What is spiritual health and wellness?
When you are spiritually well, you feel that you are in harmony with your own life and the world around you. It is a personal journey that helps you to define your values, beliefs, and purpose. Spiritual wellness involves both the mind and the body and can be nurtured through centering practices and activities that help to promote self-love.
What are the benefits of it?
Stress reduction, higher awareness, conscious lifestyle choices, healthier interpersonal relationships, and inner peace are a few of the countless benefits of spiritual wellness and exploration.
Who would benefit from it?
All people have a desire to feel at peace and fulfilled. Yogi Sadhguru said, “Once you turn inward, you will find infinite expansion within yourself.” Everyone can benefit from spending time turning inward to exploring their unique spiritual path—whatever it may look like!
What types of activities help promote spiritual health?
- Mindfulness and meditation: Meditation is a great tool for achieving spiritual wellness because it is accessible to everyone regardless of their resources or location. While there are a wide variety of guided meditations available (many for free on the internet), all you need to practice meditation is your breath. It cultivates true presence and awareness while calming the body by connecting with the breath. This helps to reduce stress and other taxing emotions, as well as increased self-awareness. Besides the mental and spiritual benefits, reducing stress on the mind reduces stress on the body and has been found to have an effect on symptoms of conditions like anxiety, depression, chronic pain, high blood pressure, and insomnia.
Resources:
insighttimer.com (also available in the App Store-subscription optional, but has tons of free guided meditations and talks on all topics and of all practices)
Tara Brach – YouTube
Oak – Meditation & Breathing on the App Store - Yoga: Yoga connects mind, body, and breath. Through regular practice of yoga, you can reduce strain on the physical body, allowing more energy for mental and spiritual work. While many view yoga as purely physical, the spiritual aspect of yoga involves cultivating awareness, letting go of negative energy, and quieting the mind. Most importantly, regular yoga practice cultivates a great love of self and compassion for other beings.
Resources:
Yoga With Adriene – YouTube
Jessamyn Stanley – YouTube
Yoga Dose – YouTube - Spending time in nature: Whether it’s a hike through the woods, swimming in the ocean, or skiing down a snowy mountain, spending time in nature allows us a moment to step back from daily life and reconnect with the Earth. Spending time in nature has been shown to reduce stress by lowering cortisol, provide good air quality, and increase a personal sense of wonder and connection to life. In addition, physical exercise releases endorphins in the brain that boost your mood and relax your mind. Take some time to be in awe of our home planet, and the deeper meanings of life will become easier to see.
Resources:
alltrails.com
Find | NatureFind - Spiritual intuitive readings: Connecting with someone with heightened intuition can provide clarity and insight into the bigger, important connections in your life. A spiritual intuitive reading can also provide a perspective you may have not previously considered and reveals blocks in different areas of your life that may be holding you back. It can also provide a sense of peace by validating your journey and confirming that your struggles have led you exactly where you need to be.
Resources:
(link our spiritual intuitive reader) - Travel: Removing yourself from the daily patterns of your life provides time for rest and reflection. It allows you to focus on your purpose and priorities without all of the little stressors of daily life. This can extend far past your vacation into your daily life by setting a foundation for purpose-driven and present living. In addition, exposing yourself to people who have had a different life experience helps to increase empathy and a sense of greater connection to all beings—in short, a sense of harmony.
Resources:
How to Plan a Vacation that Boosts Your Wellbeing – Travel To Wellness
14 Incredible Places to Visit If You Need Peace and Relaxation | Travel + Leisure - Inner work and seeking guidance: Because you are the only one who has lived your experiences, you are the only one who can define your path to spiritual wellness. That being said, there are a multitude of resources to guide you on your journey. This can involve seeking guidance from a therapist or spiritual mentor, reading works by people whose spiritual practices resonate with you, and spending time analyzing the patterns in your life. Exploring the findings of those who have studied the relationship between body, mind, and spiritual wellness is a great way to help you to define your beliefs and set up spiritual practices that work for you. A strengthened sense of self is key to a purposeful, growth-filled spiritual life.
Resources:
The Seeker’s Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Dr. Nicole LePera (@the.holistic.psychologist) • Instagram photos and videos - Develop a journaling practice: Journaling provides a space for self-expression, self-reflection, There are no rules—you can even practice journaling through voice recordings or videos if you prefer not to write. However, if you are having trouble getting started, here are a few types of journaling that can provide helpful guidelines.
- Gratitude journaling: Gratitude journaling is an easy way to increase your ability to find joy in simple things. Simply write down a few things that you are thankful for every day. Some people do this in the morning and at night, and some choose one or the other. One way to deepen this practice is to add the question “What can I do better today/tomorrow?” to your list of things you are grateful for. This practice is all about taking it one step at a time! Check out our free, downloadable gratitude journal template below.
- Intuition journaling: This practice involves reconnecting with your gut-instinct. In intuition journaling, you begin by writing down a question about your life. Then, you respond as though your intuition is answering you. The result is a clear view of where your higher, spiritual self is leading you.
- Unsent letter journaling: Unsent letter journaling involves writing a letter to a person with no intention of ever sending it. Whether it is a parent, friend, former or current partner, or colleague, there are things we would like to express to people who affect us that may not require an actual confrontation, or that may require deeper contemplation and clarity of thought. Unsent letter journaling is helpful because it involves the catharsis of that self-expression without the potential consequences of an exchange. It allows you to express your emotions in a way that may help you learn more about your own emotional and spiritual patterns, as well as relieving the tension of unexpressed emotion.