On Praying and how I can feeeeel the difference

This one will be short because first it's a work in progress, and second I don't really want to blabber too much about things like these, but it's important so it's gotta be written down.

So I've started praying lately, not in a religious manner but in a more animistic therapeutic way. Because the world is scary and even if we believe that there is no higher power, no spirits, and we're all strictly functional physical beings, it makes a difference if for five or ten minutes a day we show humility and submit and pretend there's forces way way beyond us able to help us personally and take care and we can rest assured that we are cared for and protected. To put it in the nerdiest, lamest way possible, the placebo/nocebo effect works EVEN WHEN you know you're getting the control sample, probably and are aware of the effect. So you can lie to yourself, even if you don't believe in the whole situation, and you'll still get the benefits of belief. To put it in annoying terms, the gods really don't care who or how you worship, or how honest your belief is, as long as for whatever time you choose, you're fully committed to the prayer and reverent during the process. And that's where I'm at.

And it's made a difference. I feel lighter, more confident, happier and less stressed after praying, and it helps me figure out my daily schedule. Plus I can be a little bit flexible about my daily prayer.

As always, this is a situation in progress, more on this later.