Exploring Spiritual Practice- Go Easy...

Exploring a Spiritual Practice? Go Easy on Yourself…

We have been impacted by the uncertainties of 2020 and may have engaged in the exploration of a way to connect or reconnect. We need to try not to put unrealistic demands on ourselves. Maybe we are investing our focus on a new spiritual path, or reinvesting in an abandoned supportive practice, just know that expectations of perfection on this journey does not promote “inner peace.” We can hold ourselves to unreasonable expectations. We can place demands to “read everything about it”, “do it right,” or “seek the ultimate serenity.” Does this fit with the quest? How often have we booked ourselves for a retreat, had a relaxing yoga session, or engaged in an amazing soulful experience listening to music and a few hours later are unable to retain that inner sense of connection? Stressful situations enter and create a disturbance in the flow. Guess what? Life happens! Long lines, traffic jams, overwhelmed partners, unexpected and unwanted changes. These are all part of the flow of our lives. The good news is that if we are exploring or reconnecting with a spiritual practice, it can help us enhance our equilibrium and support us in getting back to our center. We may experience feelings of guilt or anger that we have not stayed true to our spiritual path. We have not “done it perfectly.”  Let us be patient and compassionate with ourselves. Afterall, isn’t that part of the spiritual journey? Remember, it’s ‘progress not perfection’. 

Just because we are following a spiritual path, attaining inner peace, or living a specific ideology and does not mean we are perfect.  It means we are human. When we approach our journey mindfully, we can experience the intense waves of emotions such as anger without feeling that we have come up short.  Simply by being aware of the experience and recognizing that our feelings are temporary, we begin to take the necessary steps to return to our center. Accepting that difficult situations will arise and treating our reactions to them as if they are passing events rather than a total sum of who we are can help us move through them. Practicing this form of acceptance and paying attention to ourselves in order to learn will make it easier to return to a mindful center more quickly. This is a practice not an event.

All person’s experiences are not the same. There may be similarities, and our history will impact our behavior and responses. We can learn and we can unlearn responses and reactions. Being on a spiritual journey will help with both the learning and unlearning. At the onset, even if we are able to do nothing more than acknowledge what we are feeling and that there is little to be done to affect the current circumstances, in time, we can alter our reaction to such circumstances. We can learn gradually to let negative thoughts come into our mind, recognize them, and let them go. We may never reach a place of perfect peace, but we can find serenity in having done our best. Go gently and be kind to our imperfections.