How does spiritual wellness affect your body?
What is spiritual Wellness and self-care?
Spiritual wellness is our personal core values and ethics. Spiritual self-care is the actions we take to develop and identify our core values and deepen our connection with who we really are.
Your core values most likely have changed as you’ve grown as a person, but are you at the best version of yourself? It’s perfectly alright if your answer is no or I don’t know. For we’re all a work in progress.
Why is it important to practice spiritual self-care?
More often than not our days are hectic, filled with long to-do lists that leave us little room for downtime and reflection. As we move from one task to the next it’s easy to lose sight of ourselves.
By periodically stepping away to reflect, we're able to become aware of the choices we're making, and how those choices are shaping who we are, as well as, how those choices are affecting those around us.
Slowing down, reflecting, and setting aside time to re-energize leads to greater inner peace and allows a greater ability to establish and align with our core values.
Spiritual self-care is so important to our wellness as a whole. Spiritual practices of reflection and mindfulness not only help us become better people, they also make us feel better.
How do spiritual self-care actions affect the body?
Practicing spiritual self-care quiets the mind and helps to create a space to honor our feelings, our body and take the necessary actions towards making a good change.
Spiritual self-care actions can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, improve sleep and overall improve immunity.
Spiritual self-care actions reduce stress by focusing our attention away from jumbled thoughts that may be crowding our mind and causing stress towards a more tranquil mind and a deeper state of relaxation.
The body releases a surge of hormones when under stress. These hormones can cause the heart to beat faster and the blood vessels to narrow. These actions increase blood pressure for a time. Adding time for spiritual self-care actions allows us time to regulate our stress and lower our blood pressure.
Spiritual self-care actions such as meditation, prayer and journaling at the end of the day allow us to mindfully go over the positive aspects of the day and express gratitude for these moments. These practices can soothe the nervous system and promote a calmer mind for sleep.
The American Psychological Association states that long-term stress weakens the response of our immune system, because stress decreases the body’s lymphocytes, the white blood cells that help fight off infections. Making room for spiritual self-care actions can overall help to improve our immune system.
How can you add spiritual self-care actions to your wellness routine?
First you have to set aside time for it. And no this isn’t adding something else to your to-do list. This is scheduling yourself a very necessary, much needed and well deserved moment in time to reflect, be mindful and check in with the most important person you know. You.
Identify the actions that give you a sense of peace, comfort, strength, love and connection. Set aside time everyday to do one self-care action, even if it's just for 5 minutes.
Examples of Spiritual Self-Care Actions:
Meditation
Yoga
Being in nature
Gratitude journaling
Community service or volunteer work
Praying
Attending a religious service
Reading an inspirational book or article
Listening to a motivational audiobook or podcast
Sacred Space offers weekly relaxation classes that include guided meditation and breathwork that can help promote and deepen your connection with yourself and your spiritual self-care actions.