Spirituality involves a search for meaning, purpose and truth in life, an internal world that includes feelings of hope, connection and inner peace. It also involves external worlds like relationships with family, friends and coworkers as well as nature. Spirituality also has cognitive, experiential and behavior aspects. The cognitive or philosophic aspects include beliefs and values. The experiential or emotional aspects include feelings of connection, hope, love and inner peace and the behavior aspects involve how you manifest your beliefs and values in the world around you.
Some people think that finding a spiritual path means leaving their religion, but in reality, if you already have a religion, you can incorporate your spirituality into it. Some religious practices, such as walking in nature, attending community gatherings or listening to a talk, can all be expressions of your spirituality.
Many people associate spirituality with New Age movements, healing, psychic powers, astrology or anything else that is not physical. But, the core of spirituality is an ancient wisdom tradition that has been developed over millennia. It is a deep and rich well that we can tap into to quench our thirst for meaning, peace and truth. Then, we can take that wisdom into our daily lives and use it to help us navigate our way through this complicated world. It’s a bit like playing a game of football – all the rules, referees and field markings can get in the way of your enjoyment of the game, but you can still kick the ball around with friends and have fun.