Stimulating Your Spirit #1 – 3 Reasons Why You Should

It’s really something that you owe yourself. especially in times like this where everything is so confusing. Our world has turned upside down. We really need to be able to handle the difficulties that we’re experiencing. So today, I am talking about Stimulating Your Spirit.

I’ve said this many times that “we are spiritual beings, having a physical experience,” a paraphrase from Teilhard De Chardin, a French metaphysician. What that really means is that each of us is a multifaceted being. You’re a body. You also have a mind, and then this other noncorporeal thing I’m calling Spirit.

What is Spirit?

What exactly is that?

Maybe some of us don’t really spend a lot of time thinking about what is spirit? So let me define my understanding of what spirit is, just to clarify things. Spirit refers to that part of us that’s connected to something greater than ourselves. You don’t have to give it a specific name. It doesn’t have to be ‘God’. It could be ‘mother nature’, it could be ‘universal consciousness’ or ‘inner wisdom’, etc. What you call it is not important.

Spirit is that sense of belonging to something greater than your singular body/brain, that you can tap into for help, for guidance, for nurturing, for feeling peaceful and joyful. That’s what acknowledging your spirit will bring to you if you are willing to invite it into your awareness.

And this works across the board in any aspect of your life, when you consciously bring your spirit into your experiences, whether they are with your family or your business.

Spirit vs Ego

Let me also mention that Spirit is the opposite of Ego, which is the reptilian part of your brain that is constantly in defense mode. It is always on guard, trying to protect you from things that it perceives are scary or worth being afraid of. Whether they are or not is debatable. It sees the glass half-empty. It is short on trust and long on judgment.

You are going to have a very different experience if you’re coming from your ego than if you’re letting your Spirit lead the way. It is the difference between surviving and thriving. You make the choice.

So, as an introduction to this idea of stimulating your spirit, let’s just talk about the reasons why nurturing your spirit is worth pursuing.

Stimulating Your Spirit

When you are scared, when you’re worried, when you’re fearful of something, or you’re confused, you don’t know what’s happening. There’s a tendency to get jumpy, and to get grumpy; to feel anger, because anger comes out of frustration and fear.

When you’re peaceful, you’re not angry. You can’t be peaceful and angry at the same time, impossible, and spirit is the
thing that connects you to your peace. Your ego is, as I said, basically in defense mode and is coming from fear. And so it is always ready to get angry and jump on someone to feel safe.

We are on ‘ego automatic’

Unfortunately, we are on ‘ego automatic’ until we opt for our spirit. So that’s one very good reason why you want to stimulate your spirit –to bring a sense of peace, so that your anger dissipates. I’m not saying that anger is never going to come up, because it’s going to happen, but you can certainly allow yourself to notice it more quickly and then realize you can do something about it.

Self-Care is Spirit in Action

The second reason you want to stimulate your spirit is so you can take better care of yourself. When you nurture your spirit, you’re paying attention to who you are. Your truth. What you do in the world. Your health and well-being. And as a result, you will appreciate yourself in a much more caring and loving way. Anger will have less value for you and as a result, you’re going to experience more love. In other words, when you eliminate the fear and the anger, you make room for love, and that’s where everything begins to improve. Your life will be better, you will feel better, you’ll make better decisions, and your relationships will improve.

Spirit Expands Your Mind

Your mind opens up, it’s like a flower that blossoms and suddenly you see outside of your own little ego box. (me me me.) You see the bigger picture. And then you can see other people’s pain, other people suffering, other people’s concerns. There’s a realization that “We’re all in this together.”  Compassion blooms for yourself and all those around you. It’s hard to explain but this attitude reverses stress and increases harmonious health in your body and mind.

Spirit Releases Stress

Stress is unavoidable. It’s just part of life. It’s part of being in a body. it’s part of having a business or going to work or simply being with people in general. You’re going to have stress.

But when you stimulate your spiritual nature, rather than your ego nature, you will start to see that your stress will diminish. For example, through the process of meditative contemplation which I teach, you learn to observe your stress. It’s like that little bell that Pavlov used to train his dog. Stress becomes the bell that reminds you that you’re experiencing a lapse in communication with your spirit and are therefore in pain. You hear that bell, (feel the stress) and you say, “Oh, wait a minute, I’m stressed, and I don’t have to be. There’s a peaceful part of my nature which my spirit reminds me about. And so I can bring that forth, and let the stress go.”

How to Release Stress

There are many different ways to relinquish stress or at least diminish it. And your connection with your spirit will guide you to the best way for you to handle your stress. “Go take a walk.” Or “Go dig in the garden.” Or “Play your guitar.” Or “Write a poem.” If you are listening, you will hear the answer you need at the moment.

Spirit connects you to your greater good and all possibilities that exist in this moment, because it is only in the present that peace and contentment exist–all the things that make a life meaningful and abundant.

Stimulating your spirit activates your good intentions and gets you moving in the right direction so that you can experience a joyful and prosperous life.

MarciaGrace, the Calm and Creativity Connector is an Interfaith minister, spiritual teacher and author. She has been helping stressed-out businesswomen find their calm and creativity. They report having happier more successful and meaningful lives as a result.