Meditation,
yoga,
gratitudes,
affirmations,
devotionals,
writing morning pages,
evening prayers,
grace before meals,
making offerings,
small ceremonial rituals
random acts of kindness
There are benefits to having a daily spiritual practice. Building a ritual into your day can restore a sense of peace, balance and purpose. It can help you stay aligned with your goals.
What are some of the benefits you have experienced with daily practice?
There aren't too many disadvantages to having a daily practice, it's mostly about our attitude and approach to it.
Have you ever felt this way, that it's a waste of time praying or otherwise being spiritual, or that it's not practical to meditate or do yoga in the morning? or that your path studies are mostly for your interest, and that maybe knowledge about the path is actually secondary to chores or relationships?
These are examples of a common barrier that needs to be overcome with any daily routine, when we get bored of it, or don't see the point of it anymore, or else we're distracted by things that we prioritize in our busy lives. To push through this lull is a feat of will power, endurance and perseverance, all of which are virtues and build character and discipline.
What other virtues do you feel come along with practicing some form of spirituality daily?
Being invested in things means that they should be meaningful to you, and you have to actually want them, on a level of core values and desire. Not just, "wouldn't it would be nice if..." or "I think I probably need to..." or "so and so says I should..." but something deep inside you that yearns for the outcome and the journey towards that outcome, that this work or behaviour provides.
If on some level, you're comfortable where you're at, and you don't truly believe that the alternative is an improvement...you get stuck.
If you struggle to believe that it's possible, or that others will accept it easily, (if that's important to you), or numerous other beliefs about how it could go wrong... you get stuck.
If you let your trauma of past wounds inform your outlook on what could happen because of what has happened before... you get stuck.
In these circumstances, you are holding on to the situation you are in, more than you are stepping forward into the new reality you wish to create. That often means lots of relapses and "two steps forward one step back" situations. We end up treading water to keep afloat, instead of enjoying the swim - it's tiring, it's a lot of work for little payoff, and we ultimately get nowhere.
Have you ever had an issue with motivation to get the spiritual things done that you, in theory, figure should be built in to your life?
There are coaching and habit tracking apps that can help you stay on track, if you struggle with structure. There are also online communities that can work for the accountability and reward system piece that some people need.
Have you ever fallen off the wagon with spirituality and gone for long stretches of time without celebrating your beliefs? Did you get back on track, and if so, how?
You can't pour out with an empty cup, and when you spend some time on self care, self responsibility, self indulgence, self awareness, and getting the support you need for you, by accessing services and learning to use tools and techniques that work, that makes you that much better for others, afterward.
Actually, when you don't take care of yourself first, it appears to the people around you that you're pretty terrible at taking care of anybody at all, as in, you are actually more or less other people's baggage and not desirable to have around.
We all make judgments on others. I like to say that the things we find abrasive about other people are issues we are ignoring in our own attitudes and behaviours.
So if you know somebody who is crappy at self care, how do you respond to that? Consider your thoughts about this person and reflect on your own self care strategy in that light.
Many of us often say "yes" to others and put aside our own stuff until later. Many of us set priorities for others first. What does this say about our relationships to ourselves? What does this tell others about our ability to meet their needs in a mutually beneficial way, if we can't meet our own?
All this theory is one thing, but we have to learn to walk the talk.
So, is there a spiritual practice you've been itching to start doing regularly, or return to your daily routine?
It helps to chain up bite-sized tasks to other things that we are already in the habit of doing. After a month or two, we can then think about adding (or dropping) another habit. A lifestyle overhaul doesn't happen effectively overnight. But let's encourage each other here, to do the work of honouring ourselves with something spiritually uplifting each day.
So let's get vocal about some of our daily spiritual practices that we already have, or have had in the past, and how we might manage to keep up with them in the face of so much else going on in our lives. What drives us to do these things? What do we take away from our challenges and successes?