What is Spirituality?

What is Spirituality?

Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, spirituality includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves—a higher power and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. Spirituality can be viewed as and is a universal human experience. The experience is sacred. There is a deep sense of aliveness and interconnectedness.

Spirituality can mean various things to different people. Some people might use spirituality primarily about God and active participation in his or her’s organized religion. For others people, spirituality is a non-religious experiences that help them get in touch with their spiritual selves through activities such as quiet reflection, time in nature, private prayer, yoga, or meditation.

The Journey

The spiritual journey involves constantly and consistent healing and affirming the ego so that positivity is always present. Along the journey you’ll become more secure self-esteem, your belief in self-worth and a capacity for love and generosity. The opening of one’s heart is an essential aspect of true spirituality. Exploring spirituality can help people find answers to questions they have about philosophical things such as "what is the meaning of life?" and "what purpose does my life serve?". A huge part of spirituality is embracing what it means to be human— the good and the bad. 

Not everyone experiences or expresses spirituality in the same way so when it comes to your individual journey own it—explore with your own feet, experiment with the teachings, and trust your own discernment.

The Purpose

Some people may have misconceptions when it comes to spirituality because they think it’s outside their religion. If you already have a faith then spirituality can be used to deepen what’s already there. For people who aren’t religious, spirituality doesn’t mean religion. Spirituality is an inner process. It’s becoming clear on what brings meaning and purpose to your life. Spirituality is can be used an alignment for our mental, physical, emotional and spiritual parts coming together. Doing so means your relationships work better because you’re doing work that’s aligned with your soul and it’s meaningful to you because you are living more connected with your true purpose.

The Results

Research shows that spirituality is related to better health outcomes. Spirituality has helped people cope with illness, suffering and death.

Spiritual well-being affects overall quality of life, which includes the following areas:

1. Physical well-being: functional ability, strength/fatigue, sleep/rest, overall physical health, nausea, appetite, constipation, and aches and pains

2. Social well-being: family distress, roles/relationships, affection/sexual function, appearance, employment, isolation and finances

3. Psychological well-being: control, anxiety, enjoyment/leisure, pain distress, happiness, fear, and cognition/attention

4. Spiritual well-being: meaning of illness, uncertainty, hope, religiosity, transcendence, and positive change