Manresa spiritual director helps people forge deeper connection with God through Scripture, prayer and movement
TROY — In the golden morning light filtering through the stained-glass windows of Christ, Our Light! Parish in Troy, a Saturday gathering of special needs students, their family members and other parishioners sat, eyes closed, quietly listening, as special guest Janene Ternes began a Prayer in Motion Lenten retreat.
Sharing a Scripture reading and then a Hail Mary, Ternes guided the group in gentle motions: arms gently reaching toward heaven, hands crossing over heart, fingers touching together in prayer position as music played and a rich, fulfilling peace settled over the group.
“Research substantiates that most people pray from the left side of the brain with words, Scripture … but we get distracted, thinking of grocery and to-do lists," Ternes shared in a later interview. “Adding music and everyday movements — like bowing, raising hands, touching your heart — accesses the right side of the brain to encourage an emotional connection with God. The little bit of movement focuses us and removes the distractions."
Prayer in Motion isn't yoga or dance. Instead, Ternes says, it focuses on simple, "everyday movements" to accompany prayer, keeping the focus entirely on God while eliminating distractions.
“People who are barely able to move, as well as healthy people of all ages and abilities, have been able to totally partake in this type of prayer, saying it helped them truly feel closer to God and know His love for them," Ternes added.
Ternes had her own special encounter after a particularly trying period in her life.
“In 1999, my husband of 17 years died of cancer at the young age of 45. I then struggled with my faith, unable to understand why God hadn’t healed him," Ternes said. "I kept attending Mass but was just going through the motions. After two years of trying to hang on, I got my first call from God.”
Ternes said she was moved to “stop crying and get off the couch” and, instead, to take a ballet class.
“I had no idea what I was doing. But as I moved to the music, I experienced joy again for the first time, though I didn’t associate it with God,” she said.
At that same time, her pastor, Fr. Jim McDougall of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Ann Arbor, asked if she would consider becoming a spiritual director.
“I thought that was hysterical,” she said, “because I was really struggling with my faith.”
However, six months later, Ternes found herself responding to that second call from God, and she enrolled in the spiritual director program at Manresa Jesuit Retreat House in Bloomfield Hills.
One of the program’s requirements was a five-day, silent retreat. While packing for the retreat, Ternes heard, “Take your ballet shoes.” Scoffing, she finished packing, headed to leave and again heard, “Take your ballet shoes.”
She grabbed her shoes and left.
On the retreat, participants were allowed an hour a day to talk to a spiritual director.
Ternes’ spiritual director offered her a music CD to listen to in her room. Grateful to have something to drown out the silence, Ternes took it.
“When I listened, I knew I was supposed to dance to the song 'You Are Mine,'” she said.
“At 4 a.m., I got up and went to the basement, where I wouldn’t be discovered. I put the music on and looked at the crucifix hanging on the wall. As I began to move to the music, I was totally overcome with God’s love for me,” Ternes said.
“Later, when I shared this with my spiritual director, I thought I was going to be ‘in trouble,’” Ternes laughed, “but she said, ‘It sounds like the dancing was prayer.’ Every day she gave me a new CD and Scripture.
“So, I had this secret life in the basement and, at the retreat’s end, my director asked me to teach her movement prayer for a retreat she was leading the following week. I told her, ‘I think I’m supposed to do it.’ Despite my fear, I did it, and people were crying, and moved, and asking me to come to their churches.”
Today, Ternes is a supervisor for the Ignatian spirituality internship program at Manresa as well as a retreat director and companion for the Ignatian spiritual exercises. Through her Prayer in Motion, LLC, ministry, she offers presentations with themes like "Cultivating Joy," "Remain in Me," "Say Yes to Change," "Spiritual Health for Today," and others.
She speaks at Advent teas, parish missions and Lenten retreats and provides spiritual direction for individuals. Her website offers a wealth of resources, including inspirational blogs and ideas for parish, family and individual experiences for support and spiritual growth.
“My calling is one that came out of misery,” Ternes said. “I tried hard not to answer the call. But now I am so grateful that I can help people have a bigger tool box for prayer and provide a unique way of opening people’s hearts to the Lord.
“I’d lost my husband. Soon after, I was laid off from my high-level management job and lost its steady income," she added. "I lost respect, since people did not understand what I’d chosen to do. But, during the past 19 years of Prayer in Motion, I’ve never been happier.”
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