How To Practice Spirituality: Helpful Methods of Looking Within for Guidance

Many people have always looked up to the sky for answers as if all the answers to the universe were coded in the stars.

But what if the answers to what we seek are not at the far edges of the unknown but much closer than we think? We might already have all we seek—we have to look within.

In this article, we will explore the potential relationship between our inner and outward selves while proposing a few common spirituality practices you may want to consider while learning to practice spirituality.

Table of Contents

How Do I Start Practicing Spirituality?

Society often conditions us to seek our institutions or people for instruction and guidance.

As just one person, we are expected to be innately inexperienced. We must look outward to its universalized versions and practices to learn how to practice spirituality.

However, for many, spirituality isn’t one conformed practice.

Humans are uniquely made. We are a combination of complex—some might even say infinite—genomes that evolved out of the elements formed by stardust.

Nothing about you will ever be exact to anyone who has walked the earth before or after you.

It may seem daunting to shuttle yourself into the cosmos alone to look for answers regarding spirituality. Fortunately, you won’t have to go very far for answers you may already have.

Sedona Mago Center for Well-Being and Retreat believes the path toward spirituality begins outward and ends within. We believe that the higher spiritual power we seek isn’t at the ends of the universe; it’s at the beginning of us all.

To practice spirituality is to practice inner connection and mindfulness. By continually cultivating an environment and practice that fosters these values, we may be able to develop our spirituality and find the answers from the higher power we seek.

Sedona Mago Center for Well-Being and Retreat does not enforce a conformed view of spirituality. Instead, we promote practices and a domain that helps individuals begin their path inward. Click here for more information about our community and retreats.

Looking Inward vs. Looking Outward for Guidance

Everyone views life through a unique lens. From this lens, we formulate a sense of self with desires and a need for purpose and direction. 

Seeking outside forces to direct us in the right direction of these pursuits is normal. It’s not a bad thing, but it may not fit everyone’s needs. 

If we are all different and might require different routes, how can institutions give the same directions toward the same spiritual path? 

Outward foundational beliefs may answer broad questions regarding spirituality and faith, but as complex beings, the more personal questions can be answered inwardly. We must look inward to connect with the inner seed of wisdom within our inner higher power. 

To start looking inward, you might want to:

  • Remove otherworldly distractions from your environment: Instead of over-indulging in things that take you away from yourself (like too much sugar, alcohol, tobacco, TV, or “screen time”), try to consume consciously and moderately. Too much of anything, even the good things, can cloud the interactions between our inner and outer selves. 
  • Counteract the negative with the positive to find balance: Everyone experiences stress. To counteract its spiritual, physical, and emotional effects, try to do things that relax you in response. 
  • Create an environment that reflects your intentions: If you surround yourself with things that limit your ability to look inward, you may have difficulties practicing spirituality. Use your environment to bolster your spiritual quests by surrounding yourself in nature, joining spiritually like-minded folks, and putting yourself in the right mind-space to look inward. 
  • Listen to your body: So often we listen to ourselves solely through our minds, when our bodies may tell us just as much. From how to respond to environmental stressors to our daily routine, if something is amiss, our bodies may be able to pick up on it before our minds do. 

10 Common Spirituality Practices To Explore

As socialized creatures, we may be drawn to collecting outward symbols of our spirituality. 

From intricate religious tomes and rosewood prayer beads to shiny crystals, singing bowls, and plush zafus, we adorn our spiritual pursuits with ornaments and artifacts of our beliefs.

These objects may be helpful tools for practice. Still, when we reach out for material things too often, we reach away from the higher being inside us and place one more object between our outward and inward selves. 

Cultivating an environment and creating a routine to help you learn how to practice spirituality better isn’t about mystifying and ornamenting your mindfulness exercises and designated spaces. It’s about momentarily shedding the outward part of our world to explore the one within. 

Let’s talk about how we may wiggle out of our worldly constraints with these common spiritual practices. 

#1: Spend Time in Nature

Nature is the fount of all life, which makes it the perfect place to help draw ourselves inward. 

Sedona Mago Center for Well-Being and Retreat believes that inward connection is best achieved when our minds are nurtured and clear. A busy body full of negativity, stress, and noise may pollute our practices. 

Spending time in nature may calm our mind, body, and spirit. 

Research has also suggested that spending time in nature may promote overall wellness. By satisfying our intrinsic desire to connect with nature, we may experience the following:

  • Improved mental health
  • Enhanced cognitive function
  • Decreased feelings of loneliness and isolation
  • Increased existential awareness

#2: Practice Yoga

Yoga originates from the Sanskrit word “yuj,” which means to unite or join. 

The central philosophy of yoga is based on the interconnectedness of the entire world. Yoga substantiates that, to find peace in our existence, we must find harmony with the cosmos and the higher power within ourselves. 

Yoga also aims to connect our mind, body, and spirit. By practicing and strengthening this connection, we may find it easier to find the spiritual answers we seek. 

#3: Explore Journaling

How do we know what answers we seek if we don’t talk to ourselves? Journaling may help create a dialogue between our conscious, subconscious, and inner self. 

By untangling our minds and examining our intentions and desires in the back of our minds, we may uncover what we are truly trying to gain from a deepened spiritual connection. 

You could try journaling to uncover more about your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and self. 

#4: Join a Spiritual Community

Civilization may never have prospered without communities of individuals striving toward the same goals. As empires’ previous basis, communities nowadays comprise various social groups. 

Joining a spiritual community to facilitate peace and inner connection may help you:

  • Associate with people who support and inspire you
  • Feel motivated and comfortable with your spiritual journey
  • Find trusted friends who may help you improve your practices and achieve your goals
  • Allow you to talk openly about your hopes, desires, aspirations, and thoughts without fear of judgment

Places where you may find spiritual communities to welcome you may include:

  • Prayer groups or churches
  • Local yoga, meditation, and tai chi studios
  • Wellness retreats

Sedona Mago Center for Well-Being and Retreat hosts a variety of holistic wellness retreats to help mindful individuals connect with themselves and each other. 

We offer several retreats in our three programs, which include:

  • Mago Core Programs
    • Finding True Self (three nights, in-person)
    • Sedona Wellness Retreat (four nights, in-person)
    • Revitalizing Detox Retreat (five nights, in-person)
  • Journey Within Programs
    • Sedona Meditation Weekend (three nights, in-person)
    • Self-Empowerment Qigong Retreat (three nights, in-person)
  • Self Mastery Programs
    • Tao Natural Healing (four nights, in-person)
    • Tao Healing and Meditation (three nights, in-person)

#5: Meditate

Traditionally, meditation originated in India during ancient Vedic times. As one of the primary modalities used in Ayurveda (the ancient science of life), meditation was used to access the connection to one’s deep inner self. 

By meditating, we may:

  • Gain clarity about our overall wellness needs
  • Encourage a connection with ourselves that promotes positivity, love, and peace
  • Develop healthier relationships with your spirituality and inner experiences
  • Create a feedback loop that activates our physical, spiritual, and mental consciousness

#6: Let Music or Art Take You Inward

Art and music reflect the possibilities of human creation. They remind us of the expansiveness of our minds and the small but profound impact our existence has on the world. 

By enjoying or expressing ourselves through music and art, we can strengthen our connection with our inner selves and higher powers.

Try to commit to attending concerts, exploring art museums, and getting creative! 

#7: Love Yourself

How can we connect with ourselves and others if we do not align our intentions with self-love?

The more we punish ourselves with negativity and feed into harmful habits and patterns, the farther away our inner self may be. Spirituality and inner connection aren’t hobbies you can pick up and put down when you have time. 

They are a holistic lifestyle you may need to adjust to. These changes may involve:

  • Eating healthier
  • Making time to exercise more
  • Incorporating one or two mindfulness techniques into your routine
  • Seeking ways to help yourself and your community better

Start making changes slowly, find what you can commit to, be patient and loving with yourself, and don’t let your small slip-ups discourage you. 

#8: Practice Breathwork

Breathing is one of the few things that connects most living creatures. Many living things in our known universe need to breathe, but only humans can consciously use their breathing to control their minds, bodies, and spirits. 

By purposefully controlling our breathwork, we may shift out of a headspace in which we think and feel only with our minds and towards a headspace that promotes awareness of our entire being. 

Breathwork also has the potential to:

  • Lower blood pressure and heart rate
  • Ease symptoms of anxiety and depression
  • Boost mood
  • Promote relaxation and better sleep

Breathwork is a tool that may help us in our waking, sleeping, and spiritual lives. But not everyone finds it easy to breathe with purpose. 

Sedona Mago Center for Well-Being and Retreat promotes retreats that teach individuals how to use their bodies to enhance overall wellness, balance, and inner connection. 

If you have trouble meditating or performing breathwork, the mindfulness workshops available through our retreats may help you better understand the exercises and improve your technique. 

Learn more about our Sedona Meditation Weekend retreat today. 

#9: Help Others on Their Spiritual Journey

At Sedona Mago Center for Well-Being, we believe love lies at the center of all higher power and inner being. Helping others is the best way to promote love and connection. 

As you learn more about how to practice spirituality, try implementing what you have discovered by:

  • Sharing your knowledge
  • Supporting and encouraging others on their spiritual journeys
  • Volunteering to help improve your community and the lives of others

#10: Visit a Retreat Center

What better way to journey within than journeying to a new place to experience new things?

Sedona Mago Center for Well-Being and Retreat is one of the best places to pursue your spirituality. Nestled amongst the healing red rocks and vortexes in Sedona, Arizona, our retreat center has helped individuals strengthen their inner connection and continue their paths inward.

Along with several mindfulness modalities, we offer a multitude of themed retreats that best suit your spiritual intentions. 

During our Journey Within Programs, we will teach you how to use mindfulness tools, Qi activation, and energy practices that may be needed to delve deeper into yourself. 

Our Sedona Mago Core programs may help you uncover the truth behind your daily life and persona while introducing ways to ignite your healing powers. 

The Sedona Mago Mastery Programs are designed for those who seek to master their brains’ infinite power and potential to develop a deeper connection with nature and the law of the universe. 

We invite you to join us on one of these transformative spiritual experiences today. 

Let Sedona Mago Center for Well-Being and Retreat Guide You in How To Practice Spirituality

Sedona Mago Center for Well-Being and Retreat understands that everyone is as unique as the stars from which they came. 

While we can teach you how to sharpen the skills needed for looking inward, only you can walk the path. Our shared knowledge, insight, and support are only as good as what you make of your own individual experience. 

This is why we offer a range of programs that address multiple pathways toward the road of spirituality and inner connection. 

We offer diverse programs that fit your wants and needs, from learning how to detoxify yourself through our Revitalizing Detox Retreat to using spirituality to promote well-being during our Sedona Wellness Retreat.

We invite you to learn more about our campus and programs today.