When we hear the word spiritual, our mind conjures an image of an elderly bearded hermit meditating in a cave or amid the greenery. Spirituality is an essential part of every person’s existence. Health is a blend of your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. You are in good health when the three pillars of your well-being exist in perfect harmony. The physical aspect of human health enjoyed most of the attention for a very long time. However, in the last few decades, people have begun discussing and understanding the importance of mental well-being. This blog discusses the third and often neglected aspect of your health, which is your spiritual well-being.
What Is Spiritual Well-being?
We can see our bodies and may be able to see the changes in our physical health. However, our intangible spirit and mind undergo subtle health changes, which we must discern to preserve our well-being. Our spiritual well-being relies on our ability to remain calm, peaceful, and content.
Our spirit, or soul, determines our behavioral characteristics and makes us who we are. To nurture our spiritual health, we must introspect and connect with our true selves. Spiritually healthy people cherish peace and serenity and are comfortable with themselves. We relate our emotions to our mental health, but there is a deep connection between our spirit and feelings.
There are two worlds for every human being; the material world around them and the intangible world within them. The inner world is our spirit (soul), and we must nurture it carefully to lead a healthy and happy life. We are genuinely in good spiritual health when we can prevent clashes between our inner and outer worlds. Believing in the higher forces of the Universe accelerates our journey toward spiritual enlightenment.
You are spiritually healthy when you are on the path to discovering or have already found the true purpose of life.
Benefits Of Being Spiritually Healthy
Most of us practice some form of physical exercise regularly to maintain a robust body. We often indulge in some form of recreation or pursue a hobby to preserve a healthy mental state. But most of us ignore our spiritual health and fail to tend to the most critical aspect of our health. Here is why it is important to nurture your spiritual well-being.
- Easy Stress Management
Nurturing your spirit the right way is a great way to improve your stress management skills. We cannot altogether avoid stress but can handle it better if we are spiritually healthy. Those who indulge in healthy spiritual practices attain a state of mental relaxation that allows them to deflect all negativity and focus only on the positives of their lives.
- Strong Mental Will
Life throws us many curveballs that teach us valuable lessons. Each life lesson gives us more experience and enhances our mental will. However, you can also strengthen your mental will by caring for your spiritual well-being. A healthy mind backed by a strong spirit solidifies your mental resolve, which lets you withstand the most demanding life challenges.
- Improved Interpersonal Relationships
Focusing on spiritual growth makes you compassionate, allowing you to understand others well. You develop a keen intuition that allows you to connect with others better. A spiritually healthy person can communicate their message clearly and form better interpersonal bonds with their family, friends, and workmates, to name a few.
- Better Understanding Of Greater Good
The most important skill we can learn is how to be a good human being. Deep knowledge of spirituality gives you a good understanding of humanity. A spiritually healthy person is connected with their true self and learns the nitty gritty of deeper emotions. A spiritually inclined person knows compassion, empathy, selflessness, and other qualities that allow them to work for the greater good.
- Superior Social Skills
Social interactions are integral to human health and are essential for overall progress. Nurturing your spiritual well-being allows you to develop better communication skills and a greater understanding of human emotions; both factors contribute immensely to your social skills.
- Robust Physical Health
All aspects of human health are interconnected and interdependent. Your spiritual health is pivotal in shaping your physical health and fitness. Practicing meditation or other spiritual activities is an excellent way to maintain a healthy heart, a robust respiratory system, and a strong nervous system. Your hormonal system remains in good shape if you are spiritually healthy and happy. Health disorders like hypertension, chronic pains, digestive issues, and sleep disorders can be curbed by caring for your spiritual well-being.
Your soul or spirit binds your health’s physical and mental aspects and builds your social health. Therefore, nurturing your spiritual well-being through meditation and other Yoga practices is crucial.
Spiritual Development With Yoga
Yoga is an ancient discipline that guides you towards better health and a superior lifestyle. The principles of Yoga preach that nurturing all aspects of your well-being makes you completely fit and healthy. Yoga offers techniques like physical postures, breathing exercises, meditation, Mudras, and Bandhas to nourish your overall well-being. Let us see how Yoga elevates your spiritual well-being to a higher plane and allows you to lead a more productive lifestyle.
- Yoga Postures
Physical postures, or asanas, are the most popular and widely practice Yoga techniques. Traditional Yoga, practiced since the ancient era, offers a variety of physical asanas that stretch almost every muscle in your body. Some asanas have specific actions on a particular physiological system and restore the latter’s functions. Practicing Yoga asanas is a great way to release mental and physical stress, rejuvenate your mind, and stimulate your hormone system, all of which play a crucial role in uplifting your spiritual well-being. Specific Yoga postures allow you to connect better with your true inner self, which is key to spiritual progress. Many Indian Yogis from the bygone era were so focused on their spiritual progress that they could stay in one Yoga posture for hours and even days together. Yogic practices like asanas deeply yet subtly connect your mind, body, and spirit and bring about their collective development.
- Meditation
Meditation and spirituality enjoy a deep relationship. For ages, meditation has been the most favored way of attaining spiritual progress for most people. Meditation focuses on physical, mental, and spiritual calmness and rejuvenation. Meditation trains you to focus your mind on your target without getting affected by your external environment. Meditation allows you to connect with your spirit, get to know yourself, and discover your true purpose.
Firm belief in yourself and your actions is crucial to a healthy spirit, which is possible with regular meditation. Meditation has an intangible yet strong impact on your mental, physical, and spiritual health. You will discover a positive change in your overall outlook, fitness levels, and ability to handle stress if you practice meditation regularly.
- Pranayama
Breathing is an involuntary skill that needs no teaching. Yoga teaches you to turn breathing into a valuable tool to shape your spiritual, physical, and mental health. Pranayama includes various breathing techniques that stimulate your respiratory functions, rejuvenate your mental well-being, and enhance your spiritual health.
Yogic Pranayama practices effectively release pent-up stress and gain a calm and composed mental state, which is crucial to your spiritual progress. Various Pranayama techniques, like Anulom Vilom, Bhastrika, and Bhramari, have numerous positive benefits on your spiritual health. Pranayama is very important to learn mindfulness, a practice that instills a sense of awareness and acceptance. Mindfulness is critical to achieving your spiritual goals and enjoying a meaningful life.
Yogic principles firmly believe that spiritual enlightenment is the ultimate aim of every living soul. The teachings of Yoga state that the human spirit is imperishable and merely changes its physical form. Every soul undergoes the cycle of death and rebirth as it takes new physical forms. However, spiritual enlightenment through Yoga releases the soul from the inevitable reincarnation cycle and unites it with the ultimate force, the Universe.
Indian Yogis, hermits, and sages who lived around the dawn of civilization spent most of their time practicing yoga postures or other yogic practices. Several ancient Indian texts mention that practicing Yoga lights your path toward spiritual enlightenment.
Being spiritually healthy is not optional and changes the course of your life towards a superior existence.
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