Regarding self-care, we often think of bubble baths and a glass of wine. But it’s much deeper and more complex than that. Caring for your spiritual well-being is one of the eight primary forms of self-care and can help us manage our stress and live a deeper, more meaningful life.
Learning how to improve spiritual wellness in your life is a valid form of self-care. In this post, I will discuss why spiritual wellness is so essential, as well as 14 ways you can boost how you maintain spiritual well-being in your life.
*In this post, I use the terms God, Spirit, Source, the Universe, and Divine as interchangeable. Please use whatever you feel most comfortable with.
What is Spiritual Wellness?
The spiritual wellness definition is the aspect of our lives in which we practice healthy activities that lead us to peace within our own lives and help us connect to Spirit and all other life on earth. Our values and beliefs lead to these healthy activities we practice.
One aspect of spiritual wellness that other sites often are remiss to mention is that spirituality is not just connecting with spirit; it is also in how we connect with others.
Did Buddha preach only about how to relieve ourselves of suffering? No! He taught us how to act in a manner that does not cause suffering to others!
Did Jesus only preach about your own personal spirit? Of course not. He taught us how to behave in society in a manner that honors and serves others as well.
This is because each person is a part of the divine. The word “Namaste” means “the divine in me honors the divine in you.“
In Wicca, they say, “As above, so below.” In other words, how we treat others is mirrored in how we treat spirit and also how we treat ourselves because everything is interconnected.
Why is Spiritual Wellness Important?
Spiritual wellness is important because it helps us feel at peace with ourselves and connected to the world around us. Cultivating spiritual well-being helps us develop other areas of our lives, such as our relationships, home life, and careers. In short, everything is connected.
Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh calls this interbeing.
It is how everyone on earth is impacted by each other and how our energy is shared. It helps us have compassion for one another in our differences and treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves.
This “Golden Rule” is the basis of virtually all religions. Still, you don’t need to be religious to practice spirituality, and certainly, not all religious people practice the golden rule. (From Christianity to Buddhism to Wicca, this is the foundation of many religions.)
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14 Ways to Improve Spiritual Wellness
These 14 things are examples of spiritual wellness activities that help you find inner peace, cultivate compassion, and connect to Spirit/God.
1. Prioritize Your Spiritual Health
Maybe it’s obvious, but the first step to improving your spiritual wellness should be to prioritize it in your life. This means giving it the proper thought, time, and effort to enhance your spirituality.
It means learning about spirituality through reading or participating in spiritual activities. It means being fearless in talking to others about their spiritual experiences.
2. Reduce Stress
One of the things that many religions focus on is the reduction of suffering. Whether you are “giving your burdens up to God” or “meditating to relieve suffering,” finding a way to let go of your worries and reduce your stress is actually a very spiritual activity!
We actively connect with the divine when we relieve our stress through exercise, prayer, meditation, gardening, laughter, or something else. Because Source/God does not want you to live in a state of anxiety and stress, they want you to live your life to your highest purpose and share the love!
3. Practice Mindfulness
Many people lump the terms “mindfulness” and “meditation” into one concept, but in actuality, they are quite different. When you are mindful, you are actively engaged in the present moment, regardless of what you are doing.
You may be practicing music, brushing your teeth, or driving to work. You might be walking in nature or listening to your child talk about their day.
When we are mindful, and our minds are not distracted by other things, we can connect with the divine in others and with Spirit.
4. Meditate
Of course, one of the ways we can quiet our minds enough to become more mindful is through meditation. Meditation is the act of allowing both our inner and outer worlds to go on around us as we observe.
Meditation is an act of “metacognition,” or the awareness that we are aware… thinking about how we are thinking. Tapping into this extra layer of cognition helps us separate from our egos and connect to our higher selves.
On the earthly level, meditation can help you:
- lower your blood pressure
- reduce your emotional reactivity
- reduce anxiety
- have a more positive outlook
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5) Declutter your world
Developing lightness in your life isn’t easy in this modern world. Another way to improve your spiritual wellness and lessen your emotional and physical strains is by decluttering your life.
Having extra “stuff” (either in our physical world or our minds) keeps us stuck in ego and prevents us from genuinely connecting spiritually. When you donate things you don’t use, shred all those papers you don’t need, and toss out the things in your home that are broken and unusable, you’re making room for the divine.
The Bible says that cleanliness is next to godliness, and I agree entirely!
6) Develop Gratitude
Writing a gratitude journal can be an excellent way to improve your spiritual well-being. Negative thoughts are often at the root of suffering, stress, and dis-ease. And getting caught in the spiral of negative thinking is so easy.
Gratitude is a great way to counter it. This isn’t to say that you need to force yourself to be grateful for things that have burdened you (that’s toxic positivity). But finding things that you are truly grateful for can begin to alleviate that negative spiral.
7) Don’t multitask
Multitasking is another task that keeps us from being truly mindful and present in our daily lives. Multitasking is when we try to do multiple things simultaneously, like having a phone conversation and making dinner simultaneously. Or perhaps trying to listen to your child talk about their day at school while you’re on social media.
Multitasking prevents us from doing either activity to its fullest potential. Taking the time to do an activity right helps us connect with the other person as well as raises our own potential.
8) Improve Your Physical Health
Like cleanliness is next to godliness, they should also say that the cleanness of the body is next to godliness! Because treating your body like the temple it is, is a profound way of improving spiritual wellness.
Often, spiritual people do everything to serve others without first taking care of themselves. It is important to see yourself as an extension of the divine and thus care for your own physical well-being.
Even daily walking has massive benefits! Try rock climbing, or yoga, or go swimming. Make sure you eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and avoid toxins like sugar or alcohol.
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9) See God everywhere
Have I hammered home to stay mindful yet? Being in the present moment is one of the primary and most integral ways we enhance our spiritual well-being.
As a spiritual person, you may recognize that God is in every little thing, from the dandelion that sprouts in your lawn in springtime to the baby crying on your flight. Finding enjoyment, understanding, or compassion for all the little things in life can be so touching and moving on a spiritual level.
10) Explore different religions and practices
When you want to know how to improve spiritual wellness, see how different religions would have you do it.
There are over 4,200 different religions and sects in the entire world. There are some similarities, sure, but there are also plenty of differences. Learning about different religions can help you connect to others, see things from different perspectives, and develop compassion for those different from you.
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11) Volunteer
As mentioned earlier, peace is not just something to cultivate in yourself but also in the world. When we serve others, we connect with Spirit, God, the Universe, or whatever we believe in.
Find somewhere to volunteer. Play music at a nursing home. Walk dogs at your local shelter. Join a clean-up team after a natural disaster.
Bringing joy to others (whether human or animal) or helping to alleviate the suffering of others is always a powerful way to connect to God.
12) Listen to others
Similarly, we cannot alleviate the suffering of others if we cannot stop and listen to them. Let’s be honest: listening to others, particularly if they have different beliefs than we do, can be challenging, even frustrating.
But even just allowing others to feel heard validates their fears and worries and can help them feel connected to others as well.
13) Stop judging others
When you listen, do you make judgments about them, or do you come from a place of understanding and compassion?
Most people’s beliefs and values come from their past, often in the form of trauma, loss, heartbreak, and suffering. Being non-judgmental means that we see and understand this about others and do not allow ourselves to feel threatened by a different belief system or opinion.
When Jesus spent time with prostitutes and lepers, do you think he was judging? He was there to listen and be a connection point to God for them. You can do the same thing.
14) Develop Self Awareness
All of these spiritual wellness activities are only possible with a heaping dose of self-awareness. It is easy to fly through life, letting our ego, coping mechanisms, and “lizard brain” run the show.
But being spiritual means understanding those knee-jerk reactions and choosing the more compassionate, slower, more mindful route anyway.
So the more you prioritize your spiritual self-care, the more aware you will naturally become.
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Conclusion
When you seek to improve your spiritual wellness, you add peace and joy to both your own life as well as to the lives of others. Because God/Spirit/Source is in everything: every detail of life. It’s just up to you to see it.
Take care of yourself and others, and be mindful on your spiritual journey.
What have you done to improve your spiritual well-being?
Drop me a comment below. I’d love to hear from you!