Born and raised in southern Minnesota, Fr. Tom did his graduate studies in theology at the Washington (D.C.) Theological Union and the University of Geneva. He was ordained a Paulist in 1975, and served in campus ministry at the Ohio State University (Columbus) and at McGill University (Montreal, QC.), prior to directing the Montreal-based Canadian Centre for Ecumenism for 14 years and working in all ten provinces of Canada. Perceiving the need for places where Christians of different traditions could gather to share faith and life with each other as well as with members of other religions, he spearheaded the founding of Unitas in Montreal, an ecumenical center for spirituality and Christian meditation co-sponsored by eight different denominations. He served as its director for five years prior to answering the call of his community in January of 2000 to set up and develop the Paulist Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations.
Experience praying as a whole and embodied person. Prayer can be so much more than a mental activity. In corporate worship, people stand, sit, and kneel because these various actions align the body with the mind and heart. But there are many more postures available to us than just standing and sitting and kneeling.
The postures of yoga are one way to open yourself to a fresh and powerful experience of the physicality of prayer. You will learn a range of different postures and how to link them into a harmonious flow that gives holistic expression to classic prayers and psalms set to music. You will also learn a method for meditation drawn from the Christian tradition.
The more we learn to pray as a whole person, the more meaningful prayer becomes, and the more it can serve as an instrument of transformation in our lives.
Fr. Tom Ryan is a certified yoga instructor and author of 17 books on the spiritual life, including Prayer of Heart and Body; Reclaiming the Body in Christian Spirituality; and Praying by Hand, Praying with Beads.