During your busy life, no doubt you’ve learned the importance of self-care. You may exercise and eat well to stay physically healthy and mentally strong. But when was the last time you took time to nurture your spiritual self? Here are five habits that could potentially help you create a spiritual awakening and care for your soul.
Caring for your spiritual self
It’s believed that to live a happy, fulfilled life truly, you should pay attention to every aspect of what makes you who you are, including your mind, body, emotions, and spirit. Also, it is easy to exercise and eat well to stay physically fit or to enhance your mind through reading or strengthen your emotional health. But you probably consider helping your spiritual life less often. Here are some simple habits you can practice to find spiritual renewal and revival.
5 Habits That Help Create A Spiritual Awakening
Try adopting these five habits to reawaken your spirituality.
1 – Faith
Spiritual awakening in your soul begins with finding faith in something outside yourself. Faith is said to be a commitment and trust in God. Many people find that faith in God helps them unleash a spiritual revival and overcome challenges in their life. Having faith centers you when the world around you looks bleak. Studies show that faith enhances positive emotions. For many people, their religious belief is a significant resource for their sense of well-being, especially in times of trouble.
Buddhism emphasizes the importance of spiritual awakening through mindfulness and meditation. Christianity emphasizes prayer. Reading the Spiritual texts can help you develop your relationship with God and refresh your soul. Life is busy, but try to find ways every day to focus on your spiritual journey of faith.
Find a community of like-minded people to encourage your faith and grow spiritually.
2 – Remember
Remind yourself how far you’ve come and all the people who have helped you along the way. Remember the difficulties, those things that may have seemed to be tremendous obstacles. Hindsight enables you to see how you’ve overcome these obstacles. Remembering your past is essential as a human. It anchors you in the present. It gives you a sense of continuity. Remembering can also help you hold on to details of who you are and who you are becoming. Here are some ways you can remember your past and unleash a spiritual revival.
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Celebrate
Some people like to celebrate their remembrances with a dinner to thank those who have helped them along the way. Whether it’s your friends, family, or co-workers, it’s always good to stop and remember where you’ve come from and celebrate the growth.
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Recount
You may want to recount the past through pictures or a video. Some people write memoirs of their life to tell all they’ve experienced.
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Re-envision
As you remember your past, it can motivate you towards your future-the dreams and aspirations you want to pursue. Maybe you’ve gotten off track, and the act of remembering can get you moving again towards your goals.
3 – Gratitude
Gratitude is having a thankful heart. It’s feeling an appreciation for something valuable and meaningful to you. Research continues to emphasize that gratitude helps your overall sense of well-being. One study found that high levels of appreciation contribute to your physical well-being, give you better sleep, and enable you to sleep longer. The positive feelings you get from showing appreciation boost your spirit, making you feel refreshed and revived. Here are a few ways you can practice gratitude every day.
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Journal
Keep a journal to write down the things you’re grateful for every day. You may be thankful for something small or big, but finding gratefulness in your day can make a big difference to how you feel about your life.
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Choose gratefulness
Decide to be grateful amid situations that are especially challenging at work, home, or school. You may want to write down a sentence of your commitment to be grateful. You could write something like, “Today, I’ll be grateful when I’m at __________by practicing thankfulness about_________.” Of course, you may not succeed every day at being grateful in certain situations, but keep working on it, and over time you’ll be able to experience more thankfulness.
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Positive words
It’s easy to slip into negativity, especially with your words. Try to add more positive comments to your daily language. Avoid put-downs and sarcasm that tears you or others down. You can grow in gratitude as you practice it every day. You’ll find you feel happier and feel a greater sense of revival in your soul.
4 – Give back
One of the best ways to revive your spirit is to think about others. Look for ways to give back to the people in your neighborhood or your community. Giving back promotes your mental and spiritual health. Here are some benefits of helping others.
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Feel happier
When you help others, you feel happier. It promotes a greater sense of well-being. Plus, getting involved in your community or neighborhood helps you feel part of something bigger than yourself.
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Feel like you belong
Helping others often introduces you to new people, new parts of your community you may not have known about otherwise. You’ll feel less lonely and isolated as you get more involved in your local community.
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Purpose
Volunteering can enhance your sense of purpose. You will feel more fulfilled and a sense of reward when you’re giving to other people. It gets you involved in places you may not have before, so your world looks bigger.
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Revival
Helping other people improves your view of life. It gets your mind off yourself and onto the greater good. This gives you a sense of revival and renewal. It offsets feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Where can you help?
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- Run to the grocery for a friend or neighbor
- Donate or volunteer at a local charity
- Volunteer at a nursing home
- Donate to an animal shelter
- Mentor a student or an adult
- Knit blankets for preemies at hospitals
- Call older family members
5 – Nature
There’s nothing like a mild, sunny day to lift your spirit.
Studies confirm that being in nature reduces your anxiety and stress. It lowers your heart rate and helps you stay more focused. Hippocrates, sometimes called the father of medicine, said that it was essential to experience “airs, waters, and places” to improve physical and mental well-being. In the 1200s, sick people were told to eat well and get into the garden’s open-air to recover their health. Being overly exposed to artificial environments adds to your anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, impatient and irritable.
It’s thought that the multi-sensory experiences of nature stimulate your mind and spirit and lowers your stress levels.
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Sight
Seeing a tree, a pond, or a grassy meadow helps you relax. The benefits of seeing natural beautify include:
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- Improved health
- Sense of well-being
- Lower heart rate
- Increased attention
One part of this same study, as listed above, found that people in a hospital room that overlooked trees, flowers, or water were more positive than other patients without this view. And abstract art caused increased anxiety in hospital patients.
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Sound
Noise pollution does more than hurt your ears. According to the same study as listed above, being exposed to loud, constant human-made noise can cause heart problems, stress, and sleep problems. The quietness of nature helps you escape the noise. Hearing the wind, water, or a birdsong enhances your sense of peace and renews your spirit. You’ll feel calmer and more peaceful.
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Smells
It’s easy to ignore the smells of your environment, but being in nature can impact your mind, body, and spirit. When you smell flowers, trees, shrubs, grasses, and even rotting matter, it calms you. Your sense of smell connects to your emotions and mind. Scents enhance your memories and affect your mood. Certain smells strengthen your brain function and even your behavior. Researchers are still learning how the smells of nature benefit health and well-being.
Final thoughts on creating and experiencing a spiritual awakening
It’s incredible how easy it is to forget about nurturing your soul. You may do everything you can to be healthy physically. And you probably know how important it is to stimulate your mind and improve your mental health. Hopefully, these five habits will help you encounter the spiritual revival of your soul. It’s an integral part of who you are as a person.
Whether you choose to practice gratitude, help others or remember your past, whatever you do can renew your sense of well-being. Of course, don’t neglect your faith, but find ways to continue your spiritual journey of faith.
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