The Top 10 Design Tools for Enhancing Your Spiritual
Connectedness
Looking for tools to design your day in a more spiritual way?
This top ten, taken from CoachVille's Personal Environments
Community at http://cid384.cvcommunity.com/?tabInx=webpage ,
describes design tools you can tap into in order to "be source"
and connect with the spiritual being which is inside of you. Try
them all and see which ones work especially well for you. Have
fun and add your own! Remember to give yourself several weeks or
months 'practicing' these different methods. As with anything
worth achieving, repetition and time often makes a huge
difference in the outcome. If you hope to develop or enhance
your spiritual connectedness, your commitment to a personal
daily spiritual practice is essential. Even though it is
possible to shift your thinking in this moment to become someone
who is a spiritual being, developing your spirituality often
takes time. So get started today!
1. Meditation
Meditation is an excellent gateway to your inner guide, your
Spirit or Higher Power, however you may define that. Meditation
brings clarity, creates a relief from tension and stress, and
can create the space for creativity to soar. Meditation can
allow the body the opportunity to experience a place outside of
the body that creates a state of bliss and connectedness to all
things. The physical act of meditation generally consists of
simply sitting quietly, focusing on one's breath, a word or
phrase. However, a meditator may also be walking, standing,
running, or swimming. You will know you are succeeding with
meditation if you feel more peaceful and more focused following
meditation, but to silence the inner chatter can be challenging.
Just keep practicing!
2. Inspirational Readings for Daily Guidance
Use inspirational texts from your favorite sources or daily
meditation books such as Reflections in the Light by Shakti
Gawain, here,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index%3Dbooks
%26field-keywords%3DReflections%252520in%252520the%252520Light%26
store-name%3Dbooks/103-1316360-9532642 .
3. Focusing, Meditation, and Divination Tools
There are a wide variety of options available for focusing,
meditation, and divination purposes. Angel Cards are useful for
opening gateways to other dimensions, Kabbalah Cards may be used
to discover underlying themes of a person's life and the means
to overcoming difficulties, and Tarot Cards are often used for
focusing purposes and to foretell the future. The Runes, stones
carved with ancient alphabet symbols, may be used to foretell
the future as well as give information about the past and
present.
Prior to using any of these tools, please clear your mind and
say a prayer for guidance, protection, and wisdom. Then, shuffle
and cut the deck, and ask something like "show me what I need to
know in my life right now" and then pick a card or do a spread.
Journal on what you selected and write about the significance
and then notice how your day unfolds. At the end of the day,
pick a new card or do a new spread and see how your situation or
perspective transformed! Be sure to journal about what you
learned, experienced, or enjoyed as a result of being focused
and intentional earlier on in the day.
4. Incense or Candles
Incense is one way to experiment with the sense of smell. Use
incense to clear out negative energies. Incense can also be used
to uplift, invigorate, calm, or make one mellow. Light a candle
to symbolize that you are creating sacred space and wish to
create a mood to support meditation, reflection, or spiritual
connection. Choose the scent and color that most pleases you.
5. Color Therapy
A truly inspiring space will invite, allure, and entice the
spirit to soar. Color therapy has been used for years as a way
to lift the spirits, soothe our souls, and calm our minds. By
bringing color therapy into your spaces, you can create a
certain "mood" or atmosphere which will support your desires for
connection with spirit." As a tool for healing, color can be
gazed at, beamed as healing light, meditated on, bathed in,
worn, used in art and in ritual such as candle magic and mandala
work and painting." From a fantastic resource on color therapy
and energy from www.about.com, here,
http://healing.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http%3A%2F%2
Fwww.geocities.com%2FAthens%2FForum%2F1368%2Fcolors.html .
6. Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is the practice of stimulating the senses through
fragrance by using natural botanical essential oils from plants,
leaves, bark, roots, seeds, resins and flowers. Aromatherapy
soothes and relaxes the mind by helping to induce a sense of
well-being and. Each individual essence is used to produce a
specific beneficial effect. Modern research has shown that the
aromas of the ceremonial plants such as Frankincense and
Sandalwood, can induce deep breathing, are profoundly soothing,
and tend to generate feelings of groundedness and connectedness.
Today the essential oils of these plants are universally used
for meditation and relaxation. Try different ones and see how
you respond! Keep a journal on what works best and when.
7. Nature
Nature is a wonderful place to tap into your spirituality. Take
time to be with nature everyday and notice the tiny 'miracles'
in everyday life such as a spider building a web. Discover 6
tips for creating a garden which can be used as a spot for
meditation or quiet contemplation in Pat Streep's Spiritual
Gardening book, here,
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1930722249/qid=1093
114175/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-5831758-5937465?v=glance&s=books .
The goal is not to be lavish or expensive but to create a space
which allows your spirit to soar. For more information, read the
article How to Create a Spiritual Garden in Six Steps excerpted
from Streep's book at I-Village.com, here,
http://www.ivillage.com/home/howtoguide/garden/articles/0,,170784
_85518,00.html?arrivalSA=1&cobrandRef=0&arrival_freqCap=2 .
8. Music
Create your sacred space with music that inspires you, centers
you, relaxes you, brings you joy, and that simply makes your
heart sing! Don't settle for anything less. What if you don't
know what music you would do all this? Then start exploring the
vast New Age, classical, world, or environmental categories in
music stores or metaphysical stores and see what works for you.
Note what you like, what it does for you and when.
9. Hydrotherapy
Baths and meditation go hand in hand, as bathing and foot
washing have often been a large part of spiritual rituals from
religious groups from around the world. Salt and herbal baths
have also been connected to de-stressing and to creating balance
and peacefulness. Don't forget the power of a candlelit, scented
bubble bath, any time of the day! Use bath time to practice
toning (creating different sounds) and imagine yourself
connecting with the dolphins and whales. Even a simple shower
after morning yoga or exercise can create a sense of peace and
reverence.
10. Connect with Other Spiritual Seekers or People with Heart
If you want to enjoy a spiritual life, allow yourself to be with
other people who you would consider spiritually fit. Start
noticing who, specifically, has a way about them that is
nourishing, gentle, non-judgmental, generous, loving and kind.
Don't know anyone like that yet? Then start opening your world
up by embracing your own spirituality and see whom you begin to
attract as a result! Check out local events that encourage
spiritual growth and sample different spiritual/healing
modalities such as chakra balancing, massage, Reiki, channeling,
tarot reading, palmistry, astrology, energy healing, or
astrological readings.