‘Exploring Spirituality’
We are all searching for a greater sense of Self. This sense of Self is found when we look after our spiritual wellbeing; the relationship and connection we have with ourself and the world around us. Spirituality goes to the heart of who we are. Our life flourishes when we give ourselves and each other the space to cultivate and permission to talk about and nurture our spiritual selves.
Often in mid-life, we experience an awakening - an inner call to make space and time for what spirituality means to us. The soul wakes up and demands to be nourished. When this internal shift happens, it becomes harder to deny this aspect of Self, painful to suppress something so fundamental to who you are as a person. We begin to seek greater meaning and purpose, greater understanding of our life. In my life, I have found nourishing this aspect of myself has liberated me, empowered me to become more fully myself. I am only sorry I neglected it for so long.
My faith and sense of connection to something beyond myself is the most important internal resource I have. Nurturing this part of who I am helps me to know the right decisions to take and to trust the path in life I choose. When something in life feels amiss, it is so easy in our modern world to believe we can fix it by doing something, buying something or asking someone else for advice. In my life, clarity and confidence comes from removing things and renewing my inner sense of connectedness. Space itself is a spiritual practice for me. The less distraction, the less internal noise the closer I am to the sacredness of life; God, the divine, the universe, whatever it might be that you call it. When that connection is weakened for whatever reason, my life becomes less meaningful.
In 2018, as part of my MSc in Positive Psychology, I completed a research study focused on non-denominational spirituality. This project was personal for me. At that time, I was going through a period of reconnecting with spirituality, making sense of what spirituality meant personally in my life and who I would become if I embraced it. That project provided me with the time and space to research the major wisdom traditions of the world and conduct a research study on the lived experience of people who consider themselves to be ‘spiritual but not religious’. It was a privilege to be able to invest the time and to have people trust me and open up their inner life to me. A link to that paper is included in the resources below.
One thing that was clear in my research is there is a universality to the experience of spirituality, but it remains a personal path. We must all find our own path. I hope all the articles and resources on this page can help you find yours.
Fiona x
Some Thoughts on Spirituality - Free Download
What Does Spirituality Mean To You? Be Inspired!
To showcase the diversity of what spirituality can mean to people, I asked people what spirituality meant in their life. You can see more by clicking on the button below:
My Research: What Does Spirituality Mean To You? AN IPA STUDY OF SPIRITUALITY AS A LIVED EXPERIENCE
Findings showed that spirituality comprises a deep belief in and embodied connection to a higher power and resulted in greater meaning and purpose in life, the development of a more authentic life and a path to self-actualisation. You can download a summary of the research below.
You can read the full paper via this link: