Dear Rabbi, Could you please inform me if you have any recommendations on how to prepare oneself emotionally before davening or for that matter to prepare oneself before one starts to do a Mitzvah? Thank you in advance, best regards

Shalom, Thank you for your question. The concept of preparing for a preforming a mitzvah is an important one. However, before answering, let me quote a major concept mentioned in the work Nefesh HaHaim, by Rav Haim of Volozin zt”l. He writes that one should always know that the performance of the mitzvah, even without any preparation, even without a high and good level of intent, has great value. Therefore, one should never let the preparation become a hinderance to the actual mitzvah. He highly criticized those who prepare for prayer at the expence of praying on time for example. So, with that in mind, let’s examine some forms of preperation. The prayer service itself is structured so as to lead one into the act of prayer. However, the acts of washing one’s hands. Dressing for prayer. Moving to a set place for prayer. Giving a coin to charity before prayer. All these things help arouse a person to focus their attention on the act of prayer itself. Some people recite a short prayer that they merit to pray well. Some men immerse in a mikvah. I find that a short verbal statement, such as “Behold I stand ready to preform the command of …” helps focus before a mitzvah that does not have it’s own blessing, such as charity. Those mitzvot that have a blessing, the blessing itself can be used as a way to “set intention” and focus before doing the mitzvah. I hope all this is of some help. Blessings.