Contemplative Practices: A Post for Everyone

One of the most loving and powerful things we can do for ourselves is develop consistent contemplative practices.

The phrase contemplative practice may sounds religious or mystical to you. And it can be both of these things, but don’t worry. Even if you are not religious and do not practice any faith, contemplative practices are still for you. They can become an extremely meaningful and empowering part of your life.

What are Contemplative Practices?

Contemplative Practices are activities or habits that help us connect with the the spiritual part of us. As such, they help us become more compassionate, creative, wise, and loving versions of our self.

If the word spiritual makes you nervous, don’t worry. It is possible to think of the spiritual part of us in both religious and non-religious ways.

And if you are not religious, you can think of the spiritual side of us as the place where our potential lies. It is where the seeds of goodness reside, waiting for us to develop them. And it is also the place that contains the roadmap to our highest self.

This is the self we develop when we consistently act from compassion, creativity, wisdom, and love.

In addition, if you are religious, you can think of your spirituality as all of these things and also as the light or image of God in you, which is truest thing about you.

Human beings possess a mind, body, and emotions, and all of these parts of us are good. When we nurture all three aspects of ourselves, we become a more fully alive, resilient, and loving version of our self.

Therefore, one of the most important goals of contemplative practices is to help us nurture all these parts of us and to make peace with them.

What are Some Specific Examples of Contemplative Practices?

Any action that nurtures your mind, body, and emotions can be a contemplative practice. However, throughout history, contemplative practitioners have developed a collection of practices that seem to be especially helpful in nurturing our spiritual dimension.

For example, here are some of the activities contemplative practitioners, both religious and non-religious, often use:

Silence

Intentional Breathing

Loving kindness meditation

Mindfulness

Mindful walking

Spending time in nature

Journaling

Yoga

Gardening

Tai Chi

Dancing

Praying

Reading spiritual literature or sacred scriptures

Attending vigils or gatherings for social justice

Attending synagogues, meditation gathering, churches, or mosques

Why are Contemplative Practices for Everyone?

Contemplative practices can be practiced anywhere, and they are for everyone. Each of us has a mind, body, and emotions. So, we all need guidance in nurturing all these aspects of ourselves.

However, too often we tend to focus on just one or two aspects.

For example, in trying to earn a living and stay on top of life responsibilities, we may over-focus on our bodies.

Or, if we are academics or tend to overthink things, we may over-focus on our minds.

As another example, if we have really powerful emotions (which can be both a wonderful and a difficult thing), we may over-focus on our emotions.

How Imbalances Develop

It is understandable that we become overly focused on certain aspects of our self sometimes. However, focusing too much on one aspect for too long can cause imbalance and suffering.

In addition, we may have been taught to be ashamed of parts of us–like our bodies or our minds or our emotions. When we feel ashamed of a part of our self, we may ignore it, hate it, shut it down, or try to destroy it.

Of course, this also causes us pain and suffering.

Contemplative practices help us understand that all parts of us are good and that we need to  nurture them. Such practices also help us understand that all the parts of us belong together and are interwined. Thus, healthier they become, the more powerful we become.

This beautiful nature art is courtesy of my friend, Annemarie.

At this point, the benefits of contemplative practice may sound a little abstract. But! there are many practical, day to day benefits contemplative practices bring.

How Do Contemplative Practices Help Us?

Contemplative practices can do the following:

Decrease anxiety.

And improve focus.

Build compassion and tolerance for ourselves and others.

And foster creativity.

Decrease stress.

And nurture our health.

Connect us with each other.

And connect us with something larger than our self.

Deepen our wisdom and understanding.

And help us understand how to work for a better world together. (You can read about this here and here.)

Getting Started with Contemplative Practices

In the coming months, I am going to be developing the Contemplative Practice section of my blog and write posts about different practices.

In the meantime, you might enjoy these posts:

Labyrinth Walking: A Contemplative Practice

Gaining Wisdom and Guidance: A Contemplative Practice

An Intention or Prayer for When We Feel Like We are Not Enough

An Intention or Prayer for Growing in Light and Wisdom

An Intention or Prayer for Women Everywhere

An Intention or Prayer for the Hopeless

An Intention or Prayer for Illumination

An Intention or Prayer for Political Healing

How to Build a Hope Sandwich You Can Eat Every Day

This is also one of my favorite articles on contemplative practices, and you might enjoy it, too:

Tree of Contemplative Practices

*****

If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing on social media.