Everything A Spiritual Break offers, in one place: free guides to download, daily practices, prayers, ways to gather with others, and retreats. All of it is free to use and to share.
Free guides · Daily practices · Prayer · Gather with others · Retreats · The book · Stay connected
Free Guides
Short guides you can read on your phone or print. Each one is a free PDF.
Your Spiritual Footprint
How your presence, choices, and actions shape the lives of others, and how to move from unconscious impact to intentional awareness.
Download the PDF · About this guide
The Method of Sacred Noticing
Notice, Pause, Respond: the practice on a few pages, ready to begin today.
Download the PDF · Read it online
Sacred Noticing: A Contemplative Practice in the Christian Tradition
A theological white paper for pastors, spiritual directors, retreat leaders, and formation educators.
Download the PDF · About this paper
Contemplative Prayer Forms: A Guide
Eight Christian contemplative practices, with their origins and key insights.
Download the PDF · About this guide
Daily Practices
- Daily Prayers and Meditations: the Gospel and Mass readings for each day, with prayer. Sign up to receive the daily Gospel by email.
- Thirty Days of Sacred Noticing: a free daily practice. No sign-up, nothing to join.
- A Week of Drifting: seven days with the Drifting Prayer, from the boat without oars to coming ashore.
- 800 Years of St. Francis: a daily companion for October, marking eight hundred years since the death of St. Francis.
Prayer
- Centering Prayer online: every Monday evening, 6:30–7:30 pm Pacific, on Zoom. Free.
- The Centering Prayer Method: how to begin.
- The Drifting Prayer
- Canticle of Creation
- Prayer for a Beloved Animal (PDF)
- An Advent Prayer
Gather with Others
The Sacred Noticing Gathering meets online on the first Tuesday of each month, 6:30–7:30 pm Pacific. Silence, a short reflection, practice together, and conversation. Free, with no commitment. Register on Zoom · About the Gathering
Leading a group yourself? Everything you need is free to use and adapt:
- Starting Out With Others: five ways to begin, from joining the monthly Gathering to starting a group of three.
- Start Here: an introduction for first-time leaders (PDF).
- Gathering One: I Can Feel Their Presence: a complete evening that needs no book (PDF).
- Encountering Sacred Noticing: the full series of six gatherings.
Retreats
Michael leads weekend retreats at San Damiano Retreat, a Franciscan retreat center on 55 acres in Danville, California, and day retreats for parishes and groups. See the Schedule for upcoming dates, and San Damiano’s events calendar for everything offered there.
Bring a retreat to your parish or group: write to mcunningham@spiritualbreak.com or call San Damiano at 925-837-9141.
The Book
The Practice of Sacred Noticing: Transforming Your Spiritual Footprint goes deeper than any of the free guides: the complete practice guide, a 30-day adoption plan, practice cards for difficult moments, and chapters on relationships, work, and times of crisis. Available in paperback, as an eBook, or as a signed copy, with bulk pricing for groups.
Stay Connected
- Subscribe to weekly reflections by email.
- Find a reflection in the archive, going back to 2016.
- Sharing these reflections: how to reprint and share, with attribution.