Simply said, spirituality is the all-encompassing arena of “belief in something greater.” This can be a god, oneself as the greater being, or simply, the life-force or essence that surrounds us all. Spirituality is the ultimate method of living. In the society around us, we can find more and more people interested and who live spiritually. But, society and religion lead their followers in many different directions replacing the core meanings with moralistic and idealistic terms in hopes of garnering attention by answering those “big questions” pertaining to life, death, the after-life, and a god. Spiritual health is vital to the recovery process. Those who actively cultivate a sense of spirituality in their lives are much more likely to stay well and awake than those who do not. Also, having a spiritual practice enriches the experience of living a good lifestyle.
Spirituality can be categorized in many ways and explained
Faith-based spirituality:
Is the belief and trust that things will be as they will be in the future. It is the acceptance of the “great mysteries” of life and death for which religion and society teaches that there are no “definitive answers.” Such an approach to spirituality creates a fear-based environment based on gods who are vindictive and uncaring. Believers place their lives into the hands of an unseen being in the hope that all will “work out for the best.
Devotional
This is the easiest and sweetest mode of the spiritual path. The person in this path is enjoying his life by spending time with his/her god or almighty. She/ He prays, begs, cries in front of his/her god out of emotions.
Path of Devotion
This spiritual practice has liberation from your ego as its core element. This is partly because many people who consider themselves religious will use some of these methods to express their spirituality. However, it’s not always connected with religion. People also devote themselves to a higher power source or their consciousness to experience spiritual freedom. Some of those methods are chanting, praying, mantras, and belief to become more spiritually aware.
Prayer
Prayer can be a very beautiful spiritual practice. We sought through prayer our conscious contact with God, praying only for the knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. Prayer is you talking to the God of your own understanding. Or, you might prefer to pray to the universe, nature, or whatever’s “out there.” It is a one-way conversation with you and your Higher Power. In the morning, you might pray that your Higher Power guide you through the day and help. At the end of the day, you might give thanks for another day. Or, you might enjoy reciting one of the many well-known prayers regularly. You can also say prayers throughout the day by expressing gratitude or asking for strength. How you choose to pray (and when and where) is entirely up to you.
Knowledge-based spirituality:
This is also called the path of knowledge. Is the understanding and kinship of all and the desire to achieve and progress through life toward one’s own Vision and goals. The “great mysteries” become topics of personal research and, with an open mind, answers can be acquired from the environment and the Universe. This type of spirituality invites one to set aside fears and examine the information and entities of the surrounding environment. One has the chance to take life into one’s own hands and guide it along a path to one’s own desires. Here one attains spiritual progress through gain of wisdom. These persons are opinion and learning-based. They rely on books, teachings of others, and also self-experience in climbing the ladder of the spiritual path. For them, practices like Japa (recitation), meditation, yoga, fasting are the tools for progress. They may not be religious too but have respect for all the living beings around, kind, helpful, etc.
Path of Knowledge
The main idea behind this practice is the power knowledge gives to people. This practice revolves around the idea that ultimate liberation can happen with acquiring knowledge.
This is not only about learning new things about the world but most importantly, knowledge about yourselves. Self- reflection, who you are, why you do the things the way you do are the main principles of this spiritual practice.To achieve this, people use methods like studying, meditation and contemplation.
Some of the most famous approaches are Buddhism, Jnana Yoga, Kabbalah.
Meditation
Meditation is another type of spiritual practice that tends to interest people. Most people want to avoid the relentless chatter in their own mind at all costs. Regular meditation actually quiets mental chatter. It also boosts mood, reduces stress and anxiety, promotes restful sleep, and works as a natural painkiller. These are just a few of the many research-based benefits of meditation. There are different types of meditation. However; the general idea among each practice is to sit alone quietly with your eyes closed and focus on your breath. You can just start. Rest will follow. It really is just about sitting with yourself without any distractions. If you are interested in meditation – just try it for five minutes. And then ten minutes. Continue to increase the time. Do this at least once a day.
Path of Meditation
Meditation is one of the most common methods people are using to get better in touch with their true spirit. Alongside meditation are breathing techniques, asceticism, and teacher relationship. The basis of this spiritual practice is calmness. People believe that whatever they accumulate through their life can be channeled through these methods. This way, dealing with everyday life challenges becomes easier because there’s a way to let go of all the negative thoughts.
Raja Yoga, Nada Yoga, and Buddhism are some examples of this spiritual practice.
Path of Energy
More than a combination of different methods and core elements, this practice revolves around the idea of purification of your body and mind. There are all kinds of methods, such as meditation, breathing, somatic techniques, and teacher relationship.
Yoga
Yoga is an ancient practice that dates back more than 5,000 years. It involves very intentional body poses and breathing exercises. Many people enjoy yoga because it connects them to their mind, body, and spirit. Many people have experienced a profound disconnect from their authentic selves. Yoga helps to restore this connection. You do not have to be super fit or in great shape to enjoy yoga.
You can do yoga from the comfort of your own home.
Intellectual Spirituality:
The core belief behind this type of spirituality is knowledge. Intellectually spiritual people are prone to gaining knowledge of spiritual theories and analyzing the information they get their hands on. Intellectually spiritual people are prone to acquiring knowledge of spiritual theories.
One form of this spiritual journey is studying theology, for example. However, this type of spirituality is not solely related to studying religion. Any knowledge that helps people improve their spirituality is a form of intellectual spirituality.
Connecting With Nature
Many people find that connecting with nature is a spiritual practice that helps them. This might involve hiking or walking along a nature trail. It could be just laying in the grass with the sun shining on your face. Maybe you would enjoy sitting quietly under a tree. Or, perhaps you might like to go on a camping trip and do some stargazing.
Duty based Spirituality:
This is an interesting type of path where you live your life normally but have a spiritual bend to it.Here the person believes he is born for some duty and takes up responsibilities with heart. He does not worry about the benefits of his work.
Service Spirituality:
This is one of the most common types of spirituality. It’s because people experience spiritual peace when they serve others.There are many ways to achieve this spirituality, but the core of it is helping others without expecting nothing in return. Doing something that will benefit someone without getting something back is a common way for people to get in touch with their spiritual selves.
Path of Service
Similar to the service type of spirituality, this spiritual practice is about active selflessness .The ultimate liberation can happen when helping and expecting nothing in return. This spiritual practice is about active selflessness, similar to the service type of spirituality. These people are liberated from any rules and rely only on giving rather than receiving. For them, this is the only way to redeem themselves from any challenge or negative situation in life. Volunteering, helping those in need, working with people or children with disabilities – any type of selfless act falls under this category.
Attending a Spiritual or Religious Service
You can believe in whoever or whatever you choose. This also means you can go to any kind of worship service to honor your own spirituality. Some appreciate the structure of a religious or spiritual service, which takes place in a church, temple, synagogue, mosque, or other religious sanctuary. This is also a great way to fellowship with likeminded people.
Mystical Spirituality:
This type of spirituality is focused on the intuitional part of the soul. People who have mystical spirituality believe that there’s a greater unity to every experience in life.
Every experience goes beyond the material or physical world, and everything can be brought into one greater unity. For example, people with this type of spirituality may support the idea that everything happens for a reason. There’s a greater explanation behind everything and that would be what unites all the different experiences.
Authoritarian Spirituality:
This type of spirituality is believing in a hierarchical structure of things or in authority.
People define their spirituality by following a set of rules and some restrictions.
Often, this type of spirituality is associated with religious beliefs. There are cases when not following the spiritual rules of religion may cause conflicts.
(People with authoritarian spirituality can develop a form of fundamentalist religion. Fundamentalists believe that their religion is the most truthful one. They tend to exclude every other religion which, unfortunately, can be the cause for radical religious terrorism.)
Social Spirituality:
Experiencing spiritual awakening when you are surrounded by other people explains this type of spirituality. Many people practice being around other people when searching for greater spiritual purpose in life.
WHAT NEXT ? ~
Acquiring this knowledge and ability to move across many contexts is not a simple task as it requires the ability to acquire, accept, and process information outside of our current context.
Features common to all the types of spirituality
They would try to be kind and helpful
They treat everyone equally and respect others.
They do not desire for riches and materialistic life.
They love peace and tend to have peace in life.
They are also charitable and can relish poverty as a gift.
A regular spiritual practice promotes relapse prevention, improves your quality of life, and enhances the experiences.
Being in religious groups is one way to experience this spirituality. However, this can also be achieved with any other form of a group – exercising, nature-related activities, meditation, etc.Since there are multiple types of spirituality, there are also various ways of spiritual practices too.
Keep Searching….
Please try different types of spiritual practices until you find one that works for you.
