to others,
In service to Your Holy Name.

Postscript: Here’s a link to “Quick Prayer for Healing,” as well as two adaptions of that prayer. Others in the “Quick Prayers” series include: “Quick Prayer of Gratitude,” “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon,” “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk” and “Quick Meditation at Night.”

Please check out my Meet the Author video and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Credit: ThyBlackMan.com

Prayer of Gratitude

Posted on: March 20th, 2013 by tobendlight

This is another in my series of meditations for use when prayer time is brief, like waiting in line at the grocery story or when your in a car stopped at a red light. The series now includes eight prayers. This prayer will appear in my forthcoming book, which has yet to be given a title.

Prayer of Gratitude
Today is a gift,
Oh my G-d,
To know Your world,
To receive Your blessings.

Rock of Ages,
Your works surround us,
Daily signs of awe and wonder,
Daily guides to joy and service.
Bless me with hands of strength,
A heart of courage,
A mind of understanding.
Bless me with a voice of praises,
A life of gratitude,
Days filled with hope and love.

Postscript: Here’s a link to “Quick Prayer for Healing.”

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Credit: Women of Faith

Quick Prayers for Healing

Posted on: January 29th, 2013 by tobendlight

Here are two adaptations of my “Quick Prayer for Healing.” The original prayer is general, asking for healing for all in need. These two are specific: one for individuals to say regarding their own healing and recovery, as well as one that names a specific third person. Note: optional lines appear in [brackets], gender choices are identified with a “/” slash and the place to insert a name is shown with a blank line. These prayers will appear in my forthcoming book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Quick Prayer for My Healing
G-d of love,
Cast the light of health and well-being on me [and on my family]
And all who are injured, infirm or insecure.
We yearn for Your healing hand.
Bless us with healing of body
Healing of soul
And healing of spirit.
Grant all in need a full and complete recovery.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Source of Life.

Quick Prayer for Healing (Specific)
G-d of love,
Cast the light of health and well-being on
________________ (add name in Hebrew or your native tongue),
[His/her family]
And all who are injured, infirm or insecure,
Those who yearn for Your healing hand.
Bless them with healing of body
Healing of soul
And healing of spirit.
Grant all in need a full and complete recovery.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Source of Life.

Postscript: Here’s a link to “Quick Prayer for Healing.” Others in the “Quick Prayers” series include: “Quick Meditation for Today,” “Quick Meditation at Noon,” “Your Name: Quick Prayer at Dusk” and “Quick Meditation at Night.”

Photo Credit: Alison Anton

Unlock Your Heart

Posted on: August 5th, 2012 by tobendlight

This is part prayer, part insight, part inspiration. It’s about the yearning for a certain kind of nobility that comes from allowing G-d’s gifts to enter our hearts, the kind of nobility that requires self-confidence, self-care and self-discipline. I use this prayer for the 14th night of the counting of the Omer, Nobility in Discipline.

Unlock Your Heart
Come,
Unlock your heart,
Open the gates
So your soul may enter.

Splendor.

Radiance.

Awe.

Let the spark of holiness
And the gift of humanity
Meet in the core of your being.

Wisdom.

Glory.

Truth.

Let the echo of the ages
And the yearning for tomorrow
Sing a duet of eternity.

Mystery.

Majesty.

Wonder.

Then, dear sisters and brothers,
Your hands will become a fountain of blessings,
And your eyes will become wells of love.
Your words will resonate with Torah,
And your deeds will glorify G-d’s Holy Name.

Postscript: Other songs and prayers of the Spiritual Traveler include: “Come Walk,” “Bird is Bird,” “River,” “Soarbird” and “I am Breathing.” Click here for more songs of the Spiritual Traveler.

Please check out my ELItalk “Falling in Love with Prayer” and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo credit: Pieces to a Complicated Heart

Pray and…: Yoga Meditation III

Posted on: October 16th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a meditation on being, which is a lovely way to begin – or to end! – a day’s yoga practice. It can also be used to begin a meditation session. It has the same rhythm and feel as “Breath: Yoga Meditation I” and “Strong: Yoga Meditation II.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Pray and…: Yoga Meditation III
Pray and feel.
Pray and love.
Pray and heal.
Pray and be.

Breath and feel.
Breath and love.
Breath and heal.
Breath and be.

Hope and feel.
Hope and love.
Hope and heal.
Hope and be.

G-d and feel.
G-d and love.
G-d and heal.
G-d and be.

Postscript: Here are two more pieces with the same rhythm and feel: “River” and “Ethics.” If you like this meditation, you may also like “Come Walk,” “Bird is Bird” and “Leaving.”

For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. If you use or like this prayer, please post a link to Facebook, your blog or mention it in a tweet.

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

Strong: Yoga Meditation II

Posted on: August 20th, 2011 by tobendlight

This meditation is for use at the end of yoga practice to set the intention of taking a strong, loving, peaceful heart into the world. As an alternatively to reciting the meditation, try repeating each line or stanza to build on the meditative state created in practice. “Breath: Yoga Meditation I” is for use at the beginning of practice. See also “Pray and…: Yoga Meditation III.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Strong: Yoga Meditation II
Calm and strong.
Peace and strong.
Vital. Vibrant. Alive.
Loving heart.
Graceful mind.

Calm and strong.
Peace and strong.
Radiant. Luminous. Wonder.
Merciful heart.
Hopeful mind.

Calm and strong.
Peace and strong.
Grounded. Grateful. Healing.
Faithful heart.
Joyous mind.

Postscript: Here are two more pieces with the same rhythm and feel: “River” and “Ethics.” If you like this meditation, you may also like “Come Walk,” “Bird is Bird” and “Leaving.”

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

R’fuat HaNefesh: Healing the Soul

Posted on: August 5th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a lovely prayer for healing the soul directed toward a specific individual. It did not, however, come off as planned. I intended to write a prayer/poem in praise of the soul. Instead, I wrote this prayer for healing the soul. It prayer appears in Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. Optional language is shown in [brackets] and word choices are identified with a slash (/). To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

R’fuat HaNefesh
G-d of the spirit,
G-d of the soul, the breath and the wind,
Look with kindness and favor on __________________, (name)
My [father /mother / sister / brother / son / daughter / friend / husband / wife / partner]
Whose heart aches,
Crushed and fallow,
Whose heart yearns,
Empty and broken.
G-d of the nefesh, ruach and neshama,
Guide his / her soul
Back to wonder and mystery,
Sacred moments and glorious days,
So that he /she knows the power of Your love
And the wisdom of Your word.
May his / her soul shine,
A light and blessing
For our people Israel.

Postscript: Other prayers for healing include: “For Surgery,” “Upon Recover from Surgery,” “For a Critically Ill Mother,” “For a Critically Ill Child,” “For a Critically Ill Father” and “For Healing the Spirit.” All of them appear in my new book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. If you like this prayer, please post a link to Facebook, your blog or mention it in a tweet.

Photo Source: ifDawn.com

Breath: Yoga Meditation I

Posted on: July 22nd, 2011 by tobendlight

A friend asked if I had a prayer to set the mood for yoga practice. I didn’t, but the idea took hold. I wrote two: this meditation is for use at the beginning of practice. Each line can be said once or may be repeated to build a meditative state. The second meditation, “Strong: Yoga Meditation II,” is for use after practice. Later on, I wrote this: “Pray and…: Yoga Meditation III.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Breath: Yoga Meditation I
Quiet and breath.
Stillness and breath.
Ready. Silent. Waiting.
Easing into warmth.
Gliding toward surrender.

Quiet and breath.
Stillness and breath.
Patient. Open. Willing.
Easing into calm.
Gliding toward release.

Quiet and breath.
Stillness and breath.
Present. Here. Now.
Easing into body.
Gliding toward soul.

Postscript: Here are two more pieces with the same rhythm and feel: “River” and “Ethics.” If you like this meditation, you may also like “Come Walk,” “Bird is Bird” and “Leaving.”

Photo Source: Yoganonymous.com

Posts Tagged ‘soul’

Soul Shine

Sacred Cargo

Quick Prayer of Joy

Prayer of Gratitude

Quick Prayers for Healing

Unlock Your Heart

Pray and…: Yoga Meditation III

Strong: Yoga Meditation II

R’fuat HaNefesh: Healing the Soul

Breath: Yoga Meditation I

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