Learning how to balance the nine elements of daily spiritual practice is the key to developing a holistic health routine. This strategy helps leverage the power of nine basic resources for optimal health and wellness. Come and learn this practical approach to health and spirituality.
Contrary to popular belief, spiritual practices have nothing to do with religion. It involves a daily routine that balances nine basic resources. So, how do you do it?
In today’s fast-paced world, we often forget to make time for our spiritual growth. Our busy schedules and endless to-do lists leave little room for regular practice. However, a daily routine doesn’t mean setting aside an hour.
Even taking one minute of silence can help us connect with our inner wisdom, find peace amidst the chaos, and deepen our understanding of life. Let’s discuss how to create a flexible, powerful plan.
Developing a Daily Spiritual Practice
If creating and maintaining a daily plan were easy, everyone would already be doing it. The world we live in changes daily, and so do our bodies. The body, mind, and spirit are complex and delicate instruments designed for exploring reality.
So, a holistic plan must be tailored to fit your ever-changing life. You must refine and adjust as your practice evolves, depending on your results. It is vital to have a plan that must be effective and flexible to meet your needs.
The Obstacles to a Holistic Health Routine
Before we get into the details of developing a daily spiritual practice, we must discuss the obstacles.
Leading a healthy lifestyle is no easy feat, and the challenges are even greater when one tries to adopt a holistic approach to health. Holistic health is about nurturing the mind, body, and soul as parts of one unit. It balances as interconnected parts. This approach brings numerous benefits. Here are the most common hurdles to embracing a well-rounded, balanced routine.
1) Confusing Religion with Spirituality.
Unfortunately, many confuse spirituality and the practice of spiritual things with religion. However, spirituality and religion are two vastly different things.
Religion is about accepting a belief system based on mythology and superstition. Spirituality has nothing to do with religion. It’s all about tapping into your inner self and connecting with your soul. It is about exploring and developing your spirit, consciousness, and awareness.
Many religions create barriers that prevent you from exploring other practices. They want to keep you a paying customer. Some religions prohibit certain foods or require specific practices that do not align with a holistic health routine. Some prohibit practicing various meditative techniques, such as the shamanic journey.
Religious beliefs often create boundaries to keep people from exploring outside their control. When religious beliefs become a burden to your spiritual journey, it’s a sign you need to discard them. Once you grasp this difference, the path to developing a daily spiritual practice becomes clear.
2) Time constraints and busy schedules.
Finding time to squeeze in workouts, meal prep, and self-care can be daunting. Our lives are filled with work, family, social obligations, and personal pursuits. The key is to prioritize and plan. Identify the most critical areas of your health that need attention and allocate time accordingly. Perhaps you can swap screen time for meditation or reading in the evenings or wake up earlier to fit in a workout. Look for opportunities to multitask or combine various health activities. For example, take a walk while listening to a podcast.
3) Financial limitations and access barriers.
Not everyone has the same resources. Accessing health services, fitness facilities, or wellness programs can be expensive. A holistic health routine can be seen as a privilege only the affluent or fortunate can afford. But there are ways to make healthy choices without breaking the bank.
You don’t need the most expensive memberships or products to get good results. When developing a daily spiritual practice, look for local or online resources. You can find low-cost or free alternatives, such as community gardens, public parks, workout videos, or health apps. Seek support and guidance from qualified professionals or trustworthy sources. Our website offers many health wellness resources for free.
4) Psychological and emotional blocks.
Our fears can prevent us from adopting a holistic approach. For example, we may struggle with body image issues, disordered eating, self-doubt, or stress that sabotage our efforts. In these cases, it may be helpful to seek the help of a therapist or counselor who specializes in these areas. We must learn to change our self-talk to support our journey to becoming healthier. Celebrate small victories and progress, and let go of perfectionism or comparison.
5) Commercialism Social pressures and norms.
Our home and work environments are some of the most challenging obstacles to a holistic health routine. Our social circles, work cultures, media, and societal norms often promote unhealthy habits. Peer pressure of any kind can discourage us from following a balanced routine. They ignore the importance of the nine elements of daily spiritual practice.
Each obstacle needs to be identified. Then, you implement solutions until you find one that works. Whether it’s peer pressure to indulge in junk food or media that promotes unhealthy body ideals, we must be aware of these influences and learn how to overcome them. This might mean setting boundaries with toxic people. Avoid the junk food section in the grocery store. Find friends and communities that support your goals of a healthy lifestyle.
6) Proper Diet and Exercise
Diet and exercise are two of the most challenging elements. You need to cultivate a flexible plan that allows for unexpected injury as well as aging. We all have different needs, but there is one standard formula. Our caloric intake must be balanced with the calories we burn to maintain a healthy weight. If you need to lose weight, you must take in fewer calories than you use. This is hard to do.
Embracing a holistic approach to health requires patience, effort, and resilience. With planning and focus, build a plan that supports your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.
The Nine Elements of Daily Spiritual Practice
It’s not a surprise that our spiritual lifestyle and wellness are connected. Everyone will have a unique mix of these nine elements. We may share the same ingredients of a spiritual path, but we each have different needs. Which elements you need and which ones are available depends on several factors.
1) Time
2) Space
3) Clean Air
4) Clean Water
5) Adequate Sunshine
6) Proper Diet
7) Sleep
8) Exercise
9) Meditation
For some people, these necessities are hard to gain and maintain. The obstacles to these elements come from social inequities and disparities. They make it challenging to create a healthy, holistic approach to life.
There is a lot of talk about human rights. Some countries, like the U.S.A., claim to promote the right to pursue happiness. However, this right is often restricted by your race and socioeconomic status. You can only seek the happiness you can afford to buy, but only if you have the right gender and race. Those at the high end of the scale can pursue many avenues of happiness. At the low end of the scale, you find those living week to week and struggling to survive.
Achieving health and wellness is more than just eating right and exercising regularly. A holistic approach considers everything from the quality of the air you breathe to the amount of sleep you get each night. Here are the nine elements you need for a holistic health routine:
The Nine Elements of a Powerful Daily Spiritual Practice
1) Time
One of the most important elements of this plan is making time for yourself. Use your smart device to set a reminder to take a break. This could mean anything from meditation to spending a few minutes alone in nature – whatever you must do to recharge and rejuvenate.
2) Space
Creating a relaxing, peaceful space in your home is another important component of a holistic health routine. This could mean decluttering, rearranging your furniture, or adding a few extra plants to your living space. The space for your spiritual practice doesn’t have to be big or elaborate. It should simply be a space that you associate with calmness and intention.
3) Clean Air
Breathing clean air is essential for maintaining good health. To improve the air quality in your home, consider investing in an air purifier or adding some air-purifying plants to your space. Not everyone has this luxury. Unhealthy societies dominated by industry allow them to pollute the environment. Clean air is one of the nine elements of daily spiritual practice that are the hardest for the individual to control. People often live near work. It is a necessity of life that can put them directly in harm’s way by environmental toxins. So, it’s essential to assess your situation and institute the appropriate remedies you can find.
4) Clean Water
Staying hydrated with clean, pure water is critical for your health and wellness. Investing in a high-quality water filtration system is a simple way to ensure you get the best possible water. Clean water is something many take for granted if they live in sheltered, affluent communities.
Clean water should be available to everyone, but it is not. Nor is this just a third-world country problem. Many communities in the U.S.A. do not have healthy drinking water. As climate change increases, clean water will become even more scarce. Become an advocate for those who protect the environment. It is one of the things that will create a positive legacy for future generations.
5) Adequate Sunshine
Getting the right amount of sunlight is important. Natural sunlight helps us maintain healthy vitamin D levels. Additionally, it is a major factor in regulating your body’s circadian rhythms.
Many people suffer from “seasonal affective disorder.” When you don’t get enough exposure to sunlight, it causes problems with your internal clock. The results are depression and fatigue. We’ve found that sunlamps don’t work as an effective treatment. They can worsen symptoms.
Some parts of the world experience “polar nights” (1), where darkness lasts 24 hours. The closer to the north or south poles, the less sunlight you will have during the winter. We can only do what we can afford to do within our sphere of influence.
Studies at the Mayo Clinic (2) show the most effective treatment is psychotherapy, medication, and a special Lightbox. The special lightbox helps those who live in regions of the world where sunlight is restricted by the season. However, the best solution is natural sunlight. You don’t have to be outside but need “to see it.”
6) Proper Diet
Eating a healthy, balanced diet is perhaps the most important element of a holistic health routine. Focus on eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and avoid processed and refined foods as much as possible.
Learning to work within your calorie budget is the key, but it’s not easy. Diet is more than half the equation for weight loss. We’d say it’s more like 80% of the formula. If you can eat within your budget, you can lose and maintain a healthy weight. Learn to track your calorie intake. Of all the daily spiritual ideas, this one will pay off immediately. There are many smartphone applications for tracking calories and exercise. It can help you see how to change your diet to fit the calories you need.
7) Sleep
Getting enough high-quality sleep is essential for your overall health and well-being. Adequate sleep is often overlooked, but a powerful daily spiritual practice depends upon a well-rested body and mind. Establish a regular sleep routine and create a relaxing sleep environment in your bedroom.
You are looking at one of the biggest obstacles to good sleep. It’s a computer or mobile device screen. The blue light from computer screens tells your brain it’s daytime. So, even though it may be nighttime, the body doesn’t release the hormone melatonin. It is an off-switch for the mind. Stop using T.V.s, computers, and mobile devices at least 30 to 45 minutes before bedtime. Read an old-fashioned book instead. You’ll get to sleep faster and have a more restful night’s sleep.
8) Exercise
Regular exercise is important for maintaining your overall fitness and vitality. Find ways to move your body that you enjoy – whether it’s hitting the gym, practicing yoga, or going for a daily walk.
A holistic exercise routine needs three elements. A well-rounded plan includes resistance training, flexibility, and cardiovascular exercise. The focus should be on becoming more durable, as we see durability as one of the main health goals.
We treat exercise as separate from our practice of moving meditation. But, you choose the best way to organize your training. Martial arts and Yoga Asana are both exercises and forms of moving meditation. This practice increases mind-body integration.
9) Meditation
Meditation and mindfulness practices reduce stress, boost mood, and improve overall well-being. These tools should be part of your daily routine to support overall health and wellness.
When you shop for someone to teach you meditation, always look for those who teach tools, processes, and methods. Beware of those who want you to adopt beliefs or join a religion. Find a teacher or source to show you how to open your spiritual gifts. It can be confusing because some people say the right things, but it’s just a bait-and-switch tactic. Here are some things to watch out for:
They have free stuff, but the quality things that will help you are secret. You can only get access if you buy an expensive membership. It’s the favorite of organizations known as cults, such as Scientology, LifeSpring, and E.S.T.
There are legitimate programs that offer consciousness exploration and development. Check the references before you buy. There are many tools you can learn here on our website for free.
Some technologies are best learned through individual instruction. However, virtual learning is becoming a standard practice as the pandemic stretches into the future. For example, you can learn martial arts and advanced meditation techniques.
In Conclusion
Put your plan in writing because it will increase your likelihood of success. However, if we focus on them as ingredients, we can adjust them to fit our use. This approach aligns with the pattern Joseph Campbell called the Hero’s Journey. (3)
Balancing your path will speed up your development. Since we are continually changing, you must adjust your practice to compensate.
Despite all the technological advances, achieving a healthy balance in our lives is becoming harder and harder. So, learn to use technology to your advantage. Set timers for exercise and meditation. Create a flexible strategy that helps you achieve your health goals. Don’t wait; start today. You’ll be glad you did. You can achieve true wellness when you include all nine elements of daily spiritual practice in a holistic health routine. So start investing in your health today, and see what a difference it can make!
References
(1) Polar Nights, Wikipedia
(2) The Mayo Clinic, Treatment for Seasonal Affective Disorder.
(3) Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Wikipedia