A lot of people who aren’t very familiar with spirituality often confuse it with religion. They think that a person who is a spiritual person will naturally be a religious person, whereas this is far from reality. Being spiritual is a very subjective idea, it varies for those who believe they are spiritual and it varies according to those who categorize others as being spiritual. Being religious on the other hand confines you to a certain set of ideas, practices, and beliefs. If you are part of a religion or follow a certain religious ideology you will naturally be following the same things that others in that religion do. This is the main difference between religious and spiritual people. There is a lot to study if you are a religious person, and the ways to learn about a certain religion also vary a lot. For those who prefer studying alone, there are many websites and books to check. Extroverted ones who are keen on sharing their experiences with others might find it thoughtful to attend communities where they can learn about their religion. In fact, one can also set a customizable curriculum that will help keep track of studies. You might find an interactive kids ministry curriculum helpful if you are a parent and want to teach your kids about religion.
With spirituality, you interpret it according to your own understanding and apply it in the way you see fit. There might be some general practices that are common, such as meditation, but in a real-world situation, spirituality can manifest very differently between two people. The other misconception which stems from the first is that spirituality is the path to some form of religious actualization. In fact, it is just a step towards a higher form of thinking, a clearer perspective, and mostly relies on introspection rather than speculation of the external environment. Observation of the world around you is very important, but the focus is to understand how you react to the elements that are present around you and to changes that occur. In doing so, it can help mental health significantly. These are some of the most prominent benefits.
1. Improves Your Perspective
When you reflect on yourself, past experiences, present relationships, and even future endeavors, it gives you the space to evaluate at a deeper level. Too many times we are rushing through life and not really making decisions on our own but rather deciding on things based on what other people are doing and what they are saying. The first step is to incorporate some form of meditation into your routine to achieve these results. This doesn’t have to be a complex, 5-star health spa routine, just a few minutes of deep thinking is all you need. Initially, it is challenging to not look at your phone, to not address that itch on your neck, or to not look outside to see where those sounds are coming from, but with time you will improve your ability to concentrate. Often people seek external help because they haven’t spent enough time problem solving on their own. Through spirituality, you can offer yourself guidance with deep introspection.
2. Helps You Connect The Dots
If you want to get technical with spirituality there is a lot of science to look into. Things like cosmology, numerology, reading palms, and all kinds of other techniques are used to understand spirituality and the things that are going on with a person. Another great technique is to use the life path number to find out a bit about yourself based on your date of birth. This is a stem of numerology and the concept is that there are ‘master numbers’ which can give you insight into who you are as a person and what the course of your life might look like. Based on these you will learn about what steps you should take to improve the quality of your life. It might even help you make sense of certain situations from your past, and also understand at a deeper level, why you are the way you are.
3. Can Have Physical Benefits
We often underestimate the power of the mind of the body. There have been countless studies that have shown the power of the mind over the body. Similarly, there have been several medical studies to understand the placebo effect. While the placebo effect studies have not cleared anything about the effect, the one thing that has been proven is that it exists. And while this might be new in the western world, the eastern world has been using the power of the mind for thousands of years. The popular Chinese martial arts concept of ‘Chi energy’ is essentially about using the mind to strengthen and even heal certain parts of the body.
With a better understanding of yourself, you can venture into the world with a lot more confidence, with a lot more certainty about what you want, and with a much clearer vision of what your purpose is. However, these are not things you will discover with a couple of sessions and meditation and a book about the Buddhist monks, it’s a lifelong journey of self-discovery and evolution. Spirituality is not a quick fix for anything, if anything, it is a hobby with no clear endpoint and no clear advantage. Yet the process can be extremely fulfilling and enlightening, leading you to a path of life that you might have never envisioned for yourself and quality of life you had never thought possible.
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