As you work on yourself and elevate your life, at some point spirituality comes in. You’re eating better, your keeping active, you’re moving your career in a good direction, you’re choosing better relationships… but even after doing all that, it can often still feel like something is missing… and that’s where your spiritual practice comes in.
What is a spiritual practice?
The word ‘spirituality’ has been rather overused. And that’s why many people can see it as one of those woo-woo things hippies or esoterics practice.
But… spirituality is essentially just the feeling of connection to something bigger than ourselves.
Spirituality involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than myself, something more to being human than sensory experience, and that the greater whole of which we are part is cosmic or divine in nature.
Dr Maya Spencer
6 Ways to deepen your spiritual practice
Your spiritual practice is personal to you. Be it through prayer, meditation or time in nature, you need to find what works for you.
As you go on your own personal spiritual journey, I’d encourage you to keep an open mind. There are so many different ways to deepen your practice and feel that sense of connection.
Here are some of the ways that have deepened my own spiritual practice. I hope that can inspire you on your journey too.
1. Practice mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness is essentially about becoming fully present. In today’s fast-paced world, many of us rush through life with our heads stuck in the future, focusing on everything we still need to do.
When you practice mindfulness, you bring yourself back into the present moment – be it through a simple body scan, a meditation or by simply taking a pause to enjoy the moment.
Practicing mindfulness in a variety of ways allows you to reconnect with what is and to feel the connection you have with everything around you.
Whether it’s feeling the warm sun on your face, enjoying a moment with someone you love, or enjoying a meal with all your senses. Mindfulness brings you back into the richness of life, and ignites the senses.
2. Meditate regularly
Meditation is an incredible way to deepen your spiritual practice.
It is, however, still seen as woo-woo by the greater population. Hanging out crossed-legged, chanting mantras and venturing off into far-off lands.
But, in its simplicity, meditation is just about quieting the mind.
Meditation has been shown to have many benefits, like reducing stress and anxiety. It is generally a powerful way to self regulate and find inner calm, especially if you’re prone to intense emotions.
Meditation is a powerful way to deepen your spiritual practice as it offers the space to connect to your highest self. It clears out the clutter and offers the space to sit with yourself and reconnect on a deeper level.
There are many kinds of meditation, from movement meditation to mantra meditation. So you can go exploring to see what resonates with you.
Personally I just like simple breathing meditations – sitting in the quiet and focusing on the breath. 10 minutes of this quiet time with myself brings me a beautiful sense of inner peace and connection that stays with me throughout the rest of my day.
And remember, it doesn’t need to be 20+ minute sessions. Even just 5 minutes of stillness a day can do wonders.
3. Spend time in nature
Spirituality is often referred to as feeling connected to something bigger.
We all have our own belief systems, but one school of thought is that we, as humans, are simply part of the greater organism, the Earth. And the Earth is simply part of the greater Universe. And on it goes.
With this train of thought, we can acknowledge that we’re intrinsically connected to the universe. We are part of the bigger ecosystem of the planet and the universe.
And so, when we spend time in nature, it’s a way to feel that connection to something bigger.
It may be watching the sunset, going for a walk, or enjoying a swim in the sea. It’s way to reconnect to the earth and the natural primal way of the world.
4. Practice gratitude
The practice of gratitude is often under-rated. And yet, in it’s simplicity, it’s one of the easiest ways to fill your heart with joy.
Most of us spend our time thinking of everything we don’t have, and everything we still need to do or achieve. Our heads are stuck in the future and focused on the things we still need to get to feel good enough.
Practicing gratitude makes you realise how much you already have, fills your heart with joy and raises your vibration.
To grow as a person, in a spiritual sense, you want to raise your vibration. You want to fill up on love, joy and positivity, so that you can radiate outwards into the world.
Gratitude is a great way to shift your energy from a place of lack to a place of pure joy and abundance. It’s a powerful way to raise your vibration.
A simple way to practice gratitude is to write down three things you’re grateful for each day. Or you can make a conscious effort to appreciate the little things throughout your day.
Slowly, as you practice gratitude, you’ll feel your mind shift and your heart fill up with more joy.
5. Listen to your intuition
We all have an inner knowing. Our so-called higher selves, who know what to do and know what feels right.
When you think of spirituality as feeling connected to something greater, this is not only about our outer experience. It’s realising that we have an entire universe within us, and we are ourselves deeply connected to all that is around us.
Our inner and outer worlds are deeply connected.
That’s why we have this magical inner knowing, this thing called intuition:
Intuition is the ability to acquire knowledge without recourse to conscious reasoning. Different fields use the word “intuition” in very different ways, including but not limited to: Direct access to unconscious knowledge; unconscious cognition; inner sensing; inner insight to unconscious pattern-recognition; and the ability to understand something instinctively, without any need for conscious reasoning.
Wiki
It is a beautiful thing… to know that we each have this inner knowing.
As you go on your spiritual journey, trust your inner knowing. Pay attention to what feels good and what doesn’t. Pay attention to that inner voice trying to talk to you. And practice trusting it in your everyday life.
The more you honour your inner knowing, the deeper your connection to spirit will feel.
Side note: A great way to develop your intuition is through meditation. As you clear your mind of all the clutter and find more stillness, you can hear your inner voice a lot better.
6. Trust in something bigger
When you develop your spiritual practice, you start to truly acknowledge that there is something bigger… bigger than just our physically human experience. There is something magical at play…
As you feel connected to this bigger source, there is a sort of letting go. Because it’s not just about you.
You realise that you are not an island, and instead you’re part of something much bigger. And this invites you to release some control and let life unfold more.
This doesn’t mean you should just let it all slide and hope it all works out. You still have a role to play. It’s more about not being over-controlling and over-attached to things. It’s about still doing your best, but releasing the outcome and accepting that whatever happens is, in some way, part of the plan.
This balance of living with intension but also letting go of attachment is an interesting part of deepening your spiritual practice. Because trust doesn’t come easily… However, when you do learn to trust and let go more, there is a sense of relief and a feeling of connection to something so much bigger and more magical than we could ever imagine.
And this gives you that feeling of being supported, like you’re never alone no matter what. You are always connected.
Are you inspired to deepen your spiritual practice?
I hope that this article has inspired you to deepen your spiritual practice in some way. It’s a lifelong and personal journey, full of magic and discovery!
Which of the above did you resonate with? Let us know in the comments.
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