Exploring Spirituality for Beginners – Everything you need to know.

If you have just stepped onto a spiritual path, you may be feeling overwhelmed, as there is a lot of different information out there about what spirituality is and how to use it! The key to understanding spirituality and to inviting a spiritual practice into your life is learning to listen to the signs of the universe and let them guide you.

When you start to think of the universe as a living and breathing organism, one that brings meaning and joy to your spiritual journey, you will gain a fresh sense of meaning in your life. To help you to connect with the universe and to connect with your spiritual path, here is a guide to spirituality for beginners!

What is a spiritual path?

A spiritual path is a unique journey that will look different for everyone. It is about tuning into the spirit and soul that resides within you and allowing this voice to grow and guide you. As a guide to spirituality for beginners, you could say that any spiritual experience is one that connects you with a higher power and gives you a sense of understanding about yourself and your role in this world.

We all have a divine force, or higher power, that brings life to our bodies. In some religions, this may be known as the holy spirit, in other spiritual traditions it may simply be called energy. The name that this life force is given, can vary greatly, but in spirituality (and in this article) we will refer to this energy as Spirit or Soul.

Spirit affects the lives of everyone in a unique way to help them understand their self and how to become a spiritual person. When you are in touch with your spirit and soul, you will shortly begin to experience the greater meaning of why you are here on this earth at this time and what your purpose is. This will be revealed through guidance toward what you love to do, meeting the right people at the right time, or feeling supported to follow a certain path.

You will also start to feel connected to the spirits of nature and to the spirits of the people around you. One of the greatest sensations of spirituality is knowing that we are all connected. We are all made up of the same flesh and blood and we have the same spirit running through us. In this way, practicing spirituality will help the world to see that we are all one, and to call each other brother and sister, instead of enemies or outsiders.

How to work on spiritual growth and spiritual transformation?

Usually, there is a key moment that will bring you in touch with your connection to Spirit. This spiritual experience may come in many forms, such as connecting with divine light, feeling deeply connected with nature, hearing or feeling spirits, feeling blissful and positive, or another significant synchronicity.

These kinds of experiences are usually the catalyst to exploring spirituality a little deeper. But where to begin? If you are looking to embark on a guide to spirituality for beginners and to become a spiritual person, the following ideas are for you!

Here are a few tips to help you explore your path of spiritual growth and to connect with the spiritual world:

Talk to Spirit

Spirit is communicating by sending thoughts, feelings, and connections with certain people or places throughout the many stages of your life. But, to receive a message or sign from the universe, you need to ask for it first!

Asking spirit for a message can be done in the following ways:

• Speaking your wishes out loud
• Writing a letter to Spirit
• Asking for a sign – and leaving it open to interpret whatever you receive

Remember, thoughts are energy too, and the spiritual understanding of the world is that we are all a manifestation of energy. So what you think, you are manifesting and projecting out into the universe. You might want to check in and make sure that what you are sending out is what you truly want to receive back.

The next step is to trust that your request has been heard and then let go of the outcome, as it may appear in a different way than you expected! When practicing spirituality, you will learn that spirit communicates in funny and unique ways to answer your prayers and wishes.

Meditate

Meditation is a way to still the monkey mind and tap into deeply profound inner peace. It is only in this state of peace, as you wash away the thoughts about your everyday life, that you can truly come to hear the voice of your soul and understand the messages of spirit.

There are many and various forms of meditation, and you will need to find a path that works for you. A few types to try include:

• Guided meditation
• Stillness meditation
• Walking meditation
• Vipassana meditation
• Breathing exercises

Incorporate spiritual practices

There are hundreds of spiritual practices, and each path of spirituality will slightly differ depending on the roots of various spiritual traditions or if the practice is coming from religion.

The best way to find spiritual practices that work for you is by trialing a few different techniques and seeing what feels good for your soul. You can find this out by asking yourself:

‘Does this serve my personal journey?’

or

‘Does this feel good for my soul?’

If the answer is yes, then allow this practice to lead you further down your path, and if not, try something new. Here are some ideas to practice spirituality:

• Energy healing – this could mean attuning your body and auric field more subtle energetic body to the lighter vibrational energy from the universe. You can try Reiki, Pranic Healing, Theta Healing, or other modalities, either to receive the energy or to do practitioner training.
• Yoga – in Sankrit, the Ancient Indian language, Yoga means union. This union with a greater universal spirit or energy comes from practicing yoga in a spiritual way. This means beyond the art of Asana (physical postures) and into the Yamas and Niyamas and the other limbs of yoga.
• Crystals – working with healing crystals and stones, are a way of connecting with the energy of nature. Each stone holds a different vibration and therefore can bring a unique healing energy to the physical world. Start by buying a stone or two and see what they bring into your life.
• Breathwork – Using the breath is a way of moving energy throughout the body. There are many types of breathwork that you can try, and some breathing exercises have even been shown to put people in an ecstatic, spiritual state.
• Shamanism – Shamans hold ancient wisdom and knowledge that has been passed on in ceremonies and rituals for thousands of years. This wisdom comes through spiritual journeys and practices such as chanting, dancing, finding a trance state, connecting with plant spirits, and other unique energy-healing techniques.
• Religion – Religion is a way of connecting with a God or Goddess. To find spirituality in religion is to understand the deeper ways of connecting with faith and spirit. You can practice religion in a spiritual form when you tune in and ask if the practices feel right for you on your personal journey.

Practice Mindfulness

The key to practicing spirituality for beginners starts with inviting mindfulness into your life. This means living in the present moment, connecting with what is happening in the physical world around you, embracing happiness and a positive mindset, and understanding that you have the power to create your own reality.

Potential benefits of living a spiritual life

When you start to bring the values of spirituality into your life, you can start to benefit from the following things:

• A sense of faith in the world
• Ability to express meaning in your life
• A feeling of connection with all people
• A personal experience of expanding your own belief system
• A sense of support and divine grace
• A sense of belonging as a spiritual person

Things to consider on your spiritual journey

To become a spiritual person, you must undertake a spiritual journey with an attitude of humbleness, gratitude and trust. This helps to put the ego aside and to focus on creating an honest and generous spiritual heart.

To be able to track the progress on your spiritual journey, consider starting a journaling practice. This can be done in a number of ways, but as a beginner’s guide, you may like to start with a blank page each day, and tune in to your body and breath and simply ask;

“Dear spirit, the higher power that surrounds me, tell me what I need to know today…”

From here, continue to write whatever comes to your mind. Although it may seem tricky at first, try to push through the writing until you get into a flow. Over time and as your spiritual journey continues, you may notice it becomes easier to tap into this flow and to interpret spirituality in a way that you can understand. You may even feel that the spiritual force takes over and your writing becomes more automatic.

Make sure you date each day and keep this journal to reflect back on as your spiritual journey evolves, to remember how your connection and values as a spiritual person grew over time.

You should also try to practice mindfulness as part of a daily intention to practice spirituality in action. As individuals seek to bring more mindfulness into their everyday lives, they also invite in more receptivity to understand the nature of the spiritual world.

Common mistakes made on the spiritual path

The number one mistake that people make on their spiritual journey is the act of spiritual bypassing. This is a form of fake spirituality that involves blaming spirit for the things that happen to you, becoming a victim of your reality and using spirituality as a way to pretend that everything is okay with your life when it’s not.

Life is meant to be challenging, and tough, and sometimes full of fear, but the idea is to face these challenges with your open mind and to discover how you can grow through these moments. To be aware of your own pain points and to turn them into your power is doing true spiritual work. But neglecting to see the path of pain, and only focusing on love and light, even when you are not facing your fears, that is spiritual bypassing.

Spiritual Leaders

Many spiritual teachings touch on compassion for all of humanity, a belief in deep inner peace, and the spreading of spiritual wisdom around the world. Teachers both past and present that have been pioneers in bringing spirituality to the world include:

• The Dalai Lama – as a leader for the Buddhist religion, the teachings of the Dalai Lama explore how humanity can live together in peace in and demonstrate compassion for each other.
• Thich Nhat Than – a Zen monk that founded Plum Village, a center for spirituality and zen buddhist teachings. These teachings focus on world peace and creating harmony in the world.
• Deepak Chopra – he combines spiritual practices with a scientific explanation to make spirituality for beginners accessible.
• Louise Hay – she taught that the power of one’s thoughts and their inbuilt belief system is what causes disease in the body. But by changing one’s belief system to be more aware of their thoughts and actions, one can heal their life.
• Dr Joe Dispensar – a revolutionary teacher of the healing power of meditation, he has the belief that your thoughts and your energy can change your body.

True spirituality means embracing all the teachings of these spiritual masters and many more that are not mentioned here. Try inviting their knowledge into your own life and seeing how your understanding of self can develop.

Simple practices, such as being aware of your beliefs and trying to keep an open mind to discover new and exciting ways of living, will bring meaning to your spiritual life. Read the words of their teachings, and try to apply some of their ideas and faith to your own self. Use these teachers as a unique guide to spirituality and a way to invite more compassion and knowledge into your beliefs.

Spiritual books to expand your knowledge

On the spiritual path, one may take a rest to brew a cup of tea and read a spiritual book. These kinds of books are designed to bring deeper meaning to yourself and your beliefs. They make you question your true power and the meaning of why you are here. The following list of books will be a great introduction to the spiritual world, encompassing different bases of religion and different perspectives on life, to show that spiritual journeys can be unique to each person’s life.

Here are a few to get you started:

• Hapiness, The Dalai Lama (he has many books in his collection)
• Untethered Soul, Michael Singer
• You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay
• Book of Secrets, Deepak Chopra
• The Art of Living, Thich Nhat Than (plus many of his other books)
• The Alchemist, Paulo Coehlo
• The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield

Frequently Asked Questions: