Finding Spiritual Wellness
Connect with something larger than yourself. There are several theories that emphasize the need for balance to produce wellness in our lives. An aspect of that theory includes spiritual wellness. Spiritual wellness promotes tranquility and harmony within yourself and within your life and is essential for mental wellness. This does not mean that you have to become religious if you aren’t; it means you must find something bigger than just yourself with which to connect. Try connecting to the awe of nature or outer-space, or in the bonds people form with each other. Finding something outside of yourself to connect with will help bring peace to your mind.
Find meaning in your everyday life. Spiritual wellness can also help you build on your understanding of your purpose in the world. This will help you find meaning in your everyday life. If you feel fulfilled with your contribution to the world, your mind will be more at peace. Actions that could help you build your understanding include connecting with others through volunteerism or finding other ways to help and serve others. You may also find meaning in other activities, such as taking care of your family or loved ones, or doing the best job you can at your place of employment.
Act in ways that support your beliefs. Another way to build spiritual wellness is by acting in ways that support your values and beliefs. To check this, take stock of your current activities and ask yourself if they are in line with what you value. Ask yourself if what the things you do bring joy and meaning to your life. Some practices that can help you to reflect on your values and purpose include meditation and prayer. Start learning and practicing meditation through group classes, books, online resources, or guided meditation recordings. To try simple meditation, sit or lay somewhere comfortable and visualize a wise, loving, and caring presence surrounding you. Anchor your mind to the feeling of being cared for and having complete trust in the presence. If you pray, try visualizing your higher power around you and communicate feelings of trust, love, and care.
Learning to Be Present
Start a journal. A good way to start taking stock of your current situation and find mental peace is to start a journal. Journaling is an effective way to guide yourself through introspection and find out what might be keeping you from mental peace. When you write in your journal, include your thoughts and feelings about your everyday life. To help you find peace, think about what means most to you and what keeps you present and happy in the moment, such as wisdom or creativity. To help find what matters to you and go towards mental peace, give yourself journal topics such as gratitude, intention, or meaning.
Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness can bring you mental peace by bringing your awareness to the present. Your mental peace can be disrupted by worrying about the future or being crippled by and stuck in the past. Mindfulness means being aware of your present thoughts, surroundings, and feelings without placing judgment on them. Mindfulness can also decrease your stress level and blood pressure, which can help produce a sense of calm throughout your body. Practicing mindfulness can also help you manage your emotions and adapt to stressful or difficult situations. The practice of mindfulness allows you to create new neural connections and physically alter your brain’s structure, which can help you adapt your way of thinking to promote mental peace. To try a mindfulness exercise, sit comfortably and focus on your breath. While you breathe, take stock of what your are perceiving through your five sense. Your mind may wander, but try to gently bring your awareness back to the present and what’s around you.
Heal from the past. It may be hard to gain mental peace if you still suffer because of events from your past. Past traumatic events that are causing you emotional turmoil will certainly make you feel as though you are never at peace. Past events can include emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, traumatic events, or dismissive or neglectful home environments. All of these types of events can leave you with guilt, shame, fear, or depression. For these kinds of serious events, seek professional help from a therapist who can safely guide you through your experiences. These mental health professionals are trained to guide toward healing and help you foster forgiveness and compassion.
Freeing Your Mind
Practice gratitude. To help find mental peace, practice finding gratitude. This is where you look for and remember the things you are thankful for and the blessings you see in your life. When you take a moment outside of your immediate situation and allow yourself to take a look at all that you have to be grateful for, you can provide yourself with a sense of calm and mental peace and foster a feeling of connection to those around you. It also helps bring about your spiritual wellness and helps you connect to something larger than yourself. You can do short daily gratitude practices, such as making a mental list five things for which you are grateful. You can also keep the list in written form on your phone, computer, or piece of paper if you want to use it as a visual reminder. What you’re thankful for can be small or simple things in your day, such as a sunny day or a rejuvenating rainstorm. Research has found a link between gratitude practices and feelings of higher self-esteem, increased expressions of empathy, and a lower tendency towards depression and aggression.
Avoid rumination. A common form of worrying that makes people get lost in the past or causes them to be irritated is called rumination. Ruminating is when your mind gets stuck in a loop of worries, replaying the same thoughts and concerns over and over again in your mind. This pattern can be very stressful and leave you feeling exhausted and take you further away from a peaceful state of mind. When you find yourself doing this, counteract the the habit by following this script, "I am ruminating, and ruminating won't do me any good and it will just make me upset. Let me see if I can keep myself busy/focus on something positive/do something relaxing." And then follow through by finding getting busy with an activity, finding something to focus on, or relaxing.
Relax. In order to find mental peace, you have to find time to relax. This is necessary to create and maintain balance in your life. Relaxation time is when you relieve stress and take your mind off of worries about schedules, obligations, or concerns. Find out what makes you feel most relaxed — what helps you unwind is personal and may differ from how your friends or family relax. Relaxation techniques take many forms. For some, exercise such as running or yoga is relaxing. Exercise also helps with overall physical health and increases the endorphins, or feel good hormones, which lift your mood and increase your energy. Some people also like to meditate, go on social outings with friends, read a good book, or take a bubble bath. Playing sports or spending time with friends has been linked to overall feelings of happiness and life satisfaction. Find which activities truly help you unwind, and do these activities at least once a week to help you find mental peace.
Pay attention to the influence of others. One thing that you may not know affects your inner peace of mind is the influence of others. Think about the people in your life and try to recognize the influence they have over your mental state. Everyone goes through hard times and complains about things, but if there is someone in your life that does this as a normal pattern, he or she may be draining your energy or negatively influencing your mood. If you have people in your life who are like this, you may need to be careful about the amount of time you spend with them. If you can't avoid these people (they may be family members or coworkers), make a conscious effort to be positive. Say to yourself, "I'm going to stay positive and make this a great day despite the people around me." Try to spend more time with people who lift you up and add to your sense of mental peace. If not, you are at risk of falling into this pattern yourself, which can also make it difficult to gain or maintain mental peace.
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