Prayer: Unlocking Holistic Health and Happiness
Welcome to the Counter Culture Health podcast. I'm doctor Jen McWaters. And I'm coach Kaitlin Reed. We're here to help high achieving women overcome mental blocks, find freedom from anxiety, create an abundant life, and build the body and life that they deserve and desire. In this weekly podcast, we'll uncover the raw truth about mental health, nutrition, fitness, and beyond. Let's get to it.
Kaitlin:Hey, friends. Today, we are back with a kind of more mental and emotional health episode with doctor Jen. We are going to talk about the benefits of prayer, the physical, emotional, mental, the impact it has on relationships and brain health, and Jen is going to share some science of prayer. So take it away.
Jen:Yeah. So I'm excited about this one. So we're gonna dive into the powerful effects that prayer can have on the brain and mental health and beyond. And I love this topic. It's something I've learned more about as of late based off of reading some books, looking at some research, and even my own life, seeing the benefits of prayer.
Jen:And just anecdotally, you know, I think it's often something if you grew up in a religious household, it's something you were exposed to or talk was talked about. But I feel like a lot of times people, families, and even churches don't do a good job really describing the why, how it's so important, why it's so important, how it can benefit you. It's just often just something people are told to do that's important to do. It's a, you know, a spiritual discipline or ritual, which is all great. Like, yes.
Jen:And there's so much more to it, and I think that's really cool to always see how faith and psychology intertwine and how they interact. So just to kind of frame this, there is, in the Bible, there's a lot of references to prayer. One of the most popular commonly known scriptures is Philippians four six through seven. I'll read that for us. It says, do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.
Jen:And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And I love this verse, and it talks about anxiety. It talks about getting to a place of peace and and, understanding, and talks about gratitude as well. All those things we know have amazing psychological benefits, and the Bible talks about how we can get there through prayer and through gratitude. So let's talk about some of the neurological aspects behind prayer.
Jen:So I was doing some research for this podcast and found that there is someone called doctor Andrew Newberg who's a neurotheology expert. I don't even know that was a new field of study. So neurotheology Yeah. Study section of, yeah, like neurology, neuroscience and theology, which is super cool. So he found that prayer he does, studies on people who pray and meditate.
Jen:He does brain scans. He looks at hard data and and facts on how prayer impacts people's lives. And he found that prayer activates the prefrontal cortex, that front part of your brain, which is responsible for decision making and focus. So we could, kind of deduce from here that it's going to help improve executive functioning, decision making process, reduce impulse control or sorry. Increase impulse control, reduce impulsivity.
Jen:And then long term prayer can reshape reshape brain structure, influencing perception of reality. So that's interesting stuff there. Prayer also stimulates dopamine and serotonin, which are neurotransmitters linked to happiness and well-being. So the feel good hormones that we have when we connect with someone we love, when we eat chocolate like those feel good hormones also get released when we are praying, which is super interesting. And it also helps to rewire our neural pathways.
Jen:So consistent prayer can enhance our self awareness, our mood regulation and our resilience, and can help us be better able to focus and manage stress. K. So that's a very brief overview. There's lots of in-depth research on that, but I think that's already fascinating. That's something that the ancient Bible talks about, links to neuroscience and scientific evidence that we have today in 2025 that shows how it's not just something that's good to do for your spiritual health, but also something that's gonna benefit you mentally and your brain actually shows changes when you do this activity.
Jen:So that's fascinating. And let's talk a little more about the emotional well-being piece of that. So there's over 1,200 studies that link intentional prayer to emotional balance and stress management. Pretty amazing. And that prayer provides a sense of control and comfort during adversity.
Jen:I'm sure a lot of us can attest to that. And it also activates the parasympathetic nervous system to help us reduce anxiety, selfless feel more calm, and it can help us process difficult or negative emotions in a more constructive way. And regular prayer has been linked to lower rates of depression and anxiety in research and associated with increased optimism in life satisfaction. So, again, just a very small piece of the research, but fascinating how it actually helps to calm the nervous system down, helps us regulate, reduces mood issues like depression and anxiety, makes us more resilient, optimistic, and even helps to release feel good neurochemicals in our body, in our brain. That's so cool.
Kaitlin:I'm super fascinated with the the dopamine aspect of it, you know, because there's so I feel like in our culture now, there's, like, a dopamine addiction where we're, so many people are looking for this, you know, this quick hit, this feel good. And, typically, we're reaching for things that may not be the best option for us, you know, certain kinds of foods or, video games or phone or scrolling or porn or gambling or alcohol or whatever it is, to get that with prayer can do the exact same thing for us. And that's something that I'm always working with my clients on too. It's like, okay. This is our current behavior.
Kaitlin:You're seeking this for some sort of feel good. What are some other options that we can look at that would be maybe more beneficial for us, and and not as harmful for us?
Jen:Yeah. And I think exactly that this is a wonderful replacement behavior, although disclaimer, it'd be they're not gonna have that instant gratification that you might have with some of those unhealthy coping mechanisms. This, just like you often talk about fitness, spiritual fitness, I would argue, takes just as much time and consistency and discipline to see those effects. I think I don't know if I'm gonna talk about it. It's in my notes for today, but there even actually my pastor talked about this this weekend.
Jen:He's interested in doing a series on, like, soul health, spiritual health, talking even about brain, the brain and the connection between prayer and mental health. And I think it was something like regular prayer over twelve weeks, you know, twelve minutes a day of prayer over, I think it was six or twelve weeks, created substantial differences and changes in the brain in a positive way. But, again, twelve minutes a day over the span of a length of time. It's not a one and done thing. There's no instant gratification with this.
Jen:Like, you might initially feel better. Most people do feel better when they pray because they're releasing their burdens. They're surrendering. They're doing that practice. But those real changes, right, that that substantiated long term change happens if you do it over time consistently.
Kaitlin:Yep. Mhmm.
Jen:Just like everything else. Right? That's the good thing you want in life.
Kaitlin:There's so many connections between this and fitness.
Jen:Right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's the thing.
Jen:Super fascinating. And, you know, we're gonna talk to you about the physical benefits. I'm curious what you think about that because I think often that's such a focus for people in society today is how do I improve myself physically? And the probably the last thing people think about is prayer. But research would suggest otherwise.
Jen:So check this out. So there are studies that show that prayer can reduce chronic pain where people that pray more often have less chronic pain. And it can improve your immune response to make you more resilient to illness and also is associated with lower inflammation levels, which inflammation is a super hot topic right now in the health and wellness community. And, you know, one of the biggest drivers or the biggest driver of inflammation is stress. So here we have prayer, and my guess is also mediated by stress levels.
Jen:It's lowering inflammation levels, which is really amazing. And, again, it's something that's actually quite simple to do versus we often focus on having to pop tons of supplements and one expensive vacation and even, like, work out intensely. But here it is that even prayer just in itself, humble prayer can lower inflammation levels and make you more resilient to illness, which is really cool. Cardiovascularly prayers correlated with lower blood pressure and reduced risk of heart disease. So that's also a really fascinating connection.
Jen:And so overall, your cardiovascular function improves with regular prayer. And then, of course, not surprisingly, prayer also aids and improves sleep that helps to reduce insomnia and promotes deep sleep. And long term prayer is actually linked to increased lifespan. And I saw another study that reconnected prayer, intentional prayer to improve or or a decrease in aging to kind of slow the aging process down as well. Probably lots of reasons, but again, inflammation is probably in there as a reason why stress is in there as well.
Jen:And just the way that you're you think about the world, your outlook on life changes as well for people that regularly pray. So there is those are just the sum of the physical health benefits.
Kaitlin:I'm not surprised one bit. So I think, you know, most people internalize things, and we know what happens when we internalize things for so long. It's like, you know, the the pop bottle or, the beach ball underwater. You can only hold it down there for so long before it's going to pop up and explode. You know, and so like you mentioned before, you know, surrendering, releasing, getting it out of our body, you know, before things explode, before it causes illness, or inflammation or digestive issues or whatever, I'm not surprised one bit, the impact that it has on us physically.
Kaitlin:And, I think the best thing about it is, like, we have access it to it whenever we want for however long we want. It doesn't have to be like this, you know, long drawn out prayer session. You can do it driving. You can do it walking. You can do it any anytime.
Kaitlin:There's you always have access to it.
Jen:Exactly. You do. It's always there for you. And as you probably agree, I always recommend for people to find a regular place and time to do it more formally. Because if you don't have that consistent habit, you may not even do it.
Jen:It might the day can pass by pretty quickly. So I think it's a both and. It's it's a yes. Do it all the time. Have a just a life or prayer and just constant interaction with God, and create some sort of discipline and practice of when during the day can you most likely sit down consistently to do that and formally practice just to make sure that you stay grounded in that and don't lose the consistency in the habit because it can be easy to just be like, well, I just pray whenever, which is great.
Jen:But can you also do that in addition to something formal? Not distracted
Kaitlin:at the same time. Distracted. Right.
Jen:Because right. But the way that I pray when I'm sitting quietly by myself in a room by myself is very different than the way they pray when I'm driving. It's my my mind's bouncing everywhere. Right? So still good things are happening, but it's a very different kind of prayer.
Jen:Just like when we talk about secular meditation, I tell people, I don't want you meditating while you are driving. Like, you're like, that's right. If you can't quite practice it fully, like, you're not gonna be fully present. You're gonna be distracted. You're not gonna get the full benefits there.
Jen:So, and with that, what's interesting is there was a study that showed that I think this was going back to the the the doctor I mentioned earlier, the neuroscientist who studies prayer. And he found that when people did a a prayer such as I am love versus god is love, the people who prayed the the faith based prayer, like god is love, had improved benefits emotionally than people that just said I am love. So it's not saying not secular meditation, but it's to say there's something different that happens when we connect to a higher power. And rather than just focusing on ourselves, we're focusing on outside of ourselves. And those people had better evidence based results compared to people who just focus on themselves and just a secular mantra.
Jen:So that is really fascinating.
Kaitlin:Well, I would argue that a lot of anxiety happens because people are too focused on themselves. They're always looking at self and not outside of themselves. We have this external focus. You you know, even when you're, you know, serving or doing a purpose outside of yourself, it relieves all of that all of that. And so I think a lot of anxiety stems from too much focus on self.
Jen:I agree. And we all we know that we're limited finite beings, so it's like it's almost like praying to yourself, which is like it's there's a limit there. We know that we're humans, fallible humans, versus if you're praying to God, who is, right, as as many people believe, just this ultimate source of love, unconditional love, power, etcetera. That's a lot more feeling of surrender and connection than just trying to connect to myself. And you're right, overly focusing on ourselves and overly focusing on our emotions, we know is actually detrimental.
Jen:There's a balance. Like, we wanna be emotionally aware and know what we're thinking, feeling, but to a certain point. And then we cross over into too much indulgence there, and we actually have a negative impact on our mental health, which is very interesting. So science wise, we talked about this already, but just a couple highlights here. Prayer can be a coping mechanism.
Jen:Also, again, a spiritual practice that connects us in in in a more deep deeper way to God. And also can provide a framework for meaning and purpose in life. And when people have a sense of what their values are, what their meaning and purpose are, they feel they have more life satisfaction. Even if hard things happen in life, if you can create a framework of meaning and purpose, which prayer is a part of that picture, you have more life satisfaction life satisfaction and overall less stress than de stress. Some of the physiological impacts we talked about meditation and prayer increase gyrification, which is the folding of the cortex in the brain, which is really cool.
Jen:It improves memory and decision making and emotion regulation. And like I mentioned, it can reduce the effects of aging on the brain. So, oh, and I was gonna mention too relationship wise, let me go back to that, is that there was a study done at Florida State University, and they found that couples who pray for each other report higher relationship satisfaction, and it can help manage negative emotions and relationships and also create more sense of bonding, belonging, and empathy. So and this is something that often churches will talk about, but there is science behind that that couples who pray together stay together for that cliche in churches, but there's some truth to that. It does increase their bonding, helps you be less I think helps you be less selfish and helps put things in perspective and, again, connects your values and your meaning making framework to your relationship.
Jen:And so it's gonna also positively impact your, romantic relationship too.
Kaitlin:So cool. I love that one.
Jen:Yes. So some final thoughts. So, again, even if, if you are not someone who is of the Christian faith, obviously, there's still gonna be benefits to meditation and secular meditation. There's still good things that happen there, but I would encourage you that if you are someone of of, like, the Christian faith or interested in that, that there's these amazing benefits to prayer. And, honestly, I think most most Christians that I meet, they don't practice this enough.
Jen:I know I struggle with it sometimes in my life too. It's something we often put on the shelf and see a secondary of importance, even things like reading the Bible, reading a devotional, or going to church. But there's something really, really special about prayer. The Bible talks about a lot for a reason. And, again, it goes beyond just the spiritual, but there are these other amazing physical, emotional benefits to it.
Jen:So I just wanna encourage people to revisit that, revisit the humble prayer and just to see how how much more impact and power it can have in your life and overall help you in all areas and in all things, and consider developing a daily practice of that. And, again, over the length of time, so maybe give yourself, like the research study did, twelve minutes a day. Try that for six to twelve weeks consistently as best you can. At that point, I think you'll see more of the measurable benefits of doing that consistently.
Kaitlin:Do you have any recommendations for, like, how to start a prayer practice? Or because I think may maybe a lot of people, don't even know how to or, like, where to start. So do you have recommendations for people that, you know, wanna get into it or start something?
Jen:Yeah. For sure. So if you are a Bible reader, then going to the Lord's Prayer, I don't have the reference offhand now, which is silly. I should have that, but I don't have that. But the Lord's Prayer is a beautiful framework in the Bible that talks about how we should pray.
Jen:And that's always a great framework to use. For those people who are more digitally minded, I am a huge fan of apps like Hallow and Abide, which are faith based apps that have guided prayers, essentially, that you can follow along with. That's a great place to start just to get you going. I think a lot of people struggle with just praying on the spot. Another thing I love to do is prayer journaling.
Jen:So rather than if you're not someone who can think in your head very well or even if you don't like to talk out loud writing it, A lot of people find that they can access their thoughts better when they write. So you can actually just basically, you're journaling to God, and that is your prayer. So lots of different ways. Think about what works for you, the best way that you connect, the best way that you learn. And, you know, I think there's there's a way for everybody to do it, whether that is a journal, whether that some people like to talk out loud and, you know, just sit in a room by themselves.
Jen:Some people listen to an app. Maybe they talk a lot while they're driving. There's lots of unique ways. So I think it's just experimenting with what makes sense for you, but to know there's not, like, a a right or wrong way to do it.
Kaitlin:Yes. Yeah. Yeah. No specific rules too.
Jen:So I
Kaitlin:know for me, like, growing up, it was like, okay. You have to sit down. You have to fold your hands and bow your head and close your eyes. And, yes, like, that's my that was just my picture of prayer for so long. It's like, yeah, that doesn't really work for me.
Kaitlin:So what does?
Jen:Exactly. So just not you know, just because the traditional way that you've maybe been taught that doesn't work for you, don't throw it all out. Think about, well, what is the other way? Because there's nothing theologically that says you have to bow your head and close your eyes. That is just a ritual and a tradition that we have in the Christian faith.
Jen:But you can open your eyes. You can talk out loud. You know, you can look around if you want to. That's just more of a practice people implemented to help with focus, right, and not being distracted. But, obviously, there's lots of other ways that you can actually pray and and connect to God.
Kaitlin:Love this topic. Thanks so much for, sharing your thoughts, wisdom, research, the science on all of these things, and, the benefits that it has on, not just mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, but physically and relationally and also with our brain health as well. So fascinating. So I just challenge everybody to go out and and, try to implement a prayer practice and be consistent with it over time and to see how it impacts you and changes your life.
Jen:Thanks for having me. See you next week. Thanks for joining us on the Counter Culture Health podcast. To support this show, please rate, review, and share with your friends and family. If you wanna be reminded of new episodes, click the subscribe button on your preferred podcast player.
Jen:You can find me, Jen, at awaken.holistic.health and at awakeningholistichealth.com. And me, Kaitlin, at Kaitlin Reed wellness and KaitlinReedwellness.com. The content of the show is for educational and informational purposes only. As always, talk to your doctor and health team. See you next time.
