There are probably a million different ways to connect to the light. Absolutely anything in the human experience can trigger this connection and spark joy. Some of the more common ways are activities where we are engaged in something larger than ourselves: for example, being in nature, sharing intimacies with a partner, giving birth, or being with a loved one when he or she dies. The two most consistent and reliable methods for connecting to the light and, more important, the ones that develop your ability to connect at will, are prayer and meditation.

Prayer is such an old-fashioned term that I hesitate to use it here. It sounds like something your mother, father, pastor, or rabbi told you to do many years ago—something you should do, like flossing your teeth or eating your vegetables. The thought of putting your palms together and getting down on bended knee might make you feel uncomfortable or even insincere.

Chances are that the idea of praying only crosses your mind if you have a serious problem that you feel incapable of resolving by yourself: you’ve just had a major relationship breakup, gotten news that you have a life-altering disease, or received word that a loved one has been in a terrible accident and may not survive. These are the kinds of extreme circumstances that inspired the old maxim, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” You promise God or whoever else might be listening that if only He will change this event, you’ll be a saint from this moment on. We use this form of prayer, called petition, to ask for things ranging from our rent money to a new love, house, or car . . . all the way up to world peace. We connect to Source to request something, but prayer can also involve not asking for anything.

When I was a small child, perhaps as young as three years old, I learned how to pray. I was taught through my Catholic upbringing to connect with the figures that are prominent in that faith: God the Father; his son, Jesus; and Jesus’s parents, Mary and Joseph. I also knew about something more nebulous called the Holy Spirit, and about all the angels and saints. I was taught that if I reached out to these figures in the spirit world, they would both listen to me and communicate in return. I learned to connect with them three or four times a day, and by the time I was about five, I not only spoke to these divine figures, but I heard them speaking back to me as well. In the insulated culture I was living in, made even more closed off by attending religious schools, I never doubted that these connections were real.

While I later abandoned these relationships during my teenage years and only returned to them after getting sick in my 20s, the foundation that was established early on gave me a special adeptness with the practice. Later, as I studied a variety of traditions for their secrets to healing, I connected to figures in other faiths as well. Nevertheless, I’ve found that I connect most effortlessly to the icons from my own background.

It may be easiest for you to start out by addressing the enlightened beings that you know about from your own background, if they appeal to you. If you didn’t grow up in a faith tradition or are uncomfortable with the one you were raised in, by all means choose something else that works for you: ancestors, angels, or even your higher self—the god-self within you that’s located above your head in your higher chakras. The bottom line is to use whatever you identify with and that gives you the greatest sense of connectedness when you pray. And prayer doesn’t have to involve words. At its heart, this practice is about joining to the light, Source, God, or whatever name you have for the energy of unconditional love.

Other Forms of Prayer

I actually have very unconventional ideas about what prayer can be. You’re probably already familiar with affirmations, although you may not have thought of them as prayer. They are actually a step up energetically, because they engage the energy of Source in the present moment rather than the future. Petition, or prayer, oftentimes reflects wanting something you don’t have: “God, please bring me a great-looking guy!” With affirmations, you’re saying that you already have whatever it is you want: “I love my partner!” Picture in your mind whatever it is you are praying about—a more loving relationship, better health, more abundance—and know that it already exists, thus allowing Spirit to help you manifest it.

Another use of affirmations that’s more relevant to increasing your light is to declare a shift into your higher-self qualities—those residing in your upper chakras. Do you want the gift of healing? State that this skill is already unfolding in you: “I am able to heal.” Do you want to be an instrument of peace and love? Declare, “I am an instrument of peace and love.” Of course, you must also take action on the physical plane to bring your desire to life. Once you have your vision solidly in mind and you state your affirmation, look for the most obvious next action to manifest that goal into reality. As the quote that’s often attributed to Goethe goes, “What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it! Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” Spirit helps those who help themselves.

We can also connect to the light through our creative activities, where our intention is simply to dance with the Divine. One way to do this is to offer ourselves up as channels, where we ask or intend that the light moves through us and out into the world via our talents and gifts. Another method is to consciously spend time communing with the light while doing activities such as dance, yoga, or Pilates; or through artistic endeavors such as writing, art, or music in which the activity—the dance, the piece of writing or art, or the music—becomes a co-creation between ourselves and Source. This is a profound way to connect and interact with the energy of the light.

To learn more about how to live in the light, join Deborah King at her Four-Part Hay House Live Online Event: Seeking The Light, going on right now!