Spirituality - what is it anyway? 10 tips to help you through - by Chiara Marrapodi

Spirituality is many things to many people. Spirituality is not a religion. Religion can be viewed as a set of rules followed by a group of individuals who share the same beliefs that are unquestioned.

What is spirituality?

Spirit means soul and is derived from the latin word to breath (spirare), it is related to the ebb and the flow of the breath, the exhalation and the inhalation. The rhythm of life is bound by the breath, like the waves gently lapping the sandy beach it brings a sense of calming, of stillness. It is in this stillness that we heighten our awareness of the outer world and most importantly the inner world. When we concern ourselves with practices relating to spirit, we call it being spiritual. Notice the word being. It is not doing, it is being. Being implies immersion. A feeling, a knowing. Being implies an engulfing of all the senses that allows for the heart to open. As we open our hearts we connect to life in a new way. We marry the heart with the mind and as this connection becomes stronger and stronger we begin to operate from the space of the heart-mind.

How to achieve this?

Spiritual practice starts with connection, a deep connection... to nature. Because it is in nature that you find the essence of who you are. This connection to nature allows you to reflect deeply upon yourself and see the divinity within other beings. It allows you to see the coherence, harmony and resonance of the natural world. It aligns you with the feeling of awe. It is in this state of awe, this state of stillness that allows you to see beyond yourself. Beyond being human. Ultimately allowing you to connect with your own soul, your true essence. The path upon which you journey is called spirituality. The beauty of practicing spirituality is that of following your own path, with your own method. It is not dictated by a ‘qualified’ individual, it is a journey that unfolds with practice and persistence. It is a journey that unfolds from within.
But I still have no idea how to do this?

Here are the first 10 tips to developing your own spirituality:

Spend time by yourself.
The greatest personal spiritual growth results from spending time in solitude. It needn’t be permanent, but spending time with yourself allows you to recalibrate. It allows you to reflect on your experiences and understand yourself better. This time for reflection is important for personal growth and navigating within the community as a unique individual.

Spend time with nature.
Nature is guided by it’s own parameters. Everything in nature works in harmony, coherence and resonance. The delicate eco-systems work with a synchronicity akin to the symphony orchestra. Indeed, as the melodies of the birds greet you there is no matching the harmonies played for all those who dare listen. The natural world has it’s own breath, rhythm and cycle. It recycles all the old to give rise to the new through the seasons in communion with the skies. As we harmonize with these rhythms, the rhythms with which our bodies are attuned, a new sense of connectedness to nature emerges. An innate connectedness our bodies know well.

Allow.
When many people begin their practice they experience resistance. This is natural when you have not been exposed to these types of experiences before. If you become one with the resistance by feeling it fully, over time you release it. As you continue with your practice and allow feelings and thoughts to arise without judgement they dissipate. Breathe..breathe...breathe.

Receive.
When you allow yourself to experience you are in a state of receiving. What can you expect to receive I hear you ask? Well, that is the point, when you build expectations you block your potential to receive. Many experiences and much information is derived from being in a state of receipt. I will not be placing examples here because the mind very quickly grabs on to what it can to find meaning. When you approach your practice from a state of openness then you are able to receive.

Accept.
When you let go of resistance and hence the connection to the ego, over time, you are able to accept that which is new and fresh. That which is insightful. Acceptance does not mean taking other’s experiences and force these on to yourself. Acceptance means being gentle with yourself, a gentle acceptance of your experience without judgement.

Trust.
As you build your practice and your experience you begin to see synchronicity for the gift it is and trust what you sense, feel, see and hear. As you let go of pre-conceived ideas of what it ‘should’ feel like, you begin to experience what it ‘is’ like for you. After
all, another’s experience is their own and not yours. Also as you trust you begin to release the feeling of wanting to control the direction of your experience. For as you are in a state of ‘expectation’ you miss the point altogether. The question remains what do you really have control over? Does control exist? Only if you buy into it. Where does it come from?

Gratitude.
Gratitude is spouted by many in spiritual circles, but what does it really mean and how do you know you are in a state of gratitude? Activate your heart and see the world through it’s eyes.

Patience.
Patience is the ability to continue even when things don’t go the way you ‘expect’ them to. It is the ability to acknowledge that there is a higher perspective that is related to the outcome and trusting this with a sense of humble acceptance that when the time is right you will understand fully.

Persistence.
All the theory in the world cannot replace experience (epistemology vs ontology). Without experience we would all be mechanistic and robotic in nature. The fluidity of nature lends itself to change and change takes humble persistence, patience and grace. The humbleness to observe and accept change, the patience to receive in the right timing and order and the grace to integrate what you have learnt along the way. Persistence is the way of the seeker.