Spirituality is good for you. Yes, truly, it’s a fact. Having spiritual meaning or religious belief in your life benefits you in these ways:
Health; lower occurrence of major disease – heart problems, cancer etc.
Self-care; better nutritional choices and diets. Higher levels of exercise and sustained practice of stress relievers like yoga, meditation, prayer, tai-chi and similar.
Emotional & psychological benefits; lower levels of depression, anxiety, sense of meaning and connection protects them from loneliness and bonds them to their community.
Self-acceptance; have a sense of meaning and purpose that guides them at all times. They are more confident and active in community – driven by the idea of being of service to others, rather than anything of a self-serving nature. Reward comes from contributing, therefore they are easily able to determine their value in a positive way.
Love; feeling loved by ‘god’ or ‘creator’ fills and provides the spiritually minded with an unshakeable sense of worth and value and of being loved. Therefore they give more love and draw more back into their lives.
Researchers impressed by the health advantages of those with ‘faith’ assert that we are ‘hard-wired’ for spirituality. Meaning, we are born needing to connect to a higher source. Without this connection we have to combat unnecessary self-doubts and fear, combined with a need to ‘prove’ our worth, that the faithful do not have.
Those with faith unite in believing the human journey is a transitory step in spiritual evolution. Please do note that the belief that there is more to come is unanimously held by all religions.
This life’s journey therefore can be seen as a stepping stone. It is a lesson, or opportunity to embrace what is around us and to become more aware and evolved. Which, I think means – you can take the pressure off yourself and celebrate your journey, without a need to obsess on your perceived faults.
For those that are interested in connecting to a higher source, or creator; start exploring who you are and what your belief system is. Take time to sense what feels ‘right’ or ‘wrong’.
Meditate and focus on a sense of peace and oneness with your natural environment. Spend time in nature, spend time with animals, spend time in gratitude and reverence for life. Do what you love – for example; musicians feel connection in their music, surfers feel it when they are in the ocean, and so on – it is found in many places.
All these experiences are steps that help people to ‘connect’ or to feel their connection deeply. They silence the inner chatter and bring forward awareness of your environment and being. It really is that simple to open yourself up to this path and increase your spiritual awareness.
Amber | www.intothesoul.com