What if the key to rejuvenation and fulfilment lay in our spiritual self-care practices? Let's explore this possibility together. We are here to guide you through an enlightening journey of discovering your spiritual self, especially during the holiday season. We'll unpack various ways of connecting with your spiritual self, be it through religious rituals, meditation or soaking in the serenity of nature, and shine a light on how this practice can improve your mood, physical health and recharge your overall well-being.
Now, imagine navigating life with a sense of purpose, even in the mundane daily tasks. We're going to delve into the challenges of finding that sense of purpose and the vital role self-care within spirituality plays in this quest. We'll discuss how we can seek positivity amidst the ongoing negativity and the necessity of rejuvenating ourselves in order to continue making a positive difference. So, join us as we walk this path together, providing you with practical ways to maintain your spiritual health while also achieving your external goals and dreams. Let's make this holiday season one of spiritual reconnection and renewal!
What if the key to rejuvenation and fulfilment lay in our spiritual self-care practices? Let's explore this possibility together. We are here to guide you through an enlightening journey of discovering your spiritual self, especially during the holiday season. We'll unpack various ways of connecting with your spiritual self, be it through religious rituals, meditation or soaking in the serenity of nature, and shine a light on how this practice can improve your mood, physical health and recharge your overall well-being.
Now, imagine navigating life with a sense of purpose, even in the mundane daily tasks. We're going to delve into the challenges of finding that sense of purpose and the vital role self-care within spirituality plays in this quest. We'll discuss how we can seek positivity amidst the ongoing negativity and the necessity of rejuvenating ourselves in order to continue making a positive difference. So, join us as we walk this path together, providing you with practical ways to maintain your spiritual health while also achieving your external goals and dreams. Let's make this holiday season one of spiritual reconnection and renewal!
Welcome to the Self Care Society podcast with your hosts Celia Williamson, ashley Kutcher, louis Guardiola and Carrie Shaw, a podcast devoted to those whose job it is to help others get or remain mentally, physically and emotionally healthy, but who also need to take care of themselves. How we're going to do this? By first showing you the filtered, pretty version of success and then the real struggles, real work and raw grit it took to get there, how they took care of themselves and also achieved their goals while doing it Together. We will work with you to improve and maintain your internal health and growth, while helping you achieve your external goals and your next professional achievement in life.
Speaker 1:And we're excited to show you how to follow your own individual and unique path and achieve the dreams you have, while taking good care of yourself.
Speaker 2:So let's get started. Good morning and welcome to the Self Care podcast. My name is Isabel and I will be your host today. I love December. I'm so excited for it to be wintertime. It's my favorite time of year. Seriously, it looks like Christmas Joy puked all over my apartment.
Speaker 2:I think people are kinder to each other around the holidays. I've always loved that too. I love how sentimental everything seems and how beautiful my hometown looks covered in snow. Truly, a small part of me still believes in the magic of it, all that I was told about growing up. But no matter how much I love the joyful aspects, there's also that strange melancholy that comes around every year the grief as you remember someone you've lost the way that extra shiver reminds you of how treacherous it is out in the cold, or the financial stress and anxiety about the upcoming tax season that always seems to lurk in the background. Holidays are hard for some more than others.
Speaker 2:There are so many things I could talk about when covering this topic. I could talk about the changes that happen to us on a physical or psychological level when the weather changes, or I could talk about grief and how to manage it during this time of year, or maybe financial strain. But if you look back at some of our past podcast episodes, then you might already know some of those answers. They're already in those episodes. So I welcome you to take a look at some of the episodes we've done before about grief or the weather or the holidays and for financial strain. We do have an upcoming masterclass to those who are regular attendees to our project. It's going to be on December 21st 2023. So tune in to that one. The information is in our online community. So, because those things are already available to you, I want to discuss something that we haven't talked much about. I want to talk about spiritual self-care. I feel like this is important during the holiday season. Oftentimes, when we discuss self-care, we cover the physical, financial or personal domains in addition to others, but we don't often discuss spirituality. Sometimes it's uncomfortable to discuss spirituality, especially if your spirituality doesn't align with an organized religion. Today, our goal is to get past any barriers preventing you from understanding or pursuing spiritual self-care.
Speaker 2:For many people, spirituality is based in religion. It may include observing rituals, attending services, studying texts. These are all very valid methods of connecting with your own personal spirituality, but it isn't the only way. It also doesn't mean that you can't also practice other methods of spirituality. Think of it as connecting to the things you consider meaningful, maybe even transcendent, the things that make you feel fulfilled in your life and connected to your deepest self. Think of it as recharging your battery. You can give and give and give, but if you aren't fueling yourself, you won't be able to give anymore. Maybe it's connection to nature, art or even being kind. Whatever you do choose to pursue, there are proven benefits to practicing spirituality, including an improved mood, less anxiety and depression, and improved physical health.
Speaker 2:If you are religious, here are a few methods that may help to reconnect with your spirituality. These are coming from a blog post from Semicrunchymamacom. The post included methods for those who are religious as well as those who are not, so I'm going to talk a bit about what that author included. So, for religious methods, one thing she recommended was religious journaling. This may include Bible journaling, torah journaling or Quran journaling and more. If you research some resources online, I'm sure you can find more ideas and information about that. That is specific to your faith, but basically it can be writing or a creative art journal, maybe even a poetry journal. Whatever works for you. You can also find a prayer or study group which could be social, community-centered, educational and spiritual. If there is not a place of worship for you locally, then maybe you can create your own or seek virtual options from cities nearby.
Speaker 2:I was raised Armenian Orthodox and I know that I will not always live near an Armenian Orthodox church. Sometimes we need to create a new community for ourselves. Meditation, or regular prayer, is also a part of many religions. My personal favorite is holiday traditions, though, whatever they may be for your family. For my family, we cut down a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and argue for an hour while we pick out the perfect one. But as we argue over the height or the shape, we connect as a family somehow. Religion can also be difficult, especially to those who have suffered from religious trauma. But religion and spirituality are not necessarily the same exact thing. So let's talk a bit about the other methods to nurture your spiritual self-care. You can still find ways to connect to your highest self without a higher power.
Speaker 2:Meditation, yoga, tai Chi, qigong or other mindfulness practices can range from being relaxing to transcendental and can have physical and mental benefits. We definitely have done a podcast about mindfulness, so if you want to check out that podcast, then you may find some more specific tips or more information about what mindfulness can mean for your journey of spirituality or self-care in general. Time spent in nature can also be very spiritual. It could include grounding, which is walking barefoot on the earth. I love the feeling of walking in some soft grass in the summer. It may also be camping, hiking, walking near water, watching a sunset or standing in the sun outside.
Speaker 2:Many people also enjoy honoring their ancestors. It may be with a display or connecting to some of the more ancient traditions. It could fall under religious practices, but doesn't need to. Connecting to your lineage, heritage and ethnic culture can be a great way to connect with yourself or open yourself to new opportunities for spiritual growth. You can celebrate seasonal changes such as the lunar cycle or harvest festivals. Gardening can also be grounding. It can be meditative and it can be good for your body as well. My mom loves gardening and I will have to admit that I hate it because there's always a little worm and I've never gotten past the weird way that they wiggle. But this is why we talk about finding what works for you. We won't all have the same preferences. The article also mentions stargazing and astronomy, and even tarot or maybe oracle cards. I think all of these kind of connect you to the big picture from different perspectives.
Speaker 2:Journaling is also a versatile tool Using prompts, processing therapy, creating art, making a bullet journal, habit tracking, dream journaling and more. Just find what works best for you and stick to it as well as you can. If you can be consistent, then you can maintain it for a longer time. It becomes habit. Another really great thing that you can do is clear the clutter from your space. It may seem like an odd choice when we're talking about spiritual self-care, but clutter at its root, at its core, is the physical evidence of unmade decisions. All of that physical stuff can take up emotional energy. Having a clear space can help clear your mind so you're able to devote more time to yourself. Ultimately, finding what works for you may be a journey in and of itself, but I would be willing to bet that you will learn something about yourself in the process, even as you're trying the things that don't work so well for you.
Speaker 2:Spirituality can be daunting, it can be hard, and it feels sometimes like you are thousands and thousands of light years away from being to the point that you want to be. But finding meaning in our everyday lives gives us the strength to keep going on, to keep being the good people that we want to be, to keep being the change that we want to see in the world around us. With everything going on in the world right now, we need to be out of child game. There is all kinds of horrible, horrible news that we are waking up to every day. There's good news, too, out there. You've got to seek it out sometimes, but it's out there. But ultimately, if we are going to be living in this world and working in careers where we are trying our best to help others, we need to be at our best. We need to learn to prioritize the things that matter to us so that we can keep refueling ourselves. But back to the battery idea we're recharging. We need to be 100% so that we can give to others.
Speaker 2:I truly hope that today's podcast was helpful. That's all that I have for you today. I hope this gave you some good ideas about where you can start as you pursue your own spiritual self-care. Have a great rest of your day. That concludes this week's episode. And remember it's not selfish, it's self-care.