Do you ever struggle with the meaning of your existence? 

Do you feel lost? Does the question, “Why am I here?” take away your peace?

During COVID-19, you got a break from your daily routine (and probably felt useless).

These times made me restless too. My existence felt confusing. The disturbance pushed me to seek emotional and material shelter in the form of: eating (mostly junk food), gossiping, shopping, and scrolling through social media for hours.

But I never found a sense of “self” from these relief-seeking methods.

What I needed was a purpose. I wanted to improve my connections with others, experience inner peace, find what truly makes me happy, cultivate a better relationship with myself, and get rid of the loneliness within me.

Spiritual health is a dimension of wellness that can help us “find ourselves.” If we want balance and harmony between our inner self and the outer world, we need to take care of our spiritual well-being.

I finally realized that taking care of my spiritual health was the only way to align with my values, beliefs, and goals.

Here are nine tips for improving your spiritual health:

1. Meditation

This is the first step that anyone can take toward knowing themselves better. It is one of the most accessible and most straightforward spiritual practices.

I started meditating, and it helped me to connect to myself. Meditation doesn’t require a lot of time. You can dedicate as little as one minute, either in the morning, on your lunch break, or before you go to sleep.

Try and fit relaxation and meditation into your routine and build a stronger relationship with your spiritual wellness. It took a while to encourage myself to start meditating, but once I started, I wondered why I hadn’t done it sooner.

Meditation has other benefits, too; it reduces stress, anxiety, and high blood pressure.

2. Self-examination

I started asking myself questions like: 

>> Who am I? 

>> What do I value most? 

>> Why was I sent to this world? 

These basic questions can lead to other questions, but you have to keep on exploring.

These questions helped me to know myself, to think in-depth about myself. They also gave me a feeling of fulfillment.

3. Healthy lifestyle

I started to make time for myself. If you don’t care for your body, it can be difficult to achieve your set goals and maintain spiritual health. 

I made self-care a priority in my life. I started eating healthy and keeping myself hydrated with water and juices.

I made time for body massages, relaxing salt baths, and a better sleep cycle.

Self-care helps us get ready for the bigger stuff in life.

4. Yoga

Trust me; it is much more than just physical exercise.

Yoga combines physical exercise (asanas), meditation, and breath control (pranayama) and builds harmony within our minds, bodies, and environment.

Yoga helped me in reducing emotional and physical strains on my mind and body. It also helps with anxiety, insomnia, depression, fatigue, and high blood pressure—the immune system.

With yoga, I find myself connected on a deeper level to my body and emotions. 

Yoga makes us realize and accept our position in life without judgments and provides a strong foundation for a more empowered life ahead.

5. Expressing yourself

Introspection improves spiritual well-being, and writing can be a great method for its expression.

Writing helped me to go to new depths in my heart and mind. This is a better way of getting rid of negative emotions, as well. If something is bothering me and making it hard for my mind to stay confused, writing it down has always helped me think more clearly.

When you write your thoughts down, you clear out space to think about something new and move forward.

Writing helped me find answers to many questions plaguing my mind: 

>> Do my values guide my actions and decisions (or not)?  

>> Do I have more spiritual energy as an individual or when working as a community? 

>> What do I value, and what do I need to let go?

6. Living with a positive mindset

Positively analyzing every aspect of life helped me eliminate all the negativity in my mind and think about situations and things from a different perspective.

This made me more relaxed—my mind is always in a happy place. Try to find something positive in every situation and become a better person who is always happy and contented.

7. Practice forgiveness and gratitude

Keeping a grudge can be damaging to your mental, physical, and spiritual health. If you keep revisiting what others have done to you, you waste energy that could’ve been used to create the life you want.

When I started forgiving and letting go of things that hurt me, it gave me a divine feeling of freedom and lightness. It lifted a huge weight off my shoulders, and I started feeling happier.

I also started to write down at least three things I am thankful for—daily. And now, I feel gratitude for even the smallest things around me.

Learning to forgive, forget, and be thankful can be the fastest way to improve spiritual wellness.

8. Take a break from technology

Technology is fantastic, but also probably the biggest distraction nowadays. Don’t forget about creativity! Because of tech usage, you’re probably struggling with sleeping disorders, a loss of your precious time, and a greater distance from your true self.

I started ditching my devices from time-to-time. This gave me more time to be creative—to self-observe and self-reflect. And my sleep cycle improved, which means improved mental, physical, and spiritual health.

More time on your phone = more negative impacts on your health.

9. Be close to nature

Nature has the power to heal you. Let nature invigorate your senses! Today’s urbanization and busy-ness have probably taken you far away from nature. Get out there and experience its healing power!

I started taking short walks every day, so I could be amidst all the singing birds and swaying trees or catch a fiery, beautiful sunset on the beach.

These nine things have definitely improved my spiritual well-being, and I hope they will help you too. It is all about finding meaning and purpose in your life. 

It’s a lifelong process, and it depends on many factors, but with spiritual health, you get to know the real you—or what you can do to be the person you want to be.

Your spiritual health will fluctuate throughout your life; you will feel both positive and negative emotions. But whatever you feel on a given day, your spiritual wellness will enlighten the connection. It will spark (and fuel) your inner peace and purpose.