What is the point of life? Is there something more significant than us? What do we know about death and what happens to our soul after it leaves this earth? These are questions that many people ask themselves but never get an answer for them. This blog post explores spirituality and how you can practice doing it in your everyday life.

What is spirituality?

When you hear about the term "spirituality," you might think about things that exist in the realm of fiction and believing in deities and gods. In a sense, it is. Unfortunately, this aspect can lead people to abandon the idea of spirituality because it doesn't look grounded in science and might defy common sense. The truth is, there is a lot you can gain by engaging in spirituality in your everyday lives, such as personal development and being more open-minded.

Spirituality is that aspect of us that believes that there must be something greater beyond us. Having spiritual beliefs means not limiting ourselves to what our physical bodies and brain perceive and tell us. Engaging in spirituality might involve believing in a lifeform of greater power that connects with the universe. By believing in these ideas, people can derive more significant meaning and purpose behind their lives.

Spirituality and religion: what's the difference?

It might be easy to confuse the two, but there is a difference between spirituality and religion. People might mistake you for being a religious person when you say that you are a spiritual person, so it's essential to distinguish.

Being spiritual means connecting to the idea of something beyond yourself through your own experiences. You might have subscribed to this idea by going through meditation and doing some inner work activities. It is through this self-journey that you can relate yourself to the universe.

On the other hand, being religious also involves connecting to the idea of something beyond yourself, precisely a being of a higher power. You associate yourself with the belief in a divine being by going through the experience of others. In religion, there is a set of beliefs and rules that one must follow, usually in the form of a book or "bible."

Spirituality focuses on gaining wisdom, being more attuned with feelings, and living in the present moment. Religion, in contrast, focuses on making individuals gain knowledge and having them obey rules so they can have good standing and gain life after death in whatever form of afterlife belief the religion has.

Being spiritual doesn't automatically mean you're a religious person. However, suppose you are a religious person. In that case, you automatically engage in spirituality since you subscribe to the idea of a god or divine entity that has something to do with the universe. Thus, religion and spirituality can complement each other.

Engaging in spiritual growth

Spiritual people are individuals that have beliefs in spirituality. People like these use the idea of spirituality as their main focal point for making decisions in life and thinking about the bigger picture of things, such as what happens to us after death. People who engage in spiritual practice spend time doing activities like yoga, meditation, and reading articles that help affirm their spiritual beliefs. Spiritual people also have their own rules that reflect their views on spirituality. It shows in their demeanor and activities, such as staying positive no matter what and spreading positivity to other people.

Attaining spiritual growth in our lives can bring several benefits. By being more attuned with our spiritual side, we gain the following things:

• First, we gain a greater sense of purpose and direction in our lives.
• Second, spirituality makes us think about our existence and how we factor in the overall aspect of things.
• Third, we become more aware of other people's existence, leading us to show more empathy and compassion towards others.
• Fourth, we think less of materialistic and worldly possessions.
• Finally, the world and the environment have become a more significant concern to us.
• Spirituality makes us question and reflect on the things around us, leading us to grow both on the intellectual and emotional aspects.
• Spirituality makes us ponder about things that exist beyond material needs, such as morality and the presence of the afterlife.

I want to emphasize one thing that spirituality can significantly help us with: to have some peace of mind by making sense of suffering. There is no better time to practice spirituality than now because of our world's current situation. There is a global pandemic, and it has brought great distress among many people. The pandemic has affected our lives financially and mentally. It is easy to get lost in a sea of emotions and get stressed due to trying to figure out to survive daily and what we should do next. If we explore spirituality during these times, it can help us think of the situation differently. Spirituality can help us believe that there might be a more significant reason and meaning behind the suffering and challenging experiences.

Practicing spirituality

Incorporating spirituality into our daily lives is not that hard as it just starts with you. You do not have to spend a considerable amount of money to get spirituality, and you don't have to join an organization or group to achieve it. However, you want to read books and materials about spirituality to understand it better and practice the various mindfulness activities that can help us achieve personal spirituality. The following are some ways you can do to create your spiritual practice.

1. Your spiritual journey is your own

It's yourself who would be making the decisions on how you will view and accept the idea of something or someone more significant than you and the whole concept of the universe. Not even your closest friends or family members can influence you with their beliefs. That gut feeling in your heart is what you must believe in to grasp your spiritual development truly.

2. Take some time to relax

It isn't easy to focus on your spiritual side when you're too busy with your job and daily activities. To better incorporate spirituality in our lives, make it a habit to spend a few minutes daily taking a break and relaxing your physical body. It becomes easier to connect with your mind and spirit if you are relaxed. Good daily practices include yoga, breathing exercises, guided meditation, or simply relaxing in your chair or lying on a couch.

3. Focus on what you can control

When practicing spirituality, a good idea to put in your mind is this: focus on what you can do and control, and don't fret too much about the things you can't directly control. Many people can get unnecessarily stressed due to overthinking about things they can't directly change or control themselves, like politics, the financial system of the world, how others think, the environment, etc. Sure, you can have some form of participation in this kind of thing, but it's hard to see if you made any dent or effect on the overall results of things. Instead, focus on the things you can directly control, like how you will do your job, utilize your talents and skills to improve, what things you can spend money on, which you will mingle with, etc. If you adhere to spirituality and believe in a higher form of power or being, let them take care of the bigger things you can't directly control.

4. Do some journaling

Journaling is an excellent way to connect with our emotions. Write in your journal every day what are the things that you did and what happened to you. Your notes do not have to be too long. Include how you felt while doing things and how you reacted when something happened to you. Also, write down the negative emotions you have regarded, as these are things that might be preventing you from moving forward. At the same time, write down also something you are thankful for having. Writing down how we felt about each of these things can help us discover ourselves better and can help us grow more spiritually.

5. Surround yourself with positivity

Starting your day with something positive and affirming yourself with positive thoughts can help with spiritual development. Read about something positive or listen to some motivational speech like the MorningCoach podcasts. You can assert yourself, such as saying something along the lines of being stronger or beautiful every day; don't overdo the affirmations, or you might become a narcissist. Stay away from negative thoughts. Practice gratitude so you can focus more on the positive things happening in your life.

Do your spiritual practice.

One's spiritual journey might not exactly be the same for another person. Each of us has our way of perceiving things, and the outcome can be different for each one of us. What's important is that while we are doing spiritual practices, we gain wisdom and have a more open mindset on how we look at the things around us. Science is beneficial for explaining the things around us, but there are some things that science can't explain, and this is where the concept of spirituality can help us. Having good spiritual health can give us a broader understanding of what happens in daily life, including the bad things that happen to us.

Practicing spirituality requires effort, energy, and time, and we have to be consistent in doing it. We might have unanswered questions during our spiritual journey, but don't be afraid of these. Part of the journey is having that sense of wonder and curiosity about the things that seem to be way more extensive than us in scope, such as the universe. We should strive to attain inner peace and establish a good connection between ourselves and the universe so that each of us can lead a meaningful life.