Six Ways to Enhance your Spiritual Life this Summer!

“It is the unseen and the spiritual in people that determines the outside and the actual.” (Oswald Chambers)

         Even though we are super blessed to have wonderful weather year round in Sonoma County, summertime is a perfect time to slow down and focus on enhancing our spiritual lives. So let's use these next few months to intentionally enhance our relationship to God in creative ways. Here are six ways to enhance your spiritual life and lift up your soul:

1.   Try Tai Chi. We have a free class every Saturday morning at 10:30am in Bowen Hall. Tai Chi is good for your balance, and strengthens your body, mind, and spirit with a slow flowing martial art exercise regime. A study in Portland showed that elderly individuals who practiced Tai Chi showed significant improvement in all measures of functional balance, physical performance, and reduced fear of falling after practicing it twice a week for 6 months. 250 million people around the world (2.5 million in the U.S.) practice Tail Chi. Our instructor, David Chung, teaches a meditative form of Tai Chi to help the mind feel peaceful. Peaceful feelings improve health in body, mind, and spirit.

2.   Get outside. Nature is God's workshop. The sky is God’s resume. You want to know who God is? See what God has created. Nature is healing. Walk through the forest or around the lakes at Spring Lake and Howarth park. Go to Bodega and watch the waves crash onto the shore. Sit outside in the night air and listen to the crickets. Listen for God’s message to your soul through nature.

3.   Feed your soul with uplifting spirit enhancing books. Here are a few suggestions: The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth By M. Scott Peck 

“To proceed very far through the desert, you must be willing to meet existential suffering and work it through. In order to do this, the attitude toward pain has to change.….everything that happens to us has been designed for our spiritual growth.”                                     

The Art of Happiness, A Handbook for Living. Psychiatrist Howard Cutler interviews the Dalai Lama to ask him life’s deepest questions. Learn the answers to timeless questions such as: Why is there so much suffering in the world? “Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."
Another recommended book is: Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado. “There’s a lot of wisdom in the phrase: “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.” It’s when we try to do everything, that’s when we get overwhelmed. When we do nothing, that’s when we get bitter. But if we can find that one thing we do, that one unique assignment in our hometown or around the world, that’s the way we keep sanity in a difficult culture.” 

4.   Memorize to boost your spiritual brain! Many of us have favorite hymns we sing to ourselves or Psalms memorized that remind us of God’s presence. If you haven’t memorized Psalm 23 and Psalm 100, I recommend starting there. Psalm 139 also reminds us that God’s Holy Spirit will go with you wherever you may go. You can also memorize the words to favorite hymns like: How Great Thou Art!, Precious Lord, Take my Hand, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, and Just a Closer Walk with Thee. Memorize these hymns to keep pondering their reassuring words. Your brain and soul will be uplifted!

5.   Take a fast from drama. Watching brain-draining gossipy shows on TV, feeding into the latest gossip at coffee hour, dwelling on the annoying things our family members do, all cause us to feel depressed and stressed. Get yourself away from negative people and negative critical comments. Find people and activities that uplift not drag you down. Marie Curie said, “Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.” Psalm 34:13 says: “Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.”

6.   Pray in a new way. The Presbytery of the Redwoods leadership cohorts are planning to pray in our meetings using the ancient form of prayer called Centering Prayer. Father Thomas Keating has promoted this form of prayer for many years. I taught Centering prayer in my resilience project for my Doctorate of Ministry in Science and Theology. Research proves that this contemplative form of prayer, if done on a regular basis, will enhance your resilience status. For training on how to do Centering prayer read: Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening by Cynthia Bourgeault. For a training video see: https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/category/category/centering-prayer

Receive this blessing as you enhance and uplift your soul this summer:

“May God bless you and keep you, May God smile on you and be gracious unto you, May God look you full in the face and help you prosper and be peaceful from this day on and forevermore.” (Numbers 6, 24-26, The Message)