How do you start a spiritual practice and maintain it daily?

One of the most common things people tell me is they don’t have time for a spiritual practice. Or they have let their practice lapse.

This always makes me think about my own practice, and how I don’t use up huge chunks of my day. Instead I have built a practice that takes minimal time yet is central to my life.

Morning and Evening Mindfulness

Each morning, before I even open my eyes, I do a couple of minutes of mindfulness meditation. I just follow my breath for two or three minutes. This takes no time out of my day, yet gets the day off to a great start.

When I go to bed I do the same thing. Just follow my breath as I am drifting off to sleep. Again, it takes no time.

If you want to add in more meditation, that’s great. Sometimes I like to do a longer meditation. However, if you have never meditated before, or not for a long time, this few minutes at the start and end of your day will give lots of benefits.

After a while of doing this, it’s quite likely you will naturally build up the length of time you spend. Just don’t let the idea of having to do 40 minutes or two hours per day put you off getting started.

If this is all you were to do each day, you would notice an increase in your wellbeing.

Affirmations

After meditating and as I’m getting ready for the day, I like to repeat affirmations. Usually I just choose one for the day. As I leave my bedroom, I look at the framed poster on my dressing table. It reads, ‘Today is going to be awesome’. I repeat this to myself as I go downstairs. This ensures I start my day positively and with a smile.

If you sign up to my new course Mindfulness For Busy People you will get a PDF of 30 affirmations to get you started.

If you want to go more in depth on how to start a spiritual practice, this 21 day course will be right for you.

Spiritual Literature

Another way to add to your practice without using up any extra time is to swap out your regular reading for spiritual literature. I love poetry from the likes of Rumi, Hafiz, Rainer Maria Rilke, Rabindranath Tagore and many more.

In addition to reading these mystic poets, I have some favourite authors I turn to often. Probably my favourite teacher is Pema Chodron, and she has lots of books available. Equally as good is Thich Nhat Hanh who also has a lot of books available. There are also lots of great writings from Sufi, Taoist and Christian mystics.

If you want to check out a lot of great spiritual literature, pay a visit to my Allspirit website. This was the first website I launched way back in 1997. Although I haven’t added to this website for a long time, there is a wealth of spiritual material for you to get your practice off to a great start.

If you are in the habit of reading novels or gossipy magazines, swap at least some of that time for reading spiritual literature. You will probably find you quite quickly lose your appetite for gossip.

Discover Spiritual Videos

Many of us spend a lot of time watching tv. According to a report from regulator Ofcom, UK adults spent nearly a third of their waking hours watching TV and online video content in 2020. Even if you spent half of this time watching spiritual videos, that is a lot of watching.

So if you find yourself mindlessly scrolling tiktok videos, or watching soaps or sport on tv, check out the wealth of free videos on youtube. Just do a search for spirituality or meditation and you will find many, many excellent videos.

Again, this takes no time out of your day, you will be swapping less spiritual activities for more rewarding ones.

Self Awareness

The core of a spiritual practice for me is becoming more self aware. As you go about your day, pay attention to how you react to things that happen. Do you feel angry, jealous, fearful or sad? Just look at these with a kind, non judgmental awareness.

Doing this is not to shame yourself, but to learn about yourself. Once you notice your less than helpful reactions, you can begin to adjust them.

Paying attention to your body can often alert you to reactions before you respond in an angry or jealous way.

Maintaining Your Spiritual Practice

All five of these things can fit into your life with little time needed. They will, however, make a big difference to your life if practiced each day.

Once you get used to doing them daily they will become part of your regular daily habits. To start with, you may use reminders to cement the habits. A reminder on your phone to do your morning and night time meditations. A set time of day to read or watch videos. Using an app on your phone to pop up affirmations. I use Yapp, and find it really helpful (and it’s free). A stone carried in your pocket that you turn over in your hand can remind you to pay attention to your reactions.

If you miss a day, or miss a practice, or even if you miss for a while it doesn’t matter. Don’t judge yourself harshly, just be kind to yourself and restart your practice.

Remember, a journey of 1,000 miles begin with the first step. Just take that first step and get started.

And don’t forget, you can get my Mindfulness For Busy People mini course to help you further your practice.

Stay mindful!

Gill