Spiritual health is not a topic often spoken about, but that does not mean it is not important. In fact, our spiritual health is just as important as other forms of health (i.e., physical, mental, emotional, etc.).
When the spirit is not well it can impact the rest of the body negatively, leading to adverse effects and outcomes. So, learning how to address the health of your spirit is essential to maintaining overall wellness and balance.
Reflection
Reflection is a self-awareness activity that helps you get in touch with your inner self. It is the intentional practice of pausing to think about an outlined area or moment. Reflection is one of the best ways to address the health of your spirit because you can engage in purposeful and thoughtful analysis that allows you to see where you are thriving spiritually and where you may be falling short. This then equips you with the information you need to make changes so that you can improve the health of your spirit.
Meditation
Meditation is a practice that involves intense focus as a means of building self-awareness and establishing or promoting calm. As you meditate you can gain awareness and insight into the health of your spirit in a deeper and more meaningful way. The lack of distraction coupled with the more intense focus can help you hone in on certain spiritual areas that you can then work to improve.
Journaling
Journaling is another great activity for helping to develop more awareness so that you can assess the health of your spirit. Journaling provides an outlet for you to release thoughts and feelings that may be weighing your spirit down. By writing these things on paper you then give yourself permission to let them go so that you can be more fruitful spiritually and mentally.
Community
Being surrounded by other people can help your spiritual health as well. Isolation can create an environment where the spirit suffers and lacks. Alone a person can harbour negative thoughts and feelings that go unchecked and unchallenged, thereby weighing on the spirit and soul.
However, in a community environment, the people around you can work to encourage and uplift you in a way that improves your spiritual mood and outlook and forces you to be more positive.
Prayer
Many people believe in the existence of a higher being or power and prayer is a way to connect with this being or power in a way that enhances spiritual health. Prayer can help you to see those areas in your life that are weighing on you, those areas of life that you are struggling in, and those areas of life where you feel out of control. Releasing all of that via prayer then helps to free your mind and your spirit so that these things don’t act as a hindrance in your life.
Gratitude
Practicing gratitude is an additional practice or exercise that is highly effective in improving spiritual health. Gratitude is simply the act of acknowledging what you are grateful for. Regular practice of gratitude trains the mind and spirit to see the good and focus on the positive, which means less time spent harbouring on things that weigh the spirit down. Being intentional about implementing a consistent gratitude practice into your life can promote spiritual health in a meaningful and powerful way.
The health of your spirit matters and you can do things that will address and improve your spiritual health. Taking it one step at a time and gradually engaging in the activities listed above can help you grow in your spiritual health in a way that improves your mood and your life.