Spirituality for Beginners

Spirituality is difficult to define and is a very broad concept that can relate to many different ways of being. Generally, for anyone practicing spirituality, the understanding is that it involves connecting ourselves to something bigger and more important.

Whether it be religion or simple gratitude for life that we have, recognizing that there is something bigger and more important out there remains at the crux of understanding spirituality. It is essentially the practice of grounding our lives in something more meaningful. Where you find that meaning is up to you.

Practicing spirituality is a grounding process and thus it is seen as a way to release ourselves from our everyday human struggles. It is often observed to reduce anxiety and stress, or it can be a way to practice gratitude and relax our minds when they feel overcluttered.

In other words, spiritual practices help ground us when we feel as though we’re losing touch with what is important.

It’s difficult for many people to discern what a spiritual practice is without having a bigger picture of what spirituality is. The following two spiritual practices, when practiced consistently could have both physical and mental benefits in your everyday life:

Meditation

Meditation, by definition, seems simple to do. The practice essentially involves finding a quiet place to sit and close your eyes while being mindful of the surroundings in which you find yourself.

However, the actual task is often times far more difficult than expected, as it requires a clear and empty mind; many of us struggle to clear our minds of all information at any given point. The task is thus to close your eyes and clear your mind.

Meditation takes various forms with the most popular being simple breathing meditation, which involves sitting in silence and focusing on nothing at all besides your in-and-out breathing. This allows your mind to take a break and simply focus on one, unproblematic aspect of your life force – your breath.

Other forms of meditation include guided meditation (of which many videos can be found on YouTube) as well as singing meditation and group meditation.

The benefits of meditation include reduced stress and anxiety, emotional health, enhanced self-awareness, and lengthened attention spans.

Journaling

This is a purely contemplative practice whereby you reflect on a certain time period (whether it be daily, weekly or monthly). It allows you to review how you’ve been living your life, how you would like to live your life and if there is an incongruency and what you want and what you currently have.

It allows you to think about and codify things in your life that you might be grateful for, like big wins playing https://onlinecasinomalaysia.my/video-poker/ and things in your life that you find toxic and might want to cut out. And if doing none of these appeals to you then journaling can simply be used to organize your life.

Buddhist monks believe that being organized is the first step to spirituality.

The benefits of journaling include mood and symptom control, fear prioritization, organization, positive self-talk, and the identifying of negative thoughts.