Daily Spiritual Practice: A Bit of Time off Your Day

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The vastness of the world, the endless bleeps and bloops, the spiral of everything and nothing all at once, keeps us overwhelmed and disconnected. In this whirlwind of reality, we are disjointed from everything and everyone, even ourselves, and thus, we are aimless in spirit and mind.

The constant harassment of information, the twin burdens of work and family, and whatever else we are compelled to pursue within this consumerist framework has left us all on our toes, shuffling, stressed, and anxious like there’s a predator waiting round every corner. Most of all, we feel so unfulfilled. Life stretches so far beyond us, blooming on horizons and wherever else, yet because of the world as it is, we feel so alone, so small, so anchorless.

Which is why this article proposes you take a bit of your time off every day for daily spiritual practice. It’s just a bit of time off your day, but the rewards are more than tenfold of what you put in.

Do this for your peace of mind and acquire solace and a deep, deep sense of meaning for yourself.

What is Spiritual Practice?

While there is a diverse range of spiritual schools of thought out there—from Christianity to Buddhism to New Age mysticism and everything beyond and in between—we have to remember that; at the end of the day, spirituality is a very personal journey that involves touching upon something that is embedded deep within you and something that is far greater than yourself. With that in mind, don’t sweat if you don’t know what these spiritual schools are all about. We’re not going to quiz you on the Fourfold Path or anything like that. That’s prime material for another article.

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Let’s get back on track. Spiritual practice is a personal journey. What this means for what we have in mind is that it can involve a lot of things, from spiritual mainstays like meditation to prayer to yoga or to regular things like writing in a journal, spending time in nature, or just simply finding some quiet space and thinking about stuff.

The key to it all is finding something that aligns with your being and helps you become more at peace with yourself.

The Benefits of Daily Engagement with Spirituality

Engaging with spiritual practice on a daily basis incurs plenty of benefits. It is entirely holistic, touching upon both mind and body. While there are too many to enumerate, the most pronounced would be reduced stress and anxiety. Living in this cluttered and confused world can be extremely wracking to the mind. By being in tune with your spirituality, you help calm your mind and alleviate your worries. When your mind is free of worry, or at least better equipped to deal with it, you develop greater self-awareness, compassion, and empathy. These lead to a better understanding of yourself and of the world, which helps you find new insights and inspiration from a wider range of things. This makes you more creative, and when you tap into your creative capabilities, you feel a better sense of purpose in your being.

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The Methods for Daily Spiritual Practice

As we’ve mentioned before, you don’t need to be totally immersed in any kind of spiritual school if you want to do daily spiritual practice.

But for people who are just starting out with it, you may want some help. Here are a few examples that you might want to consider:

• Meditation. Perhaps the most popular form of spiritual practice, meditation is simply the idea of compelling the mind to focus on one thing. This can be your breath or a mantra being repeated.
• Prayer. While thinking about prayer gives most Americans a very specific image in mind, it’s actually a very varied form of practice. When you pray you are communing with something. This can either be a specific deity, the universe itself or whatever it is you can confide in.
• Yoga. Meditation and prayer can both involve physicality, but they are mostly mind-heavy practices. Yoga, on the other hand, is the opposite. It directly involves the body by combining posture, breathing, and meditation.
• Journaling. Writing down your thoughts is easily one of the most accessible and practicable methods for spirituality. It involves maintaining mental fortitude, and you can easily commit to it through daily mindfulness with journal prompts.

If you want to engage further with spirituality, you can dip your toes through this link.