11 Spiritual Practices That Can Be Incorporated Into Anyone’s Day, No Matter What You Believe
Increase your quality of life, no new religion required.
Mihajlo | Canva Lately it feels like more people struggle to feel a sense of purpose as well as more connected, present and in control when life feels chaotic. Maybe you relate to this struggle, as many people long for meaning. If you do not seek religion or even a new spirituality, you may wonder what can help you feel grounded.
Most of us want a quality life and find ways to enhance our daily life without adding one more thing to our “to-do” list. Within psychology, behavioral health, and counseling, there is a wealth of practices we can practice to do just that. And the catch? It doesn’t matter if you are spiritual, agnostic, atheist, a believer, curious, or exploring.
These eleven practices deepen the physical, mental, and relational aspects of our lives and can go beyond our normal experience. The benefits you can receive are not just the ones you experience. They are the ones people in your immediate circle feel as well.
Who doesn’t like that as an unexpected bonus? Even though these may be more familiar with spiritual practices, research grounds these practices with evidence.
Here are 11 spiritual practices that can be incorporated into anyone’s day, no matter what you believe in:
1. Breathing with intention
The word “spirit” is Latin for breath. If you are a living organism, hopefully, breathing is something you are doing regularly. Taking the ordinary experience of breathing to the next level with intention allows you to reap the benefits of disrupting the fight-or-flight response, stay present, and notice how distractions affect you.
Additionally, the deeper intentional breath, like diaphragmatic or belly breathing, supplies more oxygen to the brain to allow clearer thinking, decision making, and responsiveness vs. reactivity, as supported by a 2017 study on the effects of diaphragmatic breathing on cognition, affect, and cortisol responses to stress.
2. Making a connection
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Stress, anxiety, and negativity love to thrive in isolation. Connecting with others is an antidote. Another aspect of the “outside of yourself” connection is often referenced with a “Higher Power.” Yet connecting with anything outside yourself, a pet, friend, family, support group, nature provides the sense of belonging, validation, and acceptance.
How many times has someone reached out to you to say “hi” or “I was thinking about you,” and it didn’t feel good? Yep, you can do the same with this practice.
3. Being kind to yourself
While often cited as a spiritual principle, I am reminded of Dr. Kristen Neff’s research on self-compassion, and kindness is one of the three components. Kindness, according to Dr. Neff, is about extending the compassion and understanding we give others to ourselves, especially during stressful times.
It’s easy for us to be kind to a friend or a stranger going through a hard time; we may give them a break, lessen our unconscious/unspoken expectations, etc., but to do this for ourselves? It’s a practice you can implement no matter your beliefs, because you are human. And as humans, we are all prone to suffering.
4. Being in nature
While there is a lot of focus on the connection between nature and spirituality, research also indicates how nature is good for your physical health (the body). From a purely biological perspective, as an organism, being in a natural/organic space provides an opportunity for a short escape, getting out into the sunshine, and more greenery (thus more pure oxygen to breathe).
A 2016 study of users of urban nature spaces showed that "people who made long visits to green spaces had lower rates of depression and high blood pressure, and those who visited more frequently had greater social cohesion. Higher levels of physical activity were linked to both duration and frequency of green space visits."
Being in nature can shift perspective as we take in all the sights, sounds, smells, and textures.
5. Creating a ritual
While the main definition of ritual associates with religion, a secondary definition provides the context for anyone: “A series of actions regularly followed by someone”. Creating a ritual for yourself, a daily routine of things you want to do, can give a sense of control and normalcy when things feel out of control.
This may involve calling someone every week, taking a walk, journaling, volunteering, or a combination of things.
6. Practicing mindfulness
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Mindfulness is probably something you’ve heard more about than you’d wanted to, yet there might be a different perspective. Mindfulness, the practice of intentional experiential awareness of the present moment without thinking (judging, labelling, or guilting yourself) of the experience, has an added benefit of a moment of inner peace.
In the moment you are present, the stress, which is usually past or future oriented, is not present. The thoughts may be present, yet these are just thoughts, not the experience of them. This helps in the recovery process of the fight-or-flight stress response, something most of us do not get.
7. Being in the flow
Flow is a state researched by M. Csikszentmihalyi. It’s where you’re so engaged in an activity that you both lose track of time and everything else. You’ve probably experienced this without knowing how beneficial it is. And it’s a practice you can cultivate.
8. Giving gratitude
Not just a “spiritual” practice, there are mounds of evidence, as shown in a 2016 meta-analysis, demonstrating how the art of gratitude benefits those who can fully appreciate what’s present, whether it be an experience, a privilege, a person, a place, a moment, anything.
9. Savoring the moment
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This is another research-based practice, as explored in a 2016 study on the benefits of savoring life. Savoring demonstrates a step beyond gratitude. Not only is a person appreciating what’s present, but it’s also about remembering and sharing it with others.
When we record an experience, whether a part of it or in whole (like taking pictures of a birthday party to remember an incident), we can re-experience the event later and recall the experience.
10. Focused movement
While practices such as Yoga and Tai Chi have a spiritual component, it’s well known that you don’t have to be spiritual to engage with these practices. There are many yoga and Tai Chi studios.
Some people have noted how consistent practice provides more benefits and cultivates present focus, patience, and general well-being, as supported by a 2018 study that found "Tai Chi/Yoga could be an alternative method for stress reduction for people who live under high stress or negative emotions."
11. Cultivating joy
Cultivating joy is about engaging in things that personally represent the concept to you and not someone else; otherwise, how is it joyous? Knowing what increases your joy and bringing more to your life, while lessening the things that take it away, is a practice anyone can benefit from.
So, there you have it, eleven practices that seem spiritual, yet from an evidence-based perspective, are beneficial no matter what you believe in. The question is, which practice will you start with first?
Serena Wadhwa, Psy.D., LCPC, CADC, is an author, supervisor, connector, idea generator, harm reduction advocate, and coach, and a spiritual visionary leader. Dr. Serena is an associate professor, a clinical therapist, and an administrative assistant for a non-profit.
