I’ve written before about what a daily spiritual practice is. But that starts off from the position that you already know what a spiritual practice is. And not every one. I know I didn’t starting off.
Hell, it took a while for me to figure out what spirituality was, never mind the practice bit. And then, I realised I had kinda skipped over the basics. Seriously. So here we go.
What is a spiritual practice?
A spiritual practice or spiritual discipline (often including spiritual exercises) is the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of inducing spiritual experiences and cultivating spiritual development.
Yes, I know, I keep saying Wikipedia isn’t a great source. And it isn’t. But it’s a good place to start sometimes. So there you go!
Now, for both the quote from Wikipedia and the graphic, there’s a bit of circular thinking here. Outlining spiritual practice as the practice of spirituality is… not very helpful! So what do we do?
Remember what spirituality is?
I wrote a post about it a few weeks ago. And fundamentally, I came back to it being personal. But there were some common elements: sense of interconnectedness; reverence for life; transcendence (which, yes, I still have issues with!); exploring the meaning of life…
Small issues. Nothing like the Big Questions raised by philosophers at all at all.
But here’s the thing. How you embody and live that spirituality is up to you.
There are plenty of examples of nuns and monks and religious orders who don’t hold those titles leading lives of contemplative prayer. (Not just Christian either!) There are examples of religious people, not necessarily part of any orders who proclaim their spirituality (I could be included in this myself, to be honest. Although hopefully I’m less pushy that some of the ones you see on the telly…) Whichever section of the circle you pick above, there are examples in modern life of those who live it.
But what does that mean when you are building a spiritual practice from scratch? Or worse, trying to unlearn less-than-helpful habits that we may have left over from previous religious or spiritual experience?
You don’t have to choose!
I mean it. You don’t have to choose one specific area that you practice your spirituality in. In fact, I’d say if you’re not following your spiritual beliefs in all areas of your life, life becomes harder!
What do I mean by this?
Well, you may find that prayer is helpful at times. Meditation might be a strengthening daily practice to help you survive life. Social activism might be a way to express how your spirituality feeds your morals, your ethics and your sense of right and wrong.
In saying that, you don’t have to tackle everything at once. In fact, I suggest trying one thing, one single thing, that feels really, really easy to start with.
And, when I say easy, I mean the sort of task or action that you’re thinking: “This can’t count, surely?”
It definitely does. This might be lighting a candle once a week. Reading something related to your spirituality for 10mins a week. Really, tiny, small steps.
The smaller the better
You might sign up for a course. You might read a blog post (ahem). It’s possible you might spend a few seconds just breathing.
The idea is, commit to something very, very small. That’s why I mention the single deep breath in my beginners course. Because, sometimes, that’s all you can commit to. And that’s ok.
You might explore some of the pathways mentioned above and see what ones appeal and what ones really aren’t for you. That’s ok. Seriously, not everything is for everyone. This path is personal!!
What “counts” as spiritual practice?
Honestly? A few mins every day where you focus on your spirituality. Whether it’s a deep breath, a prayer, meditation, lighting a candle, growing a Brigid garden… whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. What “counts” is that you show up, continually and consistently and develop your spiritual life.
And it’s ok to stay that way as well. Not everyone needs or can complete an hours long spiritual practice every day. I mean, I barely manage an hours long practice for Imbolc… so y’know, do what suits.
But ask Brigid as well. She may want something really small and easy from you – don’t let go of that option!!
