Episode 015 Wellness Series: Spiritual Wellness
Episode 15 - Spiritual Wellness Blog

Episode 015 Wellness Series: Spiritual Wellness

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In this podcast episode, we kick off the last tenet of the Wellness Series with Spiritual Wellness.

Links to articles referenced in the episode:

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TRANSCRIPT:

Hello! Welcome to the Sally in the Zen podcast.  I’m your host, Sally. I’m a Zen Buddhist caregiver, taking care of my elderly folks and always in pursuits to find Zen moments in everyday living.  If you’re new to the podcast, welcome! Glad to have you. If you’re not, and you’re returning, welcome back!

Now today’s episode is starting our next tenet – the last tenet of our Wellness Series that we launched off in January, and it’s about Spiritual Wellness.  

So before we begin today’s episode, let me put my normal disclaimer out there, that anything and everything I say in today’s episode and on my podcast, actually, are my opinions, my opinions alone.  I’m not sponsored by anyone to say what I’m going to say or the opinions I express. I’m not paid by anybody. These are generally my personal opinions and from my personal experience on the subject.  

So if you’re still interested let’s get started.

Now, in Episode 11, when we kicked off the Wellness Series on January 8th, I had referred to a link that referenced Nine Dimensions of Health and Wellness written by Jennifer Lawson on February 8th of 2017.  

Now referring back to her article and, of course I’ll link all of the stories and resources that I cite on this podcast, on this episode, on the show notes for your reference.  Now as a refresher, Jennifer cited that Wellness includes social, emotional, spiritual, environmental, occupational, financial, intellectual, physical and sexual wellness. And today we’re going to focus on the Spiritual Wellness.   

She writes: Spiritual Wellness is the ability to establish peace and harmony in our lives. The ability to develop congruence between values and actions and to realize a common purpose that binds creation together contributes to our spiritual wellness.  Spirituality is a personal matter involving values and beliefs that provide a purpose in our lives. While different individuals may have different views of what spiritualism is, it is generally considered to be the search for meaning and purpose and human existence, leading one to strive for state of harmony with oneself and others while working to balance inner needs with the rest of the world.  

It is important for everyone to explore what they believe is their own sense of meaning and purpose. The path to spiritual wellness may involve meditation, prayer, affirmations or specific spiritual practices that support your connection to a higher power or belief system. Yoga and meditation can also help you develop spiritual wellness.  Having compassion the capacity for love and forgiveness, altruism, joy and fulfillment help you enjoy your spiritual health. Your religious faith, values, beliefs, principles and morals define your spirituality. If you are a person engaged in the process of spiritual wellness, you are willing and able to transcend yourself in order to question the meaning and purpose in your life and the lives of others.  

In addition, you seek to find harmony between that which lies within and the social and physical forces that come from outside.  Now that’s the end of that one paragraph in her article.

Now let me just level set something too.  While I was doing research for today’s episode, I honestly felt like I’m the last person who should be talking about spiritual wellness when although I’m a Zen Buddhist, and that’s only because my father is a Zen Master, and I was raised in a household where I didn’t realize from the very start that it was Zen Buddhism. I thought it was just how we lived, and how we thought and believed and it wasn’t until later on when I got older that I realized the label, that I was labelled for my belief system was under the umbrella of that Buddhism.  

But for all intents and purposes, my foundation for Zen Buddhism is based on practical beliefs on how you should act, common courtesy, and how you should treat people, how you should treat yourself, how you respect the elders, how you work hard, how you do things in life.  And I’m not necessarily sure if that’s not intertwined with my own culture of being Chinese too, because Chinese has a reputation of being hard-working and obedient to parents and that there’s a gray line with that and spirituality to me.

But it wasn’t until I started researching this topic for today’s episode that I realized that, let me just be straight up, I am not claiming to be any kind of expert in spirituality.  Not in the least. I find it fascinating with what I came across in terms of all of this. And the fact that I’m not formally trained in Buddhism or spirituality doesn’t limit me from having my own opinions, very strong opinions, of what they are what they mean to me and what I can share with you.

I think I mentioned in multiple podcasts that I have started on my own spiritual path just recently in 2019, and it all began with a rose quartz crystal.  And I spoke about that in the early podcast which I can link on how I came across that crystal and how it impacted me, but I can say that definitive moment of getting that crystal in my hands was the beginning of my true awareness that I am on a spiritual path.  And my personal reasons for wanting or needing to do that is to find fulfillment.  

And what I mean by that is, for me, I always always question my purpose here. I always question the meaning of things happening in our lives just because that’s how I am. These things are brain teasers to me.  And when the universe, and I absolutely believe in God, and I absolutely believe the Universe has our back, signs that come from the Universe when you actually have an awareness of these things, when your eyes are actually open to these things, it’s actually pretty cool when they do happen.  But going back to the primary reason of why I started down my spiritual path is because I believe, absolutely believe, with every fiber in my being that we’re here for a purpose, everything happens to us for a reason, and it’s ultimately to make us stronger. For what I don’t know and I wonder sometimes if we’re ever supposed to know in this one lifetime of ours.  

And that’s just another brain teaser that I noodled around in my head once in awhile.  But to me that’s not the important part of the spiritual path that I’m on. The part that’s critical for me is being in the present moment.  Appreciating my family, appreciating my mom and dad who are still here with me, appreciating our health, and just overall have gratitude and thanks for everything that is in my life and everything that I have and who I am because of these precious people.

Now during the research that I did for this episode, I actually came across articles of how to develop habits for spiritual wellness, and keep in mind too, I didn’t know these things were out there.  I never… you know how you don’t know what you don’t know until you know? That’s exactly this episode about spiritual wellness.  

There are two articles that I found on how to develop habits for spiritual wellness or how to become more spiritual in how many steps.  Now before I read these two articles, let me just caveat this and just say I’m not a spiritual pusher. I’m not pushing anyone to become spiritual. I’m not, I’m not a Universe pusher. I’m not any kind of pusher. I’m just… the more you know. And if you’ve been following my podcast for some time now, you should know that I’m all about educating and making people aware of things that come up.  And it’s your choice to make your decision of what you do or don’t do, believe or don’t believe. Though I wanted to give you guys some practical takeaways on spiritual wellness.  

So in saying that, let me tell you about the two articles I came across that was really interesting on how to improve your spiritual health.  Very interesting. The first one is from the American association of equine (e.q.u.i.)n.e practitioners. You know and as a side note here, from Episode 11, one of the sources that I cited on health and wellness, written by Debbie Stoewen on September 2015.  It was actually in the field of veterinarians, veterinarian medicine.

I don’t know why I came across articles that have pertaining to specific animal occupations but you know, let me just say, the material, the main part of the article, it applies to what my what I’m talking about today.  

But anyway according to the American Association of Equine Practitioners, it doesn’t have an author, but the spiritual wellness is described differently by each person but the concept generally relates to one’s sense of purpose, life’s meaning, our relationship to other people, and a self-awareness to these things.  Next paragraph. Many defines spirituality according to religious values while others find expression of spirituality through personal relationships or through nature. In all cases, the AAEP agrees and believes that living a professional life full of meaning purpose and rich relationships with others is both important and intrinsic to being an equine veterinarian.

Okay I’m not going to be in an equine veterinarian, but moving on down, the five habits for spiritual wellness:  (1) meditation. Meditation has been practiced by leaders of all major religions and non-religious people alike. Meditation is a process of being fully here with all concentration focus on the now.  By living in the present and let it go of the past and not worrying about the future, we can achieve the inner peace that we strive, mitigating worry, alleviating stress, finding forgiveness and achieving clarity in our purpose.  So, and they actually recommend the headspace app – provides a simple non-religious guide to meditation that many have found valuable and is available in the App store or Google play. They’re recommending that. I’m not. I’m just reading their article.

So second habit is yoga.  Yoga is a physical technique that can help improve your spiritual wellness by reducing emotional and physical strains on your minds and body. it is taught at all levels and can help lower stress, boost the immune system, and lower blood pressure as well as reduce anxiety, depression, fatigue and insomnia.  

Habit number three: travel.  Travel can allow us to temporarily leave our day-to-day obligations in order to obtain perspective, contemplate deeper questions, reflect on our experiences and obtain rest.

Four: volunteering.  Volunteering can provide a healthy spiritual life.  Like bathing, serving others through volunteering is best repeated frequently.  Search for a local rescue mission or food pantry or explore initiatives which support the horse…horses such as world events… I’m going to stop right there because I’m not plugging for them.

Okay, last one.  Last habit: mentoring.  Whether as a professional or personal mentor, it is a beneficial spiritual builder as you are helping others achieve their dreams.  So that’s the article.

Now the second article is from the University of Kansas and it’s cited as its main source for the article from another article written by the Illinois State University News.  And it’s by Ali Gary written on February 26th 2014 titled seven ways to improve your spiritual wellness but I’m going to refer back to the University of Kansas article.  

So University of Kansas says seven ways to improve your spiritual health.  So the spiritual element of wellness can be the most personal peace of the puzzle when trying to place all eight dimensions of wellness together.  Generally people like to live a life with meaning and purpose. I do. I know I do. When those goals are met, it puts harmony in one’s life and the others they surround themselves with.  

And they propose this: one: explore your spiritual core.  Two: look for deeper meanings. I do that constantly. Three: get it out, meaning expressing what is on your mind to help you maintain a focused mind.  Four: try yoga. Five: travel. Six: think positively. Seven: take time to meditate.

Now I think I said I have two articles.  actually, in fact, I have three, so just bear with me on the last one.

The last one is from Gaia (g.a.i.a).  No, I am not sponsored by them. The article, the title of the article, is how to become more spiritual in three small steps and it was written by the Gaia staff on July 10th 2014.  At some point, according to the article, most people experience a feeling that there is something greater than the concrete worlds we inhabit. Whether this feeling is inspired by a mystery of science, the all inspiring view from a majestic mountain top, or the energy experience in connecting with others, these moments can be both humbling and grounding.  

It’s these feelings moments and experiences which formed the foundation of our notion of spirituality.  So when we scroll on down to their suggestions on…One: make changes slowly. According to the article, I see this a lot. People, who have great intentions of changing their lives are super enthusiastic for a while and then stop.  For example, we all know how unlikely people are to actually keep their New Year’s resolution, for instance. The problem is that mere enthusiasm can only get you started. If you want long-term change in your life, you have to start slowly.  Knowing the initial spurt of energy won’t last. Instead aim at changing habits. Once a new habit is formed, it can carry your practice enabling inspiration to stay within it.

Two: take spiritual holidays and retreats.  Spiritual retreats whether at home or at a retreat center are a great way to recharge.  They can help you realize that the way you normally live is not necessarily the way you have to live.  However in order to bring to bring more awareness into your daily life, you will find that you also need some kind of reminder at home.  This can be a short morning meditation for instance or simply watching your breath when the coffee is brewing or taking an hour each weekend to read a spiritual book.

Now I thought about this one, and because my weekends are filled with daily… with just the chores of needing to get done because during the weekday, I don’t have time to do it and I’m during the weekends I try to catch up also with the chores of the house, and taking care of Mom and Dad and spending the time with them because I’m not able to do that during the work day, that’s tough.  It’s tough and it’s…as a caregiver, that is, time is a precious commodity and you want to spend it well, and I do that with my mom and dad, and meditation. But having the time to go ahead and read a spiritual book, that’s that’s a stretch. 

Anyway I digress and let’s go back to the last point on the article.  Number three: practice your spiritual takeaways. There’s nothing wrong with having a well rounded understanding of your personal spiritual tradition.   However, if you want to use it as a tool to transform your life, you must use it as a mirror on your life, personality traits, and relationship. So when the pastor talks about forgiveness, don’t think about the guy who needs to learn to forgive you.  Think instead of the grudges you can release. Four: when you share a beautiful quote on Facebook Instagram or Pinterest, take a moment to really let this sink in for you at that moment. Turn away from the screen and take a deep breath, thinking about the quote you just read.  Actually the article is written by Katrina, I’m going to say it so wrong, Katinka Hesselink. My ability to pronounce people’s names properly just bites and sucks lemons, so I’m sorry about that, Katina.  

So this particular article actually makes me think about being in the present moment.  That you’re 100% consciously aware of everything that’s going on in your mind, that’s happening in your outside, that your interacting with, because like their example is, take a moment to really let something sink in for you at that moment and turn away from the screen and take a deep breath, thinking about a quote you just read from Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest, that’s actually a conscious decision that you’re making to turn away and to think about the quote.  

I personally think it’s… it takes a tremendous amount of effort and a tremendous amount of conscious awareness to be able to do all of that in one swoop.  And I know for a fact, personally speaking, that being in the present moment means being that conscious, being, having that acute awareness to be mindful of everything that comes through your mind, all the feelings that you experience in your heart space, everything that comes across your desk, everything that comes across your fingers or your eyes on the screen, all of that takes effort and it takes practice.  I’m saying that from experience.  

To be consciously aware and being in the now, being in the present moment ,takes a lot of work and it can be exhausting.  Being straight up with all of you. It can be quite exhausting but it’s kind of like meditation also. It’s deliberate, it’s purposeful and it takes practice.  Like anything else, it just takes practice with the ultimate goal of harmony in my head and in my heart. Or say it in a different way, harmony and peace in my heart and my head, so that now I’m able to have a good sleep at night.

Now meditation is the common denominator I found between the three articles.  And meditation is the core of my belief of being a Zen Buddhist. Meditation to me is my head space and heart space, where I come together within myself to find the peace that I need to be able to sleep during the night.  It’s… it takes practice. It’s not easy just to sit down and close your eyes and quiet your mind. I know many people personally who can’t do that because of all the noise in their head but it takes practice. If it was easy, you heard this before, if it was easy everybody will be doing it and everybody would be doing it effortlessly.  But it’s not easy. It takes practice. Like a muscle, meditation, calming down the mind, calming down the heart and the body, to physically sit there, more than one minute, in the peace, in the quiet, without thinking, and just being in the present moment takes practice. Trust me when I say this.  

Alright so that’s the end of today’s episode.  Now next episode, we’re going to be talking, wrapping up actually, the spiritual wellness series, talking about the spiritual side to caregiving.  And here’s another thing. I didn’t know there was a spiritual side of being a caregiver. Who knew? Anyways that’s for our next episode.  

Now again, if you have any questions or comments that you like to share with me, go over to my blog Sally in the Zen.com, click on the contact page, and just drop me a line.  Let me know if you have any ideas for future episodes, feel free to share and let me know. Maybe I’ll feature in future episodes. And here’s the part where I say thank you, thank you, thank you for joining me in my pursuits to find Zen moments and everyday living.  Talk to you next time.