How to Have a Spirtual Practice
by Kym H.R. Kennedy
I am a firm believer in having a regular, DAILY spiritual practice. I highly recommend that you set aside some time to connect with your spiritual self. We really are spiritual beings having a human experience and not the other way around!!
`them, all of them or create some of your own. Most important thing is to do something EVERY day!!
Meditate Daily! You wouldn't leave the house without a physical shower… don't leave the house without a spiritual one. Meditation is the MOST important tool for creating a life of peace and joy. I also like to liken it to the way we need to daily re-charge our cell phones. We need to shut out the material world once a day and re-connect with our spiritual source energy. The main complaint about meditation is that our minds wander endlessly. Yep! That is what minds do!! Still I say that the only way to meditate incorrectly is not to meditate at all.
There are a gazillion "ways" to meditate. Look around and pick something that makes you comfortable. Count your breaths, repeat a mantra or a poem, or a scripture…. Do nothing. It really doesn't matter. If you can just sit in a chair with your eyes closed for 15 minutes a day… you have meditated. Just like exercise, meditation requires a regular practice and it cannot NOT work. You will find your life is smoother, you will feel healthier, you will be more at peace with regular meditation. There are many studies that say what the physical and mental benefits of meditation are. I am with Nike on this one…Just DO it!!
Vision Boards or Treasure Maps – Paste pictures in a collage fashion on a poster board and keep it in a place that you will see it daily. I did this and today I am in awe of the realization that the furniture I have now matches so closely to that that I put on my Vision Board!!
Re-write your script – Write out exactly what you want your life to look and feel like and read it to yourself daily.
Write your top goals – Write out 3 things that you want to manifest that seem easy, three things that are moderately difficult and 3 things that are pie-in-the-sky. Read the list daily to yourself. Eventually you will see the 3 easy things have already manifested and you can move the 3 moderately difficult things into their place and the 3 pie-in-the-sky things into the second place. Over time the things that were moderately difficult will be accomplished and you can move the pie-in-the-sky things into the first slot. And on and on…manifestation will occur.
Release negative beliefs – When you see something manifesting that you don't like, release it by writing statement after statement on paper of the things you want to release. For example, "I release all self-doubt, I release the pattern of consciousness that allows me to take on unfaithful men, I release the need to be with overly controlling women, I release all belief in lack and limitation", etc. etc. Write and write and write until you are spent… then tear up the paper (in the direction away from you) and burn it. Now the Universe abhors a void so before you let It refill the space you have just created in your psyche, you refill it by writing all the things that you do choose for your life. "I choose self confidence, I choose a wonderful faithful mate to be my experience, I choose to be successful in my new endeavor"…etc. etc. That list you keep and re-read from time to time. You will be surprised to see that the new you is indeed manifesting!
Write Gratitude Lists – Again, you get what you focus on. Every night, write down 5 things about your day that you are grateful for. It is amazing how powerful this is. If you set the intention to do this every night, you will be amazed at how you look all day long for things to put on your list. What then are you doing? Focusing on the good in your life. What you focus on multiplies so you will find more and more and more good appearing in you life, world and affairs.
Re-language yourself – When you hear yourself saying negative things… stop and re-language your comment. Instead of "I never get the jobs I want" say "I know I am going to get a job that I enjoy". Instead of saying "I can't go on the trip I want" say "though the time may not be right right now, I know I will get to go to such and such a place". There is power in your words. Avoid bringing negative experiences to you through a careless use of the language.
Re-program your subconscious – Repeat affirmations that support you and the new life you want to live. When I go for walks alone, or am driving alone or just taking a shower, I always repeat affirmations to myself that indicate what I want my subconscious to crystallize as me and my experience. I have a personal mantra that goes like this "I am happy, healthy, wealthy, loving and loved!" I repeat that over and over. How many negative messages do we get on any give day in this society?
We are never good enough according to all of the varied advertisers that want to sell us everything in the world! So we really could stand to spend as much time as possible daily counteracting all the negative messages we get now and those we got for years as children and adolescents. I listen to a tape of affirmative statements all day long on my computer. It is a tape by Louise Hay on positive affirmations. There are others on the market, or you could create your own tape and play it whenever it is appropriate. Playing such a tape at night is really beneficial because your conscious mind is asleep and not blocking the entrance to the subconscious as it tries to do when it is awake.
Last (for now) but hardly least… PRAY!! Prayer changes things. God doesn't need our prayer. God has already given us the Kingdom. We just need to accept it. Prayer helps us to continue to re-program our consciousness to accept the good that was given to us as our birthright. As Jesus said, the Kingdom of Heaven is within. We create our own Heaven or Hell right here on Earth simply by choosing whether we believe that or not.
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