01_18_2021

Creating Your Own Spiritual Practice

                I can attest to the power of holding onto intentions that represent a direction or practice that you hope to integrate into your life.  In January 2020, I was aware that I felt a need to deepen my sense of a spiritual life.  For clarity’s sake, I use the term “spiritual” in reference to the pursuit of a deeper life, one that is not connected to material possessions.  Spiritual practices are ones that lead to a deeper awareness of self, of the gift of life, and of principles that one selects as guides to living one’s life.

                The term can be associated with an organized religion, but it doesn’t have to be.  Some define spiritual as a way of connecting with a divine being without having to go through an intermediary or a set of organized religious beliefs.

                In an effort to better understand what I was yearning for in my life, I have devoted time within the past year to read a number of books about spirituality.  I’ve also taken a number of classes and workshops online during the pandemic.  Each of these resources has played a role in moving me closer to what I was seeking.

                Through my pursuits, I realized that I did have a number of practices in place that could well be considered parts of a spiritual practice.  Meditating has been a practice that I have pursued for more than ten years.  Meditating is one of the best investments I have ever made in myself.  For those of you who feel meditating is not for you, or you’ve tried it and have come to believe you can’t do it, my advice is to let those conclusions go.

                I haven’t kept track of the number of meditation classes I’ve taken, but it is probably more than a dozen.  The classes or workshops varied in length, and each offered me something that helped me settle into the practice.  A good book to help you answer many questions about meditating is written by Dan Harris and Jeff Warren.   You can tell by its title that the authors’ approach is to demystify the belief that you have to be a mystic to meditate.  Their work, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, is a down-to-earth, practical approach to meditating. 

                Just take a look at the Table of Contents, and you will see how the authors explain that anyone who meditates regularly has all of the same challenges that those new to the practice experience.  Most of us who have meditated for years still find that our minds wander, that we can be challenged to sit still and get focused, and by pressures that suggest we don’t have time for this.  The normal challenges are in fact excellent reasons why learning to meditate is essential in our lives.

                Even if I only manage to sit quietly for 15-20 minutes at a sitting and focus on just attending to my breath, the sounds around me, or repeating a centering thought, I experience moments of internal silence that open me to helpful insights.  Sometimes those insights bring greater clarity to what is bothering me, which in turn assists in addressing those concerns in a healthy way.  Rare gifts include understanding myself better.  Achieving greater self-awareness is one of the great rewards of having quiet time for reflection.

                Once I started reading more about developing a spiritual life and taking online classes and attending workshops and retreats when we could still gather in person, I became aware of a whole new world of resources.  You will know once you have established some good connections as you’ll start to receive more invitations than you can imagine to participate in activities related to developing a richer inner life. 

                Recently, and again through the web of connections, a friend sent me an invitation to consider joining an online novena created to pray for those suffering from the COVID-19 virus.  I know of novenas from my childhood experience with Catholicism.  I am not sure I ever participated in a novena before, and I don’t know why it is that the prayers said are repeated over nine consecutive days.

                I agreed to participate, printed down the prayer which consisted of about a page and a half.  For some reason, after glancing through the words, I decided to say them aloud, and to say them more slowly.  Within the first few moments of saying the words, I felt myself tearing up.  I don’t fully understand why I began crying, but one insight I gained from the experience is that I simply missed the act of praying.

                I haven’t had a formal practice of praying since leaving Catholicism in my early twenties.  As noted earlier, I remained invested in searching for ways to nurture a deepening sense of a spiritual life.  To be clear, I don’t have a desire to become affiliated with an organized religion.  I am part of Unitarian Universalist Parish, but UUs agree to live by central principles rather than having a creed that they believe provides them a path to God.   You can check out their principles online.

                I concluded that my experience with reciting the novena prayers was showing me that one thing I lacked in my spiritual practice was prayers that meant something to me.  I went in search of the bookshelves within my home that house my collection of books that have helped me clarify my path to living a meaningful life that is based on principles of care and compassion.

                I discovered this wonderful book that I have been meaning to read.  Written by Erik Walker Wikstrom, the title is quite welcoming for those of us who have been in search of a prayer practice that felt like it was something we could access.  Titled, Simply Pray: A Modern Spiritual Practice to Deepen Your Life.  The chapters are short, practical, and offer the reader different ways of approaching the act of praying.

                As a result, using Wikstrom’s guidance, I have begun developing a collection of prayers, using some well-known examples as well as drafting some of my own.  With these resources, I am working in saying some prayers as part of my daily spiritual practice.  Sarah Ban Breathnach has this delightful quote in her Daybook – Simple Abundance – for October 25:  “I always ask for Divine Grace to send me the right spiritual help, because, frankly, I don’t always know what I need, I just know I need bolstering.  Prayer has become my primary practical skill because it is the only way I know how to do ‘life.’ “

                As  we age and seek to gain wisdom and insight as we look back in an effort to better understand the fulness of our lives, a rich inner life based on meaningful spiritual anchors offers us the necessary resources to understand and appreciate the gifts we’ve been given and ways to use them in caring for others.