Cultivate Your Spiritual Well-Being
What does spiritual well-being mean to you?
A deep sense of connection with all of life? An acceptance of what life brings to you? A deep sense of inner peace and contentment? A deep-rooted feeling that everything will always work out for the best? A profound sense of love for and connection with--a relationship with--a Divine force? Perhaps consider that the most profound reason we are here is to learn to love...to cultivate the skill of loving each other and ourselves.
How do we daily find time to contact our inner self-knowing?
What if you could receive the answers to the most important questions of your life simply by going inside yourself for the answers? When you make it a regular practice to check in, the guidance starts to flow. A daily spiritual practice is the key that opens this channel to the guidance you desire. It is similar to the Daily Check-In and Emotional—Spiritual Tune-up sections.
Cultivating and maintaining a regular spiritual practice is the best way to make your spiritual self-care a priority. By practice, I mean setting aside a regular time for those things that nurture your spiritual well-being. It might be a daily meditation time, a walk in nature, or a regular gathering with a spiritual group to share inspiration and insight. Possible examples might be:
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Many people find the quiet and peace they long for in more traditional places of worship. A local synagogue, church, mosque, dharma group, or spiritual community center may be the perfect place for you to connect with Life's Mysterious Underpinnings.
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Perhaps you love the outdoors (I sure do!). Or you might love gardening. Being outside feeds your deepest sense of inner aliveness and you feel more connected with the vast universe. For me, being in nature feeds a part of myself that nothing else does. Notice the places that feed your core self and spend more time there. Enjoy a hike through the mountains, an ocean walk, spring flowers popping out of the ground and blessing you with their smile, the autumn foliage dancing with vibrant colors, or a cloudy sky. See the sights CELEBRATING The Simple Joys Of Life! and The Power of Fun: Celebrate Enjoyable Ways To Be Active! and Frolic In Nature!
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You might feel connected to a meditation discipline--daily quiet and introspection time (as I describe below). This has worked very well for me. I have an altar set up in one room of my home. Glimpse Celebrate Personal Quiet Time—Spiritual Connection.
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To help connect our spiritual practice with our healthful eating plan, it is valuable to consider our relationship with food each time we eat something. Consider The Grace Of Eating: Five Contemplations Before Meals.
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Perhaps you work in a big city, and find that driving to, and home from work, feels frenzied and draining. Consider taking the bus or subway and just sit quietly and send love and healing to your fellow passengers. You might contemplate spiritual or inspirational reflections using a small meditation book. For an example, go to see Plant Precious Nuggets Of Possibility Thinking, Be Happy! or Out of Hell, Into Freedom Thoughts. Also an Overeaters Anonymous (For Today) book is available. Check out The Use of the 12-Step Programs, Recovery Groups, and Recovery Resources.
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You might love being in great physical shape! You might find working out a perfect way to connect with your spiritual well-being. When I go to the gym, I try to offer up my strength training to strengthen all people in any way that they might need it. I send out prayers and thoughts to the people at the athletic club. I appreciate that my investing in my body keeps it healthy and I am able to be of better service to others.
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Perhaps music or dance lifts your spirit so that you feel deeply connected to the Universe. Investigate Ideas For Self-Nurturing and My Favorite Things! Put some BOUNCE in your life!!
Each of the ideas listed above might be a way for someone to cultivate spiritual well-being. What would work for you?
Do something! Design your spiritual practice. How will you invest in your spiritual well-being on a regular basis? Where will you connect with your Wise Inner Self, God, or a Divine presence? To design your spiritual practice, explore the best time of day, place, and method for you to personally CELEBRATE your spiritual well-being.
What's your PLAN? Perhaps go to bed a bit earlier so you can get up fifteen minutes earlier? Possibly set your intention for the day, pause and remember your blessings, send thoughts of support and healing towards others, and Imagine Your Ideal Day! as you come up with your Prescription for Well-Being!
Don't look around and see what the world needs.
LOOK at what you need to truly come alive and give that to yourself,
because what the world needs is…“truly alive people”, and give that gift to the world!
-- Harold Thurman Whitman
Cheryl Richardson in her book Take Time for Your Life shares some terrific insights on how to connect with our inner wisdom in the midst of a crazy world. She encourages you to develop a way that honors your spiritual being that's personal and unique to you.
Take Time for Your Life, Life Makeovers, Stand Up for Your Life, by Cheryl Richardson, (1999 – 2002), Broadway Books, New York, NY. Provides a program for creating the life you want. Gives 52 practical & inspiring ways to improve your life one week at a time. Cheryl's books are profoundly wise and helpful. I find that most of the people in the classes I teach would benefit from her books. I saw her first on public TV. www.Cherylrichardson.com
Visit also Meditations section and Spiritual Hunger & Malaise: Why Do We Starve & How Can We Nourish Ourselves? .
