What Does Spiritual Fitness Mean?
When I first heard of the term “Spiritual Fitness”, I thought it meant in the terms of religion or praying or something like that.
I soon learned that, even though praying or religion can be a part of spiritual fitness for some, it’s not the whole definition.
The thing about it is, there is not definitive answer to this question.
Our spirit is what is inside us. It is the life force running through us that connects us to something else.
It helps us feel faith in something, whether a higher power, nature, the universe, the god or goddess…whatever it may be, it helps focus us and keep us on track and it does not mean we have to “believe” in anything, but it does mean we should learn faith. Now, before you click off the page, let me explain what I mean by the term faith.
Faith doesn’t just include religious practice. Faith in something is taking a step forward without knowing the exact path before us. We have no real “map” to life. We don’t really know where we going in the big picture. We have ideas, aspirations, goals and these take faith, right? We have faith that the things we want in life will work out, otherwise we wouldn’t be doing them at all.
This is what spiritual fitness is all about because working on our spiritual fitness routine, helps us think more clearly and become more focused and aware. Awareness is what helps us get and stay in tune with the world around us.
Have you ever been looking at your phone and nearly miss bumping into something? I definitely have, in fact, I have bumped into things! We are not aware as we are walking whats around us because our focus is on that one thing in front of us. Awareness helps us to accept focus in the areas of our life that effect different tiers.
For example:
Let’s look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Check out this page for a simple explanation.
As you can see, all our necessary physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs are on here–achieving our goals, gaining good self esteem, feeling accepted, feeling safe, and the basic necessities of survival such as food and water and warmth.
I don’t see a cell phone or the internet or even clothes on there. Now, I understand clothes are necessary for most of us, but we can survive happily without them, so it’s not considered a part of the diagram.
Awareness helps us focus on the necessary needs of our life in order to maintain happiness, fulfillment, a sense of success and peace of mind and our physical health. If we are not aware of, let’s say, our eating habits…we may be overindulging or not eating enough. Maybe we aren’t eating healthy foods or drinking enough water. These things may not seem a big deal, but think of how you feel when you eat a really large meal–I mean a gut busting, unbutton the pants, lay on the couch and sleep type of meal. It may have been great as it happened, but afterward, I usually feel pretty tired and full and uncomfortable. Now, if we are doing this all the time, eating large, unhealthy meals…our emotional health will suffer. We may feel bad about ourselves or guilty. We may get frequent heartburn or acid indigestion or even headaches and all of this effects our emotional and mental health resulting in our spiritual health being effected as well.
Where I am going with this is that every aspect of our health is connected and important.
I’m not saying go out and change everything at once, but starting small, with some easy tips for your spiritual fitness routine can really benefit your life.
So how can you practice spiritual fitness?
For some people, their spiritual fitness may include going to a church or worship place and praying.
For others, it may involve meditation or yoga.
For some, it might be taking the time to take part in their passion for crafts, fishing, working on cars, and other favorite hobbies.
And then for others, it may involve spending time at a relaxing place to clear their thoughts and relaxing and not really thinking much at all.
Your spiritual fitness is just that-yours.
It’s individual and personal and there is no right or wrong way to workout your spiritual fitness.
My spiritual fitness involves easy meditations, hanging out with my cat, working on my blog, and talking to my higher power.
My spiritual fitness plan is totally my unique plan and it can change at any time.
If you don’t have a spiritual fitness plan, or want to learn new ways to workout your spiritual fitness routine, check out the links on this menu and also do some research starting with topics that make you feel good, peaceful, and calm.
Citations:
https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html