This post may contain affiliate links. Read full disclosure here.
Some of us believe in God, some believe in a higher power, and some believe we exist as we are. There is no right or wrong. I grew up in a Christian home, went to church every Sunday and sometimes my mom would take us along to church during the week. As an adult, I find that I am more spiritual than religious.
What Is The Difference Between Spirituality and Religion?
Religion: Is a specific set of organized beliefs and practices, usually shared by a community or group.
Spirituality: Is more of an individual practice, and has to do with having a sense of peace and purpose. It also relates to the process of developing beliefs around the meaning of life and connection with others.
Diving Into Spirituality
What exactly is spirituality? It involves the recognition of a feeling or sense or belief that there is something greater than ourselves. The belief that we are all connected by an invisible, energetic force. A sacred or transcendent or simply a deep sense of aliveness and interconnectedness. A force that can be tapped into when we raise the conscious awareness of ourselves and others.
Gather a room full of 1,000 people and ask what spirituality means to them, and you will get 1,000 different answers. All similar, but different. Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives.
5 Amazing Ways To Be Spiritual Without Being Religious
1. Connect With Your Higher Consciousness
Your higher consciousness is the person you ultimately want to be, the one that represents your authentic self, and is living the life you want to live. If you sit quietly and at peace with yourself for 10 minutes, think about who you want to be.
When you do this you are connecting with your higher consciousness while blocking everything else out. Doing this multiple times a day for just 3 to 5 minutes, allows you to still concentrate on other people and daily life but gives you the necessary time to reach your higher consciousness.
Spiritual success is knowing that everything is as it should be because we are all one. There is a power that keeps everything in its place and fuses everything. It is from this point of faith and inner stillness that meaningful actions can arise. Ask yourself: Who am I? What is my purpose? What do I value most? These questions will lead you down a road where you will think more in-depth about yourself and allow you to notice things about yourself that will help you achieve fulfillment.
2. Do Something You Love To Do
Doing things you love to do, is something you should always do. Regardless of religion or spirituality, you should always try to do something you enjoy. This frees your mind of clutter, work, and worry and anxiety. I love to write, and the past few months I have stopped doing it. Life things got in the way, I was busy sick,, exhausted and needed a break. Now I am trying to get back to it because this is what makes me feel good. A great way to begin is by dedicating the first 10 minutes of each day just to being still and connecting with something greater than yourself .
3. Consciously Love And Receive Love From The People Around You
Part of being more spiritual without being religious is to remember to truly love the people around us. It is important to take time to listen, communicate, share and spread love. Anyone who is toxic in your life and not improving the quality of your life could be impacting the way you think and feel about yourself. Love from others is a necessity for humans. Love allows for connection, growth. Being open to receiving love begins with a choice to receive others’ love and trust their intentions. Receiving :allows for love to flow freely to one individual to another in the following ways:
- Consistency
- Consideration for the needs of others
- Availability
- Vulnerability
- Accountability
- Integrity (matching words and actions)
- Sharing ideas and emotions
- Acceptance
4. Feel the Joy of Giving Without Expecting Anything In Return
There is no better way to reach a spiritual high than helping others without expecting them to do anything for you. Put no conditions on your giving. Not everyone thinks like you and may not have the same desire to give. Let that be OK, and be grateful that you do.
Give because others need it, not because you are hopeful of receiving. It’s a lesson many need to learn, and the only way to know the beauty of this message is to experience it.
Ways to give without expectation:
- Tell someone how well they are doing or how beautiful they are without looking for a return compliment.
- Give the money you can spare.
- Share your gifts with someone just because you love to do them.
- Help or visit others because that is what your heart is telling you to do.
- Let someone vent to you without needing to fix things.
- Listen to an opinion without trying to change their mind.
- Be forgiving.
- Stop and help someone, even if you are in a rush.
- Don’t make others feel guilty about not doing the same.
Obsessing over our personal wants and desires creates isolation, not happiness. There are lots of little things you can do every day to bring you into a spiritual place and help your personal growth.
5. Read Books That Lift Your Spirit
I have read hundreds of books in my time, from mystery, true crime, autobiographies, to fiction, thrillers, and so on and so on. The books that really helped me to be spiritual without being religious and lifted my spirits are the ones that made me think about what life is really about and how I can make it better for myself. Reading books benefits both your physical and mental health, and those benefits can last a lifetime.
Here area few of my favorites, so just click through for full descriptions and to read some pages from the books.
Use Spirituality As A Way Of Gaining Life Perspective
Spirituality recognizes that your role in life has a greater value than what you do every day. It can relieve you from dependence on material things and help you to understand your life’s greater purpose. Spirituality can also be used as a way of coping with change or uncertainty. Doing this will change your brainwaves and put you into a different state of mind and has lasting effects throughout the day.
You Can Be Spiritual Without Being Religious
We live our lives by our thoughts and actions and if your thoughts and actions are coming from a higher place by practicing being spiritual then you can have a great life without feeling guilty about anything.
How about you? Are you religious or spiritual?
Share with me in the comments section below.
9 comments
I go back and forth between spirituality and religion. Really depends on the phase I am going through on life. Grateful for good vibes and positive energy always.
I am a very spiritual person, lots of meditation and yoga over here, as well as connecting to a higher power. This is spot on! Keep growing, keep connecting, keep it up.
I am definitely not a religious person and struggled with the idea of spirituality until I understood it better. I always try to do what I love and have really been enjoying giving more.
My wife showed me this blog post. She’s religious and I am spiritual. We have not found a way to mix both just yet, but it was interesting for her to read why spirituality is important to me. I told her many times but maybe she needed to see it in black and white.
I enjoy your words of encouragement and perspective. It is good to read your words again and I am very happy you are back. Definitely a mix of a religious spiritual person. #yolo
Sheri, I was so glad to receive the notification of your new post. I always read your blog and I guess you needed some downtime and glad you are back! I shared this with a friend just now and sending you positive energy and look forward to reading more.
My twin and I embarked on a journey of spirituality and internal peace and it changed our lives forever. This was before COVID-19 and the tools we learned helped us so far to get through the pandemic. Thank you for this post Sheri. Subscribing now.
Shéri yes yes and yes! Spirituality connects us in so many ways with people, nature and life. Excellent post. I love your blog by the way.
This post came to me at the perfect time. My family is extremely religious and I am spiritual. They don’t understand why I don’t want to go to the church and why I prefer to be in my peace to pray and manifest. Spirituality has helped me through so much and I am grateful for the insight. Thank you