How do you define ‘a spiritual life’?

Spiritual means a lot of different things; the NSC uses it to refer to human connection with transcendent reality. While you don’t have to be religious to have one, a spiritual life by our definition is more than a person’s inner and emotional world. To be called spiritual, it has to be about more than just you.

How do you start to develop a spiritual life?

There are three simple ingredients to a spiritual life: Time, place, and activity.

Start by setting aside a time every day, from 1—20 minutes. The amount of time matters much less than building up the regular habit of taking time. Choose the time not only according to your schedule but your biorhythms too — if you’re a morning person, choose morning.

If you live with others, set boundaries around this time. With little children but also with other adults, a visual timer of some sort is helpful, so people will know when you’ll be available after your spiritual time. A clear glass mug for coffee or tea works well for this: “If you can see what’s in the mug, I’m not to be disturbed.” Even the old sock on the doorknob trick works!

Choose a place where you’re less likely to be disturbed, either by people or by noise. If you’re able to be outside or near a good window, nature is great helper in finding your spiritual self. You don’t always have to be in the same place, and especially at first you should experiment with different ones, but eventually the place, like the time, should be habitual, so that you get a Pavlovian response of ‘this is me being spiritual’ going for you.

Finally, choose what activity you’ll do. Which obviously is the biggest question.

There’s a lot to be said for doing nothing at first, if you can stand it. Just breathe, look at something pretty, listen to the wind — get used to slowing down and sitting in your own skin.

If you’re someone who doesn’t do well with sitting still, try just doing some very easy, slow and simple stretches, something repetitive so that your mind can disengage.

When you’re ready for an activity, some form of prayer or meditation is a good place to start. Just talk with God in your head, or use a set prayer if you’d prefer. For you not-sitting-still types, prayer beads, hand drums or finger labyrinths (search on Etsy or Amazon) are a good way to be mildly active into your prayer/meditation time.

Keep trying different forms of prayer and meditation, and other different spiritual practices; everyone has a spiritual temperament to go with your personality type, and it takes most people a while to learn what works for them.

Are these three things all there is to having a spiritual life?

Absolutely not. Spiritual life has many, many aspects — see the ‘Building Blocks’ section in the NSC Spiritual Resources Library. But establishing this daily practice lays the groundwork for everything else.