A Pilgrimage in the
Palm of Your Hand.
You don't need to travel to a foreign country to walk a sacred path. Discover a somatic, neurologically-anchored journey through the joints and valleys of your own hand.
Rewiring the soul through the body.
Most contemplative practices exist entirely in the intellect. We try to think our way into peace, leaving our physical bodies carrying the same tension, trauma, and anxiety we started with.
The Hand Psalter is different. It is rooted in neurobiology. By physically journeying through, touching, and mapping the specific joints and areas of your hand, you neurologically imprint peace and regulation into your nervous system.
A Journey of Sequential Depth
You are not obligated to complete all four stages, but they must be done in order. Each profound layer relies entirely on the structural foundation built in the previous step.
The PraiseWalker Substack
While the Hand Psalter is the structured practice, the PraiseWalker Substack is the living community and philosophy surrounding it. Join us for ongoing articles exploring somatic anchoring, the beauty of living connected, and the profound rest found in Menuchah.
Read the latest articles"As a Child Clinical Therapist for 21 years, I knew psychology, modalities, and methods. I was drowning in 'behavior management' techniques—even in my spiritual life. My head knew all the answers, but my head and my heart were miles apart when it came to true intimacy with God.
The first time I sat with the Hand Psalter... I began to weep. I felt as though I was standing in the Holy of Holies. Peace flooded my heart that first time, and it has every time since.
What is so beautiful now is that whenever I feel anxious or overwhelmed during the day, I can simply return to this tactile practice, and my peace is restored."
I know what it's like to hunger for a faith that feels alive.
"...only to find yourself buried under the weight of 'doing' — reciting the words, showing up, trying harder, and still feeling quietly far from peace."
I am a pragmatic contemplative, a certified Mental Health Coach and Insight Coach, a vowed member of the Order of the Mustard Seed, and a vowed member with the Order of Imago Christi. My deepest work is as a spiritual companion and Keeper of the Hand Psalter—tending the ancient practice of praying with the body so you can find safety in the palm of your hand.
I have spent years fascinated by the question of why some practices actually change people while others simply inform them. Reading voraciously at the intersection of neuroscience, neurotheology, and contemplative spirituality, I've followed the thread of how our nervous systems are wired for connection and rest.
That curiosity led me to a 15th-century monk named Jan Mombaer and a practice he mapped onto the palm of his hand in 1494. What he built by instinct turns out to be a remarkably precise tool for emotional and neurobiological regulation. In essence, it's a portable sanctuary you can carry into a waiting room, a difficult conversation, or into that three in the morning session when you're wide awake and your mind is racing.
I wrote the books. I built the companion. And now I walk alongside those who are tired of tidy, color-coordinated practices and ready for something that actually fits inside their real, ordinary, chaotic, beautiful lives.
Grab a cup of tea. Leave your "perfect" version of yourself at the door.
The gate is open.
Gentle Inquiries
How much time does the daily practice take?
Stage 1 (Holding Prayer in the Palm of Your Hand) requires about 30 minutes of daily practice for 35 days.
While 30 minutes might sound like a commitment, this consistency is absolutely vital. We are not just reading a book; we are neurologically imprinting a physical geography of regulation onto your nervous system. That kind of deep somatic rewiring takes time, gentle repetition, and consistency to truly take root in your body.
Can I skip straight to the deeper exercises?
I completely understand the desire to dive into the deep end, but the short answer is no.
This is a uniquely somatic journey designed specifically around the Hand Psalter acting as your primary workstation, moving you away from heavy intellectual journaling and into an embodied experience.
For these profound exercises to work as intended—and to keep them from becoming just another exhausting mental task—the neurological foundation and somatic mapping built during Stages 1, 2, and 3 must already be fully established.
Why is it called the Hand 'Psalter'?
Jan Mombaer, the 15th-century monk who originated this practice, named it the chiropsalterium, or Hand Psalter, after the ancient stringed instrument (the psaltery or lyre) used to accompany the Psalms.
He visualized the hand as an instrument of devotion, where each joint and tip was a 'string' to be plucked in prayer. He believed contemplative practice wasn't meant to be merely recited in the mind; it was meant to be felt and physically inhabited.
By mapping this practice onto the physical geography of your hand, you are essentially bringing your body and your nervous system directly into the sanctuary.
Begin the 35-Day
Hand Psalter Journey.
Get the fully interactive eBook, Holding Prayer in the Palm of Your Hand, and start mapping the geography of your peace today.
Get the eBook & BeginMeet Father Jan.
This interactive eBook comes with an adorable, optional Telegram bot named Father Jan. He will send you morning messages, gentle check-ins, encouragements to keep going, and a bit of humor and trivia to ensure you actually complete the 35-day journey.