An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Centering Prayer
Centering prayer is a contemplative practice designed to facilitate psychological and spiritual growth and development. It is currently being practiced in Christian communities and faith-based organizations around the world. Despite the widespread appeal and practice of centering prayer, the social scientific understanding of this psychospiritual practice is extremely limited. As such, leaders are limited in their ability to make evidence-based decisions regarding the use of centering prayer within their communities and organizations. To help clarify the programming decisions of leaders, this study examined the psychological and spiritual experiences of eight advanced adult centering prayer practitioners using the research methods of interpretative phenomenological analysis. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview format, hand coded, and analyzed for basic and recurrent themes. The results of the analysis yielded 35 general themes that were clustered into 5 superordinate themes: (a) Psychological Health and Wholeness; (b) Self-Development; (c) Healthy Relational Dynamics; (d) Mystical Experiences; and (e) Spiritual Growth and Development. Following evidence-based decision making protocol, these data were aggregated with existing centering prayer research to produce an empirically based set of psychological and spiritual outcomes associated with the practice of centering prayer. Data indicated that sufficient evidence existed to recommend the use of centering prayer within Christian communities and faith-based organizations. Centering prayer programs can be used to help facilitate the personal and professional development of both leaders and followers and can play a supportive role in a variety of organizational development initiatives.
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