What is Spiritual Wellness? It can be a very personal experience and an essential component to us being centered. It offers us the power and capability to make our decisions and choices easier, helping to ground us during periods of change, giving us the resiliency to survive with grace, and offering us inner peace in the face of adversity. Having a spiritual element in our lives may even help us heal when suffering from a physical or mental condition.
Along with the other dimensions of wellness, a person’s level of spiritual wellness often fluctuates throughout their life. It is natural to experience a variety of emotions along the path to spiritual wellness – both positive (hope, forgiveness, acceptance, joy) and negative (doubt, fear, disappointment, conflict).
Finding meaning and purpose may be a lifelong process that evolves based on unique circumstances, individual experiences, and even global events.
Spiritual wellness is also being connected to something greater than yourself. Having a set of values, principles, morals, and beliefs that provide a sense of purpose and meaning to life, then using those principles to guide your actions. Sometimes during our own self-reflection: exploring and answering the question “what is my meaning and purpose?”
Spiritual wellness acknowledges our search for deeper meaning in life. When we are spiritually healthy, we feel more connected to not only a higher power, but to those around us. We have more clarity when it comes to making everyday choices, and our actions become more consistent with our beliefs and values.
Our days can be hectic; filled with long to-do lists, and feelings of being overwhelmed and exhausted leaving us little room for downtime and reflection. No matter our environment, our minds are constantly buzzing with thoughts and responsibilities. As we move from one task to the next, we can become consumed by the craziness of our lives, and we begin to lose sight of our path and what we are most passionate about.
Your whole health requires care and attention for not only your physical body but also your mind and spirit. The benefits of spiritual well-being are numerous – from more compassionate relationships to a deeper sense of inner peace – but how do we get there?
Practicing Spiritual Wellness
When striving to develop and practice your own spiritual wellness, it is best to find the technique and approach that works for you, there is no “one size fits all” approach. This element of wellness can be the most personal piece of the puzzle. Generally, people like to live a life with meaning and purpose. When these goals are met, it puts harmony in one’s life, and the others they surround themselves with.
Having a connection with your consciousness, and the way we form that connection is by looking inward. When you enhance your consciousness and its flow with techniques like meditation, yoga or other spiritual practices, it automatically creates that mind shift toward peace and positivity.
Mindfulness as we know it, is about being in the present moment. It involves growing familiar with yourself, your feelings, and clarifying your values, wants, and desires. These elements are always alive within us and are there to be discovered — we simply need to be awakened to our inner guide.
If we take the time to slow down, reflect, re-energize and cultivate purpose in our life, we rediscover our why. Many spiritual practices have a long history of using inward reflection to increase spiritual connection, compassion, empathy, and attention.
So, what can you do to improve your spiritual wellness? Since it involves one’s beliefs, values, and purpose, it can be achieved in several ways-both mentally and physically. It is best to figure out what techniques work for you.
Yoga
Yoga is a physical technique that can help improve your spiritual wellness by reducing emotional and physical strains on your mind and body. Yoga is taught at all different levels and can help lower stress, boost the immune system, and lower blood pressure as well as reduce anxiety, depression, fatigue, and insomnia.
Yoga is a type of meditation that demands the practitioner to pay full attention while he/she moves from one yoga position to the other. As you learn the new methods of shifting and responding to your body and mind, other parts of your life also begin to shift and change significantly.
Cindy M. Miller
For over 20 years, Cindy has worked as a Certified Yoga Therapist, Holistic Health Coach, Health and Movement Educator specializing in the care and prevention of injuries, illness, and chronic pain associated with back, pelvic floor dysfunction, and neuromuscular health. She offers a holistic whole-person approach to health and wellness, looking at how all areas of your life are connected and affect your health as a whole.
She establishes programs taking into consideration each individual's unique needs and circumstances, emphasizing the importance of physical movement, mindful nutrition, and preventative care by using a variety of modalities like Yoga Therapy, Conscious Nutrition, Breathwork, Mindfulness, and supportive care.
