Submitted by Diane Lang
Psychotherapist, author of Creating Balance and Finding Happiness, and positive living expert, Diane Lang, has been curious about spirituality for a very long time. With no ties to religion or even an understanding of religion, she started looking for something else. Diane defines what spirituality means, what questions to ask ourselves in order to add spirituality to our daily lives, and 11 tips to have a spiritual routine — all leading to a more balanced and happy life.
Diane started searching for something that would answer the questions:
- Is there more?
- What is faith?
- How do I feel complete?
- How can I be in the present?
- What will make me want to be a better person?
Through this search she was able to define spirituality for herself and learn how others defined spirituality. More importantly she found ways to incorporate spirituality into her daily routine and felt the rewards that she always heard about. According to the Merriam Webster Learner’s Dictionary Spirituality is defined as:
“The quality or state of being concerned with religion or religious matters: the quality or state of being spiritual.”
“This wasn’t enough for me. Actually, I felt more confused after reading this but after studying what others think of spirituality and their daily spiritual rituals I actually got a good sense of what it means to be spiritual,” shares Diane.
For Diane, spirituality is being surrounded by nature and feeling its energy and seeing its beauty. It’s feeling you breathe, hearing your inner voice sensing there’s more than our five senses. It’s knowing we are all connected, we are all one. Spirituality is having faith and more faith when there is nothing else. It’s being in the moment with no expectations, judgment or fear. It’s being completely free. It’s love, the purest form of love.
“I’m sure we could add on to this definition and tweak it a bit but it gives the overall theme of spirituality,” says Diane.
The question is how do we make spirituality a practice in everyday life?
Ask yourself some questions to figure it out:
- When do you feel most at peace?
- How do you quiet your mind?
- What brings you true inner joy and harmony?
- How can you be of service to others?
These questions will put you on a spiritual path. The happiest people had a daily spiritual routine.
Here are some spiritual routines that helped people to feel at peace:
- Meditation for a few minutes each day. Either guided or on your own.
- Sitting in nature — so easy; there is nothing more to do… just sit and enjoy.
- Gratitude checks — each day reminding yourself of all you have and being thankful for it.
- Prayer — sending out prayers to people in need or global prayers for the world or both.
- Exercise — believe it or not any type of exercise from yoga to walking will clear your mind.
- Eating cleaner — the lighter and healthier food the easier it is to connect to energy and feel good. The mind-body connection.
- Take mini breaks of being alone and enjoying your own company.
- Living mindfully — being in the moment, doing one task at a time, observing all that is around you.
- Acceptance of yourself.
- Feeling fearless, curious and excited about life. Feeling faith that everything will be okay.
- Being of service to others — always paying it forward.
“The rewards for living a spiritual path are huge. Less stress, more balance, happier lifestyle and better mental and physical health. All of this needs to be done without judgment or expectation. There is no right or wrong. It just is. Basically, spirituality is more than I could ever describe in words but all that I feel inside,” shares Diane.
- Diane Lang is a Positive Living Expert and psychotherapist – is a nationally recognized speaker, author, educator, therapist and media expert. Lang is extremely mediagenic and offers expertise on a variety of health and wellness topics about creating balance and finding happiness through positive living as well as multiple mental health, lifestyle and parenting needs. In addition to holding multiple counseling positions, Diane is also an adjunct professor at Montclair State University.