Blessed Movements
Pray. Rejoice. Give Thanks. Always. In all ways.
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May our prayers move us closer and deeper into a more loving and lived relationship with Mystery.
 

Roy


Oblate of St Benedict

at St Placid Priory

EMAIL | BLOG |  

 

 

 

Visit my blog on praying creatively: 

Expressive Prayer

 

 

Expressive Prayer is our creative response to God’s call to Love.
Expressive Prayer is writing poetry, dancing or moving the body, collage, scrapbooking, sketch booking, sculpting, drawing, or painting as ways to respond to the call of the Creator Spirit within.

Above is a collection of body gestures that express prayer words. Try it. Raise your arms with your inhale or bow down with your palms flat on your heart as you exhale. With or without words, listen to the Silence, feel the Divine Presence within and around you. 

 

This is a page from my sketch book that I use to seek God with. Drawing makes me 'see better.' Then when I revisit a drawing, do visio divina (sacred looking) on it and ask myself 'Where was God here, and what what is he telling me?' it can lead to deep prayer for me.

LEFT: Pieta from St Patrick's Church in San Francisco with meditation on surrender from Meister Eckhart.

RIGHT: A scene from SF's BART train. You might notice the 'floating head.' Well, the guy left before I finished drawing him. Now I visualize him walking around SF with his heart as guide.

I feel calm when I sketch, draw or paint. Drawing, especially when I focus on details, forces me to pay real close attention. According to Simone Weil, prayer is "absolutely unmixed attention." Combine attention with intention (of seeking and being with God), and you will know how it feels to be what St Augustine calls an "Alleluia from head to foot."

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Visit my blog Expressive Prayer and hopefully my prayer drawings will inspire you to use drawing as a new way to be with God... or at least, through the prayer paintings and drawings, you get to feel God's awesome Presence and Love even for one moment.

Blessings on your journey-

Roy




To practice Blessed Movements, come to my free Blessedmovements sessions. See information below. If you can't join us, check out my first book of prayer.

Published by Paraclete Press, 2009. Available at your favorite book vendor.

 

    U P C O M I N G   E V E N T S   

 

Yoga for the Spiritual

First Sundays ~ 5 -6:30pm. at Discover Yoga in Redmond, WA. Cost: Drop-in ($17), or use class pass


Mar 5 - On Chakras: How these 7 major energy centers can bring us closer to the Source of our being.


Yoga for the Spiritual is gentle flow yoga (with sprinklings of Tai Chi and QiGong moves) performed in meditation and reflection on wisdom teachings from the world's spiritual traditions.


It starts with breath and body awareness through familiar yoga poses. This stage will warm us up and bring back our awareness of our breath and body, in the here and now.


Then we read and reflect on the night's reading. We follow that with movements congruent to the text to bring the words to life, to come down from the head (thinking) to the heart and guts (feeling). Then we sit in a circle, digesting and reflecting on the wisdom and blessings of the practice and listening to how we are invited to share that in our daily life.


All persons of faith or no faith, yoga experience helpful but not required (we'll help you adapt the poses to you), are welcome.


Yoga for the Spiritual aims to awaken the good, joyful, and beautiful heart present in everyone.

 

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.



Blessed Movements Prayer Session:
Scriptural Stations of the Cross

 Wednesday, 21 March 2012 07:00 PM
at St Catherine Parish in Seattle

This Blessed Movements prayer session will be focused on the Scriptural Stations of the Cross as introduced by Pope John Paul II in 1991. will help us contemplate and reflect more deeply on Jesus' compassion, forgiveness, and lovingkindness through His passion story.

For questions, please contact Jeanne Hall.


Blessed Movements Prayer Sessions at the
2012 L.A. Religious Education Congress
March 23-25, 2012
Anaheim, California

I will lead two Blessed Movements prayer sessions at the Congress. On Friday, the focus is Psalm 23. And on Sunday, we'll be praying with the Scriptural Stations of the Cross as introduced by Pope John Paul II in 1991.

For more info, go to L.A. Congress.

   O N G O I N G    E V E N T S   

 

Flow Viniyoga for those who want to cultivate and nurture a spacious and tender heart, a flexible and calm mind, and a healthy body.

 

Saturdays, 9 to 10:15 at Discover Yoga in Redmond, WA

 

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FREE   Blessed Movements Prayer Sessions (BMPS)

 

Bothell United Methodist Church

2nd & 4th Wednesdays of the month, 7 to 8:00pm
18515 92nd Ave. NE, Bothell, WA
(425) 486-7132
BUMC Email

Blessed Movements prayer sessions follow the Christian calendar. Each session is inspired by Christ's life and teachings as told in the Gospel reading of the following Sunday.

We read and reflect on the reading. Then we move the body in prayer and meditation with words taken from the gospel reading. We close by sitting in silence in a circle around a candle, we breathe together in full awareness of the Divine Presence and we say and move with The Lord's Prayer. And we go forth into the world as Christ's Love for all.

 

Come pray with us in new and creative ways.

Feedback from Blessed Movers:

 

I was a little apprehensive about the prospect of praying with the body. I am not a "kinesthetic" learner. However, I discovered Mr. DeLeon's praying with movement quite natural, as he guided us through familiar stories of scripture. Praying traditional prayers through movement also brought new life and insight to my prayer life. I plan to pray with movement on a regular basis.
- Mary Kellison, PhD, former Pastoral Assistant for Adult Faith Formation, St Jude Parish, Redmond

 

I truly appreciate Roy’s approach to prayer. Through Blessed Movements, we are invited to live our prayers to God, not simply say them. By practicing what Roy teaches, I am challenged to be more present to God’s presence in my life and live my faith in a way that is transformational.

- Lara Bolger, Assistant Pastor, Bothell United Methodist Church

 

In Blessed Movements, Roy DeLeon gently invites us to remember the body’s beautiful grace as our primary vessel for prayer. Give yourself the gift of reconnecting with the holy Source through gesture and motion, stillness and shape.

- Christine Valters Paintner, OblSB, PhD, REACE, Author of Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements (Ave Maria Press 2010) and Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction (Morehouse Publishing 2010)