7 Steps to Spiritual Living

What is spirituality anyway? Margaret Paul, PhD says spirituality is all about being kind and caring enough to "connect with the love, peace, and joy of spirit." 

Here are 7 steps you can use to accelerate your spiritual living.

1. Meditation

Meditation enables you to calm and quiet the overactive mind. Everyday, we're bombarded by thousands of random thoughts all generated by our mind. If we allow these thoughts to sit in our head, the chaos they bring often begins to affect our stress levels and eventually our body functions. 

Meditation allows us to focus our thoughts on one idea (such as an image, a mantra, a feeling, etc) and thus quiet the disparate "monkey mind."

Even if you only try this for a few minutes a day, you will experience its benefits, including better sleep, more patience, increased compassion and a growing awareness of some energy outside us. Furthermore, what's more important than the amount of time per session is the consistency of practice. It should become a habit. It's better to meditate a few times a week consistently than start and never do it again. 

You don't need to even sit in silence (though that is the best form). You can listen to ambient music, a guided track or even just walk outdoors in nature, making sure you feel its energy. Don't allow yourself to get bogged down by the many different types of meditation either. 

Find a style that resonates with you or a guided meditation that you enjoy and stick with it. You'll truly be amazed. 

2. Spiritual Reading

Reading books or articles on spiritual topics helps you open yourself to concepts and new realms you never thought about before. Read books that give you a sense of inspiration. Start with books that you enjoy or that resonate with you so you can complete them. 

For example, when I started out on my spiritual journey, my interests began with books about Near Death Experiences since they were about real people from all over the world who came back from another realm to tell their story. 

However each person would give the same descriptions and experiences regardless of their upbringing, their culture, their background, their circumstances, etc. What really fascinated me were the seemingly inexplicable details of things they witnessed that were physically impossible to know. 

For example, they may have seen and heard conversations in different parts of a hospital when their body was clearly still in the Operating Room. Also the stories of how their lives were dramatically transformed and how they went on to help others were fascinating. 

3. Practice Gratitude

One of the best things we can do is focus on the here and now. This prevents us from worrying about the future or being upset about something in the past. The best way to do that is by carrying an attitude of gratitude every day. Start small by thinking of little things and only a few of them. 

Be grateful for your friends and family. Be grateful for the beautiful colors in nature, especially the autumn rainbow of colors as the leaves change. Be grateful for that warm cup of coffee. 

Repeat different gratitudes each day. Before you know it, you'll probably find your level of happiness increasing. Researchers and psychologists have found that the primary factor for happiness stems from the level of gratitude a person carries, more than anything else. So be grateful!

4. Grounding

We are creatures of the earth. Everything we do and everything we have ever done depends on our interaction with the earth. As a result, we need to always bring ourselves back to center and ground ourselves with Mother Nature. 

The best way to do this is by reconnecting with nature. Take long walks in nature. Sit in a field or on a beach and just listen to your surroundings. Watch the animals in the forest. Become part of nature. Communicate with it. 

By taking walks in nature, you also stimulate your meditative practice by centering yourself, calming yourself, and focusing your mind on that which is around you. Your stress levels plummet, your "feel good" hormones increase, and your sense of belonging accelerates. 

If you're in the city, then allow yourself to be more centered by leaving the apartment without your cell phone or electronics and just walk. Untether yourself (uncomfortable as though it may be). Allow yourself to notice the world around you--the sky, the clouds, the pets, the shapes of the buildings. 

Go to a park and spend time in nature in whatever way you can. Where there's a will, there's a way.

5. Be open to signs from the universe

Mankind has always looked for signs; in the heavens, in tea leaves, in bones, in animals. Open yourself up to that which is greater than you. 

Though we think we know everything and have conquered everything, we're really like little children with only a fraction of the knowledge of what's fully available to us. There are greater forces beyond our physical senses than we realize. 

Allow yourself to get in touch with those energies, for they emanate from a place of love and kindness and seek to heal and help us. Whatever you begin to notice, realize that there are no such things as coincidences. There are only synchronicities designed by intelligent forces. Spirit is always around us.

6. Mindful breathing

We're always in a rush to go somewhere and often stressed out, so we rarely pay attention to our breathing. When we focus on our breathing, we can immediately hit the "pause" button. In meditation, breathing is important because it helps us become centered and focus on the here and now. 

Mindful breathing allows us to do something very similar, except it can be done anywhere, anytime. You could be driving in your car or in your office and just allow yourself to work on your breathing.

One method comes from meditation. Breathe in gently and slowly through your nose and allow your breathing to find its own natural pace. Relax. Then softly exhale through your mouth. With each in-breath feel yourself inhaling white light that embraces you and fills you with love. With every out-breath, feel this white light and love spreading throughout your body. Feel this energy, acceptance, and unconditional love.

Another method you could try is what I call the 4x4 technique:

• Inhale for a count of 4
• Hold for a count of 4
• Exhale for a count of 4
• Hold for a count of 4

These techniques can be done anywhere and just for a few minutes. All they do is bring us back to the present and keep us mindful of what we're doing.

7. Surrender

We're always trying to control everything. It's part of our nature. This stems from our days when we were running away from saber toothed tigers. If we didn't control everything we could or remain hyper-vigilant, we'd wind up as lunch. So this has come down to the modern era where we still feel we need to control.

However, that need to maintain control often gets in our way. It keeps us rather close to the loving energy that wants to help us, and even those people who want to help us. We must give up that need to control everything and just "allow." For some, that's a tall order. 

In mediumship, for example, there's a well-known saying, "Trust and Surrender." Mediums need to trust that what they're receiving isn't the product of their imagination or that they're misinterpreting what they're getting. They have to instead trust that spirit is giving them exactly what needs to be said. 

Furthermore, mediums need to just surrender to spirit and allow them to speak rather than trying to control what information comes through or how it's delivered. 

Everyone needs to just surrender to the beauty around them, accept the love that wants to help them, and know that everything works out for the best.

I hope the 7 steps above will help you on your path of spiritual growth and in your efforts to live a more spiritual life. Namaste.

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Tags: meditation, living spiritually, spiritual reading, gratitude, grounding, signs, breathing, surrender