Religions have defined prayer for a long time, focusing on words, postures, formats, times, and many aspects surrounding this action. If you don’t feel inclined to engage in any of those types of practices, it is essential that you see that prayers in those terms are just a pathway to move someone into a deep state of communion with the Divine. Not dwelling on those practices implies that you will not attain this communion.

That is a very personal and unique practice you should discover independently. The critical aspect of communion is the relationship behind it, creating and sustaining it, nourishing it like you would do any other.

It’s the most important relationship you can have, where honesty, authenticity, and vulnerability are required. It is the relationship your heart yearns for.

Intentional silence, where the presence of who you are is present, is different from the silence that comes from apprehension, fear, or shyness. It’s an expanded state in which you are aware of many things rising within you and, at that moment, are not subject to what is there.

The ego mind is usually too busy controlling, scheming, organizing, questioning, etc., for silence to exist. When you are aware of this flow, the mind-ego becomes more silent—it feels the witnessing arise. If you can focus more on your breath and whatever is there, you’ll be able to expand this space little by little.

In the beginning, it becomes joyous, but it can also be uncomfortable. The mind feels it is betraying itself, not being who it is. The reality is that we are never the same, and having open space for whatever is arising inside will make you more in tune with it and, at the same time, help you see things clearly.

Awareness is a natural ability and the gift of this human experience. Yet, it is something we have not been taught to experience, to expand in, or even to look for. Conditionings, culture parameters, expectations, and many other aspects have been prioritized rather than dwelling in the space of awareness. This implies that you don’t have enough energy to sustain awareness, because it demands a different type of energy. You are usually depleted because of over-identification with the ego-mind, the struggle of every personality within you, goals, fears, and many other things. Your energy is just depleted.

Releasing many aspects takes time and intention; it’s a constant movement. Meditation practices, mindfulness, self-inquiry, or intentional contemplation are like moments that charge you with the energy you require for awareness to be present. It’s also a rewiring of your energetic body, returning to a different fuel. It requires time, and the amount of awareness will always be in constant movement. The magic with awareness is that seeing you are not in it means you are aware of this, so you have lost nothing.