Spiritual Connection
The holistic approach has the view that we are spiritual beings in physical bodies; that we take on our physical form at our birth and return to the spiritual dimension after out death. It is important to get ourselves out of the hurly-burly of everyday life and to expand our state of awareness and consciousness by becoming more away or our own spiritual nature. People often suffer without realising it, from longing to connect to their own spiritual nature. Religious belief, prayer and meditation are the most well-known way to expand out awareness, consciousness and reconnect with our spiritual nature.
Often it is an intense shock of a diagnosis of a life threatening disease e.g. cancer that awakens people to the reality of their spiritual connection. For the rest of us, there are often fleeting moment of spiritual connection when we are in nature, when we meditate, when we pray or experience moment of intense joy, beauty or pain. Others feel the reality of the spiritual dimension through experiencing the loving presence of a loved one who has passed away, spirit guides or divine beings. The purpose of mediums is try to contact this spiritual dimension to provide evidence of life after death. For the skeptics amongst you Michael Newton’s books the Journey of Souls and the Destiny of Souls may provide more evidence to support the idea of life after death and a the concept that we are spiritual beings in physical bodies.
Buddhists and Yogis believe that the material world and even our emotions are the illusion and that the spiritual dimension is the only reality. They maintain that our preoccupation with the material world stops us from experiencing the bliss and freedom of the spiritual dimension.
For myself, I believe we very much live in this material world with jobs to do, children to parent and bills to pay so I always try to have my feet firmly routed here on earth. While I am not religious, I find being aware of my spiritual self and actively trying to increase my spiritual connection as it nourishes me and give me a sense of perspective and peach of mind which I find reassuring in my everyday life. So while my feet are firmly routed here on earth my head is in heaven.
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Soul Food
Last week I talked about having a spiritual connection, soul food is what helps increase our spiritual connection. Soul food is spiritual nourishment, it is anything that simply uplifts or inspires us. One universal source of spiritual uplift is to bring more beauty into life, whether this is through exploring nature, being creative or simply appreciating art. Beautifying your home or garden is an easy way to feel more spiritually nourished. Other common soul foods include enjoying the wonder of children or exquisite music. Making time to catch the sunrise or sunset can seem like a huge challenge in our busy lives yet it never fails to leave is feeling more uplifted. Similarly climbing to the top of a hill or mountain is worth the effort to see the view which can often uplift us. Another, key spiritual nourishment is to simply stop, and remember you are a “human being” not a “human doing”, so stop and take the time and space to simply be. We often feel down in the dumps or depleted when we have gotten to bogged down with responsibility, and “doing” while forgetting how to play, sing, dance and make things with our own hands. That is when its time to stop and nourish yourself with soul food. Remember soul food can literally be anything that nurtures us and makes life feel it’s worth living. Identifying your soul food and feeding it to yourself increases your spiritual connection which is profoundly healing and nurturing and probably one of the best form of preventative medicine you can give yourself. If you would like to improve your spiritual connection try exploring the following
- What lifts my spirit and inspires me? Can I spend more time doing what inspires me?
- Who lifts my spirit and inspires me? Can I spend more time with people like this?
- Are there any places that inspire me? How often would I like to visit them?
Power Poses
Like most people I am interested in body language. Like most people I noticed awkward social interactions in day to day life. Until recently I considered that body language is about
- what you are communicating others
- what they are communicating to you
By adopting the Wonder Woman pose for 2 minutes, social scientists have proven that it will increase your confidence, assertiveness and help you feel more comfortable in a situation. This is due to the impact holding this "high power" pose for two minutes has on your body, its reduces your cortisol levels and increases your testosterone levels. Meaning you are less reactive to stressful situations.
So can you apply this in real life. Last weekend I was on my sports massage course and each weekend we have a written test we need to pass. For some reason I had misunderstood what the test was on and forgot to review the whole subject. I discovered this about 30 minutes before the test. So I was in a highly stressful situation. So I decided to give this power pose a try and did it during the next 30 minutes while revising. The science says 2 minutes but I felt I needed all the help I could get. It turns out that I passed. While this isn't irrevocable proof, I would recommend people try it.
As Amy Cuddy says "our body's change our minds, our minds change our behavior and our behavior changes our outcomes." For a more detailed understanding of power poses, the science behind them, watch Amy Cuddy's Your body language shapes who you are.
