Spirituality Defined: What does it mean to you?

What does spirituality mean to you? How do you define spirituality? What thoughts come to mind in response to these questions?

Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience, something that touches us all. People may describe a spiritual experience as sacred or transcendent, or simply as a deep sense of aliveness and interconnectedness.

Some may find that their spiritual life is intricately linked to their association with a church, temple, mosque, or synagogue. Others may pray or find comfort in a personal relationship with God or a higher power. And others seek meaning through their connections to nature or art. Like your sense of purpose, your personal definition of spirituality may change throughout your life, adapting to your own experiences and relationships.

I realise spirituality can be a very touchy topic that arouses countless strong opinions, intellectual arguments, and far too many unspeakable emotional wounds. Nevertheless, there’s nothing more central to our lives than our understanding of spirituality. And it’s a conversation we ought to engage in far more often than we do.

Whether we’ve intentionally pursued a personal spiritual journey or not, our beliefs have a profound impact on our lives. Consciously or subconsciously, it influences us in countless ways.

Consider how spirituality impacts our understanding of the following:

• Ourselves. Does God or source care about me? Is He mad at me or pleased with me? If there is no God, who am I? And where did I originate?
• Others. Are all lives equal? If so, on what basis? What is my responsibility to care for others?
• Minimalism. If we have removed the pursuit of worldly possessions from our affections, what will we replace this with?
• The world around us. In what specific ways should we care about the world and the environment around us? Is our motivation in this regard more significant than survival of our species? And if so, how do we as humans responsibly interact with it?
• Morality. Is there a moral set of truth for the universe established from a higher power? Or is morality determined by each individual?
• Evil. What am I to understand about the evil and suffering in the world? Is it there for a reason? To what extent should I try to counteract it?
• Money. Does the universe give money/status to some and not others? Or is money/status earned by the individual? What should I do with it when I obtain it? Do I hold any responsibility to care for those with less?
• Afterlife. Is there life after death? Is death something to be feared or welcomed? And either way, how should I be preparing for it today?

No doubt, our understanding of spirituality carries great influence on our lives. For that reason, one of the most significant journeys we can ever embark upon is the exploration of spirituality and its true meaning to us as individuals.

Pura Vida Life Compass

I have developed the “Pura Vida Your Life Compass: The navigation tool for the modern world”. This tool brings all Pura Vida Your Life concepts and principles together to empower you to rediscover your unique self and gain fulfilment in your greatest life yet and enjoy all areas of your life.

The Pura Vida Your Life Compass encompasses the 8 Bodies to be nourished; your whole life is greater than the sum of its parts:

• Physical Body
• Emotional Body
• Psychological Body
• Social Body
• Intellectual Body
• Creative Body
• Spiritual Body
• Worldly Nourishment

Nourishing the body as a whole does not only mean getting the food and water you need to live. There is more than just the physical body to be wholly nourished. To be completely well-nourished, you must think about the other “bodies” you have. These other “bodies” must be taken care of the same way your physical body needs to be taken care of.

Each part requires nourishment in a different way, but they are all connected.

Spiritual Body

The Spiritual Body is connection to all things, including the earth and self, to what we call God, source, the universe, the beyond, the divine, or higher self. This provides protection, union, help, and guidance from an outside source, as well as from those who have passed on. It connects us to all that is. Many do not understand or acknowledge this aspect exists. It has little to do with what we believe culturally when it comes to religion or spirits. It’s the element that no one and no situation stands alone, that there is no one’s fault, that we are all connected, and that it always takes more than one body to create all that exists in life. It’s the most outside ring in our aura or energetic field.

The Spiritual Body represents the unity of all living things, including the union between our soul, life experience, and destiny. This is not about going to church. In fact, it has little to do with religion.

When the spiritual body is balanced it should behave calmly, fearlessly, be highly creative, operating without limits, and combining the fortitude and support to create action from ideas. Along with this comes the acknowledgement there’s a higher force guiding and protecting the project, and there’s something bigger at play than you. The spiritual body represents the synthesis and balance of the other 7 bodies detailed above; it’s very similar to the idea that we are greater than the sum of our parts.

When someone’s spiritually under-balanced, they’re disconnected from the understanding that we are all one, feeling or thinking that we can do things on our own or alone. That we are not co-creating our existence, that we are victims of fate (or the health care system, the government, or the media). And most often (or entirely) dismissive of listening to the gut, otherwise known as ‘intuition’. This person generally separates from being an active or conscious member of community or society and feels deserving and expectant of others’ energy or time. They also feel left out, or like they’ve not been seen or heard. There’s also a tendency to put a high emphasis on how things look or how they appear instead of focusing on transparency and honest heart communication. There’s also a heavy focus and over-reliance on doing, controlling, and the grasping of an exterior reference or relationship.

The quality of someone who is spiritually over-balanced usually has their head in the clouds. They don’t turn ideas into reality, they may have a false god complex, and a lack of unity between action and behaviour. They may also lack a connection to interpersonal responsibilities (relationships, physical health and wealth, respecting other people’s bodies, paying bills, debts). There is generally a feeling of entitlement and being overly deserving.

So, you can easily see the importance of bringing the spiritual body into balance.

Here are my 3 Golden Nuggets for helping you to have a happier, healthier and fulfilled life, with greater balance in your spiritual body:

Top Tip

A beginner’s practice, that anyone can learn, is called ‘The Nine Relaxation Breaths’. This is a short breath cleansing practice that can be done at any time, and is traditionally done at the beginning of any meditation practice. 

Nine Relaxation Breaths:

• Close your eyes and keep them closed as much as possible until the end of the process. You will be taking nine deep relaxation breaths.
• For the first three breaths, breathe into any physical tension you’re holding in your body, then hooking that tension with the breath, release it with the out breath.
• For the second three breaths, breathe into any emotional tension you’re holding, notice where you’re holding emotional tension in your body, then hooking that tension with the breath, release it with the out breath.
• For the third three breaths, breathe into any mental tension or worries you’re holding, notice where you’re holding mental tension in your body, then hooking that tension with the breath, release it with the out breath.

Start by sitting quietly for as little as 5 minutes, then build up to 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes and notice how you feel. Open your eyes.

Top Tip

Ask yourself these questions: Who am I? What is my purpose? What do I value most?

These questions will lead you down a road where you will think more in-depth about yourself and allow you to notice things about yourself that will help you achieve fulfilment. It also helps to journal these questions to draw your thoughts, feelings and desires out from deep within you.

Top Tip

One of the biggest challenges people face today is staying optimistic. We are living in times of big changes and are bombarded daily with bad news; stories that affect us and impact our hope of the goodness of mankind. We can get caught up in the wave of negativity the media showcases.

Train yourself to have an optimistic mindset. The mind functions as a reservoir, and we must learn how to supply this reservoir. Optimism is an attributive style; essentially, a way we attribute meaning to daily events.

When evaluating a fact of life, pessimistic individuals and optimistic individuals will have opposite perspectives from each other. 

For a Positive Fact: “I got a raise!”

Optimistic Profile: Everything always works out for me.

Pessimist Profile: My taxes will be even higher now.

For a Negative Fact: “I lost my house keys.”

Optimistic Profile: I never lose anything, someone probably picked them up for me.

Pessimist Profile: I always forget everything; I am so distracted! 

If you find yourself identifying with the pessimist profile, don’t be discouraged. With mental strength, creating awareness and daily training, you will be able to create good in any situation.

So, let’s summarise those Golden Nuggets again:

1. Meditation, Meditation, Meditation
2. Exploring your inner world
3. Thinking, speaking and acting positively

These are just a few golden nuggets that I believe will serve you greatly. Picture yourself with a greater sense of knowing who you are, creating a deeper connection within and creating balance in your spiritual body. What could be better than that?

Thank you for joining me and I look forward to seeing you again next week for Pura Vida Your Life Happenings for insight, inspiration and more Golden Nuggets to help you live a happier and fulfilled life.

I invite you to come on a journey of empowerment with me – sign up to Discoveries to start taking steps to improve your life!

Or, why not become a Pura Vida Your Life Member to discover an even wider range of inspiring resources and tools?

Pura Vida Your Life – it all starts with you 🧡💙💛

Until next time – Pura Vida!