I have a fabulous resource to share, about creating Spiritual Practices in your life. “Positive Energy”, a book by Dr. Judith Orloff, has an entire chapter dedicated to finding a nurturing spiritual path. She outlines “4 Steps to Opening Up Your Spirituality”:

1. Discover the Power of Meditation
2. Nurture Yourself with Silence
3. Open to the Energy of Prayer
4. Trust the Wisdom of Flow

I’d like to share with you how I have experienced each of these practices, and benefits that I have realized from them:

1. Meditation. I’ve been meditating regularly, daily, since 2004. I dabbled with meditation at first, trying to find the “best” kind for me. I tried Christian meditation, reciting the “maranatha” mantra; Taoist sitting meditation; Taoist “sleeping” meditation; Buddhist sitting meditation… I finally realized that it’s just a matter of sitting, standing or lying; still and silent. Whenever thoughts arise, I recognize them, and bring my awareness back to being still. Here are some of the benefits I’ve realized through my meditation practice. It helps me:

• Stay centered, in the face of stress;

• Be more focused, by helping to tame my monkey mind; and,
• Feel a sense of inner stillness, especially in uncomfortable environments.

2. Silence. I attended the International Coach Federation Conference in Long Beach in Nov 2007, and the last workshop I attended was one entitled “Silence”. Silence is an important facet of great coaching, giving the coachee space to assimilate information and come to their own best answers. Similarly, this Silence workshop allowed me space to assimilate all the information I absorbed during the 3-day conference. It was framed in 3 segments, starting with a 10-minute period of silence, followed by 2 periods of 15-minutes. Each segment was guided with a question, like: “What is this silence calling me into being?” At the end of each segment, the group was invited to share their insights. Initially, a number of people were really uncomfortable with the silence! Although through the subsequent segments, some profound insights emerged. Personally, I love silence and this workshop was absolutely delicious for me, like the icing on the cake for the entire conference. It allowed me to:

• Assimilate all kinds of information from the conference, workshops and other rattlings-on in my head, to see how I could integrate these learnings into my life;

• Hear a message – “Step into Your Greatness” -- that will prod me forward in my journey; and,
• Commit to furthering my spiritual journey in a more authentic way; like getting back to a meditation group regularly.

3. Prayer. Every morning, I take 5-10 minutes for prayer. I learned a little acronym that works for me: PACTS. Pause. Adore. Confess. Thanksgiving. Supplication. Pause to take a moment and center. Adore our Higher Power, and all the abundance in the universe. Confess (one thing) and come clean on something I did, that I would like to do differently. Thank God for all the good in my life; and I usually have a really long list! Supplication for things I would like to see happen, for myself and for others; this is the “Ask and It is Given” piece. Praying like this each morning helps me to:

• Reflect on the previous day: the good, the bad and the ugly;

• Get centered, and start my day off right;
• Identify how I want to improve;
• Focus on what I appreciate;
• Connect with God (which feels good!).

4. Flow. It feels fabulous to be “in the flow”. I love this feeling! Sometimes it happens when I write, like right now! I’ve been pondering what I would write for this post for a little while -- it takes shape and form in a kind of picture in my head, then, when I sit down to write, it flows out of me! I get into this state of flow easily when I have a whole chunk of unstructured time and space to create. Going with the flow:

• Creates energy;

• Yields incredible productivity;
• Feels great and makes me happy;
• Time passes without even noticing;
• Connects me with my spirit.

Earlier this month, when I was reflecting on life, the universe and everything, I was beating myself up over the feeling that I wasn’t devoting enough effort towards my spiritual journey. Well, I haven’t been going to church regularly anymore, so I was really admonishing myself for that. I can be so hard on myself, sometimes! Now I see how I have many spiritual practices in my daily life that work for me. This is enough. I acknowledge my commitment to my spiritual journey in an authentic way; the way that works for me.

I invite you to choose one of these 4 steps to open up your spirituality and incorporate a spiritual practice in a way that works for you, into your daily life. It could be as simple as taking 1 minute of silence each day, or as involved as joining a group meditation class.

I trust that incorporating a regular spiritual practice in your life will give you more peace and enjoyment.