So there’s spirituality and then there’s emotionally healthy spirituality. And while’s there’s a biblical component to this theory that is not the one I’m writing about. And as a writer I have the liberty to mesh words or ideas. As a creative, an artist I’m required to do so and as a spiritual being who has been on a spiritual journey of more than two decades I have my own understanding of emotional health and spiritituality and where they meet.
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What Is Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
Everything must be taken in moderation. And you can’t have one of these without the other. There are components to our emotional health that are brought to the fore through a spiritual practice. And there are aspects of our being that are innately spiritual. And while on many occasions spirituality coincides with religion I believe spirituality can exist without religion. But do I believe one can be emotionally healthy and whole without spirituality? Perhaps not.
There is something about spirituality that offers a level of wholeness that potentially can’t be found in any other way and while those who are not spiritual and I’d venture as far as saying those who are not emotionally healthy would argue otherwise.
What Is Spirituality
What is spirituality? Let’s consider it from a couple of different perspectives. Spirituality is obviously different things for different people and it does not always entail god or religion, but does entail some sense of a higher power or purpose or something that is working outside of us with a level of omnipotence that is far superior to anything else. I think spirituality is also a means to finding deeper understanding in life through an idea of life being bigger than just a physical existence that suggests we are here one day and gone the next without any rime or reason. It offers contemplative prowess and questioning and sincere inquisition.
To start going deeper and become more contemplative start with my Ultimate Self Inquisition Guide. It’s free and it will set you on the path to going deeper and being more inwardly contemplative.
Then the flip side of the coin is some sort of spirituality that may even be cultish that is is full of dogma and practices that don’t promote health and wellness and emotional health, but rather move forward the brand or agenda of a leader or organization masking as a group that is there to help, but rather just a facade that doesn’t really help one’s personal growth in any substantive way, i.e. a church or other religious affiliation.
Not knocking churches or religions here, but one can be spiritual, religious even, believe in god and not go to church and have his or her own personal relationship with God. This is also within the realm of probability.
What Does It Mean To Be Emotionally Healthy
An emotionally healthy person is generally someone who can regulate to a fair degrees the ups and downs or his or her emotions. It’s someone who live in harmony with the unpredictability of life. It’s someone who is emotionally intelligent. What does emotionally intelligence equate? To be emotionally intelligent means one is mature, reserved, learned, contemplative, open, accepting, not impulsive or reactive.
Listen in here to a powerful conversation I had on the Blossom Your Awesome Podcast with Doug Noll on Emotional Intelligence.
3 Things You Can Try Right Now For Your Emotional Health
Therapy – This is one of those things that I’ve waned on over the years. I’ve been on both sides of the fence perhaps because I’ve experienced it with little results and I’ve come to understand that certain types of therapy and finding the right therapist, the approach, whether it’s holistic or more conventional all play a hand in it’s ability to people a benefit or a hindrance. So let’s just say for some who have deep seated trauma they’ve carried therapy is almost the only way to recovery.
Meditation – This is one of the most powerful things we can do for our soul’s evolution. We discover things about ourselves in the silence that are far more revelatory than anything we’d hear through the noise. Sitting in silence afford’s us the ability to become more quiet within and ultimately more contemplative.
Nature – Last but not least nature is so enormously powerful for our emotional health and for learning to go deeper with our spirituality. The wisdom of nature, the natural order of it all can teach us so much about life. Watch my video here on Shinrin Yoku or Forest Bathing.
