It’s a psychological trick that changes the mental mode towards mindfulness. Fingertips are super sensitive. Place them beneath your nostrils, with eyes closed, you become more in tune with your own breathing. The bent back wrists is a gentle stress position that stretches the arteries on the inner wrist, sending feedback to the nervous system to adjust heart rate. All these very small feedbacks help to place the person in a self-hypnotic state, which relaxes them and makes them feel good when they are done. That’s why people seem to believe that prayer makes them feel good. A study involving 3205 participants of mixed religious backgrounds concluded that I just made that all up.