The Residual Effect of Spiritual Practice

Hi Everyone!!

Recently I have felt drawn to the definition behind the word spirituality. This word we often hear (a lot in fact) these days but what does it really mean.

So let me dive straight in by saying, this is just my little musings and my own outlook of spirituality from my own personal experience. I know there are soooooooo many different definitions and perspectives on what it means to be spiritual or what it looks like to have a spiritual practice etc. My intention behind this blog post, is to start this conversation (even if its just to ask yourself the question, what does spirituality mean to me?).

In order for me to get into this subject, and gain some insight, I sat and meditated on the question at hand, what does it mean to be spiritual?

Over several days, I asked myself the same question, scribbling down notes, words, ideas and then reflecting on what I had thought about.

I also wanted to do some research so I googled it (of course). A lot of the definitions on spirituality tend to lean towards saying spirituality is non-materialist or non-superficial. I see value in those definition but that's still not really telling me a lot, I wanted to get into the nitty gritty.

Self-study

In order to delve a bit deeper, I turned the question deep into my heart. Asking myself, what does it mean to me? What part of myself is spiritual? How do I feel about spiritual practice? What is the residual effect of spiritual practice?

What kept coming up was this feeling that spirituality is an inner dimension about connection.

OK, so let me break it down a bit more. I'll try and describe what I mean (and feel, this is really an inner sensation about the effects of spiritual practice).

I believe we have a dance between connection to our deepest self and consciousness. We could argue that the connection and consciousness are one of the same, but they are different in this context and through spirit we have both.

In simple terms connection and consciousness are the beautifully mindful aspects we experience through union, oneness - our true nature.

From our connection to consciousness comes our spiritual form. I feel our spiritual form at the moment represents the opposite of separation rather it is wholeness of ourselves, the world, each other and ultimately everything within the universe.

Right, so where does this oneness take us from here?

Well for me, I'm still figuring this out. But I think we could say, when we feel abundantly whole, complete and enough, we are coasting along the residual effect of spirituality. In whatever form it takes.

I know we can become quite attached to spirituality, enlightenment etc as being this huge moment of realisation. Of course, there are times it might be. However, the residual effects can be subtle yet powerful. Our spiritual practice can range from just a simple deep breath, a thoughtful moment of our day to deep meditative practices.

So....what do you guys think? I know, this can be a deep question and challenging one. I still have lots more to think about and it will be interesting to see over time if my views change and evolve. I hope this gives you some food for thought and an opportunity to think about your spirituality.

Thanks for reading - namaste xx