Spiritual Discipline Doesn't Have to be a Drag
For many, including myself, the word "discipline" has become triggering.
Having been raised Catholic, for me discipline became associated with punishment, obedience and compliance and is something I tend to shy away from.
Other influences outside of religion may cause us to get triggered by the word as well.
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Many of us, especially women, are being encouraged to unleash our "holy wild" in an attempt to escape the mental bondage that centuries of oppression have held us in.
Many of us have fiery, wild and rebellious parts within us.
Spiritual discipline creates a mental structure within which to express that essence in a way that serves us and those around us.
As described so beautifully by Shaina Connors of Global Sisterhood, it's like creating a beautiful perfume bottle to hold our spiritual essence!
Having a spiritual structure helps us create healthy boundaries by bringing us back into a grounded space for continual healing, discovery and growth.
Your spiritual discipline can take shape in any way you want without becoming overly rigid.
Spiritual discipline is not about perfection.
It's not about forcing yourself to sit on a cushion and bully yourself into someone else's idea of meditation.
It's about creating a structure and foundation for you to create new visions, expand and dream in the ways that only you, as your own individual and unique spiritual warrior, can.
The form that your spiritual discipline takes will likely change as you grow.
It is meant to be a self-support system in which we become more grounded and in turn, we become our own gurus.
While it's great to get outside help and support when we really become stuck and can't move any further on our own, it's even better if we can build our own foundation for our own personal and spiritual growth.
Following someone else's "5 Steps to Spiritual Discipline" may give you some ideas, but ultimately may feel restrictive.
Finding balance in our spiritual discipline is key and will vary from person to person.
Spiritual discipline can take many forms. Some ways to create spiritual discipline can involve things you love like:
⚘Spiritual showers and baths
⚘Spiritual self-massage
⚘Spiritual stretching, yoga or other grounding exercise
⚘Gardening
⚘Art
⚘Incense, candles or other olfactory goodness
⚘Music
⚘Spiritual Dance
Anything that allows you the space for tactile embodiment practice can help in grounding you when you feel overwhelmed and anxious.
It is then that you can become more quiet and calm so you can receive the messages from your source of energy.
Questions to ask Your Self
How might I joyfully merge into improving my relationship with my own spiritual discipline?
How often am I willing to commit to my spiritual discipline?
(Hint: you can give yourself permission to start today!)
If you would like more support in discovering and exploring spiritual discipline, I'm here to help guide you into your own unique version of that.
We will get through this.
Rene'
