There was a time when spirituality was regarded as a bit “airy-fairy” and conjured up images of someone wearing a flower crown and dancing hippy-like in a field (which sounds fun by the way – no judgement), but I am pleased to say we have come a long way since then.
Spirituality is a pretty general term and is sometimes associated with religious beliefs, but most commonly describes a sense that there is something greater than yourself and is about building a connection with the wider world and your place in it. You might not even feel that sense of a higher energy, but you may feel a deep connection to life through yoga or art for example, it’s a pretty fluid concept.
Self care practices that help you understand yourself better and to help you find contentment would be referred to as spiritual wellbeing and can allow you to:
🧘 Develop a sense of belonging
🧘 Have more clarity in making decisions
🧘 Experience better health
🧘 Feel calmer and more optimistic
🧘 Gain confidence and improve self esteem
🧘 Build resilience
Have you ever looked at your life and thought that you had everything you needed, yet you still felt like something was missing? You felt unfulfilled and perhaps a bit lost? Did you ever ponder what the meaning of life was? Then you have been exploring your spiritual connection and what your purpose here might be and it’s time to take care of your spiritual wellbeing.
Spiritual wellbeing can be broken down into three main elements: Purpose – Self-Awareness – Connection
Self-Awareness
Primarily, being spiritual is about understanding your true self, your personal set of values and beliefs so that you can live a life that aligns with you. When you understand yourself fully you can make better decisions that are consistent with your beliefs and, if you can do that, you will feel fulfilled as you are honouring your authentic self. Sometimes we are swept along with our lives and busy with the expectations of society that we forget who we really are deep inside.
Journaling offers a great way to delve deep into your mind to find out about how you feel about things and what your dreams and aspirations are to see if you are following a life path that satisfies these. Ask yourself “What would I do if I knew I would succeed?”, “When am I at my happiest?” or “What would I do today if I had no commitments?”. If you understand what drives you and can incorporate this into your life, you will have greater fulfilment and ultimately a deeper sense of inner peace and contentment.
Connection
Humans are social animals and thrive on connection with like minded people and so building community and social connections are important to your wellbeing, but you can also nurture your connections to nature and the universe as a whole. Getting out in nature and walking barefoot can allow you to feel that connection.
Do you feel that everything is connected to one source or something much bigger than ourselves – even if you have no idea what that something is? You don’t need to get too deep here, you can satisfy that sense of belonging through whatever drives YOU – be that a religious faith, immersing yourself in a meaningful career or nurturing a beautiful garden.
Often we are lacking that connection with ourselves as, especially with social media, validation is sought more and more externally, rather than internally. Modern life sees us so busy that we often neglect taking the time to discover more about who we are. Meditation and breathwork offer perfect ways to get back in touch with yourself and need only take a few minutes a day to begin a practice that you can build upon. It’s about allowing the mind to quieten so you can listen to your inner thoughts. You can find out about the basics of meditation in my blog here.
Purpose
If you are spiritually fulfilled you feel you have meaning in your life and a sense of purpose. This doesn’t have to be a major mission to change the world, it can be to be a great parent or an amazing listener, whatever it is, it is what reminds you that you are an individual that is needed and valued by others.
Feeling that you have a purpose is your motivation to get up each day. It’s what drives you and ultimately provides a feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment. Your purpose and motivation may change many times throughout your life and life stages and that in itself can keep you feeling valued.
If you feel like you have no idea what your purpose may be, allow yourself to be creative and explore your passions and start a gratitude journal to remind yourself of what lights you up.
When you have developed your self-awareness and connections to others, you will naturally feel a sense of purpose in your life. You will feel useful and needed and that is ultimately what drives us forward.
Exploring your spiritual self starts with discovering your own identity. Start doing what your enjoy and feed your passions. Build connections with your community by giving what you can in gifts or time to build your own self worth and bring value to your life (not to feed your ego!). Connect also with nature and try meditation as a way to slow down and allow your own thoughts to surface away from the noise of outside influence.
Woo-Spirituality
The term “woo-woo” first came about in the 1980s to mock new age culture stating that there was no scientific basis to the practices they were following. There is now the science to back such things as meditation, mindfulness and many holistic therapies and more and more people are turning to these as a form of self care and support in their life. Many people appear to be disillusioned with the modern world, politics, media, conventional medicine routes and are being proactive in taking care of their own health and wellbeing and, whether they realise it or not, are paying attention to their spiritual wellbeing.
Being spiritual isn’t a new age thing or a hippy concept, nor does it mean that you are out of touch with reality. You can be grounded as well as spiritual – in fact I encourage it!
Julie Rae 