Everyday spirituality for insanely busy people!

Is it possible to intertwine spirituality into an insanely busy life?

There is no doubt about it, today most of us have insanely busy lives. At the same time more and more people are reaching out for a form of spiritual practice. The challenge is how can you bring spirituality into your already jam packed day? This is something I have struggled with for years and finally I think I have found the answer.

Like many, I describe myself as a spiritual person. But what does that actually mean in this day and age? 

Modern spirituality is hard to define. As more and more people step away from traditional religions, spirituality has become an inner personal pathway that we all describe differently.

Regardless of how you define or don’t define your beliefs, spirituality itself is  a broad concept with room for many perspectives. Often, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves. And for some it involves a search for meaning in life. 

This is  my definition of spirituality: 

A personal path of conscious connection, it’s my internal compass that guides me through life, helps me to make sense of this crazy old world and my place  within it. Spirituality is the foundation that nourishes me, allows me to grow and blossom into my potential, to take responsibility for my actions and leave this world a better place as a better person. 

It might not be the same as yours. And that is ok. 

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What I do love about modern spirituality is the fact we have the freedom to create our own path, to define our beliefs and to practice it as we feel is right for us.

We are damn lucky to be living in a time that allows us to be spiritual in this way. 

However, we also live in a time where it can be challenging to fit spirituality into our day because we have so much else to do. I know I have struggled with this and many of my clients sometimes feel frustrated at themselves at their lives because they would love to be able to make space for spirituality everyday but can’t see when or how. 

It can seem overwhelming to add spiritual practice into a day where you are struggling to balance everything else. Someone once said to me, ‘ How can I remember to be spiritual when I forget to floss?’ I could definitely relate!

So how can we bring spirituality into our everyday lives when we are insanely busy?

Well I know how I do it  but I decided to look this up online to see what other people had to say. And there is ALOT of advice out there. But it all seemed to talk about adding on. Adding a meditation practice to your morning. Adding on time to connect with your spiritual community. Adding on time to read, do yoga, do, do, do. It boggles my mind. Some of the advice out there made me feel as though spiritual practices were to be managed like a business project or a training goal. And if that works for you then awesome! But to me it just seemed daunting. That approach doesn’t work for me. The more I read the more I was convinced that to follow this add on advice I would need a 27 hour day and a support team to take over half of my life so I could actually be spiritual. 

If this is the mainstream way people are trying to follow then no wonder people are getting angry and frustrated with themselves. It’s a recipe for failure. It’s full of high expectations not based on reality and creates a lot of unneeded stress.  (Right putting my soap box away before I launch into a rant about the media creating unreal expectations and unneeded stress- my apologies. And breathing and refocusing…)

I don’t think spirituality or spiritual practice needs to be adding to time stress. I prefer my spiritual practice to be more natural. Simpler. And rooted in my everyday life. It’s not something I want to carve out time in my timeblocked day for. 9am skype meeting. 10am meditate on the meaning of life. 11:15 wash gym shorts. It’s just not how I roll. 

A book I am currently reading “The House Witch” by Arin Hiscock-Murphy focuses on a spiritual practice called Hearthcraft. A practice or mindset that is much more accessible for me. To be honest I have been doing it for years but just didn’t have a name for it! Hearthcraft is the concept of spirituality being home based, hearth centered and part of your normal everyday life. And whether or not you are a pagan I think the idea of home based spirituality is the way forward for insanely busy spiritual people.

By gently intertwining our spirituality as part of our everyday lives, keeping it simple and hearth centered, our spirituality can naturally become the foundation of our insanely busy day and help us weather the storms.

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It gives us a firm foundation to return to. To ground us. And keep us sane in what can seem like a crazy chaotic world. And to be honest it’s not so different from how our ancestors did it. 

If you are insanely busy and want to bring more spiritual practice into your everyday life then here is my guide. I hope you can use it to find your own path and create your spiritual foundation despite the busyness…..

The why?

Think what spirituality means to you? Really have a think. Writing this article was a great way for me to do this because I really had to think what does it mean to me? What is my definition of spirituality? And how does it, or do I want to have it influence my life? Take a few minutes journalling over the course of a week to answer these questions, or to discuss it with your partner, your family. Mull over them. Give time to this. It is a great way to find the why behind your practice. To practice spirituality you need to connect with your values. To know what is important to you and why. And trust me having this discussion with the people closest to you is truly insightful and inspiring. And it’s a great way to learn more about your partner or family too.

Practice ideas

We all have ideas of spiritual practices we would like to do. Mindfulness, yoga, tantric breathing, prayer, meditation, the list can go on forever. But don’t just think of the “typical” spiritual practices. You know the ones you hear about. What is sacred or spiritual, is defined by your perception. What is sacred and spiritual to you will probably not have the same meaning to someone else. So if eating a home cooked organic meal once a week is something you value that in itself can be a spiritual act because you are walking your talk then include it. Normal activities can be spiritual and sacred too. In Fact they should be. Why do we try to separate the two? It makes no sense. So make a list of ALL the spiritual practices you would like to have in your life including the sacred mundane !

Intertwine these practices into your existing day

Now it’s time for a reality check. We might have dreams of that monthly retreat once a year, but if you have young kids and a low income then of course it’s going to be harder to do. (Cause, man those things cost money. Why is all of that stuff so expensive? Sorry I got sidetracked again). So reality check. Out of all of your practice ideas, what can you incorporate into your day? Could you take 5 mins before you get out of bed to do a mindfulness body scan if you don’t have time for an hour of morning meditation every day. Or what about introducing a gratitude round before eating dinner as a family? I love to have a central altar in my home, like a hearth fire. But the cats decided it was fun to play on and destroyed it daily, so that put an end to that. Now we light a candle at dinner to represent our hearth fire as the family gathers to eat. Our ancestors had lots of small family rituals like this that incorporated spirituality in their everyday lives, such as bedtime prayers. Spiritual acts don’t need to be BIG to be meaningful. So how can you simplify your spiritual practices to intertwine them with your everyday life?

Make your home your sacred space

This is an idea I got directly from hearth craft and it is so simple I can’t imagine why I haven’t done it before. Your home is at the heart and center of everything you do. So if you want to have some everyday spirituality then forming your home as your sacred space makes perfect sense. Now I don’t mean you have to have spiritual paraphernalia take over your home. Unless you know that is your thing. But making the collective family areas or personal areas more in tune with your spiritual values, ethics and beliefs makes a huge energetic difference. For example I  am not a practitioner of Fens Shui but when I wanted to change the energy flow in my business I researched and Feng Shui’d my home office space. I love to ‘come to work’ here now. And although my desk is not necessarily zen or minimalist I can look around the room and feel energetically balanced every single work day. My cats love it here more too! 

Claim quiet moments for spiritual practice

Some of us have hella busy lives but there are some quiet moments in our day. Cultivate the quiet moments by claiming them for spiritual practice instead of grabbing for the phone. Here are some things I have tried:  washing hands mindfully on a toilet break, walking around outside on a coffee break, listening to a guided meditation or affirmation video on a train commute, reading 5 pages of an enlightening book with a morning coffee and doing yoga breathing at my desk. Small actions help us to feel spiritually connected. And they don’t need to take more than five mins. Sometimes even just two. It’s about claiming those moments and being conscious or present in them.

Connect once a week

Now this does adhere to the carve out time philosophy. Our ancestors did this by going to church or the mosque or wherever yours went once a week. We don’t. So make a time for connection once a week for at least 30 minutes. I practice seasonal spirituality so for me connection is about connecting with nature, so my weekly connection is spending 30 mins in the great outdoors. I know other folks that do meditation, sing or dance or meet with a prayer group. We all have one activity that brings us that deeper spiritual connection. Investing 30 mins a week in it enriches our lives and also gives us insanely busy people a much needed energy boost!

So now I want to hear from you! 

 

How do you fit your spirituality into your insanely busy life? 

Let me know in the comments below <3 

I hope wherever you are, whatever you are doing this week you are enjoying your journey

Because that is what life should be all about 

Sending love 

Emma-Jane <3

Walk in the footsteps of your ancestors & align your spirituality with nature

Our Celtic and Nordic ancestors were deeply  connected with nature. Shamanically, spiritually & personally. Discover how you can create your own spiritual path connected with nature with the Wheel of the Year.


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