A guided somatic meditation for post-communion adoration or personal Advent practice
Introduction (spoken by the leader or read privately):
In our Advent waiting, Christ invites us to keep watch with him. Not with anxiety, but with the peaceful vigilance of one who knows the beloved is coming. Let us place ourselves now in that liminal hour – the predawn time when watchmen stand guard, when night is ending but day has not yet broken.
Find a comfortable but alert posture – sitting or standing. Close your eyes if you wish, or lower your gaze.
Awakening the Senses:
Sight: Notice the horizon before dawn. The sky is not yet light, but no longer fully dark. Shapes are indistinct, grainy. You cannot quite make out details, but you watch carefully. Your eyes are vigilant, straining to see what is coming.
Sound: In this quiet hour, every sound becomes important. The distant call of a bird anticipating dawn. Perhaps wind moving through dry grass. Your own breathing. The settling of stone. Your ears are awake, listening.
Smell: Breathe in the predawn air. There’s moisture rising from the ground as temperature shifts. Dust from the stone walls. Perhaps the faint scent of night-blooming flowers, or smoke from dying fires in the city below. The earth smells different at this hour – rich, waiting, alive.
Touch: Feel the rough stone of the wall beneath your hands. The weight of fabric – your cloak – around your shoulders. Cool air on your face, gradually, almost imperceptibly, beginning to warm. Your heartbeat. The rise and fall of your chest with each breath. Your feet solid on the walkway. You are embodied here, present, awake.
Taste: Perhaps the dryness in your mouth from the long night watch. The taste of anticipation.
The Tension:
Notice the tiredness in your body. You have been keeping watch through the night. Part of you wants to close your eyes, to rest. But you remain. You stay. The dawn is coming. You want to be awake when it arrives.
The Breath Prayer:
Now bring your awareness to your breath. As you breathe in, silently pray: Light.
As you breathe out: Life.
Light (in)… Life (out)…
Light… Life…
Light… Life…
(Continue for 2-3 minutes in the liturgy, or longer in personal prayer)
The light IS coming. The life IS here. The dawn IS at hand. You keep watch not in fear but in love, breathing the names of what you await: Light and Life.
Closing:
When you are ready, gently open your eyes. You have kept watch. The light is coming. Carry this watchfulness – this peaceful, expectant vigilance – into your Advent week. Return to this breath prayer whenever you need to remember: Light and Life are near.
Optional addition for the week: Each day this week, find a few moments to return to this practice. Stand as watchman. Awaken your senses. Breathe: Light… Life. Let Advent shape not just your thoughts but your very body, your senses, your breath.
Want to understand the biblical roots of this practice? Explore the Biblical Background on watchfulness →
Curious about how Advent’s threefold coming shapes this season? Discover the liturgical context →
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