We can explore our spiritual wellness by checking in with three important elements:
Foundation: Our sense of meaning and purpose.
Faith: Our clarity on who and what we believe in.
Freedom: Our sense of belonging, and our ability to let go of thoughts, behaviors, and relationships that are not serving us well.
We can support our spiritual wellness through a variety of strategies that boost our sense of meaning, our clarity in our belief system, and our sense of belonging. See a list of suggestions below.
How are you feeling in the realm of spiritual wellness?
Here are a few questions we can ask ourselves to check in and make adjustments.
What is my purpose in this life? What in my life provides me with the deepest sense of meaning?
What is my belief system? Why do I put my faith in this belief system?
Who does my community consist of? Which group(s) of people do I feel the most aligned with? Am I able to recognize when a thought, behavior, or relationship is not serving me well?
When I do recognize that a thought, behavior, or relationship is not serving me well, am I able to let go?
These are BIG, existential questions. Take time to reflect on them, and ask for friends, family, and mentors to discuss these questions with you.
Three simple strategies to support your spiritual wellness:
Map out your meaning markers. In a journal (or whatever you would like to use), write down the top 3-5 things in your life that provide you with the highest sense of meaning. Write a sentence or two about each one.
After you have written down your meaning markers, reflect on how you are currently spending your resources (time, energy, money). Is how you are spending your resources in line with your meaning markers? If not, what is one small action step you can take today to re-align?
Outline your belief system. Write down a summary of your belief system. Then, write down why you have chosen this belief system. If you do not currently have a belief system, reflect on and write down why not.
If you get stuck, ask a mentor or someone you look up to in your belief system to talk through their journey and why they choose to believe the way they do.
Make a list of "Let Gos". On a piece of paper, create three columns labeled, "Thoughts", "Behaviors", and "Relationships". In each column, write down any thoughts, behaviors, or relationships you need to let go. Take time to reflect as you write them all down - this may be a multi-day process. When you envision your most well self, what do you need to let go of to get there?
After you have finished your list, take a deep breath, and make a commitment to let these things go (this may require letting go again and again and again and again...).
For a symbolic and cathartic experience, burn the list during a letting go ceremony.
Our spiritual wellness centers us and keeps us grounded. If we are not well in this realm, it will be almost impossible to attain wellness in any other realm.
Be well, my friend!