Centering Prayer – Christian Mediation

The health benefits of meditation have been well documented. This article, Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress, posted on the Mayo Clinic’s website, recommends mediation as an effective way to reduce stress and anxiety. We teach meditative practices to many of our clients in an effort to help them find greater wholeness, positive energy, integration, balance, and creativity in in their lives.

An unfortunate misconception prevents many individuals from realizing the benefits of meditative practices. Many people believe that meditation is somehow contrary to the Christian faith tradition. This is simply not true. In fact, Christian meditation, sometimes called centering prayer or contemplative prayer, has long and well-documented history.

The video below offers a simple introduction to this type of prayer from the perspective of Thomas Keating, OCSO.