8 Ways to Maintain Your Spirituality in Times of Stress
Being spiritual around the clock isn’t easy.
In between time commitments, children, making dinner and hustling in and out of the house, it can be easy to lose your spiritually cultivated mindset at the exact moment when you need it most. Not to mention the stress from whatever’s going on in the world. Stress can cause anyone to lose their balance – spiritually, emotionally and mentally. But you don’t have to.
Here are eight tips to keep you centered even during the most stressful times.
- Ground out with nature
Take your shoes off in some grass, walk outside and stare into a patch of forest for a few minutes. Even better, take some time to yourself and go on a 10-day nature retreat. Any amount of connection to nature – large or small – can provide you with a much-needed check into what is really important.
Just five minutes under a tree with your phone turned off can work like a miracle. And often, this is all it takes to bring you back into the moment.
- Get a higher perspective
One of the best things you can do in a time of stress is to give yourself the opportunity to see the bigger picture. To do this, find the highest natural point nearest you and go there. Stand over the vista and look out on the landscape before you — and just breathe. See, you feel better already.
- Connect with your higher self
Each and every one of us has a physical body that houses our soul. It is within your soul where there is a wellspring of higher, inner wisdom. You can tap into this wellspring of wisdom for guidance at any time.
The easiest way to access your soul’s highest wisdom is to separate yourself from modern society —temporarily. Get some alone time. Meditate. Go for a hike. Be you with just you and ask yourself the important questions.
- Quality time with animals
Animals always seem to know what is important. They are never stressing over deadlines, conflicting schedules or wondering what some dog three houses down thinks of them. To reconnect with what is truly important, head to the pet store, a local zoo, hang out with your own pets or go out into nature. Birds, squirrels and small animals often abound, and simply by observing them you can reunite with some of the most basic, yet essential, truths.
- Unplug it all for an hour
Stressful situations often don’t originate from within. Their origins are usually found on all the external pressures that are placed upon us. Disconnect the cause of the stress. Turn off the computer, shut down your phone and unplug the television for at least one hour before you go to bed. In doing so, you’ll calm your nerves, disconnect from other people’s stress and have an easier time falling asleep. Doing this will make it easier for you to face the next day with a present state of mind.
- Grab a book
Books can be incredibly relaxing and grounding, especially books of a spiritual nature. To reconnect with your spiritual nature in times of stress, re-read through the spiritual virtues you follow and refresh yourself. Simply revisiting what you value most can have a profound effect on your ability to cultivate resilience through the storm.
Rumi, Khalil Gibran, and Rainer Maria Rilke are excellent go-to authors for revisiting and reconnecting with your own ancient and timeless spiritual wisdom.
- Walk it out
There is nothing like going for a long walk, run or bike ride to soothe your soul. Moving your body can help you mentally move and process the emotions and thoughts you have that are ready to be released.
As you move, you’ll naturally give movement to your mind for welcoming new concepts, ideas and ways of being. Creating a space of active movement will cultivate new thoughts that will both empower and motivate you through stressful times.
- Lie Down
And finally, there is nothing better you can do in a time of stress than to simply relax. Give yourself a five minute time out and find a place to lie completely on your back. Whether it is on a bed, on the ground outside or on your living room floor, lie down. Stretch, look up at the ceiling and breathe. You’re alive. Everything is going to be OK.
About the Author
Shared Death Experiences; Supernatural Events Around the Dying
New research is shedding light on Shared Death Experiences; when the living accompany the dying on their journey into what may lie beyond.
While there has been a good deal of attention paid to the Near-Death Experience, very little is known by the general public about the Shared Death Experience (SDE).
A new research survey is the first of its kind to explore at length this fascinating phenomenon.
William Peters is the founder of the Shared Crossing Project, which is dedicated to educating people about the transformative experiences of the dying. He is also the author of the recently published book “At Heaven’s Door.”
“A Shared Death Experience occurs when somebody dies and a loved one, caregiver, bystander expresses that they feel like they shared in the transition of the dying from this human life to a life beyond and into the initial stages of the afterlife,” Peters said. “There are a variety of ways to be an SDE experiencer, you can be at bedside; about one-third of our cases are from experiencers who are just at the bedside in the room when someone is dying. Two-thirds are remote, that means they’re not even at the bedside when someone is dying, they’re doing life somewhere oftentimes they’re sleeping and they find themselves drawn into an experience, the shared death experience, in which they’re sharing a variety of phenomena.”
Peters has interviewed hundreds of people about their experiences and estimates that up to a quarter of the world’s population may have had an SDE.
The Shared Crossing Research Initiative’s recent survey of SDE accounts brings forth the range of phenomena common to the experience.
“So the most common phenomena would be this: alteration in the time-space continuum in the room. So, all of a sudden if you’re with them or even if you’re remote, you get a little dizzy, you realize your world is getting a little warped. Then you might feel a pressure, a pull upon your chest. If you’re bedside you might see a spirit, the soul-spirit leaving the body. It can look like steam, smoke, or mist coming off of the body. You’ll notice the light is changing all around you. People 51 percent of the time report seeing the dying. They report seeing the dying moving on a journey, and there is often communication with them. But they are with this loved one, presumably because that’s what it is most of the time, witnessing this transition,” Peters said.
