This is the fourth (and final) posts in a series that is a personal response to the phenomenon of the success of yoga. In the first post I considered the reasons for the success of yoga, here; in the second I discussed the problems with yoga from the point of view of a Christian, here. In the next two posts I consider various possible Christian responses to this success. The responses I consider are as follows, I discussed options 1, 2 and 3 , here, and now I consider item 4. I consider items 3 and 4 to be the most sensible courses of action:
Develop a Christian version of yoga
Develop a non-yoga alternative by attaching Christian contemplative prayer and mysticism to spiritually neutral physical pursuits
Develop a Christian account of the good of physical exercise that asserts the dignity of seeking to be physically fit and its validity within in a well balanced Christian life.
Adapt psychological techniques for improving performance in professional sports and in physical rehabilitation to a Christian form. The psychological techniques are proven to improve the endurance in training especially. The science of psychology does not acknowledge a spiritual dimension to man, but their approach is easily adapted to a Christian anthropology. We consider here the example of Self-Talk. In many ways the adaptation is similar to some traditional methods of using aspirational or ejaculatory prayer in order to sanctify mundane activity and to fulfill St Paul’s exhortation to us to pray continuously.
In each of these approaches described above, I am assuming that these techniques might be offered to those who are not Christians as well as to those who are believers. The power of yoga is that often people are not strong believers in the power of spiritual practice at the outset, but are drawn deeper into the spirituality by feeling the benefits of them regardless of whether or not they believe.
Similarly, suggesting to someone that they do not need to be believing Christians to benefit from Christian practices is not a new approach. Pascale’s Wager, which was developed by the Frenchman Blaise Pascal in the 17th century is effectively an approach to inducing people to practice the faith with the exhortation, ‘try it and see if works’, and if it does then your faith will grow. In the modern era the many 12-step movements successfully use this style of approach to introduce atheists to adopt practices of prayer, meditation and good works in order to overcome addiction. Indeed I credit my own conversion to Pacal’s approach. As I have outlined in my book, The Vision for You. When I was in my mid-20s, I wished to discover my calling in life and was presented with a daily program of spiritual exercises that were essentially Christian in character. I was encouraged to give them a try with the words: ‘Try these for 30 days and if you don’t like them, we’ll return your misery with interest.’ Being willing to take action is the acorn of faith from which the oak of faith can grow.
Adaptation of psychological techniques for improving physical performance
I am thankful to my friend, Dr David Cutton, who teaches at Texas A&M University for bringing the whole concept of Self-Talk and its similarity to Catholic spirituality to my attention.
Modern psychology has developed a number of effective motivational techniques for improving one’s attitude so as to be better able to deal with adversity or attain goals in life. We will consider one such technique here, which has wide application, which is called called Self-Talk, and which is in essence the same as many of these psychological motivational tools.
What is Self-Talk? It is a set of mental exercises by which we influence are own thoughts so that we become more optimistic and positive in a given situation. Psychologists first developed these techniques after it was observed that when we pursue any goal, we experience an internal dialogue in which we experience a whole range of thoughts and then react to them. These can be instructions or postive thoughts of encouragement or of confidence, or conversely thoughts of doubt and fear about what we have to do.
Psychologists attribute these thoughts to the subconscious mind and they reveal, they say, deeply held attitudes about ourselves and our chances of success. It is widely accepted that those whose self-talk is optimistic and positive are generally happier and achieve more; while the result is the opposite for those whose self-talk is negative and pessimistic. Further to this, it is accepted that if an individual can change this internal dialogue from pessimistic to optimistic he is likely to perform better. In other words, the thoughts are not simply a reflection of our capabilities, they also influence the outcome. While it doesn’t guarantee success, we are more likely to do well if we are confident of success in advance.
Self-talk is a term coined by psychologists to describe a process by which people can engage with the naturally occurring internal dialogue and turn it into one the helps us achieve desired goals. It has application in just about any human activity, it has been discovered, and can even just contribute to our general outlook in life and raise measured levels of happiness, it is reported. For example, when someone uses the mental technique of Self-Talk (ST) the person is able to displace negative thoughts with positive ones with the result that, in general, the individual can be happier, healthier and achieve more of their desired goals. In regard to physical health and fitness, it has been found, for example, to be highly effective in acheiving improved performance in physical exercise and sports, and in improving the completion rates in courses of physical therapy after injury, and in recovery after operations or for those undergoing treatment for cancer. Physical rehabilitation, for example, after serious injury or operations, is typically very hard work and it is not uncommon for people to lack the perseverance needed to complete it.
The basic assumption that underlies the psychological approach is that the only driving force for our free actions is our will and the more forcefully we apply our will to difficulties, the more likely we are to overcome them, regardles of the morality of what we intend to do.
However, as Christians, we believe that good actions and decisions are a free response to the promptings of grace. In this sense we exercise our free will well by cooperation with the promptings of the Spirit. With this in mind, it would seem reasonable to suggest that as well as appealing to ourselves to try harder and think positively, which is not bad thing if we are on firm moral ground, we will gain even better results if we ask God to help us respond to his grace.
To the degree that we are able to cooperate with God’s grace, this will likely give good results in two ways: first, we will be better able to do what God prompts us to do; and second we will be less inclined to do what does not want us to do (which may be the opposite of the result that the phsychologists would view postively). Regardless, as Christians, if cooperating with grace, we are more likely to be content with the result, even if it doesn’t match what we initially hoped for. We cannot know for certain what God intends, of course, but provided an activity isn’t inherently sinful, it can only help us if we look to God in doing it well, entrusting the final results to God. The maxim pray for rain and dig for water seems to apply here.
With this in mine, we might adapt Self-Talk (ST) so that we instead talk to God, to create a practice that we might term God-Talk and then offer it, for example, as a tool to help them persevere in physical therapy.
Rather than commanding or asking our ‘higher self’ to help us (ST), ‘God Talk’ (GT) will be a the practice of asking God to help us .
Encouragement with affirming GT as a specific prayer could include, “I can do this, with God all things are possible!”, “Come, Holy Spirit…” (CCC, 2021; 2671), or “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” GT may also be used to ask for help in motivating us to overcome fatigue or distraction: “Why am I doing this exercise today”, or, ”I don’t want to exercise today—Come Holy Spirit help me to remember, and be more persistent” or “Keep the knees bent, Holy Spirit help me to focus” are a few examples. Often, the specific choices made in the wording of GT originates in the conscience (Brown, 2012; Cutton, 2019). Its source is occasionally from recollection and reflection, or it could be the direct, subtle urging of the Holy Spirit.
GT may also deliver specific instructions concerning how to physically perform, such as, “Keep the head up, and eyes forward today, you are God’s creation”, or “Complete a full warm-up, Holy Spirit help me to remember” are a few examples. Thus, the success of exercise and ST practices can be explained in the view of how a Christian approach to harnessing what is good to redirect the gaze to life of the Trinity.
ST made GT is not a positive-thinking exercise as conceived in the popular imagination and fuelled by the self-help section in our bookshops. This self-centred approach to self help is typified by titles such as Think and Grow Rich, and The Secret, by which the individual attempts to govern an all powerful force through sheer force of will. In these books, although the power is superhuman, the individual is promised authority over it. It is in effect a false promise of control over our environment and over God. God Talk on the other hand is prayers for help in accordance with God’s will for us.
What is being suggested here is in fact a contemporary application for the traditional practice of what is referred to in the Christian tradition as aspirational or ejaculatory prayer. This is a method of prayer cited by Fathers, such as Augustine and St Francis de Sales. The idea is that short spontaneous prayers can be part of our day and can become second nature to us, and as automatic as breath. The word aspiration comes to us through the Latin word aspirare which means to breath. Aspirational prayers can be prayed out loud or in the heart as quiet thoughts. Rising up to heaven like incense, our aspirations can be part of our efforts to pray without ceasing (cf 1 Thessalonians 5:17). As with all prayer, aspirations can be prayers of praise and thanksgiving, statements of contrition and repentance, or prayers of petition and intercession. Following the advice of St Paul, St John Climacus also known as St John of the Ladder recommended:
St Francis de Sales
“Before all else, let us list sincere thanksgiving first on the scroll of our prayer. On the second line, we should put confession and heartfelt contrition of soul. Then let us present our petition to the King of All. This is the best way of prayer, as it was shown to one of the brethren by an angel of the Lord” (The Ladder 28.6).
It occurs to me that if we find that GT is a good technique for helping people to achieve physical goals, especially rehabilitation, then this might be a way to draw people into the Faith. If the name of Jesus, and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are evoked in the prayers that people are taught to use, it will likely draw people to the Faith, provided the connection is made judiciously but nevertheless explicitly.
One might question whether or not this approach will work if the person who uses the technique is not a believer. Certainly faith is a component, but I suggest that this is another of those situation where all that is required is a ‘mustard seed’ of faith. Provided the individual is not hostile to the idea of God and has a sufficiently open mind to the possibility of His love, it can work, provided the will engages sincerely in the prayers.
Note, as mentioned, this is not a positive thinking exercise, rather it is a positive action exercise. The individual might be doubtful or skeptical as well as hopeful - all these things can be present. But provided he is hopeful enough to take the action of praying, he is opening himself up to the possibility of it working through cooperation with grace as occurs, as previously mentioned, for those who are recovering from addiction…
…and in the Vision for You method, which was passed on to me.
The individuals who are committed to the goal of getting sober, or of finding one’s calling in life will only use such spiritual techniques if they believe at some level at least, that they might work, and that God might exist. When they see results, faith develops. In time, they recognize the truth that all that is good in their lives is provided by a loving God, including many good things that up to this point were taken for granted.
St Augustine
