Songs of One Breath – Page 10 – JilaniCordelia.com

Breathing God in a Fractured World

Songs of One Breath is a weekly online space with Jilani Cordelia Prescott to explore the direct, joyful experience of mysticism through practice. Each Friday she shares chants, mantra, breath practices and body prayer drawn from a range of traditions, offered as grounding, comfort, and a pathway of the heart toward deeper connection and spiritual freedom. You are warmly invited to join live on Zoom (or via Facebook Live) at 2.30pm London time, and it is free. If you enjoy the class or the podcast, and would like to support Jilani’s work, donations are welcome via PayPal.

Breath as Prayer

In this episode of Songs of One Breath, we linger with breath as prayer, presence, and shared life.

This is not a conversation in a hurry. It is an invitation to slow down, to listen beneath the words, and to notice what stirs when silence, voice, and attention meet. Breath becomes a common ground, the place where prayer is not performed but received.

Together we explore what it means to be attentive to the sacred within ordinary moments. To trust that meaning is not always found through explanation, but through dwelling, repetition, and gentle noticing. This episode makes space for reflection, for unknowing, and for the wisdom that emerges when we allow ourselves to breathe.

The space in between

On the 50th Urs of Murshid Samuel Lewis

This episode is offered as a quiet act of remembrance.

On the 50th Urs of Murshid Samuel Lewis, also known as Sufi Sam, we pause to honour a life shaped by devotion, humility, and the deep weaving together of spiritual paths. Murshid Sam was a bridge builder, rooted in Sufism and open to the wisdom of many traditions, inviting people not into belief, but into practice, presence, and embodied love.

Rather than offering biography or history, this session enters into the spirit of the Urs itself, not as history lesson, but as living encounter. An Urs marks the moment of union, a return to God, and a continuing transmission of blessing. In remembering Murshid Sam, we listen for what still flows. Breath, movement, chant, silence, and the ordinary holiness of daily life.

This episode is for those who sense that spirituality is less about mastery and more about surrender, less about certainty and more about faithfulness. It is for anyone drawn to interfaith friendship, contemplative practice, and the quiet work of becoming human in the presence of the Holy.

You are invited to listen slowly, with openness of heart, and to receive what meets you.

8 January 2021 Songs of One Breath

Enter these turning points,
where the rhythms of life transform
Into each other.

Breath flows in, filling, filling,
And flowing out again,
Leaving and returning like a bird migrating.

With each breath, feathers brush against the face of God.

Throats open into a vast expanse
And we are translated.
Wake up to that, and drink the elixir of transformation.

Vigyan Bhairav Tantra

With Ya Hayyu Ya Qayyum la ilaha il’llah

Bowl of Saki for 1 January 2021
Hazrat Inayat Khan: “The secret of mysticism is to break through all the differences and to touch that oneness which is the very source of our being.”

This moment comes to rest in Love

Join Jilani for Songs of One Breath on Zoom, Facebook Live every Friday. If you feel benefit from anything we have shared, please consider making a donation to support us in our work via PayPal.

Come, come whoever you are. Even though you’ve broken a vow a thousand times. Come, Come again. This episode explores the themes of Solstice, Rumi and our place in the universe.

Cleansing Breath, Open Heart: A Meditation on Forgiveness and Unity

Join Jilani for Songs of One Breath on Zoom, Facebook Live every Friday. If you feel benefit from anything we have shared, please consider making a donation to support us in our work via PayPal.

In this contemplative session of Songs of One Breath, join Jilani in a gentle yet deep practice of inner purification, acceptance, and loving presence. Beginning with the Sufi chant Astaghfirullah—”I seek refuge in the cleansing presence of Allah”—this episode offers listeners a space to wash away inner heaviness like a spiritual shower.

Drawing wisdom from Sufi master Hazrat Inayat Khan and ancient Zen texts, Jilani invites us to explore how our attachments and unmet desires shape our struggles. Through simple breath meditations, mantras, and embodied chanting, we’re encouraged to honour both our own inner light and that of those around us.

A beautiful Namaste chant, reflections on divine presence, and a tender Zikr (remembrance) of La ilaha illa’llah guide us toward dissolving boundaries between self and other, form and spirit.

This session is an invitation to soften, to breathe forgiveness, and to remember our shared belonging in the one universal breath.

It Would Have Been Enough: A Gratitude Meditation Across Traditions

Join Jilani for Songs of One Breath on Zoom, Facebook Live every Friday. If you feel benefit from anything we have shared, please consider making a donation to support us in our work via PayPal.

In this special gratitude-focused episode of Songs of One Breath, we draw on chants and prayers from Sufi, Christian, Jewish, and universal spiritual traditions. Beginning with Arabic words of praise and gratitude—Ya Shakur, Ya Hamid—the session then weaves in reflections on poetry by Gerard Manley Hopkins, honouring the beauty of creation as a doorway to gratitude.

Through simple breathing practices and meditative focus, you’ll be invited to centre your awareness on just one object of gratitude, holding it gently in your heart as a source of blessing. The ancient Jewish refrain Dayenu—”it would have been enough”—becomes a grounding reminder that even one small grace can sustain us.

With embodied chants, quiet breath work, and universal prayers, this session offers a spacious, interfaith thanksgiving meditation for all who need to return to the healing ground of gratitude.

Every Breath Praises: A Psalm 150 Meditation

Join Jilani for Songs of One Breath on Zoom, Facebook Live every Friday. If you feel benefit from anything we have shared, please consider making a donation to support us in our work via PayPal.

In this contemplative episode of Songs of One Breath, we journey into the ancient song of all creation: “Let every breath praise the One.” Beginning with words from Psalm 150 and inspired by the poetry of Hafiz, this meditation invites you to experience your own breath as praise—a constant, living prayer offered by every being.

Chanting sacred names of the Creator in Aramaic, Arabic, Hebrew, and Canaanite—Abwoon, Allah, Elohim, Elat—you are guided into simple body prayers, breath awareness, and chant practices, blending the wisdom of Sufi Zikr and Shiva meditation. From softly intoned names to vibrant breath prayers, this session weaves a tapestry of praise and silent harmony.

A reminder that every breath, however unnoticed, is a radiant act of connection and gratitude.

This Is Your Home: A Gratitude Meditation on Elemental Breath

Join Jilani for Songs of One Breath on Zoom, Facebook Live every Friday. If you feel benefit from anything we have shared, please consider making a donation to support us in our work via PayPal.

In this gentle and grounding episode of Songs of One Breath, you are invited into a space of deep gratitude and reconnection. Beginning with simple chants of thanks and moving into reflections on a recent personal experience, your guide shares how gratitude can anchor us even when life feels uncertain.

Through elemental breathing—earth, water, fire, and air—you’ll explore your belonging to the natural world, remembering that your body itself is formed from the same minerals, waters, warmth, and air that sustain life everywhere. Each breath connects you not only to the present moment but to all beings across time who share the same breath.

The session closes with a song inspired by the shamans of the Arctic: “Don’t be afraid of the universe; this is your home.” A gentle reminder for the anxious soul—wherever you are, you belong.