What does spirituality mean?
That's the million dollar question! Just like last week's blog where I talked about what it can mean to be a spiritually conscious entrepreneur, spirituality can also mean different things to different people; They can have a completely different definition, and that's okay.
At its core, spirituality is how people try to understand the meaning and purpose of their lives.
For me (and I believe many others) spirituality is about our own inner relationship with our true nature.
It is a personal belief or value system that influences our interest, attitude and approach to life. This often leads us to question who we are, what we are here for, and our place in the world. This may (or many may not) involve a deep feeling of connection with something bigger or bigger than ourselves. Some people call it God, others Jehovah or Allah. I personally think that any title associated with an organized relationship is emotional and personal for each individual, so I prefer terms like universe, source or infinity.
Some traditions teach that there are three aspects to spirituality: relationships, values, and purpose in life. All three are inextricably intertwined, each a part of the other two, but let's take a moment to reflect on each.
Relationships
Relationships can be divided into two subcategories; how we relate to others (our external relationships) and how we relate to ourselves (our internal relationships). The first is often a manifestation and projection of what we think about our relationship with ourselves. Therefore, it is important to understand who we are; not labels defined by our careers, family roles, hobbies, or our demographics, but by who we stand behind it all.
One of my old bosses once asked me who I was and it caused an existential crisis! After much deep inner work, I had a much better idea than when I started my journey, but every day I discovered that there were new realizations and new revelations. Our values play an important part in this, and we'll talk about them in a moment.
Knowing who we are and how we react is often referred to as self-awareness. Self-awareness allows us to be more in control of our life outcomes and create a fulfilling life instead of feeling like a victim of circumstance. The more aware we are of who we are, the more we can grow and expand. As spiritual beings who are here to have a human experience, self-awareness helps us learn from our experiences and question our thoughts, beliefs, and emotional responses. This allows our soul or higher self to evolve and expand.
Past Life Regression and Starseed Activations can be a great way to discover a new depth of who we are. By understanding the experiences, gifts, beliefs, and values we inherited from past lives, we can expand our understanding of who we are and why we are here today.
Not only do we need to know who we are, but also how we treat ourselves. When you talk to yourself, do you use kind and compassionate words? do you dare Praise yourself? Do you celebrate your successes and speak up when things don't go as expected? Or are you a strict, stubborn disciplinarian with nothing to compare with unattainable perfectionism and dismiss achievements as chance or luck? The words we use when we talk to and about ourselves are the most important words you will ever hear.
Exercise: Write down the words you use when talking to yourself and see if you are your best friend or a stalker. Would you use the words you use with yourself in your external relationships?
While our personal relationships are important, people are meant to connect with others. As I write this in January 2022, almost everyone will have experienced a lack of personal external engagement in the last two years. Human interaction is important for physical and mental health, and many struggle with isolation and distancing. If you think this is you, I encourage you to seek the right professional support. However, what I wanted to focus on in this blog is the personal and spiritual growth that comes from being kinder to ourselves and helping others. willingness to share what we have; be it time, resources, money or just a listening ear, it is often referred to as 'seva'.
Seva means "selfless service": giving without expectation of reward. Have you ever noticed how good it is to help someone without expecting anything in return? There are many ways that seva can be performed, but at its core, it is about the flow of love from one person to another.
Practice: Focus on how to give without expecting anything in return. In what way can you?
Values
Personal values are the beliefs we all hold that act as moral codes and influence our actions and how we think, live and work. They are a framework in which we act, make decisions and judge what is “right” and “wrong”. Recognizing our values can help us understand what drives or motivates us to set healthy boundaries and clarify our personal needs and desires.
Knowing your personal values can help you discover or connect with your purpose. If you do not know what is important to you, it is almost impossible to understand what you are called to do and why it is important to the common good.
Values can help you make decisions with balance instead of being torn apart by conflicting thoughts and emotions. Once you know what's important to you and why, it's easier to feel safe without fear that what others think of you or what you should be doing becomes irrelevant. The more we understand our personal values, the more confident we become (see above).
Exercise: Identify your core values - how do you live, work or do business in accordance with these values?
meaning of life
In Douglas Adams' classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the meaning of life, the universe, and everything was 42. Most of us feel like we've gotten no closer to our own purpose than the meaning of 42!
Purpose in life is not necessarily related to any specific professional or family role and can take many forms, but in its simplest form it is what our soul is here to learn or experience. The nature of the business, career or job is rarely our goal, it's what we do in it and how we feel about it that creates a sense of purpose.
When a customer is wondering if they're on the right track with their business, I encourage them to find out what's in it for them, what enlightens them and what makes them happy.
I often bring clients during a past life regression into the between-life state where we can connect with their guides, angels, or other forms of loving and supportive entities who are engaged with us. The number one question people want to ask is what your goal is. Sometimes we go back to the time we were planning our current life to get a better understanding of the overall plan of life.
The answer is never to become a lawyer, accountant, or therapist; Rather, the answer lies in experiencing and receiving love, helping others, sharing your wisdom and raising the vibration of humanity, experimenting with giving and receiving compassion, or forging your own unique path in the world.
Spiritual growth comes from personal growth
Spiritual growth in the 21st century is often linked to personal growth. Let's face it, most of us aren't going to give up everything and move to a monastery/convent, so we need to find ways to evolve as we go about our daily lives.
The sooner we are willing and able to reflect on who we are as we engage with the world, identify and question what we believe, understand how we feel, and learn to acknowledge, acknowledge, and learn from it what doesn't feel right, observing how we react or how we react to situations and understanding why, the more we evolve spiritually.
There are many tools to increase self-esteem, discover your values or beliefs, and transform your relationship with yourself, including hypnotherapy (also called hypnosis), coaching, neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), counseling, and therapy.
If you wish to discover beliefs that you have created in this life or in past lives, I am opening a limited number of spaces to work with me in March. To find out if we're a good match and how I can help you, write to me and let's talk.