Part of spirituality is learning about ourselves. The second part of spirituality is learning how we fit into the bigger picture. Sometimes, that means we resonate with the teachings of organized religion. Sometimes having the rituals and the doctrines to follow show us the roadmap to the place we are searching for. However, organized religion is not always part of the picture.

What Spirituality is: Pick an Analogy

Spirituality is a grounding wire, a lens to look at life through, the roots that hold us firmly to the ground and the trunk that holds strong against inclement weather as branches continue to grow and change.

Our spirituality is a picture of our essence, a snapshot of our most basic understanding of ourselves, the world around us, and the world beyond us.

How about an old fashioned definition?

For the purposes of this discussion, here is how I define spirituality:

Laying the Foundation for Wellness

Guilty Pleasures

A Brick in the Foundation: Social Support

A Brick in the Foundation: Physical Health

A Brick in the Foundation: Emotional Health

Holiday Markers

A Brick in the Foundation: Environmental Health

A Brick in the Foundation: Intellectual Health

Finding Your Balance Point

The How To

The How To - Muscle Relaxation

Spirituality is continual growth toward truth and understanding of our internal persona and how we fit into the external world as a whole. From this growth develops a sense of purpose and meaning of our place in the universe. This is demonstrated by patience, calmness, self reliance with an open heart to a greater power, self esteem, passion and purposefulness, love, acceptance, connection to others, and curiosity.

"…continual growth toward truth and understanding of our internal persona and how we fit into the external world as a whole."

Spirituality is our search for understanding, our search for knowing how we fit into this world. Our spirituality seeks to answer the questions:

What are my convictions?
What do I stand for?
What am I doing here?
What am I learning?
What am I connected to?

The spiritual dimension asks you: What is your guiding set of principles? Does your life, as you live it now, allow you to live within those principles? Do you feel like you have meaning in your life? Do you feel like you have a purpose?

How many of us work for years doing what is expected of us, or following a path we thought we wanted when we set out? Are you on autopilot without really knowing the answer to any of these questions?

The spiritual dimension also asks you: do you have a sense of belonging to something bigger than just your own individual experience? This question seems to expect that you must believe in a monotheistic religion where God (white, male, authoritative) is the biggest power. But, this question really seeks to find out what your connection is to the rest of the world and beyond. You may term this God or Spirit or Universal Energy. Perhaps it is just understanding that there are others who share similar experiences to whom you have a connection. The idea is that you are not alone, even when you are alone.

Life is certainly a roller coaster, and there are times when you will answer the above questions with a long and detailed answer and there will be other times when you just throw up your hands and say, "I thought I knew how I would answer those, but now I am not so sure." Our spirituality is not static; it grows in response to life experiences. At times, our understanding falls apart, only to grow more strongly in a different direction.

Knowing that there is continual growth brought about by both difficult and positive situations can be helpful. Sometimes we are ready to stop "growing" and just be for a while. But, those difficult situations can be so much easier to manage when you are able to attach meaning to them. Maybe the only meaning you can think of is "I guess it must be time for me to grow," but that is an acknowledgement of the situation and allows you to not fall into a pit of despair.

"…From this growth develops a sense of purpose and meaning of our place in the universe"

When you don't have a definition of who you are, how you fit in, what the bigger picture is, it is more difficult to have an overall sense of meaning in your life. The ups and the downs provide much greater swings. When the downs happen, there isn't anything to hang on to. Without meaning, there is so much more room for anxiety and worry to creep in. With increasing anxiety comes a sense of loss of control and stress, that leads you back to more anxiety. All of these emotions throw off balance in the other areas of your life, sometimes leading to physical illness, but most certainly a decrease in the overall quality of your life.

"…This is demonstrated by patience, calmness, self reliance with an open heart to a greater power, self esteem, passion and purposefulness, love, acceptance, connection to others, and curiosity."

When you understand who you are, how you fit in, and what the broader purpose to your life is, you have an overall sense of calm. You have a broader prospective in which to view events happening around you and to you. Opening these doors then allows other positive experiences to come through.

As we build a deeper definition of ourselves — how we want to be, what the prevailing emotions we wish to have — we are able to better define the environment around us and we are able to ask the questions that take us to a better place: What kind of job do I really want to have? How can I have the finances I need but still be living in harmony with what I believe? Who in my life helps me to this place?

Spirituality is our inner core. It can have nothing to do with religion, or everything to do with religion depending on your beliefs. You may experience your most spiritual moments during a church service, or at the end of a long run, or listening to beautiful music, or while you are washing a sink full of dirty dishes.

I would argue that this inner core is the foundation for all of our health. The amount of time we spend figuring ourselves out, what we stand for and what we really want, pays us back a thousand fold. Having guiding principles lets us make complicated decisions more easily. Guiding principles allow us to grow and stretch and change while living with intention.

With an understanding of ourselves and a sense of connection, our experience is more peaceful. Even if life is chaotic and full, when the inner core is settled and glowing, everything else is manageable. How can that not contribute to your health?