In the world we live in today, there is a tendency to seek meaning through material success, status, or recognition.
But for some people, this approach to life does not give them a sense of inner peace or fulfillment.
Some of us develop the need to be a ‘spiritual seeker’ – someone who looks for insight and meaning.
This desire to understand life at a deeper level leads many of us into a spiritual journey. Whether we undertake this journey solo, or we connect with like-minded people, the purpose is to figure out the answer to questions like:
“What is the meaning of life?”
‘What happens after we die?”
“What is spiritual awakening?”
“How can I live a more spiritual life?”
In this article, I want to look at what it means to be on a spiritual journey, and how spiritual growth can change the course of your entire life.
What Does ‘Spiritual Journey’ Mean?
Many of us at some stage of our lives will begin to question why we are here.
Whether we achieve worldly success or not, there is still a desire to understand our life purpose and have a deeper understanding.
Very often, beginning a spiritual journey means that you are questioning your belief system, or simply more interested in spirituality as a whole.
Seeking for meaning, life purpose, or even more mystical experiences are all ways to begin a spiritual journey.
What Are Examples of a Spiritual Journey?
There are many examples of a spiritual journey and how people get started on a spiritual path.
There are no rules or standards to follow as you seek a spiritual path. And there is no right or wrong spiritual practice.
Some people choose an organized religion or are born into a family that practices a certain type of faith.
Often, the spiritual journey begins when we begin to search in a different area of faith than how we were raised. For example, somebody who has been raised on Christian beliefs may start to become interested in Buddhism, or Hinduism.
Many people who are just beginning their spiritual journey may start by trying out different spiritual traditions such as prayer, meditation, detachment, and seeking greater wisdom.
Others may choose to learn directly from a spiritual teacher or join a spiritual community that can help them find valuable insight.
The one unifying theme of spiritual journeys is that they are about openness to experience, listening to your inner intuition, and getting in tune with what your soul feels is ‘right’ for you.
Four Ways to Begin Your Spiritual Journey
As a fairly new spiritual seeker, I used to always roll my eyes at concepts like gratitude, mindfulness, and divine love.
For whatever reason, these spiritual ideas always felt too conceptual, or ‘easy’ to me. I always wanted more concrete and tangible ways to understand how spiritual development works.
As I have learned more about spiritual growth and inner development, it has become clear to me that there are some active and tangible ways to begin a spiritual journey.
While these are not the only ways, they have helped me to begin to understand my spiritual connection to the world and other people.
Here are four ways I have begun my spiritual journey that might be useful for you too.
1) Practicing Stillness
One of the most ancient and effective ways to tune into a spiritual perspective is to practice stillness. For most people, their mind is constantly chattering, and their sense of inner peace is constantly interrupted by distractions.
However, the answer to this stressful conundrum is simply to practice stillness.
As the Bhagavad Gita explained over 2300 years ago, “In the still mind, in the depths of meditation, the Self reveals itself.”
Learning to sit still, and allow your mind to empty of thoughts brings a sense of peace that is rare in the material world. Of course, the first few times you try to do it, you will find it excruciatingly hard to do.
Similar to meditation and prayer, the more often you practice stillness, the easier it will become to experience value from it. For people who are seeking a more spiritual path, the ability to be still is a great way to start.
2) Practicing Detachment
Another common way to begin a spiritual journey is to learn to detach from material possessions and non-essential aspects of life.
We all have ideals and beliefs that hold us back in some way, and often to begin spiritual awakening requires us to let go of them.
The practice of detachment, or letting go, is deceptively simple.
When you discover attachments in your life, the simple act of mentally and emotionally releasing them can be a profound experience.
If the word detachment feels too cold or calculating, another word that you might choose is to be ‘impartial’. The idea is to be less controlling, dependent on outcomes, or needing things in your life.
Detachment and letting go are a part of most types of spiritual practice, and the better you get at cultivating the skill, the easier life becomes.
3) Inner Child Work
Many people who are embarking on a spiritual journey realize that a lot of their difficulties stem from the past. One way to overcome these blockages on your spiritual journey is to focus on inner child work.
While this concept might sound a little trite or oversimplified, the truth is looking at your inner child (sometimes called unconscious inner beliefs) is very effective. Most of us have inner beliefs that we have been taught and are holding onto unnecessarily.
Some of these inner child beliefs that can hold us back might be:
I am not allowed to be happy.
I should feel guilty if I do something for myself.
I must take care of others first, and myself second.
I am not allowed to pursue things that are not practical.
There are thousands of these inner child beliefs that we can uncover if we take the time to do some deep diving. Very often they have been part of our lives for longer than we can remember.
As Mark Wolynn explains in his book, It Didn’t Start with You:
“We are not responsible for the trauma that we inherit, but we are responsible for healing it.”
The key to starting Inner Child work is to think about the situations and people that cause emotional triggers in you. If you can recognize what causes you to feel negativity, you can change how you respond to those situations.
This recognition is part of the spiritual development process and helps you move closer to a sense of inner peace.
4) Shadow Work
While it might seem counterintuitive to look into the dark parts of ourselves on a spiritual journey, it can help us move towards a more enlightened sense of being.
Carl Jung was one of the first psychologists to popularize the concept of the Shadow, which is the part of our unconscious minds that contains repressed ideas, desires, and weaknesses.
Similar to facing up to inner child issues, looking at your Shadow can be a difficult experience.
Essentially, the Shadow is shaped by a person’s attempts to comply with cultural norms and societal expectations. We repress the undesirable, or unapproved parts of ourselves to fit into our social environment.
Very often, the Shadow can appear in dreams or visions as a dark, wild, crazy, or exotic figure. It can also become active during stressful situations, causing behaviors such as anger, envy, shame, and a desire for revenge.
The true goal of ‘shadow work is not to completely remove the Shadow but to assimilate it into our persona.
Acknowledging and accepting our Shadow desires can help us learn to manage impulses. This process can lead to improved mental health and leads to spiritual growth.
How Do You Know if you are on a Spiritual Journey?
In the same way, it is hard to create a definition of a spiritual journey, it is difficult to know if you are experiencing one.
For years, I avoided the concept of spirituality as I wanted to be pragmatic and live in reality as much as possible. However, as I started to become open to spiritual development, and in particular as I read the works of Wayne Dyer, Eckhart Tolle, and David Hawkins, I realized that I had indeed started a spiritual journey.
Each person must decide when and how they begin a spiritual journey. There are no timelines or rules or requirements.
Some of us need to travel to exotic faraway places such as India, Asia, or the Middle East. Others find solace in practicing spiritual disciplines in a place close to their home.
Whether you decide to seek out a sacred place, or you prefer to seek spiritual experiences in your daily life, you are still beginning your spiritual journey.
The key is to be open to your desires to seek meaning and to look for ways to expand your sense of consciousness.
Any spiritual practice that leads you closer to a sense of inner peace, or a feeling of deeper meaning is perfect for you.
Spiritual journeys are not meant to necessarily have a result or an ending.
Some people spend their entire lives seeking wisdom and insight, and this might just be the whole purpose of life after all.
– Daniel Midson-Short
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