Seasonal Change: Part Three
The Spirit
Image Credit: Anne Nygard @polarmermaid
Changing our mind, body and spirit rituals with the seasons reinvigorates and inspires your life with intention.
Continuing to look at why using the pillars of mind, body and spirit are a great framework for creating a life full of magick and meaning, this week we look at the spirit, the last piece of the intentional living and holistic health triad.
When I talk about the spirit, I am referring to being connected to something greater and being in touch with our own intuition. Humans are hardwired for this connection and not having or neglecting it can leave you feeling incomplete. To be clear this connection does not necessarily have to be religious based although for some people it is. Research supports that people who have spiritual practices report having better mental health and overall wellbeing. Psychology Today noted that these practices help people be more gracious, optimistic, compassionate and self actualized*. Whether you have a religious practice or not, the key is that your spiritual practices facilitate and deepen a connection with source and help support you in listening to your intuition or inner guide.
Practices that help support your spirit begin with a connection to something greater and can include community involvement, rituals, religious practices, celebrations, prayer, meditation, gratitude, connecting to nature, positive affirmations, mantras, giving to others and having a sense of purpose.
How you choose to incorporate these practices into your lifestyle will vary. For some, taking part in a church service may be all they need. For others, a more self-initiated daily practice supported by religious activities works and then again, other people feel most connected to spirit in nature and/or are called to create their own rituals to support that. I find that for most women there is a strong need to have a personal connection to source that they can access at any time and in their own way. Women are filled with the energy of creation and are inherently tuned into the interconnectedness of all things. There is not one right way - only the way that works for you. Your practices grow and change with you. The best way to design a supportive spiritual practice is to experiment and cultivate the ones that help you feel most connected to and in touch with your source of spirit.
My own spiritual practices have changed greatly throughout my lifetime and still change as I grow and expand my consciousness. As a child, I loved the ritual of the church (I was loosely raised Episcopalian). I would take an illustrated children’s bible down to a large boulder at the end of a nearby cul de sac and hold my own church services surrounded by nature and her animals. I always felt deeply connected to spirit when I was outside in nature and especially when playing in the woods behind our neighborhood. (Side note: this was the 70’s and we were allowed to freely roam throughout our neighborhood and the nearby woods.) I wanted to be a priest when I grew up; however, I was disappointed to learn that was not an option for a woman.
As I got older, I begin to look into all different religions and practices and saw common themes and motifs that appeared universal and gave me a sense that there was a ‘something greater’ in all areas of the world and for all people. In the end, my spiritual practices reflect my experiences and are derived from a deep connection to nature and the elements and are influenced by those rituals I loved from my childhood church attendance. They include meditation, mantras, community involvement, celebrations, gratitude, rituals, connecting to nature and her cycles and giving to others. Through my practices, I feel a deeper sense of connection to source, stay in touch with my intuition and experience the interconnectedness of all living things.
Take a moment and consider what tools you have in place to help support your spirit. Do the practices you have in place help you feel connected to something greater? Thinking about how you have experienced the fall season in the past, are the practices sufficient to support you until winter? We will look at how to consider the characteristics of fall and how they could impact your practices in Part Four of this series.
I would love to hear your thoughts and what practices you use to support your spirit and your feelings of being connected to something greater. You can reach me at lara@intentionallivingwithlara.com.
Intentionally Yours,
Lara
🌟 If you want to go deeper, consider working with me privately in one on one coaching where I take on a limited number of clients each month or join our free FB group, The Intentional Living Collective, where for the month of September, we will focus on re-setting our Mind, Body & Spirit habits for fall.🌟
For more information:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/cant-buy-happiness/201302/why-be-spiritual-five-benefits-spirituality
ABOUT LARA: Lara Spell-Worsham is an Intuitive Coach, E-RYT 500 Yoga & Meditation teacher, Ayurvedic Counselor, Holistic Health & Wellness Coach and a certified Wild Woman Project Circle leader. A lover of nature, the elements and animals, she loves to hike and enjoy time outdoors. The founder of Intentional Living with Lara she focuses on empowering women to find meaning and magick by nurturing their mind, body & spirits. She offers one on one intuitive coaching and Private and Public Women's circles both in person and online.