Nurture Your Spirit
Nurturing your spirit is as important as healthy nutrition, exercising and sleep; for without the spirit life would be dull with little depth or breadth. Spirituality gives personal and cultural meaning to life-a belief or value system providing personal identity and capable of reducing conflict; thus, encouraging balance and harmony.
You can nurture your spirit even though your personal and professional schedule may be full by integrating the practice of spirituality into everything you do. Integrating spirituality into everything you do may seem not only ridiculous, but nearly impossible, particularly when you believe that you do not have an extra second to spare.
Many aspects of your existence that cannot be overlooked can be incorporated into activities that promote the well-being of the soul. A life led consciously, even though that life is full with obligations, provides you with opportunities to express yourself and to live in accordance with your deeper profound values. You can recharge your spirit amidst ongoing activities when you make an effort to address your day’s responsibilities with soulful intent.
Your inner and worldly responsibilities may seem like more than you can bear. Your desire to recharge your spirit can conflict with a busy schedule or responsibilities that simply need to be fulfilled as quickly as possible. Scheduling time to enjoy the pleasures of solitude may require that you think up creative ways of scheduling personal time as a priority. Similarly, your ability to feed your soul will likely be dependent on your willingness to unite disparate aspects of your priorities.
True spiritual nurturing can only be affected by a true connection to our innermost self. Because all humankind is God-made, Spirituality is our true nature and spiritual development is the most direct way to solutions of love and peace in all creation.
The following practices are commonly practiced by noted spiritual leaders.
Prayer, Meditation, Gratitude, Spending time in nature—including near fire and water are practices to create spiritual/emotional health.
Prayer: Harvard researcher and mind/body medicine expert Herbert Benson, M.D. found that regular prayer or the repetition of spiritual phrases such as “Shalom,” or “Hail Mary,” triggers relaxation and reduces stress. Make prayer a time of personal conversation with God, state your need or concern and ask for divine intervention. Acknowledge all you have to be grateful for and give thanks for that which you desire. Giving thanks is more effective than asking for what you desire. God knows what you need before you need it and has already sent it to you—therefore giving thanks acknowledges what you haven’t seen yet. Establishing a regular prayerful routine is important.
Meditation: Researched for centuries, meditation is proven to have physiological benefits, including stress-relief, improved immune and cardiovascular function, relaxation, and decreased pain. Regular meditation practice leads to new insights about life issues (often resulting in the healing of past emotional trauma), heightened creativity, inspiration, greater compassion for others, and a greater connection to one’s own inner guidance. There are a plethora of books and classes on meditation practices.
Gratitude: The state of being grateful; thankfulness. (The American Heritage Dictionary) In the push and pulls of life we seldom realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. Looking at the glass as half empty albeit is half full assures us, we will live with a sense of lack.
“Gratitude is our most direct line to God and the angels. If we take the time, no matter how crazy and troubled we feel, we can find something to be thankful for. The more we seek gratitude, the more reason the angels will give us for gratitude and joy to exist in our lives.” –Terry Lynn Taylor
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” –Melody Beattie
Time in nature: The most visible manifestation of spirit is nature, where we most fully encounter and interact with life’s primal energies in the forms of earth, water, fire, and air. Walking/hiking are easy and practical ways of reconnecting with nature and the earth, as are gardening, biking, camping and boating. Spending regular amounts of time outdoors within a natural setting, you enable yourself to better appreciate the rhythms of life, including your own.
Modern living prevents us from a balanced life. Time in nature restores that balance, while also deepening our connection with Spirit. Being near the water is a spiritually healthy experience, due to water’s higher concentration of negative ions. Swimming in natural water or soaking in a mineral hot spring provides therapeutic benefits for a variety of ailments.
Exposure to a campfire or fireplace has health benefits. Leonard Orr discovered that fire cleanses the bio-energy field of negative energies, and is a powerful aid in curing physical disease. Orr recommends spending a few hours each day near fire. Fire is also an important component of the vision quests Native Americans undertake to connect with the Great Spirit and discover their life purpose.
Air is the closest expression of Spirit. Clean air is essential to health on all levels, and practicing conscious breathing is a potent self-care method for restoring energy and making you more aware of the power of Spirit as it flows through you.
Regular exposure to the four elements creates consciousness of Spirit’s loving intelligence to sustain the world, while more deeply recognizing our place within it.
The benefits of nurturing your spirit include, but are not limited to: More love, joy, peace of mind, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, balance, harmony; less stress, anxiety, worry, fear, etc.
Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, “101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life.” Dr. Dorothy has the unique gift
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