DEVELOPING A REGULAR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

DEVELOPING A REGULAR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

We will look at different ways to develop a consistent spiritual practice, how we can fit it into our busy lives, and what the benefits are of having a regular spiritual practice.

What is a spiritual practice? A spiritual practice is a commitment, even a devotion to connecting with your Higher Self, or a Higher Power. Your Higher Self is a term used for your soul, or as some see it, your spiritual body. A Higher Power is used in referring to God, Source, Creator, and the Universe. For many people, having a regular spiritual practice is important because it brings them comfort, an inner peace. Spiritual practice for some may mean using prayer and a more traditional religious approach, and for others it may mean connecting with the Universal energy and your Higher Self. Spiritual practice doesn’t have to be rooted in religion or it can be rooted in religion, it is about what resonates with you personally, and when looking at developing a spiritual practice, you must look at what resonates with you and your soul.

You may be asking yourself, Why should I develop a regular spiritual practice, or Why is it important….even, What can it do for me? The reality is, most people begin a spiritual practice because they feel they are missing something in their lives, or they feel overwhelmed by life’s challenges, or they were raised with some type of formal religion and now as an adult, they may be looking for something different from what they already know, or they may simply be looking to enhance their religious practice. Whatever the reason, having a more consistent routine of spiritual connection is what can assist you in creating more of what you want in your life and less of what you don’t want.

If you look at your life, in its current state, does it look exactly the way you dreamed it would at this stage of your life? Are you fulfilled? Are your relationships everything you want and need? Is your relationship with yourself what it should be? These are all questions to ponder when wondering if developing a spiritual practice would benefit you.

Having a regular spiritual practice can bring calm in the midst of chaos, insight in times of confusion, and it can lessen stress during difficult times. Whether you see spirituality as religious or more Universal energy, connecting with this infinite wisdom, and knowledge, can bring balance and harmony into your life, which in turn can create better relationships, and more fulfillment. If you connect with your Higher Self or a Higher power, either way, you are developing a stronger connection between your soul, and your human self. We have all come here with specific tasks to carry out and soul contracts to be fulfilled. As humans we need to access this infinite guidance and wisdom from some place, and yes, this infinite knowledge is within us, but there is even more outside of us that can be accessed as well. So how do you go about accessing this knowledge, guidance, and wisdom? By developing a regular spiritual practice.

Let’s look at the various ways in which we can do this.

Intuition:

This is our ability to connect with other realms and dimensions, as well as Light Beings, to gather information, either about ourselves or others, and to gain a better understanding of what our purpose is while here. Intuition is a direct connection with your Higher Self and a Higher Power. Intuition affords your soul direct access to the information needed to make better decisions, more insightful choices, and ultimately, to be better equipped to walk your journey with ease. This can be done through traditional means, such as a class to teach you ways to develop your intuition. You can read different books that outline how to develop intuition, such as my book, “Tools for Spiritual Healing,” available on Amazon. You can also connect with others, in a group forum, finding groups of like minded people to learn from them what tools they use for developing their intuition.

Meditation:

Meditation offers you the quiet, the focus, and the calming energy needed for contemplation. When we are in contemplation, we are open to receiving guidance from our Higher Selves, or a Higher Power, and we are much better able to either hear this guidance, or see it, or feel it. When we have lots of distractions in our lives, which all of us do, it can be extremely difficult to notice the subtleties around us that are there for assisting us. Meditation does not have to be lengthy nor does it have to be what many believe as a shutting off of your mind, or quieting you mind. It can be taking time to notice what is creeping into your mind, are there things in your life that you are worried about but not really aware of? When I first started meditating, I couldn’t figure out how to shut my mind off because this is what I thought was the purpose of it, and I could not figure out how to do that so I was frustrated, and eventually decided to just allow my thoughts to flow, and eventually was able to immediately quiet my mind. Overall, Meditation is a wonderful tool to use to bring into the forefront of your mind what needs to be addressed.

Prayer:

Prayer is one of those techniques most of us are familiar with either because we practice prayer personally, or we know people who do. Prayer is often used synonomously with spiritual practice. This is one I want to focus on for a minute because if the objective is to create a regular spiritual practice, then you would want to engage in prayer regularly not just when things are going poorly. The reason I say this because a regular practice of prayer can really be the starting point of developing a spiritual practice. Whatever Light Being you pray to, or if it is the Universe that you send your intentions to, it is about constantly connecting with that energy. This practice can lead to other forms of spiritual practice, and is often where people begin theirs. Prayer time doesn’t need to be lengthy either, it can be a quick prayer of gratitude before you get out of bed, or giving thanks before a meal, but the more time you devote to connecting with a Higher Power, the stronger the connection becomes and the more you easily you access this infinite wisdom and guidance.

Nature:

Spending time outside, among trees, plants, and water are all ways of connecting with Mother Earth Energy, and for many people this is their regular spiritual practice, just being one with nature, absorbing the healing energy from the living things surrounding them, listening to the sounds of nature, noticing the animals, insects, leaves, flowers, warmth of the sun, or chill of the winter air, the dying off of what has fulfilled its purpose, only to be renewed when the seasons change. Nature is a constantly changing energy and is extremely healing and rejuvenating to some people.

Visualization:

Visualization is another great approach to a spiritual practice. You can visualize anything that you want, or you can ask to be shown whatever it is that you are supposed to see for the future, or healing from the past. Visualization is a wonderful tool to use in getting in touch with your Higher Self or Higher Power. This is a tool I use regularly for seeing things I need to be aware of, or for making changes.

Physical Mindfulness:

This includes Yoga, Tai Chi, any physical activity that connects you with your breathing, and being mindful of what you are doing, being in the present moment. This does not include running on a treadmill, now physical exercise is crucial to your overall health, but when looking at it in terms of part of a spiritual practice, you want to do more of a mindful type of activity where you are deliberately focusing on your body, mind, spirit, and I would challenge anyone who says that intensive cardio or weight lifting fits this mold.

At this point, I’m sure some of you are asking “How do I incorporate all these techniques into my busy daily routine?”

Well, you don’t have to do all of these, or you can alternate between them from day to day. Remember what we discussed earlier, do what resonates with your soul, if there are things discussed today that make you feel “Ah, I don’t think I want to do that…or Yoga isn’t my thing” then don’t do them, but if there are other things that do resonate with you, try them.

I lived on the New England coast, and had never lived near the ocean before. I like the water, but never felt like I had to be near the water. I had taken advantage of having the ocean so close to me, and even in the winter, I would go to the beach and meditate, visualizing the waves washing away my worries, and fears, and replacing them with calming energy, and faith. I even visualized the salt air cleaning my aura and energy field of any stagnant energy that I had attracted throughout the week. The same goes for walking trails. About 10 years ago, I started to deliberately spend more time outside, then eventually in nature, walking nature trails, and taking time to notice my surroundings and it opened up my eyes to the beauty of it all, which I had never really noticed before, but now, if I go too long without connecting with nature, I can feel it. You will know what works for you but trying them all is important to see what feeds your soul best for this particular part of your journey.